Second Sunday before Advent Mark 13:1-8 Daniel 12:1-3‘This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.’ The last sentence in today’s reading from Mark’s gospel is where we shall have to start, in order to make sense of what has come before. Jesus’ answer to the question of the disciples about the Temple led him to speak, not in agreement to their admiration for the building, but rather of what lies beyond it. This, as in the event of Jesus clearing the Temple, is to draw people’s attention to something – or someone – much greater than the architecture. Also, as usual, Jesus uses imagery that everybody at the time would be quite familiar with, in this case the image of birth. In those days, perhaps more than in later times, the physical agony of a woman in labour was part and parcel of life. The beginning of life, and its end, were close accompaniers. We have often interpreted Jesus’ words about the destruction of the Temple and what was to happen afterwards as indicators of the end of time only, but that is not necessarily the case. As we know, the Temple itself, that magnificent structure that the disciples adored, was to be destroyed in AD70, but as Jesus also indicates, ‘the end is yet to come’. So he is referring to the near future as well as the far-off future in the distance of time. The events that he talks about are signs of the ‘beginning of the birth pangs’.Birth pains can take a while; nature has to take its course. The moment of birth is not immediate but at a pre-determined time. Before then, it has to be endured; you can’t go around it, you have to go through it. The good thing is that once the child is born, the pain is forgotten and – in most cases – the new-born is held and watched with delight. So what about the birth of a new era, as referred to by Jesus?The birth of a new age, a time when justice and peace are to be restored, had been announced by the prophets for a long time. For God was always intending to renew creation and to bring in his Kingdom of mercy and truth. The Temple – in its previous forms as well as the new structure of the day – had had a particular function: to help the people focus in the right direction. But one day that function would no longer be necessary, as all would be drawn closer to God through Jesus, the living Temple of truth, love, mercy and peace. It may be that idea that astonished the disciples most. They had grown up with the rituals of sacrifice in the Temple and could not yet see how they could ever be replaced. A new Kingdom, they might have thought, fine! But it would not be the kind of Kingdom that God had in mind. What comes in the following verses in Mark’s Gospel, is the way Jesus explains how things will be for the disciples: they will be handed over to councils, beaten for their faith and hated because of Jesus’ name. Not an easy prospect! But, as Jesus also says, ‘the one who endures to the end will be saved.’Do we like that picture? Possibly not. The disciples also would not have relished the idea of persecution, any more than a woman is looking forward to her labour pains. But the way to salvation and the final fulfilment of God’s Kingdom has to come through many a conflict. We may be tempted to panic when we hear rumours of war, natural disaster and false predictions making us afraid. But we do not need to; they are only the beginning of the birth pangs. And, at least they are the beginning. The world will go, and is already going, through a difficult time. All the more reason to hold on to faith, or, perhaps more accurately, to let our faith hold us. And continue to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ. For in the face of adversity, one person with God is always a majority. Amen.
All Saints’ Day John 11:32-44 Revelation 21:1-6aThe book of Revelation – the final book in the Bible – is still a mystery but the hope that it proclaims is life-changing and life-giving. Let me explain. We find an extraordinary story in John’s Gospel, in the account of the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus, you will remember, was the brother of the sisters Martha and Mary, and had died, leaving his sisters, with whom he lived, in deep grief and despair. Jesus, although he is not far from their place at the time of his friend’s death, does not set out immediately to see them. Instead, he waits, and then goes to visit, and subsequently brings Lazarus back from the dead even after his burial. The strange scene of Lazarus walking out from his grave, still with bits of the grave linen on him, must have been very impressive indeed! And yet, it does raise a question: why did Jesus not prevent the death of Lazarus during his illness or go to him immediately after he had died to bring him back? Why did he wait until Lazarus had been dead for four days and buried? We can perhaps only conjecture, but with the passage from Revelation chapter 21 to accompany the Gospel reading, we may be able to find a helpful answer. The first four books in the New Testament, the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all offer us the Good News (that is what Gospel means) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to save humanity from their sins and to give them the hope of eternal life. These accounts, witnessed and proclaimed by a host of people, especially the disciples, all give evidence to this. And the main feature of the Gospels is that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the One who came to save us. Save us from what, some may ask. Well, it’s what Revelation 21 also says: save us from death, as it will be no more; as mourning and crying and pain will be no more. Bad news for funeral directors? Well, joking aside, there will be a time, one day in the future, when the fulfilment of all that Jesus came to give us in his dying and rising, his teaching and everything else that he embodied for the coming of the Kingdom of God will take place. And the end of death totally, will mean that at least one profession will be out of business… That is, of course, good news really. For no matter how each culture deals with death and mourning today, be it loud or more restrained and quiet, there will be no need for it at all then. Instead, there is to be rejoicing; laughter instead of mourning; a wedding banquet instead of a wake. But what about Lazarus’ death and Jesus only appearing four days afterwards? As the sisters had said: ‘If you had been here, our brother would not have died.’ I wonder: could it be that Jesus tarried because he was making a point? And the point being that our journey to life has to go through death? Like the way Jesus was going to die in order to give us life, even after death? The passage from Revelation tells us that the new state in the renewal of creation comes when ‘the first things have passed away’ – or, in other translations, ‘when the old order of things or the former things have passed away’. Let us be clear: Jesus came to destroy death, but these things happen in God’s time, not ours. We should not hasten death, but we should treasure the time we have been given in the here and now. Because Jesus came to give us life; abundant life, to the full (John 10:10), today already, while we are on this earth. We may still struggle in this life – the Psalms are particularly honest about that. But Jesus makes the difference. When he is with us, we can make it through, as he has promised. Today, we are reminded of the saints, those Christians who lived their lives in remarkable ways, yet clinging to the hope of God in Christ, encouraging us by their example. May we then not lose hope, but live fully, gratefully, looking forward to eternal life with God, while fulfilling our purpose here and now, rejoicing. Amen.
Bible Sunday John 5:36b-end Isaiah 55:1-11How much more evidence do you need? We might have heard this in a detective series on television or read it in a book. In crime novels and their filmed renditions, there is often a mistake made about the identity of the criminal at first. Only towards the end, of course, it becomes clear who really did it, after quite a few red herrings. Some detectives are very keen to get the ‘obvious’ person convicted, disregarding the evidence, or seeing it where it is not. It’s all about the evidence, and it can be misleading. In the ancient world, it was much the same. Then, what was needed most, was witnesses. As long as you had those, you would be alright, from the point of view of both parties. Sadly enough, even in our own generation mistakes have been made and justice has not been served. We have to deal with that time and again; the recent Post Office scandal is a case in point. Where does that take us, then, in the light of today’s readings and today being Bible Sunday? Bible Sunday is the last Sunday in October, when we remember how the Church began to change during the Reformation. Martin Luther, who nailed his Ninety Five Theses to a church door, was an instigator of reform and, greatly influenced by other biblical scholars all over Europe, paved part of the way towards a new understanding of salvation. Sola Fide, by faith alone. Luther challenged the prevailing doctrine that a person could earn or pay for their place in heaven, or even pay for the sins of dead loved ones to be forgiven. His search through Scripture convinced him that forgiveness is God’s alone to grant, and our salvation is personal, based on faith, not on works. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2: ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ (Eph.2:8-10).It is faith, then, that inspires good works, not our faith depending on good works; a marked difference. And the evidence for that new understanding of salvation is found in Scripture, in the Bible as it has been handed down to us. The problem that Luther and his contemporaries wrestled with was not new; it was the same idea that Jesus himself was confronted with in his dealings with the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. At the beginning of John chapter 5, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and was criticised for that. What follows is Jesus’ teaching in a statement that could read like a ‘witness for the defence’ in a court of law. He sets out the reason for his works of healing, his authority from the Father, and the testimony or evidence backed up by the Scriptures. He mentions John the Baptist, who gave evidence in testifying to Jesus as the Son of God, but also takes it further back than that, to ‘the works that the Father has given [him] to complete’ and which testify on Jesus’ behalf. Jesus does not claim it all for himself; rather, he is asking the people to look for the evidence. It is all there, he says, just look and see! John the Baptist had pointed to Jesus and was preparing the way for him. But there is much more evidence than John. There is the evidence of the Father. As Jesus says, ‘the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.’ (John 5:19). If the people believe in God, then, surely, they should be able to see the evidence of who Jesus is in what he is doing? This raises another question: do they really know God? If not, how much more evidence do they need? And what about us; we have the Bible, the testimony of countless believers in the Church, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Are we truly seeing where our salvation comes from and clinging to the truth that gives us life? Amen.
Twenty first Sunday after Trinity Isaiah 53:4-end Mark 10:35-45What is the question that we would most dearly like to ask Jesus personally? And if we haven’t yet asked in prayer, why not? Because we can ask the Lord anything, anytime according to his promise to hear. Perhaps you have asked but not heard an answer yet, or perhaps the answer is not the one you wanted. It’s complicated, isn’t it? Also, what about the nature of the question? Is it a selfish one, or is it totally free from any ulterior motive? That would be good, wouldn’t it! Anyway, Jesus was asked a question in today’s reading from Mark’s Gospel, and he gives an answer, although it is not one that is easy to accept. So, what happened? James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him: ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ Okay, not so much a request, really, more a demand, rather, I would say. But Jesus is not put off; he just asks them what it is that they want him to do for them. And here it comes, for they said: ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ A request that sounds a bit daring but also a bit flattering. In the same account that appears in Matthew’s Gospel, it is the mother of James and John who asks the question, which gives an extra slant to it all. But in Mark we focus on the disciples themselves. And Jesus does not evade the question; nor does he ignore or dismiss the request. He gives an honest answer, saying that they don’t know what they are asking. Are they able to drink the cup that he drinks, or be baptized with the baptism that he is baptized with? Their response is courageous, affirming their ability, saying: ‘We are able.’ It sounds like they really mean it, but, as Jesus continues, it will not be an easy journey; nor will the reward for their commitment be exactly as they wish it to be. In order to be truly counted as a follower of Jesus, you must let go of any preconceived idea that you can ‘earn’ a reward. And the funny thing is, of course, that our reward is guaranteed, and that it will be exactly right and fitting. I have sometimes wondered who would sit at Jesus’ right and left in his glory. My personal take on it would be that it could well be John the Baptist, or anybody else that showed a level of humility and obedience to God’s calling that is above and beyond. But ultimately it is God’s decision and his design that makes that choice. Does it matter? I don’t think so. I don’t think it is even helpful to ponder the question, as it is beyond our reach. And thankfully it is so; for it helps us not to be taken captive to the wrong kind of thinking. So, we have to be satisfied with the response that Jesus gives to James and John, and through them to all the disciples and to us: ‘To sit at my hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ It may take more humility to accept that than we are happy to admit; and, in any case, true humility – the one that accepts that we are fallen human beings and saved only by God’s grace – is often only obtained through stumbling and making mistakes, not by being what we might call ‘great’. It is certainly not the ‘humility’ that Uriah Heep claimed to possess in the story of David Copperfield; look it up if you have forgotten. Rather, it is the kind that wholeheartedly sees themselves as a servant, not a master, and that is reflected in Jesus himself, who said: ‘For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’ May we, then, be able to ask Jesus this question: ‘How can we serve you best?’ Amen.
