God Approaches Us

The many different traditions of Christianity reflect diverse understandings of how we might apprehend God in our journey of faith.  The selections of Scripture in the Revised Common Lectionary for the Second Sunday after Epiphany give us glimpses of four different ways God approaches us.

SILENCE

The story in 1 Samuel 3 of God calling the young lad Samuel show us an example of God approaching us in silence.  Our modern world cannot cope with silence.  We fill silence with all sorts of noise.  I smile at people walking along the beach with ear pods in their ears - obviously listening to something, but ignoring the joyous noise of the seaside surrounding them.  But there are times when we  need to relax into silence.  Samuel had no problem with silence.  It was part of his world.  It was in his night-times of silence that God spoke to him, not in the busy routines of temple life in the daytime.

Silence is one of the ways in which God can approach us, address us, soothe us, stir us, call us, and renovate us.  In the silence the Word can speak.  Because silence does not come readily in our noisy, frenetic world, it takes self-discipline to create space and silence in our lives.  If we are not inclined towards self-discipline, then let us not complain about the apparent absence of God.  Silence cannot be found without some effort on our part. - Bruce Prewer.

EVERYWHERE

The Psalms often give voice to the presence of God in creation.  Psalm 139 is perhaps a supreme example.  In this Psalm we are reminded that there is nowhere on earth that will remove us from the presence of God.  God is found not just in sacred places but everywhere.  It celebrates the intimacy of God's  involvement in our own creation and God's knowledge of our innermost thoughts.

Psalm 139 does not argue the case.  It celebrates it.  It is like a grand creed of delight in God’s willingness to seek us out everywhere.  Whether we recognise it or not, God will always be with us.  Nowhere is too far, no place is too humble, no situation too dark, no circumstance too secular.  God approaches us everywhere. - Bruce Prewer.

WITHIN US

One of the consequences of the incarnation is explored by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians in the 6th chapter. He describes our bodies as "a temple of the Holy Spirit."  This metaphor suggests that as gods dwell in temples, here we see that our God dwells within us.  

In this Christianity diverges from those religions and religious practices that encourage us to dissociate ourselves from our bodies in order to experience God fully.

God does not scorn our human flesh and blood.  God approaches us through our bodily lives, chooses to reside there.  Treat bodies charitably, with respect and love.  If we want to find where God approaches, take a look within that personal temple where light and darkness wrestle for supremacy, and where light refuses to give up. - Bruce Prewer.

IN CHRIST JESUS

The Apostle John opens his Gospel with rich metaphorical language that seeks to express the unique way that God has approached humanity in the person of Jesus.  He tells some stories after this prologue in his first chapter which declare in no uncertain terms that in this man, God has come among us.  The gathering disciples encourage their friends to "come and see!"  Jesus' encounter with Nathanael is perhaps most striking for the explicit language given in the voice of Nathanael, declaring Jesus to be the presence of God among them.

For Christians, God’s incomparable approach is through Jesus.  Nothing equals this.  Nothing is more certain, or more reliable.  The words and deeds, and the unique person of Jesus, have been for many generations a veritable highway for the coming of God into human experience. - Bruce Prewer.

God does approach us in this world and in this life.  The most important work of our Journey of Faith is perhaps cultivating eyes and ears, hearts and minds that we open and receptive this recognizing these approaches of God and responding to them.  

These thoughts were distilled from a sermon by Bruce Prewer for this Sunday, the second after Epiphany in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary.

Second-Chance Living

I usually listen to the radio when I drive my car.  On Friday morning I heard an interview on Radio National.  They were speaking to an Australian Lawyer living in Tel Aviv in Israel. 

More than 20 years ago Gidon Bomberg founded an organisation called Eco-Peace Middle East.  Through this organisation he is creating local peace between people in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.  He persuades them to put aside some of their political interests so that they can work together to protect their most valuable common resource – water. 

Water is a common theme in the stories we have read from the Bible today.  In the very beginning the world was covered by raging waters.  In the beginning of Mark’s Gospel he tells us about Jesus and John and the River Jordan.

Water is a very powerful image.  In our Old Testament Texts, and some of the NT ones as well, raging water is a fearsome thing.  It is dangerous.  It is something that can kill us.  That is why they use the imagery of God holding the waters back – to keep the people safe from its destructive power.

Yet we also know that water is a powerful symbol of life.  If people in desert places can access water they can grow things.  They can grow food to keep themselves alive.

The imagery of death and life are also bound up in water baptism.  Paul reminds us that we are “buried with Christ in baptism.”  When you think of immersion baptism, this image really works.  If the priest does not lift you up out of the water you will die.

Paul goes on to say that our emergence from the water is like a resurrection.  Under the water we were as good as dead.  Now we are alive.

But we are not just alive.  We are more than alive.

When someone has nearly died and then they get it back, they seem to live life differently – we might say more fully.  They try to make sure they get the most out of this BONUS they have been given.

This is the kind of difference all Christians should be living like.  When they are baptised it is like they have died and been given their life back.  And this new life is to be lived to the full.

Now, I am not sure about you, so I shall just speak about my personal experience.  Sometimes I forget this.  Sometimes I just live an ordinary life.  I need lots of reminders that through the water of my baptism I am really living a second-chance life.  I suspect I am not along among Christians in this.  Over the years I have seen many Christians trying to remind themselves of it often.

When we baptise someone in church we remind everyone of their own new life through baptism.

When we celebrate Easter we all renew our baptismal vows.  These remind us of the new life we have through the waters of baptism.  And the priest sprinkles us again with the blessed water.

Something you might see in some churches does the same thing – every Sunday.  In some churches the font is near the door where you come in.  The minister will always have some blessed water in that font.  When people come into church they can dip their hand in the water and be reminded of the living water we have received from Christ.  They might sign themselves with the Cross with their wetted fingers.  This is like the sign of the cross they were marked with in their baptism.

And every Sunday, when they come to church, they remember that this is their second-chance life.  They are called to live it differently.  Jesus offers us life to the fullest.

So, today, I have placed the font here at the top of the centre aisle.  I have put some water into it and blessed it.  When you come up to receive Communion you might like to take this opportunity to remind yourself in a physical way of this spiritual reality we are living in God.  Even if you do not want to take communion today you might use that time to come and remember the life you now have in Jesus because of these waters of baptism.

Epiphany 2015

I wonder how differently the gospels might have come out if they had been written as a journal each day as the stories unfolded.

Instead, we know that they were written by people who already knew the end of the story.  They had already experienced the Risen Lord.  So they saw meaning in things that they might not have noticed at the time.  As readers we need to be alert to these.

But also, we need to understand the influence of the historical or political context of these events on the way the stories are told.  Matthew’s announcement that God had appointed a new “King of the Jews” in this child born in Bethlehem takes significance from the nature of Herod as a vassal-King, appointed by Rome and holding power at Rome’s pleasure.

The story we read today, which marks the end of our Season of Christmas, is a story that very clearly has the end of the story in sight.

Matthew places a great significance in his story of the place of King David’s lineage and of the town of Bethlehem.  These ROYAL images are vital in conveying the importance of this man.  And that royalty is focussed in what seems to be a rather exclusive kingdom of Jewish people.

It is true that when you peel away some of the layers that Jewish people had an important responsibility for the Gentiles around them.  In fact the ancient Abrahamic covenant contained the promise that through God’s blessing of the Great Family, all people would be blessed.  But to a large extent, Jewish people felt that they had an exclusive relationship with YHWH.

So right from the outset of his telling of the Gospel story, Matthew alerts his readers to the beginning of a new way.

Now, we must consider what sorts of people these Wise men or Magi were.  They were not actually kings.  There were not necessarily three of them.  Astronomers or astrologers, we only know that they saw significance in the alignment of stars and planets.  And these things led them to Jerusalem.

These men came and by their gifts and devotion to the Christ Child transcended race, culture and religion to acknowledge the incarnation – of God come among us.

The ability of those outside the “elect” nation of Israel to recognise God among us is at the heart of our traditional emphasis on this celebration of Epiphany.  I was amused by one dictionary definition:     

a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely or common-place occurrence or experience.

Through this story of a somewhat common-place event the church gained an insight into a new reality that the incarnation has brought about – that all the world, Jews and Gentiles alike will know that God has come among us.

What I take from this story is that it reminds us that the family of God is an inclusive one, not an exclusive one.  People don’t have to be good enough to become part of this family – none of us are good enough.  When people are welcomed into this family their lives can be transformed.  That is the gospel – or the Good News.

For me this means that the way we are the church must be welcoming and open to all.  This is what GRACE is all about.  It means remembering that we all bleed red blood, we all have feelings that get hurt, we are all children of God and carry God’s image within us.

Like those wise men we are all on a journey of discovery – we are seeking out the one who brought real life to earth.  And he says that he is the way to the Father.  It is that way we are all doing our best to discover and follow. 

So, comrades, let us travel together with the same joy the wise men experienced when they found the Christ Child.

Blessed are Those of Advanced Years

I have decided to invent a new Beatitude – I think we could just add it to the ones we have in Matthew 5.  I am sure everyone will agree.  It goes like this:

Blessed are those of advanced years,

For they shall see the outworking of God’s plans.

What do you reckon?  Is that a good one?

Well maybe we can’t just make out that Jesus said it but it was inspired in me by our Gospel reading today.

In our story we have the interaction of young and old.  We have the birth of a child.  We have the young parents doing all the right things for their new baby.  And we have two dear and godly old people who saw something that for them finally made sense of it all.

I know that it sometimes seems that the sidelining of the elderly by young people is a relatively recent phenomenon, but I recall seeing a quotation Aristotle, I think, or it may have been Plato, complaining of that very same thing.

I might have been guilty of expressing such attitudes when I was much younger, but now that the silver hairs are shining through, I have formed a different view. 

Now this will make you smile.  When I was in seminary we were discussed the role that ministers often have to make changes in congregations.  Our professor asked us who we thought would be most resistant to change.  Of course, we all said the oldies – the ones with the grey hair.  He then surprised us.  He said that in most circumstances it would be the middle aged people that would resist most strenuously.

The thing about being “of advanced years,” as I said before, is that by then you will have seen a lot of change.  This means that perhaps you understand it or maybe you just accept it.

The thing that alerted me to this in today’s story is the amazing things both Simeon and Anna said about the baby Jesus when they saw him.

Simeon said:

“With my own eyes

I have seen your salvation, 

which you have prepared

in the presence of all peoples: 

a light to reveal your will to the Gentiles 

and bring glory to your people Israel.” 

And Anna:

“gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were waiting for God to set Jerusalem free.” 

How did these two old people get so that when they saw the baby Jesus, they just knew these things about him?  Well, we could say it was the result of a miracle of revelation by the Holy Spirit.  I think there is a more obvious clue in the text.

Simeon is described as a good, god-fearing man who was “waiting for Israel to be saved.”  This lovely old spiritual man walked closely with his God.  He had even experienced the Holy Spirit in a special way.  He knew with great confidence that he would see the Messiah before he died.

And Anna was well known around the Temple area.  She was a widow who was now 84 and she had devoted her life to temple prayers.  The Spirit of God made her heart skip a beat, too, when she saw the baby Jesus.  She praised God and then told everyone who would listen that this child would be the means of salvation for the great city, Jerusalem.

Here we have the example of two wonderful people of advanced years.  They had devoted these later days of their lived to prayer and worship.  And because of that they were able to recognise Jesus for who he was.

What I would like to suggest is that we don’t need to wait until we are of advanced years to dedicate out lives to prayer and worship.  The example of these two can be an inspiration for us all, because it is through this devotion that we are all enabled to see Jesus for whom he is.

The Lord be with you.

#illridewithyou

When I think about Christmas and the meaning of the birth of Jesus, I am afraid it is easy for me to get into a bit of a whirlwind of ideas about what is so wonderful.  I think I have always been fascinated by the world of ideas.  This makes the fashioning of a Christmas Day message all the more difficult.  My primary question is:

Of all the things that I could talk about, what is it that we need to hear today?

Whether we like it or not, the Christmas and Easter stories both bring into stark contrast the humanity and divinity of Jesus – and this is perhaps the one unique dimension of Christianity among the world’s many religions.  And these two things are the hardest things for us to keep in perspective.

We have the vulnerable child born in an outhouse

AND

We see the whole cosmos – stars and divine messengers – acknowledging his birth.

There is an ancient name that was said to sum up tis child’s place on earth – Emmanuel which means “God with us.” 

In this child, God has stepped out of his omni-everything to become one of us. 

In this child God experienced humanity just as we experience it – with all its pain and uncertainty.

In this child God shows us a way of living that leads to a renewal of life.  I think this is what the little quote from Bishop Wright means:

“The whole point of what Jesus was up to was that he was doing close up, in the present, what he was promising long-term in the future.  And what he was promising for that future and doing in the present was (about …) rescuing people from the corruption and decay of the way the world presently is so they could enjoy, already in the present, that renewal of creation which is God’s ultimate purpose – and so they could thus become colleagues and partners in that large project.”

I think this is what Jesus was pointing to when he said “I am the Way!”  He is pointing us towards a new way of living that turns upside down all those standards by which we might naturally choose to live – like “love your enemies; and pray for those who persecute you.”  Living this way is so transformative that it looks to others like we have been rescued from the corruption and decay that normally besets our humanity.

Last week we saw evidence of some people breaking away from this power of corruption and decay in ways that can only be God-breathed.

On Monday last, while a terrible siege was being acted out in Sydney, a woman noticed another passenger on her train, a Muslim woman, discreetly removing her hijab, a clear symbol of her declaration of faith in Islam.  The women got up the courage to speak to the Muslim stranger and found out that the Muslim woman was afraid of being vilified by Aussies because of that a clearly deranged Muslim man was doing.

So the Australian woman said she would travel with her if she was afraid, and this was the beginning of a turnaround in everyday values in Australia.  Where once the stranger was vilified, now a “mate” was being protected from idiots.  People have used the hashtag #IllRideWithYou to declare their intention to overcome fear.

For those of us advocating for a more compassionate response to the aliens among us through our refugee policies, the positive traction this got was a real surprise – a pleasant surprise. 

Somehow, I think it reached into a very deeply held “Aussie” value of mateship.  The idea of this is that if your mate is doing it tough, you stand alongside them, you help them out.  Our national mythology says this was forged a hundred years ago in the trenches of war in Turkey and Europe.  I am not sure about that.  Somehow I think it goes deeper than that, and perhaps is not so idiosyncratic to Australia as we like to think it is.

In reflecting on this a number of Christians have observed that the coming of Jesus was God’s ultimate #IllRideWithYou declaration.  I think this is a good idea to take home today as a Christmas Gift from God.

What this means is that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, in our human experience that our God, whom some call the Source of our being, has not already experienced just like us. 

Our God seemed to understand that a relationship with us based on us reaching out from our humanity to attain something of the divine was destined to failure – people wouldn’t be able to do it. 

So our God chose to come to us from the divine realm into our humanity and in doing so he has created a Way that we can all succeed in – a way of being in relationship with God – in Jesus.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace.

I found a little quote of words by Mother Teresa of Calcutta which I thought would set the scene well for today’s thoughts.

There is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter.  We sometimes lose sight of this force when there is suffering, too much pain.  Then suddenly the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways.

                                                                                                         - Mother Teresa

Every year, one of the Sundays in Advent focuses on Mary.  And obviously Mary is pretty important in the Christmas story. 

But it seems to me a funny thing that we rarely mention her in sermons.  Other women in the Bible get more sermons about them than Mary does.  And this is rather amazing given that she is the one who bore our Lord Jesus.  She is the one who suckled him, and taught him and shaped his character to give and receive much love.  She was the one who at the end stood by him when he was raised on the cross. 

Even thinking about what we might call her creates a problem for us as Protestants.  Here’s a list:

·        The Blessed Virgin Mary

·        Mary the Mother of Christ

·        The Holy Mother

·        The Virgin Mother

·        The Mother of our Lord

·        Our Lady – even

I suppose our little blind-spot here is understandable.  In the Protestant reaction to Roman Catholicism we ditched most forms of piety involving Mary.  It seemed to us that Mary was not merely venerated by Roman Catholics.  It seemed as if she had been elevated almost ahead of God – via the language they use of Mary as the Mother of God.  This to us seemed like blasphemy and we have backed away from it and now seem almost to ignore her, except at Christmas.

But surely we can do better than that?  

In our Anglican Calendar of Feasts and Holy Days there are five days each year set aside to remember aspects of the life of Mary.  This woman is a most significant of women.  She can be an example to us; an inspiration to encourage us in our love of God and of each other.  So much so that we should not feel apologetic about saying, as the Angel Gabriel said:

            “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”

            and adding as Mary’s cousin Elizabeth said:

            “blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed     is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

Now I am not advocating that we all learn the prayer of the Rosary.  I’m just trying to make the point that Mary is a person who is worthy of our close consideration.

WHO WAS SHE?

So the question arises for us:  Who was she?

If I was to just rely on Luke’s stories I would come up with four facets of her life that can be inspirational for us as we try to follow in the way Jesus showed us.

1.     She has a profound and tough faith in God

The way Luke tells the story we find Mary doing a most unlikely thing.  She is told she is going to be the mother of God’s Messiah, and she says “Okay!  Whatever!”  She seems to have been the kind of person who readily put aside her own hopes and plans when God placed a much harder plan in front of her.  In a way this is showing how much she was able to be God-centred rather than self-centred. 

Her ability to put her own fears aside and say to the angel “Let it be according to your word” is what should inspire us.  She had a tough and profound faith in God – an absolute assurance that God would not let her down. 

2.     She understood that doing God’s will might involve suffering

Communities can be really hard on people who step outside the cultural norms for that community.  Surely Mary understood that what the angel was telling her would happen would cause her a lot of trouble.  But that did not stop her from saying yes.  It must have helped her that Joseph chose to stand by her despite the gossip of others.  She did not let these difficulties stop her.  She was willing to suffer for God’s sake.

3.     Mary’s voice echoes the rich prophetic traditions of Israel

When you unpack the words of what we call the Magnificat or the Song of Mary, they are full of prophetic language.  In these words she is a visionary; a seer who looked towards a future day when God would do away with all forms of injustice.

I want to encourage you in the days between now and Christmas to read this prayer of Mary over slowly – it’s in Luke 1 – you can find it – and you’ll find there a profound prophetic vision:

The Lord has shown strength with his arm:

and scattered the proud in their conceit,

Casting down the mighty from their thrones:

and lifting up the lowly.

God has filled the hungry with good things:

and sent the rich away empty.

Mary has a right to stand among the great prophets.

4.     Mary was a Revolutionary

This idea flows from the sense of her prophetic voice.  Too often we have thought of Mary as a meek, demure, self-effacing and compliant wife.  The kind of woman some men think might be good to have around, who say “Yes sir!  No Sir!  I beg your pardon, Sir!  Whatever you say, Sir!”  And so she is presented as this kind of door-mat wife.  But when you read that song – the Magnificat – it is like a revolutionary manifesto.

Tyrants are to be dispossessed of their thrones,

the down trodden poor lifted up from their misery, the hungry millions will be fed

            while the rich will be send packing, and empty!

Mary sees her own role, with its suffering,

as directly involved in God’s revolution.

So she is:

            A person of profound, tough faith.

            A mother who is willing to suffer for God.

            A visionary who stands with the prophets.

            A woman who takes part in a revolution.

AN EXAMPLE FOR US ALL

Mary, then, is a prototype for all people of faith, young or old, male or female, but I have to say especially for women, who are so often sidelined.  In her we see a believer who, in spite of the greed, apathy and despair in the world around her, embraces the awkward, revolutionary Word of God.  

She is at the vanguard of those who make God’s new world their top priority:

            Who seek first the kingdom of God.

            Who are willing to suffer for their faith.

            Who are prepared to be the unpopular                                  prophetic voices.

            Who are the loving revolutionaries of God.

Mary, the Holy Mother, was open to God, open to God’s future, even though it can often be a frustrating, painful and frightening way to go.  She was open to God and joyful about it.  The Magnificat is a song of sheer joy!

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”

And “blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

Comfort My People

I had an attack of sadness this week.  It is not the first time.  But when I came to consider the readings for today, Isaiah said it all to me.  I wonder what he has to say for you.

Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.  
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and cry to her
that she has served her term,
   that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
   double for all her sins. 

My sadness this week was triggered by the passage by the Senate of Migration and Maritime Powers Amendments Bill.  This legislation will change the landscape for refugees seeking protection in Australia.  My sadness was a personal sadness because I have been advocating against these kind of laws for years – along with many others of good will.  My sadness was representative – sad for those who will never gain our protection even though they deserve it.

It is a very complex matter to explain to you.  I think the implications are almost solely for those who arrived here by boat.  Those of you who came through UN facilities overseas should not be adversely affected.  But those who know far more than me about these things are also very sad that our parliament has done this.

Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.  

These are the words we need to hear.  I remember a wise old man illuminating me on the meaning of Comfort.  There are two parts to this word – com and fort.  In the Latin these together mean WITH STRENGTH.  This is not always a part of what we mean when we use the words.  The same is true when we offer comfort to another.  So this is a good word for us today.

But what about the people in this congregation who were refugees?  How many of you have family members still back at home in danger?  How many of you long to have someone in your family join you here in this wonderful place?  As we come to the end of another year that you have been here, perhaps you too are feeling sad that you have still not been able to keep a promise you made.  Maybe you are sad that you have not yet fulfilled a wish or hope you had.

And maybe there are others here who are sad in these days leading up to Christmas.  Perhaps there are squabbles in families.  Perhaps there are disappointments and regrets.  Perhaps there is loss and separation.

Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.  
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

“Jerusalem” simply means “the people of God”.  These words are for us.  The Lord has tender words for us.

And what are the tender words he has for us?  With what would he strengthen us in times like these?  The prophet goes on with these words.  You will be familiar with them because we use them in our liturgies.  Our sacred songs have echoed them as well:

Get you up to a high mountain,
   O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
   O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
   lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
   ‘Here is your God!’ 
See, the Lord God comes with might,
   and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
   and his recompense before him.  
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
   he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
   and gently lead the mother sheep. 

There is an important message for us in these words.  

We are reminded that our God is HERE. 

Right here! 

Now! 

With us! 

Not far away! 

With us!

And he has come among us so that he can feed us like a shepherd feeds his sheep.

He has come among us so that he can hold us in his arms – in a loving embrace that protects us and strengthens us.

He has come among us so that he can gently lead us in his ways.

Are these the words you need to hear today?

For me this is the real joy of the Incarnation that we celebrate in the Christmas Season.  That God has come among us.  Oscar Romero once explained it like this.  If Jesus had been born in a  little village in El Salvador and if he had come into the church that Romero was speaking in, Jesus would have looked just like any one of the peasant farmers who were there in church that day.  So today, we need to remember that if Jesus had been born in a western city like this and if he came into our little church here in Hamersley, he would look just like you and me – he would fit right in.

And if he is here with us, then no matter what happens, even if it is not God’s will, Jesus will keep on walking with us, feeding us, loving us, guiding us.  Surely that is a Good News story. 

Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.