tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65533527800641389972024-03-15T18:13:12.054-07:00Andrew BishopThe Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.comBlogger244125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-20675221712634109222024-02-05T02:10:00.000-08:002024-02-05T02:10:45.644-08:00Amen. In the beginning...<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Proverbs 8.1,22-31</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;">
Does not wisdom call, the first of his acts of old?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Colossians 1.15-20</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
Christ is the image of the invisible God<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">John 1.1-14</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> In
the beginning was the Word<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">+</span><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Let’s start at the very beginning, that a very good place to
start’ That’s the wisdom of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sound of Music</i>,
and points us to where our readings appear to take us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But I want to begin with a word that is usually though of as an
ending not a beginning: Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The word ‘Amen’ is a word that seals and affirms all the words we
have said just before. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Amen’ is the last word of the Bible itself (Revelation 22.21)
and it is the word we use to seal, affirm and sign off, as it were, all our
prayers and what we believe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Amen. So be it. Yes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When we say ‘Amen’ it’s more than just agreeing with something,
it is using a word to say, with all my heart and soul and mind and strength:
‘so be it’; ‘yes’; ‘Amen’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The word ‘Amen’ shows the power of one little word that says so
much more than the sum of its parts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s also a word that connects us to Jesus himself, for it is a
word he uses in prayer and, sometimes, when he begins to speak, because the
‘Amen’ of Jesus is not just an ending but a beginning too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We find this in the Book of Revelation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When speaking to one of the ancient churches Jesus says, ‘The
words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation’
(Revelation 3.14).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s a key verse. Jesus calls himself the ‘Amen’, the ‘so be it’
to all that God is, and that he is the origin of God’s creation; inseparable
from the Creator.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jesus is the ‘Amen’ the beginning and the end of all things,
Alpha and Omega.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin
of God’s creation’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This verse holds together all three of our readings this morning:
when we speak of Jesus Christ we are not speaking about an add-on or extension
to God’s original creative purpose; Jesus is not like an upgrade on some redundant
software.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jesus Christ is from the beginning and is God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">St John magisterially puts it like this, ‘In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was God’. (John 1.1)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So what is this ‘Word’?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Greek word for… Word, is ‘logos’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘In the beginning was the ‘logos’, and the ‘logos’ was with God
and the ‘logos’ was God…’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This Greek word ‘logos’, gives us in English the word 'logical'.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Logos’ is embedded in our language of reasoning and logic so
that we can be rational creatures. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Subjects with 'ology' at the end are another example: it means a
topic about which there is reasoned dialogue – there’s the word again dia-logos
– it means rational, reasoned thought about a subject.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Theology is a
reasoned consideration of the nature of Theos - God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sociology is the
reasoned consideration of societal things; musicology the things of music and
so on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Logos’ in ancient
Greek thought was the rational component of creation and of the sacred order of
things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So the ‘logos’ is
rather remote and dry and stuck in our heads if it’s just about the academic
world and lectures.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But here’s the
thing!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And this is why what
St John says is so amazing, wonderful and startling.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The ‘logos’, he says,
is not dry and remote. ; the ‘logos’ has become flesh, has a body, can be heard
and seen and touched and felt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes, the ‘logos’ is
all the things the Greeks thought it was, but it is more. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For St John the
‘logos’ moves from being an ‘it’ to being a ‘he’; from a concept to be a
person: ‘the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1.14): ‘the ‘logos’
was made flesh and dwelt among us’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Shortly we’ll say
the Nicene Creed, as we do Sunday by Sunday. And we will express this
understanding of who God is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We will speak of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And when it comes to
the Son, the logos, Jesus Christ, we will say this:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">the only Son of God,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">eternally begotten of the Father,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">God from God, Light from Light,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">true God from true God,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">begotten, not made,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">of one Being with the Father;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">through him all things were made.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For us and for our salvation he came down from
heaven,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the
Virgin Mary<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">and was made man.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is the heart of
orthodox Christian belief about who Jesus is, proclaimed in the Nicene Creed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We’re proclaiming
that the Word - who we know to be Jesus Christ - is God before all time; he is
not an element of creation; he is God, very God, he is of one substance -
consubstantial – with the Father.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Then the hinge on
which everything swings: ‘And the Word was made flesh’, or as the Creed puts it
‘He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There it is. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The creator of time
is born in time: the Word becomes flesh. And in becoming one of us St Paul
writes, ‘[God] has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us
into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins. ‘’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Colossians
1.13,14).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is because,
Paul continues, in our second lesson,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘[Christ]
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him
all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created
through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things
hold together.’ (Colossians 1.15,16)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So Jesus Christ is God’s first Word: Amen, and God’s last Word,
and God’s continuing Word.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is the Word who, made present by the Spirit, speaks to us of
salvation, hope, love, peace and joy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This Word comes to us as the Bread of Life and the living Word
broken open in the scriptures.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To Christ our life and salvation may we join in the Great Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-88285311468121009542024-02-05T02:08:00.000-08:002024-02-05T02:08:58.850-08:00Jesus, I know who you are!<p> <b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Deuteronomy 18.15-20 </span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Lord
your God will raise up a new prophet like Moses</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Revelation 12.1-5a </span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A great
portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mark 1.21-28</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Unlike the scribes, he
taught them with authority<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘I know who
you are [Jesus of Nazareth] – the Holy One of God’ (Mark 1.24)</span><span style="font-family: "Source Sans Pro",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In this
morning’s gospel passage we learn something of who Jesus Christ is and we are
challenged to consider how we respond to him and to what he can do in our
lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s what
a gospel is there to do: present us with who Jesus Christ is and was and ever
shall be, and to invite our response.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Today’s
gospel is doing just that as we hear of Jesus entering the synagogue in
Capernaum.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the
synagogue on that day are plenty of good respectable people who have gathered
to read the scriptures and reflect on them, much as we do now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was
normal for attendees who studied the scriptures to offer interpretations to
those gathered, which is precisely what Jesus does.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As Jesus
teaches – and we have no idea what he actually taught and said that day
–something made them prick up their ears. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They were
‘astonished’ as our translation puts it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The original
Greek is more emphatic conveying the sense that the people ‘are astonished to
the point of being completely overwhelmed’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We might
translate the Greek term <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ekplesso</i> as
‘they were completely blown away’. (Ian Paul).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Someone,
something remarkable, astonishing, overwhelming, mind-blowing is here in our
midst.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What blew
them away was that Jesus spoke in a way that the supposed authorities never
spoke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus speaks
with authority.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The word
authority relates to the word ‘author’: you could say ‘author-ority’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The author
is the originator or source of what is being spoken. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When it
comes to the scriptures Jesus is the Word made Flesh, only he is the one who
can interpret the scriptures with authority because he is the author; he is the
only one who can interpret God’s purposes in creation because, in the beginning
was the Word: he is the author, the originator, the Word.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So he speaks
with authority because what he says is entirely consistent with who he is: the
author speaks with author-ority.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Had nothing
more happened that day you can imagine the chat at the end of the synagogue
gathering: ‘Gosh, that bloke from Nazareth was really impressive and
authoritative’. ‘Oh yes, I’ve heard about him before, he’s been calling
fishermen to join him: lot of talk about the kingdom of God’. ‘Tell you what,
he’s better than our scribes, they just miss the mark all the time’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps some
would go away and feel different with their hearts warmed; perhaps others
forgot all about him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That gives
us pause for thought. Do you leave church with a deeper appetite for Jesus
Christ, to go away and chew over more deeply what you have encountered with
your life changed, deepened, transformed? Do you leave church and really not
give it all much thought, and the cares of life and the world distract you?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So Jesus speaks
with authority, inviting us to recognise it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then the
mood changes in the narrative.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What happens
next in that synagogue is one of those moments that, if it happened here in the
Minster, might cause us to feel uncomfortable, disrupted, even unsafe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A man in the
synagogue has clearly heard the teaching and reacts, in a raw visceral way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘What have
you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who
you are, the Holy One of God.’ (Mark 1.24)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That
outburst will have ripped through the gathered assembly, as it would for us
today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This man is
not in his right mind; indeed the text makes clear it is not even him speaking,
it is an unclean spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sometimes it
is thought that the language of unclean spirit is a first century way of
talking about someone who is ill, and that our insights into modern medicine
and psychology explain what’s going on: he’s clearly mentally ill we might say.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And yet in
our society today there are very blurred lines between what we consider wicked
and wrong and the actions of someone who is sick. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If someone
is spared a murder conviction on the grounds of diminished responsibility, some
think that’s a good understanding thing, others find it a bad thing: does that
person need punishment or help?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The gospel
carefully differentiates between people who are unwell and those who are
possessed, and we would need a lot more time to go into that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So what we
have here is evil being exposed: it’s not the man it’s what is in him: he is
being possessed by something outside himself and it is cast out of him:
something Jesus, with authority, can do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We might
more readily recognise today what’s going on through the language of addiction
and dependency.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Alcohol,
drugs, pornography, gambling are all things that can take possession of a
person and become an obsession to the point of destruction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In addiction
and dependency, the authority in a person’s life has passed to that which
corrodes the soul and destroys them: so the unclean spirit asks, ‘have you come
to destroy me?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Oh yes!
Jesus comes to destroy evil to give life to the children of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus is
revealed as the one who comes to bring salvation: salvation a word that, at its
root, is about healing and saving.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We see, on
countless occasions in St Mark’s Gospel, the healing salve of Jesus’ touch that
brings salvation to individual lives: an invitation, make no mistake, that is
on offer today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I know
people who can give testimony to how they have rejected the power of alcohol,
for example, through the sense of the higher power, the authority in life
experienced in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Examination
of ourselves will reveal what we are in thrall to, what possesses us, what
corrodes our souls: and we should present that before Christ, the true
authority of human experience.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No wonder
the people in that synagogue say, ‘what is this?’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They are
full of wonder, to the point of being overwhelmed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No wonder
his fame spread everywhere first in Galilee and then to the ends of the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can you now
say, ‘I know who you are, Jesus Christ – the Holy One of God’?<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-69603961507731027692024-01-15T02:20:00.000-08:002024-01-15T02:20:13.819-08:00Come and See<p> <b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">1
Samuel 3.1-10</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> Speak, Lord,
for your servant is listening.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">John
1.43-51</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> Come and see, we have
found the Messiah<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">+<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">‘I have found something. I have found
something so amazing, so life changing, so wonderful, that I just can’t keep it
to myself. Come with me and see what it is.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">If I said that to you I wonder how would you
respond?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">If I said it was gold I had found, would you
come with me?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">If I said it was the most beautiful landscape or
view in the world, would you come with me?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">If I said it was the most amazing person,
would you come with me?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And the other way round, if you had found
something amazing, life changing, wonderful, would you be the one saying, ‘come
with me and see what it is’?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It’s precisely what happened to Philip and
Nathanael, not the most prominent of the disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Philip was called by Jesus Christ, and the
first thing he felt compelled to do was to tell Nathanael who was, perhaps, his
friend or colleague or brother: it doesn’t matter really, Philip just wanted to
tell him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And Philip’s invitation is ‘come and see’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And the great thing is that Nathanael went and
saw.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What Nathanael went to see was the fulfilment
of all their hopes, the fulfilment of the deepest desires and dreams of their
hearts: they had found the One who was utterly amazing, wonderful and life
changing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">They’d found the promised Messiah of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The evangelical life, that is to say the life
of living out and sharing the Good News (the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">evangelion</i>, in Greek), is exactly this process of discovering
something wonderful and of sharing the invitation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That’s the Philip bit: ‘I’ve found it, come
and see’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The success of the evangelical life, if
success is the word, is for the response to be for the other person to go and
see: that’s the Nathanael bit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The word ‘evangelical’ can be attached to a
party or group in the Church, and you might say, ‘I’m not one of those’, but
actually we are all called to be evangelical: our Christian life is incomplete
if we do not say to others ‘come and see’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Does that make you uncomfortable?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Does that excite you?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It certainly should make you re-examine the
fundamentals of what faith is about: after all, Jesus’ Great Commission at the
end of St Matthew’s Gospel is ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…’
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Going and telling, sharing and inviting is at
the heart of what Christian disciples do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I wonder, when did you last invite your
‘Nathanael’ – a friend, a colleague, brother, sister, son, daughter, spouse –
to church, to ‘come and see’ Jesus Christ? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And why wouldn’t you?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Each of us baptised as a Christian has been
commissioned to be a Philip, someone who knows Jesus Christ as amazing,
wonderful and life-changing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Similarly, my task as a priest is to be a
‘Philip’ to you and to wider society.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The priest, the baptised Christian, who does
not do this - looking out for Christ, inviting others to Christ - is an Eli, as
in our first reading.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It said that Eli’s eyesight ‘had begun to grow
dim so that he could not see, [and he] was lying down in his room’ (1 Samuel
3.2). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is not a moment for Specsavers. It is
talking about his spiritual eyesight, his capacity to get up and see the
presence of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Eli is the person for whom the light had shone
but now is dimmed, flickering and dull. He is the grain of wheat that shot up
and is now wilting (cf The Parable of the Sower). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">An Eli is the person who came to church but
has lost his sense of what it’s about, who has got cosy, who can’t see and
can’t respond to the word and will of God. That becomes spiritually corrosive
to the individual - they become grumpy, gripey, obstructive and joyless, always
suspicious and jaded – and that is spiritually corrosive to the church
community too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Yet, when we read on, in the book of Samuel it
says, ‘the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the
temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was (1 Samuel 3.3).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That means that ‘the light still shines in the
darkness’ and Samuel’s eyes and ears are open, ready to see the light and hear
God’s gracious call, even if the Elis of this world can’t, won’t or don’t.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Samuel has placed himself in the temple of the
Lord, where the ark of God was: he is nestled in God’s presence, incubating his
faith ready for God to call, and when God calls, Samuel, in the example of all
the great saints and believers down the ages says, ‘Here am I. I am listening
(1 Samuel 3.9). Let it be unto me according to thy word’ (Luke 1.38).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Samuel saw - his eyes were open to God - as
were Philip’s, as were Nathanael’s, as weren’t Eli’s.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Speaking for my own life as a Christian with
you and priest for you, I have to speak and live the words I began with, ‘I
have found something. I have found something so amazing, so life changing, so
wonderful, that I just can’t keep it to myself. Come with me and see what it
is.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This happens in preaching: preaching should
always be an invitation to come and see.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This happens in the Eucharist: the Eucharist
is always an invitation to the hospitality of God, to come and taste and see.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">For when people come and see their eyes are
opened, their hearts are warmed, their souls are saved.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So let’s all be Philips and Philippas,
inviting others to come and see what we have seen in Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Let’s all be Nathanaels, and whatever the
female equivalent of that name is, let’s come and see and encounter Jesus
Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That gets us to him and, you know, the even
more wonderful thing is when we meet him he says, ‘you’ve seen nothing yet!
This is but the beginning: ‘truly, truly I say to you, you will see heaven
opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man’
(John 1.51)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Now that’s something to come and see!<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-4592576199812440452024-01-08T06:57:00.000-08:002024-01-08T06:57:22.949-08:00The Spirit moves over the waters<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Genesis
1.1-5</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;"> In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Acts
19.1-7</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> They were baptised in the name of
the Lord Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mark
1.4-11</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I
am well pleased’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… And the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">‘In
the beginning…’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These
words opened our Christmas gospel, as St John unfolded the mystery of the
Incarnation and asserted that, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, is the
fullness of the presence of God, the Creator of all that is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These
words also open the very Bible itself, the Book of Genesis, which we heard in
our first reading. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
phrase ‘in the beginning’ is the golden thread that links the Gospel to the
Creation: after all, the Gospel unfolds the New Creation in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">‘In
the beginning’, as related by Genesis, the primordial waters of the Creation
swirl and swell: ‘The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over
the face of the deep’. (Genesis 1.2a)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
scripture such waters speak of chaos and danger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Hebrew word is ‘Tohu Va-Vohu’ (</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">תהו</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ובהו</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lashing
rain, the present flooding, the storms along our coastline, and such like,
remind us that water unleashed is not benign, but is, as in the flood of Noah,
powerful and destructive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Great Flood ends with the dove over the waters, with an olive branch in its
beak and a rainbow in the sky: hence the prayer that God would ‘drown sin in
the waters of judgement’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
recall, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended on Jesus in the waters
of the Jordan: connect that with Genesis, ‘the Spirit of God was hovering over
the face of the waters’. (Genesis 1.2b)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Creator God, in Christ, steps into the chaos and danger, into situations of
darkness, turmoil and doubt and the Creator Spirit descends to bring purpose,
creativity, beauty and life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Spirit brings order to the chaos so that the Creation unfolds with purpose. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
we can say God’s Creation is not a meaningless soup of random happenings, not a
‘Tohu Va-Vohu’, but a gift of life, in which is revealed the face of God: the
formless void is given form and is filled by the Creator Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
the spiritual life - our life committed to Christ - we should invoke the Holy
Spirit to guide us through the turbulent waters of life, as we whisper in
prayer: ‘Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, and lighten with celestial fire…’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
takes us, then, to the River Jordan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
that river John had been baptising and using its waters to wash away sin for
those who came to repent, those who wished to redirect mind, body and spirit
away from the formless void of life without God, and find their lives healed,
forgiven and restored.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Into
that water steps the creator and true redeemer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus
Christ plunges into the waters, signifying the New Creation to be inaugurated
in human lives when joined with the life of the Holy Trinity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
is the root of our forgiveness; the depths of his love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As
the Spirit moved over the face of the waters so the same Spirit descends upon
Christ in the Jordan and the Father speaks - again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
the beginning he spoke the words ‘let there be light’ now he declares to Jesus,
‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Baptism of the Lord inaugurates the New Creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
we are drawn into this New Creation through Christ, in the power of the Spirit.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By
our own baptism we are plunged into the destructive-creative waters: waters
that destroy sin and grant life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
baptism is a gift and challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
is open to all, yet it is also disruptive and purging. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
is a free gift, but not to be treated cheaply;.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
is the warning to us of what we heard from the Acts of the Apostles: don’t
cheapen your baptism, but inhabit it, fulfil it, embrace it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If
we think baptism is a splash in some water and a nice symbol - as clearly some
concluded, even from the baptism of John - then we find that the Holy Spirit of
God demands more of us, drives us and confirms us in our faith. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
we leave the Holy Spirit out of our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ we make
a mockery of the faith entrusted to us by the saints and we are destined to be
tossed around in the ‘Tohu Va-Vohu’, the dark, swirling waters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Baptism of the Lord tells us that our own baptism is at the confluence of two
mighty rivers: of repentance and of the strengthening Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
is where the nature of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity is revealed -
Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and where we are incorporated into God’s life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To
be a Christian is to overcome, with Christ, the swirling waters of the ‘Tohu
Va-Vohu’: anticipated by Jonah whose three days in the belly of the great fish
prefigure Christ’s resurrection; like the disciples when the storm is stilled
(Mark 4.39); like Peter who is commanded to ‘put out into the deep and let down
your nets’ (Luke 5.4) so that the waters of creation are not a terror but fill
the nets of our lives like the nets teeming with fish; revealed by Christ
himself who walks on the waters and is not consumed by them (Matthew 14.25).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let
us pray, as we seek to be faithful to the implications of our own baptism, that
the Holy Spirit would descend on us as we struggle in the swirling waters of
life with our fragile grasp of faith, so that in the Name of Jesus we may hear
the call of the Father, as did the Sinless One at Jordan’s River.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-17585357343636157212023-12-26T07:55:00.000-08:002023-12-26T07:55:11.020-08:00In this child is the fullness of God: A Christmas Day sermon<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Isaiah
52.7-10</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> Rejoice, for the Lord
is consoling his people</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Hebrews
1.1-6</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> God has spoken to us
through his Son<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">John
1.1-18</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> The Word was made flesh,
and lived among us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I was on a train the other day and saw two new
parents with their clearly very newborn child.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The sight was deeply moving and compelling
and, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ today, it struck me as an icon
of what we see in the scene of the birth of Jesus, what we call the nativity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The mother of that newborn was holding her
child in her arms and gazing adoringly, gently rocking him, and then, very
discreetly, placed him on her breast to feed him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">All the while the child’s father gazed at him
too and ensured that his wife was comfortable and undisturbed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What I saw on the train will have been what
the shepherds and Magi saw too in the stable of Bethlehem, parents nurturing
and protecting their new-born child.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In the scene at Bethlehem we see something
profoundly human, just as I saw on the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We have to see the birth of Jesus Christ
through the lens of a human birth, because that shows us his humanity, all that
he shares in common with us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And yet the Gospel reading proclaimed this morning
did not reference Bethlehem or the adoration of Mary and Joseph. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It’s St Luke who gives us the details of
shepherds and angels, of the inn and manger. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">St Matthew gives us Bethlehem, the star and
the Magi.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And those gospels speak powerfully of who
Jesus Christ is, and from them we can see the intimacy and warmth of the
parental love of Mary and Joseph for their divine son as ox and ass worship him
and the heavens realign to signal their maker.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Yet we domesticate the birth of Jesus, and
disenchant it, when we think of the nativity of the Saviour simply as a
touching human scene or declare that Christmas is all about children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We strip out the fact that the gospels
consistently proclaim the reality underlying the birth of the Saviour, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which is something of profound significance,
that holds together both a human birth and the fullness of the presence of God
the Most High.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As our second reading put it, ‘[This Son] is
the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being…’
(Hebrews 1.2).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is what we call the incarnation, which
literally means the ‘taking of flesh’, the taking of flesh by God himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That is why we say that Jesus Christ is truly
God and truly man; Son of God and Son of Mary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus
Christ didn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">look like</i> a human
being; he was one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">His
humanity did not diminish his divinity; it was his glorification.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus
Christ is God, uncompromised by his human body and mind or his birth in time
and history.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus
Christ has a human start, but is the divine Word from the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">All the statements I have just made come
straight from the earliest and enduring understanding of the Church about who
Jesus Christ is: we speak of it in our Creed to be proclaimed shortly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And this is what our Gospel this morning proclaims,
speaking so powerfully of the mystery that lies behind the humanity of the
reality of the nativity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Gospel affirms both the fleshly reality of
Jesus Christ, and his divine origin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We’ll sing of this shortly in the hymn ‘Of the
Father’s heart begotten’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The hymn affirms who Jesus is, born of God the
Father out of the Father’s love for his creation that began, is sustained and
will ever be through his Word.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">All time and eternity belongs to him, he is
the beginning and the end, and yet he deigned to be born as a human being
locked in time:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Of
the Father’s heart begotten,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">ere
the worlds from chaos rose,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">He
is Alpha: from that Fountain<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">All
that is and hath been flows;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">He
is Omega, of all things <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">yet
to come the mystic Close:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">evermore
and evermore.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The magnificence and wonder of the Incarnation
is that through Christ being born as one of us, born of the pure Virgin Mary,
we ourselves have the potential, capacity and means to become God’s children by
adoption and by grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Go back to that image of the parents and baby
on the train; go to the image of Mary and Joseph with their child who is the
Promised Messiah and Saviour; and then picture yourself embraced in the loving
arms of God who beholds you as his precious child.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus Christ comes to make us more human not
less; more what God created us to be at the Creation, before falling away from
him by our sin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">God stretches out his arms of love towards you
at Christmas, and every day, and delights to see your arms stretched out before
him to receive his Son, the Bread of Life, the child of Bethlehem; the Saviour
of the World.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-64607445815374073632023-12-26T07:51:00.000-08:002023-12-26T07:51:06.710-08:00Come and see: A Midnight Mass homily<p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;">Isaiah 9.1-7 A Son is given to us</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;">Titus 2.11-14 God's grace has been revealed to the whole human race</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;">Luke 2.1-14</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Come, let
us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord
has made known to us’.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Christmas story is attractive on so many levels.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I don’t just
mean that it gives us a warm glow of nostalgia remembering Christmases past or
the delight of seeing the faces of children opening presents and performing in
Nativity plays or the aesthetics of candles and carols.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Christmas story, the birth of Jesus Christ, is attractive in the sense that it
attracts, entices, intrigues: it says, ‘come’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It draws
people to gather and, fundamentally, to gather around the mystery at the heart
of the crib of Bethlehem: Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The tinsel
and sparkle may captivate us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But our very
presence in this church, at this Mass, means that we have taken the step beyond
the tinsel and are going deeper into the mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This ‘great
and mighty wonder’ attracts us, draws us and whispers to us, ‘come, come and
see, come and see this thing that has taken place’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The message
of the angel to the shepherds is come, come and see this sign given to you. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We have been
drawn here, to our own Bethlehem tonight, some invited, some perhaps compelled,
yet all welcome to come and to gather, to come, to see, to go deeper and –
whisper it – to be transformed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We have
responded to what the angel called the shepherds to do, to come and see the One
Who Is: Saviour, Messiah, Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Those titles
speak of power, destiny and purpose – they’re foreshadowed by Isaiah the
prophet - yet they speak of a child lying in an animals’ feeding trough, for
that’s what a manger is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s the
attractive, attracting mystery: the fullness of God and the fullness of
humanity; the Lord of Hosts and the newborn child.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the face
of this mystery the heavens are filled with light and the praise of God – that
exultant, exalting, joyful angelic proclamation – ‘Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours’ (Luke 2.14).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Like the
shepherds, we ‘come and see’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is an
irony for those of us who have been journeying through the season of Advent
that has as its refrain ‘Come, Lord Jesus’; a time when we sing hymns such as
‘O come, O come, Emmanuel’ and ‘Come, thou long expected, Jesus’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Advent we
plead for Jesus to come: come into our world, our nation, our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tonight we
sing, ‘O Come all ye faithful’: the pleading that Christ will come to us flips
on its head that we will come to Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Christian hope:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">rejoices in the first coming of
Christ in flesh and blood; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">is strengthened in the presence of
Jesus Christ in the flesh and blood of the Bread of Life which we receive at
Holy Communion; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 108.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 108.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">anticipates his Second Coming in
glory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, we are
attracted to come to Bethlehem, but we cannot remain there for ever.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The mystery
invites us on - ‘come and see’ - so we ‘await the manifestation of the glory of
our great God and Saviour’ (Titus 2.13).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a
lifelong invitation which summons from us a lifelong response.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is a
response that has seeking Christ at its heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And as Jesus
says in the Gospel of John, when he is asked what he is all about, ‘Come and
you will see’ (John 1.39).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May we
remain attracted to the mystery of Christ Jesus: we have come, now may we see.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is no
better way to begin that journey than with Mary, the Mother of the Lord as,
with her, we treasure all these things and ponder them in our heart (Luke 2.19).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So we come,
we see and Christ conquers, to reign our hearts so that we might glorify him
and be drawn into his Heart of Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Gaudete!
Christus est natus, Ex Maria virgine. Rejoice! Christ is born, Sing with joy!
Born is the Saviour from the Virgin Mary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Come, let us
adore him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-78565846152561015092023-12-18T01:02:00.000-08:002023-12-18T01:02:07.900-08:00Who are you?<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Isaiah 61.1-4, 8-11</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> He has sent me to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">1 Thessalonians 5.16-24</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> May you all be kept safe for the coming of our lord Jesus Christ<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">John 1.6-8, 19-28</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> ‘There stands among you the one coming after me’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Who are you? What is your identity? Are you this, are you that?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This morning’s gospel gets topical because identity - who I am,
what makes me, me, and how I want the world to perceive me - is a hot topic in
wider culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s even known as identity politics.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The question of identity hinges on how I understand myself to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This can be a source of some anguish for those for whom their
identity confusing, uncertain or a source of pain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And indeed for people in that position compassion and love is
profoundly important.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As we consider identity in relation to the Christian life the
gospel passage seen through the lens of John the Baptist today drives home a
key point.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Who are you?’ Is the very first question John is asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Let’s be clear, they know his name, they have heard about him,
but they want to know more – who, at the deepest level, are you?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Before we look at that question, and how John replies, the
passage began with an assertion of the identity of John the Baptist as narrated
by John the Evangelist, in the Prologue to his Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is who John is: he is sent by God; his name is John - a name
which means ‘God is gracious’ - rather than his father’s name Zechariah, as
custom would have had it; he is a witness - no more, no less - and he testifies
to the light, so that all might believe through that light, and not through
him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Apart from the clear statement that<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> John is not the light</i> he is defined in the positive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is who John is; this is his identity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Contrast that with what he says of himself when he is subject to
the interrogation of the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem: I am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> the Messiah; I am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> Elijah; I am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> the prophet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Who the heck are you then?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And we see, John is ready to declare his identity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘This is what I say of myself, ‘I am the voice of one crying out
in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord”’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Even then he is quoting someone else; it’s what the prophet
Isaiah said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So John identifies himself solely in relation to the Coming One:
Christ, Messiah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s entirely of a piece with his declaration in St John’s Gospel
when he says of Jesus, ‘he must increase, but I must decrease’ (John 3.30)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In other words, the Christian life s one that allows Christ to
shine through, undistorted by our petty rivalries, fantasies and jealousies but
rather enhanced by our unique gifts and our faith and love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Of course, this is not just about John however important he is in
the story of the Coming of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What the Gospel points us to is what John the Baptist points us
to the profound question for us all to contemplate: who is Jesus Christ?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">St John’s Gospel tells us: He is the very fullness of the
presence of God: the Eternal Word from the beginning; in him is life; he is the
light to enlighten all human lives; he is the Word made Flesh; he is the
bringer of grace and truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, John the Baptist’s ‘I am not…’ declarations provide a
contrast with the ‘I am…’ declarations of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I am the Bread of Life (John 6.35); I am the Light of the World
(8.12); I am the door of the sheepfold (10.7); I am the Good Shepherd (10.11);
I am the Resurrection and the Life (11.17);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (14.6) I am the true Vine (15.5).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In declaring his identity as ‘I am…’ Jesus identifies himself
with the Divine Name of God revealed to Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM’ (Exodus 3.14)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And when Jesus says, ‘before Abraham was I am’ (8.58) he is
declaring his identity as the Eternal Son of God, before all time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So who are you? What is your identity?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Gospel calls each man, woman and child to find their identity
as fundamentally rooted in Christ, our entry point into the life of the Holy
Trinity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For when our identity is shaped on him then the salvation of our
souls is made possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That shaping of Christian identity begins at our baptism and is
shaped by our spiritual lives, that is growing in prayer and devotion; by our
lives of love and service to those in need around us; an supremely by the
sacraments, those channels of God’s grace, especially the Eucharist, what we
are doing now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In that way of life we become who we seek to be: children of God,
who live a life directed towards the Beloved and hear his call.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The word ‘martyr’ means witness, and to be a martyr means a deep
identification with Jesus Christ such that we even go to the cross with him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In 2015 Islamic State beheaded 21 men on a beach in Libya,
because they were, in their murderers’ words, ‘People of the Cross, followers
of the hostile Egyptian Church’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As they died each called out, ‘Jesus, help me’. That itself says
that their identity <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was with the
crucified Lord. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And on that beach the twenty first captive was not Egyptian. He
was Ghananian man called Matthew Ayariga. Because he was not Egyptian he might
have been spared, yet when asked ‘who are you?’ he simply replied,</span> ‘t<span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">heir God is my God’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The witness of John the Baptist, also beheaded for his fidelity
to Christ and the witness of the martyrs spurs us on to claim our identity in
Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Who are you? I am a Christian.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-34970021541285832742023-12-04T10:57:00.000-08:002023-12-04T10:57:29.131-08:00'My words will not pass away' - A sermon for Advent Sunday<p><b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Isaiah
64.1-9</span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> O that you would
tear open the heavens and come down</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">1
Corinthians 1.3-9 </span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We are
waiting for your Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mark
13.33-37</span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> If he comes
unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">+</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It's becoming almost painful, and certainly more
and more upsetting, to see and hear the news day after day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You don’t need me to list what those things are<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I suspect a newsfeed on a phone may well have
pinged in some more bad news even as we are here this morning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The news and events at home and abroad and
globally, are profoundly disturbing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It leaves us with questions: about human nature;
about God; about the nature, purpose and destiny of Creation itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And is our faith silent on these questions? No.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Are human beings irredeemably doomed? No.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Has God abandoned us to our self-induced fate?
No.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Can the Good News still be proclaimed - and
received - in a dark, frightening and forbidding world? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes. It most certainly can.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Today’s passage from St Mark’s Gospel gives us
the pointers for the hope that is promised in Jesus Christ, who says<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">24</span></sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> ‘But in those days, after that suffering,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">the
sun will be darkened,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the moon will not give its light,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">25</span></sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> and the stars will be falling from heaven,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the powers in the heavens will be
shaken.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Those words are not words of upbeat boosterism
or naïve optimism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">They are stark words, full of foreboding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The mistake of the world, our of culture, of
those who do not believe, or ourselves when we’re feeling fragile, is to think,
‘that’s it: we are all doomed’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The mistake of our world and culture is not to
read on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes, Jesus is speaking in dramatic terms about
how the world feels in the depths of despair. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It is a depth of despair and pain that is an all
too real reality for so many people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yet in the midst of that Christ is present and
is coming.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Master is present to the world, and those
who are awake to him will be alert to receive him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There is an invitation here not to be despairing
but quite the opposite, to be trusting and recalled to faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The invitation: are you ready to commit to
Christ, ever more deeply, in trust and faith?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That in itself is a good message for this Season
of Advent: be renewed in trust and faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Today’s Gospel asks us, ‘when all is stripped
away, what is left to us?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One day all of the joys, goods, pleasures, and
accomplishments of this world will be taken from us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">At your funeral, and mine, almost certainly
these words will be used: ‘The Lord gives and the Lord has taken away, blessed
be the name of the Lord’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">All we have is grace, for life is a gift in the
first place that is not ours to play with.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As the prophet Isaiah says in our first reading,
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></sup></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">8</span></sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we are the clay, and you are our potter;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we are all the work of your hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The signs of the times tell us that our efforts,
under their own steam, in contravention of God’s word, are doomed to lead to
what we see in our world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lives lived in accordance with God’s will and
purpose, for men, women and children and for the whole creation - of which we
are a part, not apart – is what we must commit to at all times and in all
places, especially in the darkness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The culture that says ‘it’s all about me’, ‘I am
the master of my own destiny’, ‘I am immortal’ is a culture of death, darkness
and despair; that’s a culture that won’t see beyond a collapse into nothingness
and absurdity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Gospel culture that says ‘my existence is
first about God’, ‘God is the Creator and sustainer of the Creation where I
find myself’, ‘I am mortal, dust of the earth, to which I shall return’ - that
is a culture of life, of hope, of joy, of assurance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Christian Gospel has so much more to offer
our dark, cold, despairing world than the voices we hear around us that
airbrush God out of the picture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When we see or hear the news, let us not allow
the darkness to collapse in on us, but offer the darkness to be transformed by
the light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Season of Advent speaks, amongst many other
rich themes, of the dawning light, the light revealed in the true light Jesus
Christ, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For
in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in
the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1.4,5)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, we
look elsewhere; we look beyond to the steadfast love of God, which brought the
entire universe into existence from nothing, which sustains it even now, and
which will one day draw us to a life and a joy beyond it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Out of
destruction and desolation God has the capacity to renew and refresh: just look
to the Cross on which he died, and from which we now proclaim him, Risen,
Ascended, Glorified!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And may
the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-37660030921230984372023-11-13T09:47:00.000-08:002023-11-13T09:47:44.867-08:00Wake up; shine out; come in<p><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Centra No1"; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">Wisdom
of Solomon 6.12-16</span></b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Centra No1"; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"> Wisdom is found by
those who look for her</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white;">1
Thessalonians 4.13-18</span></b><span style="background: white;"> Do not grieve
about those who have who in Jesus</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><b><span style="background: white;">Matthew
25.1-13</span></b><span style="background: white;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor
the hour</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Keep awake therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy;">+</span><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This evening’s gospel reading is both familiar
and uncomfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Perhaps it is familiar because the parable of
the wise and foolish bridesmaids is one that can easily be visualised. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Ten bridesmaids with their oil fuelled lamps;
five have got enough oil and five haven’t, and on the stroke of midnight, when
the lookout calls that the Bridegroom is coming five are ready to go and meet
him, and five are not.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It’s the subject of the great Advent hymn,
‘Wake, O wake!’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Wake,
O wake! With tidings thrilling<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">the
watchmen all the air are filling,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">arise, Jerusalem, arise!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Midnight
strikes! No more delaying,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">'The
hour has come!' we hear them saying,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">'where are ye all, ye virgins wise?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Bridegroom comes in sight,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">raise high your torches bright!'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 108.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Alleluia!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The wedding song swells loud and strong:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">go forth and join the festal throng. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">(New English Hymnal,
16, Philipp Nicolai 1556-1608, tr R C Burkett 1864-1935)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That is a stirring and inspiring hymn.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It envisions the Church as the bride (cf Ephesians
5:22-33), and her children, the baptised, as the Bridesmaids who hear the call
of the watchmen, those prophets who are the lookouts, who see and point out the
coming Bridegroom, who is Christ himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That evokes a vision of the Book of Revelation:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">After
this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from
every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
(Revelation 7.9)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">There is the Church, in all her diversity
living and departed, saints and martyrs, gathered around the Bridegroom, the
Lamb of God, Jesus Christ; the Church witnesses to the light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The hour has come! At the wedding feast at
Cana Jesus tells his Blessed Mother, my hour has not yet come, but now the hour
is here, the Bridegroom comes, bringing the wine of the kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Centra No1;">So we bridesmaids then raise are torches, our
lanterns filled with oil, praising the Lord and join the festal throng of the Church
throughout the ages to the wedding banquet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What a glorious and rich vision that is!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is lovely to contemplate that, as Jesus
says as he begins the parable, ‘the kingdom of heaven will be like this’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">But that is also what makes it an
uncomfortable parable to hear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">If so, the kingdom of heaven challenges us
because the foolish bridesmaids were not ready and, despite having the extra
time granted to them - the bridegroom was late - they did not gain admission to
the banquet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This sits ill at ease with contemporary
sensibilities around inclusion and is hard to hear, surely, we assume, everyone
will be admitted to the kingdom of heaven? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This parable contains invitation to all, in
that way it is thoroughly inclusive; but it also contains judgement: not everyone
gets in to the banquet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Likewise it seems unfair, but all ten
bridesmaids were similarly equipped.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">They had their lanterns and no one was denied
oil – it is that the foolish bridesmaids just didn’t replenish the oil that was
there for them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is a theme of some of the parables in St
Matthew’s gospel: the foolish rule themselves out of attending the banquet,
like the man who thought he could be admitted to another wedding banquet
without the garment the guests wear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Sop this parable is about openness
to grace: grace is the oil that fills the lanterns of our faith as an unmerited
and boundless gift to us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We don’t enter the banquet on our own terms:
conversion of life, vigilant expectation is part and parcel of being a follower
of Christ the Bridegroom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What’s then the measure of the wise bridesmaid-disciple?
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It could be summed up like this: wake up; shine
out; come in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In our discipleship we will get drowsy, we
will doze off: that speaks of our human frailty and sinfulness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Whilst we will doze off, the wise bridesmaid will
wake up ready and prepared: ‘Wake, O wake!’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As St Paul writes in his letter to the Romans:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">…you
know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For
salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far
gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on
the armour of light; (Romans 13.11-12)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The hour is here.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As we've seen, at another wedding feast, the one at Cana,
Jesus said to his Blessed Mother ‘my hour has not yet come’. Then to the woman
at the well, ‘the hour is coming’ (John 4.21,23; cf also 5.25,28), then as he
looks to his Passion, ‘the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified’
(John 12.27) and then at the last supper ‘Father, the hour has come’ (John
17.1).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The hour is here! Wake up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And then shine out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What is the newly baptised person told as they
are handed a candle lit from the Paschal Candle of Easter?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">‘Shine as a light in the world to the glory of
God the Father’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We are to be the lamp that bears the light of
Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The oil that replenishes us is the grace of
Christ; in this way we share the life of the Church and inhabit the heavenly
city.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is the mystery of what the vision of
Revelation describes: ‘And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband’.
(Revelation 21.2)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Wake up; shine out and, now, come in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Finally let us come to the banquet now -
vigilant, expectant and prepared - for in this banquet of the Eucharist, we
have a foretaste of the banquet of heaven, we replenish the lamps of our lives
with the Bread of Life and Wine of the Kingdom, Christ’s body and blood, and we
grow in wisdom.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Blessed are those who are invited to the
marriage banquet of the Lamb. <o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-35247105789843850102023-10-31T09:31:00.002-07:002023-10-31T09:31:26.046-07:00Alone and together in grief<p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Wisdom 3.1-9; Luke 24.13-16, 28-35</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Over recent weeks I have been struck more than
ever about the nature of grief and how different people and different
communities and cultures deal with grief.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">With our Bible readings this evening we can
reflect on the personal and the shared nature of grief and bereavement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I have been pondering how some people who are
bereaved want to keep themselves to themselves; others need to gather people
around them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Some people want to steer well clear of a
bereaved person and comfort themselves by saying grief is private and they
don’t want to intrude.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Others, possibly out of their own needs,
almost smother the bereaved with attention and don’t give space for grief and
sadness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Some grieving people don’t want the name of
their loved one mentioned such is the pain, and others feel the inability of
others to speak the name of the beloved more painful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I think we can conclude that grief and
bereavement is a complex business, because we human beings, in our living and
loving, are complex too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Perhaps you recognise something in what I have
just been describing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Anything I have just said could be said by any
bereavement counsellor or close observer of human nature.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So what might the Church have to say about the
subject of grief and bereavement?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I want to suggest that what we find throughout
the Bible, and in the teaching and practice of the Church, is both reality
about the pain and sadness of grief because of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ,
that is to say that he shared our human experience as one of us, and also the
conviction of hope and purpose rooted in the resurrection of Christ, that he
was raised from the dead, thus meaning that death can have no enduring grip on
us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So what this service of remembering our loved
ones, in a service of hope and prayer, is recognising is both the pain of loss
and the hope of looking forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Our first reading speaks of the conviction
that those who have died are not abandoned into nothingness, but rest in the
hands of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Their identity and personality, that was given
to them before they were formed in their mother’s womb, is nurtured and sealed
in God’s enduring love and presence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Our second reading is more nuanced. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It speaks of two disciples of Jesus whose hearts
are weighed down, drained out with grief, sadness and disappointment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Yet their hearts are renewed and ‘set on fire’,
as they put it, when they come to understand precisely the power and presence
of Jesus Christ with them in their grief.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is telling that there were two of them;
there is nothing more painful than grief combined with loneliness, and nothing
more comforting than knowing that you are not on this journey alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In this service we are able both to grieve
quietly and personally, as we will enact in the lighting of individual candles,
but also we come together to say that grief is a common experience, in the
sense that, first, it is not rare and, second, it is a shared experience, one
we have in common.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We will see that in the flames of the candles
burning together.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">‘No one’ the great priest and poet John Donne
reminds us ‘is an lsland entire of itself’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And he continues:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">every
man <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">is
a piece of the continent, a part of the main…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">any
man's death diminishes me, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">because
I am involved in mankind. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And
therefore never send to know for whom <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">the
bell tolls; it tolls for thee. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">(MEDITATION
XVII, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">There is a close fellowship in life and death
and grief.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The bonds of love forged in life are not
broken by death, for love endures all things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As we remember our loved ones in hope and
prayer may they remain in our memories and hearts as we continue to entrust
them into the loving hands of God who promises, through his Son, Jesus Christ,
abundance of life today and in the life of the world to come.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-9692025211664090732023-10-31T09:29:00.005-07:002023-10-31T09:29:26.104-07:00You shall be holy<p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-weight: bold;">Leviticus 19.1-2, 15-18</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> Be
holy as I am the Lord am holy</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 Thessalonians 2.1-8 </span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seek
to please God who knows our hearts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matthew 22.34-end</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> The
commandments of love<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
(Leviticus 19.2)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To a
modern ear, including many contemporary Christian ears, the word ‘holiness’ is
a bit of a taboo.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
cynical, jaded, disenchanted viewpoint twists what holiness is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
an insult when you’re called ‘holier than thou’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To
talk about holiness and being holy sounds to many as if we are talking about
something removed from reality or like we have a superiority complex over the
messiness and mirk of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If
we think being holy is about being removed from the world or looking down our
noses at others then we’re far from the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Bible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Bible’s view of holiness is clear: God is holy and he calls his people to be
holy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
is nowhere clearer than in the book of Leviticus, from which we heard a passage
this<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>morning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In a
nutshell Leviticus, an underrated and all too often ignored book, is saying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">first encounter the holy God, then act as a
holy person in the world</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
can, and should, aspire to be holy so as to engage with the world and transform
it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
a good moment to consider this because on Wednesday (1<sup>st</sup> November) we
celebrate All Saints’ Day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Holiness
is not threatened by the world, but the world is threatened by holiness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That
is why those who aspire to be holy are so often disdained by the world, why
Christians who seek to reflect God’s holiness are mocked: saints are agents of
transformation not simply content with the way the world works.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
without an appreciation of the holiness of God we get nowhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
when people act holy without knowing the holiness of God that they become
‘holier than thou’. Ironically too this is when humanists and atheists trumpet their
slogan ‘Good without God’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
we act under our own steam and not God’s then we are transmitting our own egos
and preferences not God’s: human goodness is rooted in God’s holiness<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Holiness
starts in humility before God, and the starting point of humility is kneeling
before the holiness and majesty of God in worship and adoration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That’s
why effort goes into creating beautiful holy spaces, like this place, into
beautiful dignified worship, as we do here, so that we cultivate a sense of the
holiness of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So worship
is as much about apprehension as comprehension; in other words, it is about
catching a vision of the holiness of God, not reducing it to a social club
worshipping a false god of community ideals or worthy acts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
our liturgy we find this expressed in the words of the Sanctus and Benedictus,
two short Biblical texts in the heart of the Eucharistic Prayer:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Heaven and earth are full of your
glory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hosanna in the highest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hosanna in the highest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That
text says that the holiness of God fills heaven and earth; God, whose holiness
infuses our actions to be a blessing when we come in the name of the Holy God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
prayer continues, ‘Lord, you are holy indeed, the source of all holiness…’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
holiness spills out from worship into our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That
is what Jesus says to the lawyer in their encounter in the gospel reading.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
lawyer asks Jesus what the greatest commandment is and he gets answers from the
law; the Law of Moses. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">First,
Jesus answers by quoting from Deuteronomy, in the Old Testament, “You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then
he answers by quoting from Leviticus, also the Old Testament, “You shall love
your neighbour as yourself.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Holiness
is worked out, and revealed, in living out the commandments, first – as
Deuteronomy points us to - in adoration of God, that is in worship, and
secondly – as Leviticus points us to - in love of neighbour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Biblical view is clear that worship and ethics are not separate but integrated
so that, </span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">“holiness and purity are
only achieved when right living and right worship are bound together.” (p116)</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Right
worship is worshipping God as revealed in the life of Jesus Christ in the power
of the Holy Spirit, and in the wisdom of the Church we are given the means to
do that, most supremely in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Right
living is shown in justice, integrity and love: in being just in our
judgements; not badmouthing others; not hating them, even those who might be
worthy of our hatred.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
teaching is embedded in the scriptures and Jesus Christ draws it out and lives
it, for he is not just a gifted teacher or guru but the presence of the Holy
God in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
the life of Christ we see love and compassion that reaches even to those who mock
him, betray him and would have him killed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
call to holiness begins in humility and calls us to look beyond ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To
look beyond ourselves - first to God and then to neighbour - means that we
don’t become self-consumed by our own anxieties and obsessions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rabbi
Julia Neuberger reminds us that the Hebrew of Leviticus 19.18 is best
translated, ‘love your neighbour as you yourself would like to be loved’
(Address to the Legal Service 2017 at Southwark Cathedral).</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In other words, love and appreciation of self
begins in the loving of God and love shown to our neighbour not the other way
round; give your neighbour the love you desire not the love you have for
yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
sounds on one level that we have moved from talk of holiness to talking about
ethics. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
therein lies the point of today’s gospel, the two are bound together: love of
neighbour that is always rooted in adoration of God; this is where holiness is
to be found.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
let’s be bold about seeking to be holy! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not
because we are superior but because we are humble enough to acknowledge the
holiness of God and to know that love of neighbour is not about us, but is our
response, in love, to the holiness of God, whereby we are called ‘holy’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You
shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-8119918167395335692023-10-10T09:40:00.004-07:002023-10-10T09:40:46.731-07:00Wisdom will come into your heart<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Wisdom will come into
your heart,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">and knowledge will be
pleasant to your soul;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">prudence will watch
over you;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">and understanding
will guard you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">(Proverbs 2.10-11)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Deep in the heart of the Old Testament, the
Hebrew Scriptures, is what is known as the ‘Wisdom Literature’ of the Bible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">These books include Job, the Psalms – recited
at morning and evening prayer every day - Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs and
the Book of Proverbs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">A name very much associated with this Wisdom
tradition is King Solomon, and indeed the Book of Proverbs is attributed to
him, as is the Song of Songs, known also as the Song of Solomon.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">These books place the concept of wisdom front
and centre.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In contemporary culture it often feels as if
wisdom is too ponderous and not ‘with it’ enough to get a hearing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In an information-based world what is the
place of wisdom?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In a world that quantifies, measures and is
empirical what is the place of wisdom?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is an ancient question and in a world
where Artificial Intelligence appears increasingly to be the source of all
information and knowledge, what is the place of wisdom?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It looks as though we live in a world where
information is limitless, actual knowledge is thin and wisdom is absent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Wisdom is to be sought not in the
superficialities of the world but in its depth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Wisdom enables us to use information and
knowledge in a way that is measured and full of care, not fleeting and not
cheapened.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">All the information in the world can only get
we human beings so far.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Knowledge, the means by which we know what to
do with the information, will get us some of the way, but it is only wisdom
that enables the art of human interaction and what really matters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The task of philosophy – the love of wisdom,
as it literally means – is a noble one that takes us on the journey to wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">But much of philosophy has become
introspective, inward looking, playing with linguistics more than the art of
living the Good Life wisely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Much philosophy has started consuming itself,
much like the mythical Ouroboros, the serpent of ancient Egypt and Greece
represented with its tail in its mouth, continually devouring itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What the Biblical witness present is the
pursuit of wisdom that looks outwards, beyond itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It says that ‘human wisdom’ is an oxymoron,
all wisdom is rooted in God and the human task is to discern it, uncover it, be
attentive to it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Wisdom is a treasure to be sought, not mined
from within ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And the Biblical account of wisdom is
practical.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Wisdom is about the art of living well, in
relation to God and neighbour. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That’s why Proverbs speaks of wisdom <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">leading to us understanding righteousness
and justice and equity, every good path</i> (Proverbs 2.9).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That wisdom AI cannot teach. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">AI can inform you about, but not shape you in,
the intimacy of human relationships - husband and wife, parent and child,
friend to friend; AI cannot tell you why the sight of the stars at night
gladdens your heart and prompts you to contemplate the mysteries of the
universe and creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is the wisdom we need, and it is a
treasure to be sought from the ultimate source of wisdom, which is God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Let us use the tools of information and
knowledge of course: they open up our world and inform us: but let us never
abandon the pursuit of God’s wisdom, which is deeper, high and broader than all
our knowing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Put another way, from our second reading, ‘the
world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live
for ever’ (1 John 2.17).<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-24046135262855425262023-10-08T08:07:00.003-07:002023-10-08T08:07:49.397-07:00A song of the vineyard<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Isaiah
5.1-7</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> Against the Lord’s
vineyard</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Philippians
3.4b-14</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> I run towards the
goal of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Matthew
21.33-43</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> This is the
landlord’s heir: come, let us kill him<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">‘Turn now, O God of
hosts, look down from heaven;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">behold and tend this
vine; preserve what your right hand has planted’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">(Psalm 80.14)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The thread that connects our Old Testament and
Gospel readings is the vineyard and in the scriptures the vineyard is an image
of Israel. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And let’s be clear: this is not about the modern
State of Israel or Jewish people today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is about the biblical, House of Israel, God’s
first-called People.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As our first reading made clear: ‘for the
vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel’ (Isaiah 5.1-7).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">But all is not well in the vineyard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The prophet Isaiah is issuing a warning to the
house of Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">He is saying that the vineyard, that God gives
out of love, is meant to be a fruitful place, because the Lord has cleared the
stones from the soil, made it fertile and hewed out a wine vat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The vineyard is ready to flourish and be
fruitful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">All is not well in the vineyard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Lord, Israel’s lover, ‘expected [the
vineyard] to yield grapes, but instead it yielded wild grapes’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What’s going on? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The prophet says that Israel has not tended
the vineyard as it should; the cultivated grapes have been neglected and gone
wild, fertility has leached out of the soil.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is a tale of the neglect of the gift that
God has given; oh, so human.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">You might see parallels with human care of the
creation: neglect, exploitation and desolation is ruining the vineyard
entrusted to humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">But this is more specific.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Israel, in Isaiah’s vision, is a sign to the
nations of the One True God’s desire to be in relationship with a people which
is faithful to him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Israel is a microcosm of what the whole human
race is to be: a sign of the faithfulness of God, that the people who walk in
darkness can indeed see a great light: Israel is to be ‘the Galilee of the
nations’ (Isaiah 9.1).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Israel awaits expansion, when the hems of its
tents are stretched out, to embrace even the Gentiles (cf Isaiah 54.2).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Isaiah is asking if Israel is worthy to be the
sole tenant of the vineyard?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is this image that Jesus picks up in his
parable of the wicked tenants of the vineyard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">He is making the same point as Isaiah declares
and describes the vineyard in the same way as Isaiah does.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">But Jesus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">transforms</i>
the metaphor of the vineyard, where all is not well, to tell us of himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is not just that not all is well in the
vineyard, but the vineyard is mistreated and neglected; instead of being
fruitful it is filled with violence, covetousness and greed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">He develops Isaiah’s point that, ‘The Lord
expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!’ (Isaiah
5.7)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus is saying that the tenants of the
vineyard have consistently mistreated it and tend to violence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Who are the tenants? Well, the chief priests,
elders of the people and Pharisees conclude, correctly, that they are the
wicked tenants Jesus is talking about. (Matthew 21.45)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And they are about to lose the vineyard for
good: ‘Therefore I tell you’ says Jesus, ‘the kingdom of God will be taken from
you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom’ (Matthew
21.43)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is where our Biblical antennae should be
twitching.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Vineyards. They have vines. Who said, ‘I am
the True Vine and my Father is the vinedresser’? Who said, ‘I am the vine; you
are the branches?’ (John 15.1,5)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Of course! The True Vine growing in the
vineyard is Christ, the only Son.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The son, thrown out of the vineyard and killed
by the usurpers is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is sent to the vineyard
and is crucified outside the city walls.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Yet this will fulfil the scriptures, ‘The
stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’ (Matthew 21.42
quoting Psalm 118.23)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">God builds on the foundation of his Son who is
despised and rejected, expelled from the vineyard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And there our Biblical and ecclesial, that is
things relating to the church, our Biblical and ecclesial antennae twitch
further.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus describes the Apostle Peter as the rock
on which he will build his Church (Matthew 16.18)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This Church is the household of God, described
in the St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians as being<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone’. (Ephesians 2.19,20) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We are now entrusted as the Church, the New
Israel, with custody of the vineyard, as Jesus said to the Chief Priests and
elders of the people, ‘‘Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken
from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom’
(Matthew 21.43).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The vineyard is redeemed, bought back, by the
blood of Christ, the Son who is slain. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As the grape is crushed to make the juice from
which comes the wine, so Christ’s blood is shed for the world and to give birth
to the Church, his Body, to inhabit the vineyard and to make it fruitful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The challenge now for us, in the vineyard of
the Church, is to remain faithful to Christ: to be ‘a people who produce the
fruits of the kingdom’; yearning to be holy; expanding our catholic vision;
filled with apostolic zeal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">May our prayer be, in the words of the Psalm
today, ‘Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven; behold and tend this
vine; preserve what your right hand has planted’ (Psalm 80.14)<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-29278682936377773852023-10-05T04:25:00.004-07:002023-10-05T04:25:39.550-07:00On Beauty, Goodness & Truth<p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">‘To them you are like a singer of love songs, one who has a
beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; they hear what you say, but
they will not do it. When this comes—and come it will!—then they shall know
that a prophet has been among them.’ (Ezekiel 33.32,33)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What Ezekiel is clearly saying is that you can sing a
beautiful song that pleases the ears but doesn’t touch the heart; but a day is
coming when they will hear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">‘Beauty’, Dostoevsky says, ‘will save the world’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That sounds naïve, but actually is rooted in a deep
philosophical conviction, indeed when beauty, goodness and truth when served
together they are attractive and compelling.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The beauty of which Dostoevsky speaks is beauty that
transcends aesthetics, that is to say it’s not just a matter of taste. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is beauty that is integrated complex and intricate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is beauty that is not dismembered. A labelled diagram of
a rose may be accurate but it is not beautiful as beholding a rose is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is beauty that inspires the best in us, that touches our
deep aspirations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beauty</span></i><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">goodness</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">truth</i> are known in philosophy and theology as the Transcendentals,
along with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unity</i>, which, as it were,
binds them together.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These are a great value and are baptised in the Christian
tradition, in other words given a new perspective and freshness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As an illustration of this, on my recent visit to Romania I
saw churches that were painted with frescoes both inside and outside.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A favourite scheme was one that looks very typical in
Christian art: on the top row Christ and his Blessed Mother, on the row below,
the apostles, below them other saints, below them the prophets of the Old
Testament and below them, as a philosophical bedrock the pre-Christian
philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras and such like.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They spoke of beauty, truth, goodness and unity, and these
transcendentals are fulfilled in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is what St Paul recognised when his life was flooded
with the radiant light of the beauty, goodness, truth and unity of Christ on
the road to Damascus (cf Acts 26.12-18).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That literally dazzled and blinded him; his eyes opened to a
new appreciation of the realities of the world as seen through the lens of
Christ and his Body the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ezekiel said, ‘To them you are like a singer of love songs,
one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; they hear what
you say, but they will not do it. When this comes—and come it will!—then they
shall know that a prophet has been among them.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The moment Paul, soaked in the philosophical tradition as a
Greek and the prophetic tradition as a Jew, now heard beauty, goodness and
truth and Christ the one who binds all together and completes the whole.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May we all continue to hear that ‘new song’ that attracts,
converts, renews and saves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-32220423932178228202023-10-05T04:16:00.003-07:002023-10-05T04:16:54.044-07:00Harvest: Giving & Receiving<p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%;">Deuteronomy 8:7-18</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%;">
Lord God bringing us into a good land</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2 Corinthians 9:6-15</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
God loves a cheerful giver<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Luke 17:11-19</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
Christ heals ten lepers <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(2 Corinthians 9.7)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Why
give? What motivates us to give? What makes us cheerful in giving?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Harvest
festival is a time when many people are moved to give.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There
is a close relationship between giving and receiving, because today we give
special thanks for what we receive from the land and respond through giving
harvest offerings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">St
Francis of Assisi, in the classic prayer attributed to him, says that it is in
‘giving that we receive’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That
opens up the possibility that receiving prompts us to give.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Perhaps
that is why giving is something that we tend to do instinctively at harvest
time, because Intentionally reflecting on the abundance of creation – however
much humanity seems hellbent on wrecking it – shows us that we are always the
recipients of a gift in our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Being
aware that we are, first, recipients of a gift is at the heart of the spiritual
life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
existence of the world and universe is itself a gift to us; and a gift implies
a Giver.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
point of all the language of creation in the Biblical witness is that all that
we know, all that we have, is first and foremost, an unmerited gift that we
have been given by the great Giver, that is God our creator.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Life
itself is a gift. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Not
one person here, nor ever has lived, has determined that they would be born
outside the gift they are through their parents.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This
is what we call ‘grace’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Grace
is an unmerited gift, a gift that you cannot work for or strive for, because it
is the gift of the Giver: God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Each
of our readings today has opened up the theme of unmerited and freely given
grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
Deuteronomy an abundant land, where there is no want or scarcity is described,
which is God’s gift to his people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is a land that prefigures the abundance of the New Creation in Christ, life as
the baptised in the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
there is a trenchant reminder that reinforces this point about grace and the
gift of God:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Do not say to yourself, ‘My power
and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord
your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may
confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.
(Deuteronomy 8.17-18)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Grace
is not earned or worked for: it is a gift to be responded to.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Second Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians takes this point further:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And God is able to provide you with
every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you
may share abundantly in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9.8)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s
grace; a gift to be responded to, not under compulsion but willingly and
cheerfully.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
pattern emerges: receiving prompts gratitude which frees us to give.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Or
at least that’s the theory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Gospel reading today holds a mirror up to us all in our response to the
blessing, healing and abundance of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Am
I a person of gratitude? Do I willingly and joyfully respond to the gift of
life, to the abundance of creation, to the grace I receive in my life day by
day?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
gospel reading could be heard in a very moralistic way: remember to say thank
you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s
not a bad message, but there’s something richer going on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There
were ten lepers and one came back to give thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This
is illustrating the Biblical principle of giving known as a tithe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
tithe is the gift of a tenth of what is received: ten lepers, one responded
with gratitude, that is the tithe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Serious,
sacrificial discipleship works on the principle of the tithe and is a feature
of many churches to this day: giving a tenth of what I receive in my income or abundance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Why
might I give generously? Because I receive generously, not just things,
trinkets to acquire, but the deepest most fundamental gift of life itself,
sustained by grace and the abundance of creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But
our giving is not just measurable in a tithe, it is even more it is
surrendering our very selves to Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
deepest gift is the gift of God’s life to us and us to God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Eucharist is the place of that divine exchange and makes sense of all we say
about receiving and giving, for a gift is offered in the sacrament of the
altar, itself a channel of grace, to which we are invited to respond: Christ
himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We
give items at harvest festival that we know will make a difference to others,
which in itself is a reward to us; the art of the spiritual life is to give
and, in the words of a prayer of St Ignatius of Loyola, ‘not to ask for reward,
except that of knowing that we are doing God’s will’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">May
this harvest thanksgiving prompt us to consider <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i> we give, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i> we give
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what</i> we give, for the benefit of
all people, for the mission and ministry of the Church and, with that, in
response to the God, the Giver of all good things, who sustains us in life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So
to God the Blessed Trinity - our Maker, Redeemer and Sustainer - Father, Son
and Holy Spirit be all honour, thanksgiving, adoration and praise to the end of
the ages. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-83842398274125576902023-09-20T03:52:00.003-07:002023-09-20T03:52:20.967-07:00Forgive us, as we forgive<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Exodus
14.19-31 </span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Romans
14.1-12</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Alive or dead, we belong to the Lord<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matthew
18.21-35</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> To be forgiven, you must forgive<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">‘Lord,
if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The whole concept of forgiveness raises questions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the gospel Peter is asking for more details about what it
might involve when he says ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against
me, how often should I forgive?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He accepts the premise that we should forgive, but is
unclear about how that works.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter hasn’t yet grasped that forgiveness in the life of the
Church is a reflection of the boundless capacity of God’s forgiveness:
forgiveness that bubbles up from God’s love and is a reflection of his mercy,
tempered by justice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yet in a godless arena such as much of contemporary culture,
especially in the online environment, forgiveness appears to be a ludicrous or
naïve and is not rooted in any notion of divine forgiveness. Just look at X,
formerly known as Twitter, to see that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To recast Peter’s question, it is more likely to be, ‘What
do you mean I should forgive people who wrong me?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The prevailing dogma of secular minds is that no one has the
right to intrude on me, and if they do then I have no obligation to forgive them:
in fact, I have the right and expectation that I will withhold any sense of
forgiveness or healing of the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why should I forgive someone who has hurt me physically,
upset me emotionally or damaged me psychologically?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we frail mortals consider forgiveness, we tend to think
of it as a transaction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The transactional approach to forgiveness is to think it is
about winning and losing: if I forgive you, you have won, the classic ‘Zero-Sum
game’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But forgiveness is not about winners and losers, but about
finding the abundance of the life promised by Jesus Christ and the ‘glorious
liberty of the children of God’ (Romans 8.21).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of course, the word ‘give’ is at the heart of the word for-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">give</i>ness: a gift is something that is
not traded; a gift is not something to be measured and the gift of forgiveness
is free but not cheap.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If nothing else, in forgiving we let go of, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">give </i>over grievance, grudge and
grumpiness by releasing ourselves, as much as anyone, from an injury.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No longer is my life held captive by what another has done
to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is humane, brave and imaginative to forgive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So, Peter’s question actually is rather more enlightened
than how we deal with forgiveness today, when forgiveness is thought to involve
a loss of face, or loss of self-worth or identity and to be withheld.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But fundamentally this relates to the conviction that we
ourselves, through the boundless, redemptive love of Christ, are forgiven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we are forgiven we are released from the inhibitions of
people who carry the burden of guilt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is not just a therapeutic point but one of salvation of
our souls and union with the divine life of God: unforgiven we cannot see the
face of Christ; forgiven we reflect the face of Christ to the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Also, as last week’s gospel showed, what we do on earth has
an impact in heaven: ‘So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you,
if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’ (Matthew 18.35)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So the challenge of the gospel reading today is about the
seeking of forgiveness and how we forgive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A good starting point is to consider the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Forgive
us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Whether we asking the forgiveness of trespasses (whatever
exactly they are), or sins, (which, I think, we all know what they are), or
debts, which is the far better translation of the original Greek of the Lord’s
Prayer, the petition to our loving heavenly Father is forgive us as we forgive
others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we desire forgiveness, we believe absolution of our
sins and offences are forthcoming.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We first turn in humility - like the wayward, prodigal son -
back to the loving heart of the Father: ‘Father’ that son said ‘I have sinned
against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son’
Luke 15.21).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The father in the parable - an illustration of God our
forgiving, heavenly Father - stretched open his arms of forgiveness and
acceptance: you are worthy to be my child.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The value of a personal turn to the mercy and forgiveness of
God is invaluable and the bedrock of serious, determined discipleship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Sacrament of Penance, Confession, is the channel of
grace that enables us to confront our sin and need for forgiveness, and enables
us to be free to forgive others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sometimes I allude to it too obliquely, today I want to say
it directly: confession, personal confession, that is serious about being
forgiven is one of the great healing treasures Christ entrusted to the Church
through the apostle Peter who was taught by Christ the nature of forgiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is scary and demanding and specific, but grace bubbles up
and flows as we are restored to a right relationship with God from which flows
the possibility of right relationship with our neighbour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
world</span></i><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> thinks forgiveness is incomprehensible, bonkers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter</span></i><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
understands that the task of the Church is to forgive, and learnt that the
Church’s forgiveness must mirror the boundless forgiveness of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We</span></i><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
need to understand that when we seek the forgiveness of God we are forgiven in
Christ and, from that place of reconciliation, we are to be people who in turn
forgive without measure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So let us open our hearts to the God of forgiveness, life
and love to whom be all glory and praise through the ages of ages. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-13794737048241547922023-08-15T10:47:00.003-07:002023-08-15T10:50:39.893-07:00Fruits of the Resurrection: Our Lady's Assumption<p><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>A sermon for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, preached at The Ascension, Lavender Hill, SW11</i></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Apocalypse 11.19, 12.1-6,10</span></b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;">
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman adorned with the sun.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">1 Corinthians 15.20-26</span></b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
Christ will be brought to life as the first-fruits and then those who belong to
him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Luke 1.39-56</span></b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
The Almighty has done great things for me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Come, let us adore the King of
kings:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">today his Virgin Mother was taken
up to heaven.<a href="file:///C:/Users/abish/Dropbox/Croydon/Sermons/Assumption%20of%20the%20BVM%202023%20Lavender%20Hill%20v2%2013.8.23%20final.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 9pt;">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antiphon to the Invitatory Psalm for the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Divine Office Morning Prayer [Lauds]</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘I
look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to
come.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
closing phrase of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nicene Creed</i> is
the moment, in that great assertion of Christian belief, when we look forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Nicene Creed, to be recited shortly, tells us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who God is</i> - the Blessed and Undivided Trinity - and speaks of what
God <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">has done</i> from the Creation to Redemption
in the Passion and Resurrection of Christ; the Creed also tells of what God <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is doing </i>in the Church through the
operation of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Having
looked back and looking around us we can confidently look forward, forward to
the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To
look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come
is to say something very powerful too: it’s saying that the Resurrection of
Christ has an impact on our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Resurrection is not just something wonderful for Jesus that has precious little
to do with you or me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rather,
as one writer says, ‘The truth is that because of the bodily Resurrection of
Christ, all of the material world has been raised to a new level of being,
including our own souls and bodies.’<a href="file:///C:/Users/abish/Dropbox/Croydon/Sermons/Assumption%20of%20the%20BVM%202023%20Lavender%20Hill%20v2%2013.8.23%20final.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Resurrection of Christ smashes open the gates of death and hell and, as we
declare in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Te Deum</i>, ‘When thou
hadst overcome the sharpness of death: thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to
all believers.’ (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tu, devícto mortis
acúleo, aperuísti credéntibus regna cælórum</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
kingdom of heaven is open to believers to walk into because Christ is raised
from the dead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Whoever
believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live’ says the Lord, ‘and everyone
who lives and believes in me shall never die. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">John 11.25b, 26a</i>) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mary
is the true and exemplary believer: she ‘lives and believes’ in him then surely
as he promises shall ‘shall never die’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">From
her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fiat</i> - her words ‘let it be to me
according to thy word - to her standing patiently at the foot of the cross to
receive the dead body of her Son, Mary’s soul magnifies the Lord, her spirit
exults in God her saviour. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luke 1.46,47</i>)
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">She
bore him in her womb, she suckled him at her breast, she searched for him in
the temple; she pointed others constantly to him: Mary did great things in
service of her Son, and we can be sure in the words of her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Magnificat</i> that, the Lord has indeed done great things for her (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cf</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luke
1.49</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Bodily Assumption of Mary shows us that the Resurrection of Christ is a mystery
to be entered into not a phenomenon to be gazed at.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This
mystery we believe first to be entered by Mary herself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As
Eve walked with Adam out through the gates of the Garden of Eden after their
disobedience (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Genesis 3.24</i>) so
Christ, the New Adam, harrowed hell to lead the man and the woman, all
humanity, out of the gates of captivity and into life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This
he did through his Incarnation, ‘his saving Passion, his wondrous Resurrection
and Ascension’<a href="file:///C:/Users/abish/Dropbox/Croydon/Sermons/Assumption%20of%20the%20BVM%202023%20Lavender%20Hill%20v2%2013.8.23%20final.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mary,
the New Eve, plays her indispensable part through her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fiat</i>, her ‘yes’ to God spoken to the archangel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That
is Mary’s way as the true and exemplary believer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mary’s
Assumption into heaven is not from her own power but from precisely the
opposite; it is from her openness to God’s purpose to ‘unite all things in him,
things in heaven and things on earth’ (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ephesians
1.10b</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To
believe in the Assumption of Mary is first to believe in the power of the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ; to believe in the Assumption of Mary is to see the
human face of she who is raised, as Christ promised.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Recall
too that we see a foretaste of resurrection in the Raising of Lazarus (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">John 11.1-44</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But
Lazarus, whose body was decaying in the tomb, would die again, as do you and I,
as our spirits await the Resurrection at the Last Day to be joined to our
glorious transformed body in heaven (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cf 1
Corinthians 15.53</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Unlike
Lazarus, who was raised <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i>
Christ’s Resurrection, Mary’s body, we believe, did not suffer decay for she
was taken, body and soul, into heaven, for her Assumption comes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after</i> the Resurrection of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
this way she, not Lazarus, is the first of the children of God to experience
what Christ promises to all, described by St Paul in our second reading:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Just as all
men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them
in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of
Christ, those who belong to him. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1
Corinthians 15.22,23</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Christ
has been raised from the dead’ (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1
Corinthians 15.20)</i> and he shares that new life with us his children,
starting with his Mother, Mary, the Mother of Believers: she belongs to him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And
because you and I have been baptized into Christ’s death and Resurrection, the
power of his Resurrection is unleashed in us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Because
you and I have been baptized into Christ’s death and Resurrection we are now
part of his Mystical Body, the Church, in which Mary, his Mother and ours, is
‘adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with twelve stars on her head
for a crown’ (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apocalypse 12.1</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Lord did not allow her body to be subject to the decay that our bodies will
undergo after our death, but she was instead assumed body and soul into heaven,
through the gates opened by her Son in his mighty resurrection, and glorified
her body as Mother of the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So,
we can say ‘I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the
world to come’ looking forward to what Mary already enjoys in body and soul.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">May
Our Blessed Lady strengthen our faith and inspire and call us to join her and
her Son, with all the saints, in the kingdom of the Father.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Come, let us adore the King of
kings:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">today his
Virgin Mother was taken up to heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/abish/Dropbox/Croydon/Sermons/Assumption%20of%20the%20BVM%202023%20Lavender%20Hill%20v2%2013.8.23%20final.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 8pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 8pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">
From The Divine Office, Morning Prayer [Lauds], Antiphon to the Invitatory
Psalm for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. </span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/abish/Dropbox/Croydon/Sermons/Assumption%20of%20the%20BVM%202023%20Lavender%20Hill%20v2%2013.8.23%20final.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 8pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 8pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">
Fr Billy Swan, </span><a href="https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/renewing-faith-in-the-resurrection/?utm_source=activecampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ECOWrapUP_8/9"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 8pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/renewing-faith-in-the-resurrection/?utm_source=activecampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ECOWrapUP_8/9</span></a><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 8pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10.8.23</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/abish/Dropbox/Croydon/Sermons/Assumption%20of%20the%20BVM%202023%20Lavender%20Hill%20v2%2013.8.23%20final.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">
From the Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer III.</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-537155165737867532023-08-07T07:37:00.002-07:002023-08-07T07:37:40.846-07:00Transfiguration: identity fulfillment<p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Daniel 7.9,10,13,14</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Psalm 97 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">2 Peter 1.16-19 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Luke 9.28-36<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1 Medium"; font-size: 26.0pt; line-height: 107%;">+<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I wonder if you have seen either of the
blockbuster films of the summer? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Yes, I am talking about Barbie and
Oppenheimer!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I have to confess that I haven’t seen either
film, and to be honest, whilst I am interested in them I am unlikely to.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So why refer to them today when we celebrate
the Transfiguration of the Lord? After all this is a sermon not a film review.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Transfiguration of Lord is the liturgical
celebration of the event recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and, as we
heard today, of Luke as well as a first-hand witness statement from St Peter,
which made for our second reading today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That event, known as the Transfiguration, is a
wonderful and mystical theophany, a word meaning God-showing; so how could it
possibly relate to the showing of two Hollywood films?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Well there is something of a strange
connection between the two films and today’s celebration of the Transfiguration
of the Lord, and at the same time that connection helps us see some distinct
contrasts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">These connections and contrasts hinge on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">change</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">light</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Transfiguration of the Lord focuses on the
change of his appearance:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘And while Jesus
was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became
dazzling white.’ (Luke 9.29).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Barbie concept, I’m told, is that Barbie
is essentially a doll who can be anything she wants to be and can change
appearance and identity: the film amplifies that message by making the doll,
Barbie, into a real woman. That’s about change but not about Transfiguration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So what of light?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In the Transfiguration of the Lord there is a
dazzling light: this is the uncreated light of God who said in the beginning,
‘let there be light’. (Genesis 1.3)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Today is the anniversary of the first
detonation of Oppenheimer’s uranium bomb. It was the 6<sup>th</sup> August 1945
when the bomb - with about thirteen kilotons of force - was dropped on the
Japanese city of Hiroshima, home to over 280,000 men, women and children. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">An atomic explosion is first marked by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">light</i>, before the mushroom cloud.
Thirteen kilotons of force is very abstract, but when we learn that the light
of the bomb is comparable to the light of the sun, it brings it home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The light of the atomic bomb is destructive,
devastating and deadly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Oppenheimer came to regret his involvement but
his work, and the work of the Manhattan Project, was only ever going to end in
the darkest light imaginable.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What a contrast to the light of God. Yes, God
said in the beginning, ‘let there be light.’ But read on… ‘And God saw that the
light was good’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">St John tells us, ‘In Christ was life, and the
life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the
darkness has not overcome it.’ (John 1.4,5) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is the light ‘which gives light to
everyone.’ (John 1.9).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is the light and the glory revealed on
the Holy Mountain of the Transfiguration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The light of Christ shines in the darkness,
but does not bring darkness, like Oppenheimer’s ‘deadly toy’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The darkness does not and cannot ultimately
overcome the light of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As the psalm puts it so beautifully, ‘with
thee, O Lord, is the well of life, and in thy light, do we see light’. (Psalm
36.9)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It seems almost trivial now to return to
Barbie, but there is something important going on here too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is in how we conceive of what it means to
be human.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Barbie can be who she wants to be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Bear in mind that Barbie is a doll and not a
person, but the film and the messaging around it gives a particular
understanding of what it means to be human, an anthropology that is not what we
find in the gospels or what is revealed in the Transfiguration of the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Barbie does give a laudable message to women
and girls that they should not be inhibited or restrained by what they imagine
to be obstacles to living a fulfilled life, imposed by society or some men.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">But there is another message underlying the
Barbie view of being human that is more unsettling. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It suggests that the human body is like a
blank slate, or moulded plastic, onto which we write our own story, ideals and
aspirations, as if we are androgynous dolls who change who we are by changing
our outward appearance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This chimes with the tendency more and more to
see human identity split between body and spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is known as dualism – the idea that there
are two distinct or warring parts of being human: body against spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This idea has been around for a long time, and
something that Christianity resisted and resists.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That’s because the Christian vision of the
human person is a holistic, holy, one, where body and soul are one, both in this
life and in the resurrection: that’s why it matters that Jesus was raised
bodily from the dead, his spirit wasn’t ‘released’ from his body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">For the early Christians the struggle was
against Manichaeism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is a form of dualism that says that there
is a struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material
world of darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">For Manichees salvation is being lifted out of
this murky world and for them it was abhorrent to think that God would love the
world at all, and all the more that he might take on human flesh and die, in
order to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We see this in a new form today when we hear
people say ‘I am in the wrong body’ or when they despise the biology of their
body and seek to change it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This is a hugely contentious issue of our
times: I say this not to condemn, but to pity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Not to be at home in one’s body, or to despise
one’s own body - to go as far as physically changing it because of not being
comfortable with who we are - must be a hard thing to bear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Christians believe that God chose to make a
home in the human body, in the person of Jesus Christ, born of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, and who through the Holy Spirt dwells with us now: God is at home
in us, as he was at first at home in the womb of Mary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We believe that the body, as God gives it, is
a gift and to be cherished and honoured as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1
Corinthians 6.19).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So what then of the Transfiguration? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What does the Transfiguration say of who Jesus
Christ is and who we are called to be?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Transfiguration of the Lord shows a human
body at its most alive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Transfiguration is a not an identity
change but an identity fulfilment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus Christ is truly God; he is Son of God.
Jesus Christ is truly human; he is Son of Mary. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Out of the human body shines divine light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Your body, my body, the male body, the female
body, is most itself when shining with Divine Light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We see in the Transfiguration of the Lord that
the human body is at its most fulfilled when subsumed with Divine Light, a
light that illuminates who we are and does not destroy us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">At the Eucharist we come to be transfigured,
transformed, as we stretch out our hands to receive into our bodies the very
Body of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In so doing we are drawn to the Holy Mountain
shining out to the glory of God the Father, the one who says of Jesus Christ,
‘This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-27754919445169233972023-07-30T23:56:00.003-07:002023-07-30T23:56:18.813-07:00Seeking wisdom from the treasury<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1 Kings 3.5-12</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> I give you a wise and
discerning mind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Romans 8.26-39</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Nothing can separate us from
the love of God<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The master
brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">+</span><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Have you
understood all this?’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus asked
his disciples that question at the conclusion of a whole series of parables;
parables we have been hearing over the past few weeks as our Gospel reading:
the parable of the sower, the wheat and the weeds, and today the mustard seed
and the leaven, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price and the net.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Have you
understood all this?’ They answered ‘yes’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m tempted
to say, ‘really? Have you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really </i>understood
all this?’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
disciples said ‘yes’, they did understand, and in response Jesus is not
incredulous, but says slightly mysterious and intriguing words:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Therefore every scribe who has been
trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings
out of his treasure what is new and what is old. (Matthew 13.52)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, the
parables have been training the disciples, and by extension us, for the kingdom
of heaven. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
disciples have been trained into being scribes, those learned in sacred law and
holy wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And what a teacher
they, and we, have. Not a homespun guru or moral exemplar, but Divine Wisdom
Incarnate; Divine Wisdom in person: Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thus trained,
the scribe can bring out of the treasury new insight and ancient wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s like an
apprenticeship. The apprentice learns from the one who has mastery of the
subject by listening to the master and trying out the craft in clear,
incremental steps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
apprentice is doomed the moment he or she decides they know best.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Imagine the
novice violinist who decides that she can play the violin and need not bother
with the teacher. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She might
watch a two-minute YouTube video, but that’s about all the advice we want now; the
result is an abrasive, scratching sound, not a melody. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And we
recognise it as just bad. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s
different from the novice who is carefully working on the disciplines of violin
playing, building up skills, strength and stamina base, to ensure good quality
sound; practising so that, in time, the beauty of the music can be heard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s the
same with the visual arts, with crafts, with dance, with calligraphy, with
engineering and, indeed, with the Christian life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But that’s
hard in today’s culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We live in a
culture that cherishes novelty and despises what is ancient; it’s a culture
that says ‘I don’t need the disciplines, Christian or otherwise; I don’t need the
teaching or the inherited wisdom of the past; that gets in my way, that makes
me less free, oh and, by the way, I want everything now’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
spiritual life, intimacy with God, does not and cannot work like that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The parables
train us, school us, and shape us into the ways of the kingdom of heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s no
accident, I am sure, that the parables draw on images of patient and deep
growth: seeds growing, bread proving and yeast rising, persistent searching and
its corollary, joyful finding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Parables
root us fruitfully in God’s life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They are
ancient wisdom and are endlessly generative and continue to form our minds and
hearts and action in the way of the kingdom of heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The paradox is
that ancient wisdom reveals fresh insight; ancient wisdom enables us to live
today wisely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To go back
to our violinist, but translate that to the spiritual life, when we refuse the
schooling of the spiritual mastery of the teaching of Christ we are rejecting a
life well lived, and our life – spiritual and physical – is scratchy,
unmelodious, unattractive and just plain bad.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So let us
turn to our Old and New Testament readings for today and see what we draw out
of the treasury, both old and new.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In our first
reading from the treasury we hear about the famous King Solomon. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">His name is
a byword for wisdom, riches and splendour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When God
asked him what gift he wanted at the outset of his reign as new King of Israel,
Solomon chose not to ask for a long life or riches or retribution on his
enemies – as many young, new rulers would - but rather a wise and discerning
mind, the ability to discern what is right, discerning between good and evil.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That is an
example to us: it echoes through what is known as the ‘wisdom literature’ of
the scriptures, the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song
of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Those books
tell us of the value of wisdom and pose the question, ‘where is wisdom to be
found?’ (cf Job 28.1; 28.12; 28.20) .<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the face
of all the choices we are asked to make today the gift of a wise and discerning
mind is as vital as ever. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s true
for earthly leaders like King Solomon - Prime Ministers and Presidents - and
it’s true for spiritual leaders - bishops and priests and lay leaders - in the Church
too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Every day in
life, the message from Solomon’s blessing is: seek not your own priorities and
preferences, but the wisdom that comes from God, the Most High. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This week,
what will a ‘wise and discerning mind’ look like in your life?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In our
second reading we learn similarly how the life of prayer is not about lining up
our own wish list but about opening ourselves to the movement of the Holy
Spirit of God deep within us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">St Paul puts
it like this:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in
our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit
intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27And God, who searches the heart,
knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the
saints according to the will of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At its heart
prayer is the art of aligning ourselves to the will and purpose of God;
something we only gain in true and deep silence, in dedicated time, paying
attention to his Holy Spirit who shapes us and enlightens us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So when you
read scripture don’t impose your own terms on it, allow God’s terms to be
imprinted on you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And if you
don’t regularly, pick up the Bible today, go back to the Bible today, for there
is your treasury where you will find pearls of immeasurable value for your
life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You could do
worse than to re-read today’s parables! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Read ahead
to what next Sunday’s readings will be; start pondering them, extracting new
insight from their ancient and enduring wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In our
discipleship as Christians we need to rise above the chatter of the world, or
rather, sink deep below to find the treasury, open it up, find the pearl of
great price, the pearl of wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lord, grant us wise and discerning minds, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">may your Holy Spirit search our hearts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">so that we may draw out of your treasury <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">wisdom ever old and ever new <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to lead us to gracious, faithful and generous lives<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">as we learn and grow day by day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-3526451609665290322023-07-17T08:40:00.001-07:002023-07-17T08:40:04.494-07:00Preparing the soil of the heart<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Isaiah 55.10-13</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> The word that goes out from my mouth does not
return to me empty</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Romans 8.1-11<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Matthew 13.1-9,18-23</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> A sower
went out to sow<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The word that goes out from my mouth;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">shall not return to me empty, says the Lord,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(cf Isaiah 55.11)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The poet T S
Eliot remarks in a poem: ‘take no thought of the harvest, but only of the
proper sowing’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s a rather
appropriate quote when we hear the Parable of the Sower: ‘take no thought of
the harvest, but only of the proper sowing’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In other
words, don’t think about the end results first, but think about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what</i> you sow or plant and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i> you sow or plant it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s not
to say that the harvest, the results, the productivity or yield doesn’t matter;
but the focus at the outset is about what you sow before determining the
result.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the
biblical witness the first concern is not with the harvest, the results, the
yield, but with the gift, with the proper sowing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What we are
asked to aspire to is fruitfulness in our lives and in our church; what that
looks like is down to the growth God gives: it’s an exercise in grace and trust.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As St Paul
says in his first letter to the Corinthians: ‘neither the one who plants nor
the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth’. (1 Corinthians
3.7)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We can be
sure that God wills fruitfulness in our lives and in the Church: the
fruitfulness God wills in our lives is always in response to his gift of
abundant life, it’s something beautifully captured in Psalm 65 sung today..<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And as the Lord
says, through the words of the prophet Isaiah, in our first reading:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">so shall my word be that goes out
from my mouth;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>it shall not return to me empty,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">but it shall accomplish that which I
purpose,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55.11)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Seed is not
sown with the intention of no return; ‘it shall not return to me empty’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus Christ
is the Word of God, sent by the Father, his mission is not to return empty, but
accomplishing all that the Father wills.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So we could
say that the sower is God, sowing himself in the person of Jesus Christ, into
the soil of our hearts and lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So let’s
take a look at the sower and then at the soil of our hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First
there’s the sower.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you think
about it, there is something a bit crazy about the sower in the parable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The sower
scatters seed everywhere; it goes everywhere: all over the place!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This flies
in the face of modern farming techniques and simple common sense. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The modern
seed drill sows the seed exactly where the farmer wants it, in the best soil.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s highly
mechanised and scientific: computers calculate the amount to sow and where to
sow in it the field to achieve the maximum yield when it is cut down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But that’s also
true in the technique used until the mechanisation of agriculture. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The sower
would take handfuls of seed from a basket on his hip and cast it onto the
ground. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The sower
was skilled in getting as much of the seed onto as much of the good soil as
possible. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, in
ancient and modern times it seems bonkers to sow seed on a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>footpath, or on rocky ground or in amongst
weeds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Seed was,
and is, hugely precious and not to be wasted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God, the
sower is wonderfully lavish in scattering the seed: it is sown indiscriminately,
it is sown without cost and sown everywhere: God the Sower sows his word into
every human heart: the question is, ‘how will it grow’?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But Jesus’
parable isn’t agricultural guidance; it is a parable of the Kingdom. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Parables are
not one hit morality tales, but endlessly generative stories that are sown in
our minds and hearts to open us to the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus Christ
sows the seeds of the Kingdom into our hearts by the telling of parable and
this parable is about the soil as much as about the sower or the seed; it
demands that we pay attention to ourselves and our inner life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So now,
consider the soil of your heart. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When the
seed of the Word of God lands in your heart, what chance are you giving it to
grow, to yield and be fruitful? How able is God’s word able to take root, truly
and deeply in your heart?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is
about deep self-examination. It’s the sort of self-examination and expression
of vulnerability that I am privileged to hear in confession and spiritual
direction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is the soil
of your heart like a path? The soil of a path is trodden down, well-worn and
compacted; a hard carapace, a crust, sits on top of it making it impenetrable:
the seed cannot take root; when it rains the seed is washed away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s when
our hearts are ready to receive the Word but we don’t engage with it, we offer
nothing in return for the gift and, as a bird pecks the seed, so the Evil One
pecks it away and the Word of God is lost to us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are you
seeking truly to understand the Word of God? What needs to break up or soften the
ground so the seed can root?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is the soil
of your heart like rocky ground? The soil of rocky ground is sparse. When there
is little soil but mostly rock the seed can send out roots but the root has
little chance: there’s no depth of soil, all is shallow so when the sun comes
out rather than giving growth it burns the roots away and the seedling withers
away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s when
our hearts receive the Word of God and then fall away at the first sign of
pressure, because the Word of God can’t grow deep in us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are you
seeking to take the hard rocks out of your life so that there is more soil in
your life to receive the Word of God?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is the soil
of your heart already full of other strong plants? Soil that’s full of already
established plants is not going to have space for the seed of the Word of God
to grow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s when
other priorities are already established in us. As Jesus’ interpretation of the
parable suggests the cares of the world and the lure of wealth are like already
established plants that crowd out the Word of God, to which we might add distractions,
doggedly held onto ideologies or views that are not of the Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are you
ready to root out pernicious or unhealthy attitudes, practices or pursuits that
are not of the Gospel?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is the soil
of your heart good soil? Soil ready to receive the seed so that it can take
deep root in you? For then you will be fruitful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘How do I do
that?’ you might say. It’s in confession of our sins. It’s in deepening our
relationship with God in prayer. It’s in receiving the grace of the sacrament.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
confession, prayer and the Sacrament we prepare and till the soil to receive
the Word of Christ which will grow richly in us and we will be drawn into
intimacy with our loving heavenly Father, to whom be all honour, glory and
praise, now and to all eternity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-75838622473822847742023-07-10T01:02:00.002-07:002023-07-10T01:02:36.654-07:00Come to me<p><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 107%;">Zechariah 9.9-12</span></b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 107%;"> See now, your King comes humbly to you</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white;">Romans
7.15-25a</span></b><span style="background: white;"> I do not understand my
own actions.</span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white;">Matthew
11.16-19,25-30</span></b><span style="background: white;"> Come to me and I will
give you rest<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Wretched man that I am! Who
will rescue me from this body of death?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Thanks be to God through
Jesus Christ our Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="background: white; color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">+</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One of the accusations made against our faith, against
Christianity, is that it is negative or pessimistic about the human condition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In the case against Christianity St Paul is often held up as
a convincing argument. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">All the ills of the Church and any negativity about being
human - body, mind and spirit - get pinned on him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yet St Paul’s vision of being human is entirely
misrepresented. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">St Paul retains the deep conviction that what is said in the
Book of Genesis about the fundamental goodness of God’s creation is true. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That’s why he can be clear sighted about where things go wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">St Paul is such an acute observer of the way in which
humanity, starting with himself, has the propensity to mess things up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">God saw his creation of human beings and declared that we,
and all that he has made, are ‘very good’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, St Paul muses, ‘‘I do not understand my own actions’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to which, surely, we say, ‘I know what you
mean’: for which of us really does understand our own actions? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘For’ he continues, ‘I do not do what I want, but I do the
very thing I hate’ (v15). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The human propensity to mess things up. I recognise that in
my life, fellow sinners: you might recognise it in yours too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So St Paul is not negative about our being human but
realistic and also sees that we are a mystery unto ourselves, let alone to
others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And he notices something else:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So I find it to be a
law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight
in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war
with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my
members. (vv21-23)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">St Paul is expressing the deep desire of the followers of
Jesus Christ: I want to lead a life that is virtuous and good and beautiful and
true and sometimes when I am so close to living that life that I feel all the
more acutely that I am not there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In the face of this contemporary culture falls back into
notions of self-improvement; if I want this enough I can have it, I can do it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The culture believes in mind over matter; as if our mind and
body are not connected – and therein lies one of the greatest fallacies and
sources of unhappiness that we can have.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">St Paul acknowledges this tendency when he says, ‘So then, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my
mind</i> I am a slave to the law of God, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with my flesh</i> I am a slave to the law of sin’ (25b).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He knows that when we detach mind and body we live fragmented
lives not whole and healthy lives, and that is a source of despair.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There is something unintegrated -disintegrated - about being
human.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The path to integration and wholeness is the path of holiness
about uniting the will of the mind and the actions of the body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That is not to be pessimistic about being human but is realistic
and with hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It is modernity and contemporary culture that is most
pessimistic about human nature because it tells us that we are okay, when we
know in ourselves that all is not okay; it tells us we are more connected than
ever, when loneliness stalks and pervades society; it tells us that all we need
to be satisfied is to be able to choose, irrespective of what our choice may be
and however bad it may be for us or for other peoples’ lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In the face of the enduring human questions, ancient and
modern, St Paul cries out, ‘Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from
this body of death?’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Who will rescue me; who will save me?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">His answer: ‘Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!’
(v25a).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is St Paul’s hope and ours: Christ is the Saviour, he
will rescue us from this body of death, sin and contradiction, from the burden
of our predicament of doing what we do not want to and failing to do want we
know we should.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Our hope is found in placing ourselves in his love and
finding peace and rest in him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here is our hope; in Christ who says, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Come to me, all who
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11.28-30)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Come to me’ – that is a deep and gracious invitation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Come to me you who labour’ - the laboriousness of the lot of
men and women is part of our fallen condition (cf Genesis 3.16-19). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Life can be a slog and laborious. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Come to me you who are heavy laden’ - we are laden down with
our human predicament, with sin and with the tension between what we think and
what we do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me’ says Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">His yoke is the cross: this is what he has carried for us;
his death on the cross has broken the power of death and sin, powers which are
the ultimate burdens that we bear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘And learn from me’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Christian life is all about learning to walk the way of
the cross – a path we begin in baptism – shaping our lives after the example of
Christ in which we find rest and tranquillity for our souls.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Today hear afresh the call, ‘come to me’, for in coming to
him we find our life, our hope and our salvation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In imitation of Christ, leading lives shaped by him, we will
begin to have unravelled the conflicting powers at war in us; we will begin to
see clearly the path set before us; and we will witness to his beauty, goodness
and truth and our bodies will no longer be a body of death but a body of life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-51146630365210779142023-06-27T00:12:00.002-07:002023-06-27T00:12:36.655-07:00The Friend of the Bridegroom<p><span style="font-family: Centra No1;">Preached on Sunday 25th June 2023, kept as the Patronal Festival of the Minster Church of St John the Baptist.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Luke 1.57-66,80 </span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy;">+</span><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I wonder if you can tell me what you will be
doing exactly six months from today, to the minute?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I’ll give you a clue. It will be Christmas
Day!<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So, I hope your answer is that you’ll be in
church, and if not, I hope it is because you will have been to the Midnight
Mass!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Why, you might ask, is he talking about
Christmas Day today, in the very middle of summer and on our Patronal Festival?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is because both today and Christmas Day
centre on a birth; two intimately linked births.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">On Christmas Day the birth of Our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ; today the birth of his cousin and the one who prepared
the world for Christ’s first coming, John the Baptist, patron saint of this
church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Two miraculous births. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">John’s mother, Elizabeth, was past
childbearing age, yet still she was blessed with the gift of a child. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus’ mother, Mary, was a very young woman
not married, not ‘sexually active’, as we might say, yet she too became a
mother.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Both births, heralded by the Archangel
Gabriel, are of God and integral to our salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">John came to prepare the way of the Lord;
Jesus Christ, the Lord, came to save us from our sins by his life-giving death
and his resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">From all we know of John in the gospels, he would
want our focus today, as always, to be on Christ, and rightly so.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">His consistent message can be summed up like
this: ‘look away from me and behold Jesus Christ who is the Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That’s the message every Christian should
promote and live out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So all we say of John actually only ever leads
us back to Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In that regard John is like the other great
saint of the Incarnation, the Blessed Mother, Mary herself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The honour and regard we give to both Mary
mother of the Lord, and to John, is always and only inasmuch as they lead and
point us to Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">*<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As I have been pondering St John the Baptist
for today – and I think about him a lot – I was struck by something in the
Gospel of St John, John the Evangelist. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">There is a really significant title that often
gets overlooked: John the Baptist identifies himself as the ‘friend of the
bridegroom’ (John 3.22).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Sometimes John comes across as harsh, austere
and without joy or celebration, but he is also a friend: friendship is always a
cherished relationship between two people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Yes, John is a witness to Jesus, forerunner of
Jesus, the one who cries out in the wilderness – all those things but he is
also a friend: a relationship of joy and trust.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So, John is also a friend; specifically, the
‘friend <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">of the bridegroom</i>’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">*<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I was officiating at a wedding yesterday, and
of course the best man, the friend of the bridegroom, had a particular role.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Nowadays the Best Man arranges the Stag do,
looks after the wedding rings, gives some Dutch courage to the groom, and makes
a speech at the reception and toasts the bridesmaids and the happy couple. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In first century Palestine the ‘friend of the
bridegroom’ was responsible for the equivalent things no doubt, but also for
arranging the match with the bride.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The friend of the Bridegroom was a sort of
fixer, as well as ensuring the wedding feast went well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">John the Baptist is the ‘friend of the
Bridegroom’, the Best Man.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This points us to something really important.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Marriage is one of the deep themes of the
Bible: arguably the whole of Scripture sees the relationship between God and
humanity in marital terms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In the Old Testament Israel is spoken of as
the bride of God (Isaiah 62.4-5; Jeremiah 2.2; Ezekiel 16.8; 23.4; Hosea
2.19-20). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In the Gospels the first of Jesus’ signs is
set at the heart of a marriage, at Cana in Galilee (John 2.1-11). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The sign at Cana is of the refreshed
relationship of God and his people, like bridegroom and bride, a marriage with
the True Bridegroom present.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">St Paul reflects deeply on this in his letter
to the Ephesians saying that the marriage of a man and a woman, bridegroom and
bride, prefigures and echoes the marriage of Christ, the bridegroom, and the
Church, his bride, so that Christ and the Church are one flesh, just as husband
and wife mystically become one flesh in marriage: as Paul says, ‘this mystery
is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church’
(Ephesians 5.32, cf also vv.22-33).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What Cana shows is that Jesus Christ brings
transformation to renew the relationship between humanity and divinity through
the marriage sign, reconciling two different bodies as one flesh, which is why
we can say we are one body in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And John is the ‘friend of the bridegroom’:
the one prepares the way for the union of divinity and humanity in the
Incarnation; the marriage of Christ, the Bridegroom, and his Bride, the Church;
of Christ offering to you in his body for you to receive in the Eucharist:
‘though we are many we are one Body, because we all share in the one bread’ (1
Corinthians 10.17).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We celebrate the birth of our patron saint
today, John the Baptist; in sixth months’ time we celebrate the birth of the
Saviour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In the spirit of the ‘friend of the
bridegroom’ may we, every day, rejoice in our being united with Christ in
baptism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The wedding at Cana points to a banquet, the
banquet the Eucharist anticipates: in the words of the Revelation to John, ‘blessed
are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb’ (Revelation 19.9)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">May each one of us, for better for worse; for
richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; love and cherish Christ the
Bridegroom till death do us unite in heaven when we are born to eternal life
with him. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-22285358924284039372023-06-12T00:19:00.001-07:002023-06-12T00:19:06.436-07:00The dignity of being a sinner<p><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Matthew
9.9-13</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> ‘I have come to call
not the righteous but sinners’.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus said: ‘I have
come to call not the righteous but sinners’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I regularly tune in, on YouTube, to teaching,
talks and homilies by American bishop, Bishop Robert Barron. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I would thoroughly recommend him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Not only is his content superb but he delivers
it in a very engaging way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">One of the things he does is address his hearers
as ‘fellow sinners’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Sinner? To be called a sinner, even a fellow
one, implies a judgement and a negative one at that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In a world that prizes non-judgement over
everything – even judgement by God - this is perhaps a challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">If I am a ‘sinner’ that implies I have got
something wrong, I am not all I could be, that someone is judging me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">To speak of sin and sinners sounds too
negative to many ears.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Talk of ‘sin’ and ‘sinners’ can collude with
the worst stories we tell about ourselves, especially for people who are
routinely run down, dismissed or sidelined.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Yet, when we search our hearts, reflect on our
lives, we surely cannot fail to see that oftentimes we lack love, we deceive
ourselves and others about a whole host of things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That is why at the beginning of this and every
Eucharist as we say the confession: ‘we have sinned against you, almighty God,
and against our neighbour...’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In confession of our sins we take ownership of
our shortcomings and our need for restoration. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That is the first step towards the goal of
holiness of life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So Jesus says ‘I have come to call not the
righteous but sinners’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What love! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">What concern!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We are not to be left wallowing in misery,
self-pity and sin; Christ comes to raise us up and lift us out of the mire of
human short-sightedness and to open our eyes to the glory of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It is out of love, not condemnation, that
Christ comes to save.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">If you’re not ill you don’t need a doctor; if
you are you do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Look at human lives; look at your own life, as
I look at mine. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We are not in a state of perfection; we are
not well: we need a physician.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So being called a ‘sinner’ is actually a title
of great dignity because Christ came for sinners and it says that he’s
something to work with, in contrast to those who shut down the possibility of
healing because they believe themselves to be fully well, what Jesus terms ‘the
righteous’, the ones he really does judge!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So what’s Jesus’ method with sinners?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We see it in the call of Matthew, the tax
collector and apostle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">First Jesus pays attention; he notices the
person; he loves the person.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Matthew, if he was at all typical of first
century tax collectors, cheated people, took bribes and extorted money from
them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">‘Thou shalt not steal’, but Matthew did.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Yet Jesus pays attention to Matthew, notices
him and loves him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">He loves the sinner; he loathes the sin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">After noticing and paying attention to the
soul then he invites. ‘Come, follow me’. No strings attached, just come. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This goes further, for Jesus shows his love
for the sinner by sitting down to eat with them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That was big in the society of Jesus’ day:
sitting down and eating with people was intimate and showed you approved of
them, even those most disregarded by others<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Who are the worst people you can think of?
Jesus sits down and eats with them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Go further. Who is a person you know
personally who you look at with contempt or readily dismiss: he loves them; he
says to them, ‘come’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">He loves them, as he loves you, as children of
God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">After all, he says, what physician, what
doctor, walks past a person who is unwell and fails to offer any healing? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The doctor has it in her power to offer
healing and health. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Latin verb salvere, meaning ‘to be well’ is
where we get our word ‘salvation’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">salvator </i>the Saviour, the one who brings salve, the healing balm of
God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Jesus, the Physician of Souls, the saviour,
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">salvator</i>, pays attention to
Matthew.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">A sinner is not left where Christ finds them
and calls them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">They are drawn into his love and fellowship:
‘come…follow me’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And lest they – we – get complacent we are schooled
in the way of Jesus, the way of mercy that is rooted in his sacrifice on the
Cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">When you walk with Christ, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">salvator</i>, when you sit down and eat with
Christ, the Saviour, you will be schooled in the way of forgiveness and healing
which you as a sinner require.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Our gospel began with a call to the sinner:
come.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It ends with a commission: go. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy,
not sacrifice.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It’s an ancient cry of the prophets of Israel
and it is fulfilled in Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">His sacrifice on the cross, his death for
sinners, is the origin and completion of sacrifice<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The way we join his sacrifice is through mercy:
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">God’s mercy does not remove God’s judgement,
but tells us that God’s judgement is not vindictive; is not harsh, is not
callous. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Rather God’s judgement is revealed in mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This merciful judgement restores, heals,
forgives because it is rooted in the sacrifice Christ made for sinners: as St
Paul says, ‘God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. (Romans 5.8)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">God can do merciful judgement. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Fellow sinners, can you?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-45254149907552955902023-05-22T01:48:00.000-07:002023-05-22T01:48:09.358-07:00The Ascension: A point of departure<p><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;">Preached at Choral Evensong also giving thanks for the 80</span><sup style="font-family: "Centra No1";">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12pt;">
anniversary of the foundation of the Inner Wheel, Croydon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">2 Samuel 23.1-5</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> The parting words of King David<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ephesians 1.15-23</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> Christ is head over all things for the church, which is his
body, the fullness of him who fills all in all<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: liturgy; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">+</span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Last Thursday the Church celebrated the feast of the Ascension of
the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Ascension is a point of departure. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It is literally a point of departure, in the sense that Christ’s
human body of flesh departs from the earth and sight of the apostles, and is
taken into the heavens.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It is figuratively a point of departure, in the sense that Christ’s
body, the Church, made up our fleshly bodies, now begins to live his life
without his physical presence but entirely dependent on the power of the Spirit
he promises to send to animate the Church to worship and witness to the ends of
the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In ascending into the heavens Jesus Christ in his human body and
person is no longer bound to time and space but is available to all people and
nations and all times and in all places.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yet still he is present, as he says in St Matthew’s Gospel, ‘I am
with you always, even to the end of the age’. (Matthew 28.20)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is not ‘in person’ presence, as we might call it
post-pandemic, but it is real, efficacious and powerful: in other words the
risen, ascended, glorified Lord is as certainly with his Church as he was when
in person in Palestine two thousand years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Christ’s risen, ascended, glorified body is communicated most
powerfully in the sacraments that unite heaven and earth, that bring together
Christ the bridegroom with his bride the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Church herself is a sacrament of Christ’s presence in the
world: an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is what St Paul asserts in the letter to the Ephesians, ‘And
God has put all things under Christ’s feet and has made him the head over all
things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in
all’ (Ephesians 1.22,23)<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Christ’s mystical body still has a human face in the lives of
those baptised in his name – that’s you and me - and who in their pursuit of
holiness feed on his body in the Eucharist: ‘this is my body; this is my
blood’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This perhaps tells us something about the endings and beginnings
in our daily lives and how we handle points of departure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">King David in our first reading, in his valedictory words to his
people, declares how it is God’s Holy Spirit who sustains and speaks ‘like the
light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from the rain on the grassy land’. (2 Samuel
23.4). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">David asks rhetorically, ‘Will not the LORD cause to prosper all
my help and my desire?’ (2 Samuel 23.5b) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes, of course he will. The LORD is our helper.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That message of God’s presence is for us as we begin a new day, a
new week, a new chapter in life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Young people taking public exams around this time are at a point
of departure, the closing of one chapter and opening of new ones; they need to
be realistic and hopeful about what their point of departure holds and commit
it to the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Croydon Inner Wheel is an organisation that rightly
celebrates 80 years of bringing people together, fostering friendship and
serving others, which itself is a noble cause.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And this 80<sup>th</sup> anniversary can and should be a point of
departure, a moment of saying thank you to God for all that has been – a time
to remember past members, benefactors and friends – and a time to look forward
to the future with realism, confidence and hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Ascension of the Lord reminds us of the enduring presence of
Christ in the world made available to those who, turning away from sin and
darkness, reach out in hope to him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">May the Lord bless our points of departure, our beginnings and
endings, so that in St Paul’s words, ‘[we] may know 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’. (Ephesians 1.18,19)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6553352780064138997.post-23442515174124770562023-04-30T07:58:00.005-07:002023-04-30T07:58:53.779-07:00In the community of the Good Shepherd<p><a name="_Hlk127180343"><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Acts </span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: StoneSerif-Bold;">2:42-47</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">They
devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and the prayers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">1
Peter 2:19-25</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"> You have come
back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: StoneSerif-Bold;">John 10.1-10</span></b><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: StoneSerif-Bold;"> I am the
gate of the sheepfold<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: StoneSerif-Bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: liturgy;">+</span><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The tasks of a parish priest - the role I have - can be distilled into three things:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Centra No1";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Celebrate the sacraments<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Centra No1";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Preach the word of God<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Centra No1";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Lead God’s Holy People, the Church<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Now of course like in any role those three
basics lead to a whole range of tasks and things to be done, and it’s not a
role exercised in isolation but in partnership with others, flowing from the
Bishop’s ministry, with fellow priests and working with and for the baptised
people of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">This task is set out in the Ordinal, the rite
for ordaining priests, which says: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Priests
are ordained to lead God’s people in the offering of praise and the
proclamation of the gospel. They share with the Bishop in the oversight of the
Church, delighting in its beauty and rejoicing in its well-being. They are to
set the example of the Good Shepherd always before them as the pattern of their
calling. With the Bishop and their fellow priests, they are to sustain the
community of the faithful by the ministry of word and sacrament, that we all
may grow into the fullness of Christ and be a living sacrifice acceptable to
God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That charge to the priest flows out of what
our readings contain today which, at their heart, concern the nature of the
Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As the Bishop reminds the new priest and
people at an Ordination, ‘[Priests] are to set the example of the Good Shepherd
always before them as the pattern of their calling’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Today, the fourth Sunday of Easter, is
traditionally known as ‘Good Shepherd’ Sunday, when we hear in the Gospel Jesus
setting out one of the key images of his ministry, that of the Good Shepherd,
which draws on the images of the Lord our shepherd of the twenty third psalm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The Good Shepherd knows his sheep, leads them
to good pasture, protects them from ravening wolves - even laying down his life
for them - shelters them in the sheepfold and, when necessary, says ‘yes’ or ‘no’
to where they want to go. After all, like sheep we go astray, such is our human
condition, but as St Peter reminds us in the second lesson, ‘For you were going
astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of
your souls.’ (1 Peter 2.25)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The pastoral staff, or crozier, of the Bishop,
modelled on the shepherd’s crook, is a symbol of all that: a staff to beat off
attackers; a staff to guide and point the way; and staff to be a marker of the
boundaries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Underlying this image of the Good Shepherd –
the example the bishop or priest must set before himself - is that Christ came
that all people may have life, and have it abundantly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Life in all its abundance – life in Christ -
is the priority and the touchstone: anything that detracts from that, the
priest should not do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">So, the example of the Good Shepherd takes us
back to those three tasks I have set out:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Centra No1";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Celebrate the sacraments<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Centra No1";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Preach the word of God<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Centra No1"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Centra No1";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Lead God’s Holy People, the Church<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Celebrating the sacraments and preaching the
word of God are about feeding God’s people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The sacraments feed us, replenish us, with the
gifts of grace that they mediate, that they channel to us. This is most obvious
in the Eucharist in which, echoing the psalm, ‘a table is set’ before us.
(Psalm 23.5). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The priest has the ‘duty and joy’ of setting
that grace before the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The preaching of the word of God guides and
leads us, as another psalm says, ‘your word is a lantern to my feet and a light
upon my path’ (Psalm 119.105).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">The third task, to ‘lead God’s Holy People,
the Church’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">As it happens I have spent a time in prayer
and reflection recently reflecting on the nature of the Church both globally,
nationally and in our parish. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Globally the Church is growing, getting
younger, is vibrant and passionate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That is not how many of us might describe the
Church of England, or much of the Church in this nation, where it feels
depleted, getting tired and jaded and getting older. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">And what of locally, this Church? Who are we?
What is our vision, what is our mission, who are we called to become in the
here and now? They are big questions that we should always pay attention to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">I find myself going back to a beautiful vision
for this church expressed when many of us came together in June 2019, before
Covid struck, to consider these questions, and it holds good today. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We said that we want to be ‘a church that is
welcoming and open, where people find life, joy and belonging in Christ’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">We said our mission is ‘to be the Parish
Church at the heart of Croydon, faithfully offering worship to God,
intelligently growing in Christian faith and, looking beyond ourselves,
compassionately serving our locality and human need as Christ serves us’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That is good stuff!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">There are echoes of our first reading, which
describes the quality of life of the first Christians. Take another look at that
passage. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It’s a growing church, rooted in the apostles’
teaching and fellowship, with the breaking of bread and prayer at its heart<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It’s an organism not an institution; it’s a
shared household not a club; it’s the Body of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">It’s tempting to go down the route of
strategies, mission action plans and such like, and believe me the wider church
desperately hopes those things will make a difference. And certainly we need plans
with clarity and strength of purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">But we’re not making widgets on a production
line; we’re seeking to live the kingdom of God – together.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">That’s why I love the vision expressed that we
should be, ‘a church that is welcoming and open, where people find life, joy
and belonging in Christ’, it’s about our culture not our outcomes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">In the Acts of the Apostles, the community of
the Good Shepherd, is shaped by words like, devotion, awe, belief, praise,
gladness, generosity, goodwill: they’re words of culture not production.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">Let’s measure all we do in those terms. In
every little thing we do in the church, whether we have a formal role, or not,
in the life of the church we can test all we do by asking ourselves, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘in what I am doing now am I helping people
find life, and joy, and helping them belong, in Christ?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";">If that’s how we live our life as a church
then we have the example of the Good Shepherd before us, so that all who come
to this place may say, ‘Surely thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life : and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Centra No1";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>The Revd Dr Andrew Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12518360900878336618noreply@blogger.com0