Sunday next before Lent Mark 9:2-9 2 Kings 2:1-12Before the invention of the microscope, we would never be able to see or identify anything beyond what seemed to be just a fleck of dust or that which was too small to even notice. Yet once we were able to see what was before impossible to make out with the human eye, we began to understand more about our world. And before the invention of the telescope, we would not have been able to notice the immense ‘scope’, literally, of the universe. Through the telescope, we began to see more of what was beyond our world, into the huge expanse of the sky. Be it big or be it small, we need help – with the correct instrument – to really see. When Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain, and he was transfigured before them, it was as if another dimension was literally unveiled in front of their eyes. With Elijah and Moses appearing to them and talking with Jesus, it was no wonder that Peter started to babble something about making shelters for them all, turning the event into a religious festival perhaps, like the Festival of Booths (Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot), which commemorates the 40 years that the Jewish people spent in the desert after the Exodus. The mountain setting of the event reminds us of Moses on Mount Sinai, when he received the Ten Commandments. And the appearance of both Moses and Elijah links the experience to the prophetic and restoration actions of deliverance in the history of the people. The vision that the disciples are seeing may well have been terrifying, and the transfiguration of Jesus, with dazzlingly white clothes, puts it all in another dimension indeed.In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, there is the phrase: ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, [Horatio] than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ It is suggesting that human knowledge is limited, and we cannot really deny that. As it is sometimes said, the more we know, the more we realise what we don’t know, or that we don’t know everything. It is wise to understand our limitations and to accept that we are learners. So maybe we should take a step back and look at what has happened until this moment on the mountain. Why, for instance, did Jesus take the three there? What is recorded in previous chapters, is the journey, in the figurative sense, into the Kingdom of God. Jesus has been leading the disciples up a high mountain, so to speak, to get a new view of God’s Kingdom. All the while, he has been unveiling the mystery of that new place, hitherto hidden from view, through his profound teaching and extraordinary actions. This is a process, in which the disciples’ eyes are gradually being opened to a new truth and a new reality about the Messiah and that is truly astounding! One thing is sure: he is not as anybody had ever expected! Now, by literally taking the three disciples up a mountain for another vision of the new Kingdom, Jesus is taking them deeper into this truth. This is a new dimension of the world and God’s purpose for it.For us, in a so-called ‘enlightened’ age, in which so much emphasis is on the visual and physical, it may be more difficult to grasp this reality. Perhaps our culture is not helpful to really ‘look and see’. But, whenever we do get a chance to catch a glimpse of the new dimension of God’s Kingdom, it is like looking through a microscope or a telescope and discovering something we have never seen before; the experience can be life-changing. So that, when the ‘veil’ of our limited perception is lifted, we can see the new dimension of God’s truth, which is dazzlingly bright, and hear God’s voice, saying, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ May we be open to that new, life-changing experience and rejoice! Amen.
Second Sunday before Lent John 1:1-14 Proverbs 8:1, 22-31The book of Proverbs begins with the following: ‘The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight, for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice and equity; to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young – let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching.’ (Proverbs 1:1-8). The purpose of the book is to offer insights for learning to cope with life, based on the teachings of the elders and experience. The basic wisdom theme as mentioned in verse 7, is reverence toward God as the prerequisite to knowledge. It is addressed to the young, the simple and the wise. For even those who have already gained wisdom can do with a little more. It is interesting to note that although the opening of the book has Solomon’s name to it, the authorship of the whole of Proverbs is probably multiple, part of it credited for example to ‘the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah’, or attributed to King Lemuel’s mother. Be that as it may, the wisdom of the sayings comes through and invites the reader to reflection, ethical concern and piety. When we come to chapter 8, and the verses for today’s reading, we are reminded of the call of wisdom; wisdom personified as a woman who offers life. In verses 22 to 31, wisdom is proclaimed as being the first of God’s creation at the beginning of his work, and it is stated that wisdom was beside God when he ‘marked out the foundations of the earth’ and made everything that was made. If the book of Proverbs is calling us to gain wisdom, to hear her voice and take her instruction, John’s Gospel calls for faith in Jesus as the incarnate Word, as in the Prologue: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’ In just a few sentences, John proclaims and presents Jesus as the one who was instrumental in creation and that he is light and life. Those opening words of John chapter one bring us back to Genesis one, and the story of creation. When God created the heavens and the earth, God spoke and it came to be. God’s power was revealed in his words that brought the material world into existence. We could perhaps say that wisdom went with his words and that Jesus was the Word, as God’s mediator of creation. And if God created the world ‘in the beginning’, now he re-creates it through Jesus. The Word that was in the beginning with God is now here in physical human form, to recreate the world that has gone wrong and to redeem it, to bring it back to God. In the accounts of Jesus’ work that follow, we see God’s power in the miracles that Jesus performed, sometimes by touching, but often through speaking for healing and forgiveness. We have the saying that ‘sticks and stones may hurt my bones but words can never hurt me’. Not really true but as a defence it may sometimes work. I would say the opposite, though, in the context of God’s spoken word and the living Word, Jesus: that God’s word is so powerful that it can heal and mend, and change outcomes and offer hope and a future. God’s word – both with lower case and upper case ‘w’ – is literally life-giving. What is more, it is complete, as Jesus said while on the cross: ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30). God’s word and God’s wisdom, together they have accomplished the eternal purpose of God. God’s living Word – in his love – has done it. Amen.
Candlemas Luke 2:22-40 Hebrews 2:14-endPresentation of Christ in the TempleThe account of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple in Luke’s Gospel, may be quite familiar to us: Mary and Joseph are taking the baby Jesus to the Temple to ‘present him to the Lord’, as it says, ‘and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”’ It is this moment when the two people who are mentioned subsequently as being in the Temple at the same time, Simeon and Anna, recognise Jesus as the one who had been promised. They praise God for Jesus, and Simeon says those famous words: ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’ We are using this prayer at Evening Prayer and Compline as the ‘Nunc Dimittis’, from the opening words in Latin. It is a prayer – or a song of praise – that gives us a sense of completion. It is this sense of completion that Simeon feels, now that he has identified the promised Saviour. The prayer seems to suggest that Simeon is old and will probably die soon, but that may not necessarily be the case: he is simply saying that his major wish has been granted and his life is now ‘complete’. This account completes the season of Epiphany – the season of revelations of Jesus’ identity. We are now taken back to the time after Jesus’ birth when he is met by Simeon and Anna as a baby. This is not as strange as it may sound. For it gives the backdrop to Mary in particular about the reason for her son’s birth, and that his life is to be of very special significance to the whole world. There were those other words too: that a sword would pierce her own soul. No doubt that was a prophesy referring to Jesus’ death, that she was to witness. The promise of a special baby that the Angel Gabriel had told her before she became pregnant, might not have revealed the full scope and consequence of her experience. So Simeon’s words may have been a bit of a surprise.And yet, the message of Simeon was full of hope: this is the Messiah, the longed-for Saviour, who was to come to comfort us. It was an amazing moment for those few people who were at the Temple that day: to actually see the One who had been promised, and who would shine as a light for all and as a sign of God’s love and grace. Simeon saw ahead, into the vision that God gave him, about the salvation that God was working out. It was a work of rescue and restoration. It was claiming God’s children back to him, restoring our relationship with him, for all and for all time, through Jesus, his Son. The sense of completion and fulfilment that Simeon praised the Lord for, was echoed by Anna, the prophetess who was also a witness to the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Her exact words are not recorded but she too saw the completion in the fulfilment of God’s redemption and praised God for Jesus. It was a very special day for her as well as for Simeon, and one that is recorded for us, so that we too may learn the message of hope that Jesus brought. Where there is hope, there is life. That doesn’t mean that we just forget the traumas of life or cover them up and pretend they didn’t happen. That would not be helpful. Rather, it means that we can leave our past hurts and failures in God’s care, putting them at Jesus’ feet, where he has dealt with them on the cross. God’s salvation through his Son is complete: we are safe through faith, and that faith gives us hope, as we rest in God’s love, made complete in Jesus. Amen.
Third Sunday of Epiphany - Week of Prayer for Christian UnityGenesis 18:1-8 Luke 10:25-37A lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer.’The lawyer could, of course, have stopped right there, glad to have found approval. But, wanting to justify himself, he pushed the issue and asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ This reminds me of an American joke:An engineer, a physicist, and a lawyer were being interviewed for a position as chief executive officer of a large corporation. The engineer was interviewed first, and was asked a long list of questions, ending with “How much is two plus two?” The engineer excused himself, and made a series of measurements and calculations before returning to the board room and announcing, “Four.”The physicist was next interviewed, and was asked the same questions. Before answering the last question, he excused himself, made for the library, and did a great deal of research. After a consultation with the United States Bureau of Standards and many calculations, he also announced “Four.”The lawyer was interviewed last, and was asked the same questions. At the end of his interview, before answering the last question, he drew all the shades in the room, looked outside the door to see if anyone was there, checked the telephone for listening devices, and asked “How much do you want it to be?”We need lawyers and I am sure that many are hard-working, honest people. As a matter of fact, I have some as friends. The reading from Luke’s Gospel may feature a lawyer, but the theme goes further than that. The material used for this year’s ecumenical service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was developed by Christians from Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso, literally “the land of upright people,” is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a low-income Sahelian country with limited natural resources. Its economy is largely based on agriculture, although gold exports are on the rise. It is a country known for its simple and hard-working national character. The service explores how we find our common identity in the experience of God’s love. The specific context of Burkina Faso – in particular its fractured history – reflects the need to place love at the centre of the quest for peace and reconciliation. The introduction to the materials notes that this quest has often been undermined by the loss of values and of a shared sense of humanity, and by a diminished concern for the common good, probity, integrity, and patriotism. “The search for reconciliation has also been weakened by spiritual impoverishment and by the pursuit of easy gains,” reads the introduction. “Faced with these realities, the imperative to witness to the love of God is all the more pressing.” We could perhaps say that that is not limited to Burkina Faso; it applies to our part of the word too.The introduction also notes that Christian communities in Burkina Faso try to live the call to love through mutual hospitality.“We have been invited to live the divine call to love God and our neighbour as ourselves,” reads one prayer of intercession. “As we renew our commitment to this call, may this love strengthen our unity as Christians.”So, what do we do with this theme of hospitality in the context of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity? How does it speak to us and how do we respond? I am struck by the way the two readings are saying something about it, and are, in a way, holding up a mirror to us. And I am also struck by the way the words ‘hospital’ and ‘hospitality’ are connected.The word ‘hospital’ comes from the Latin ‘hospes’, signifying a stranger or foreigner, hence a guest. Another noun derived from this, hospitium came to signify hospitality, that is the relation between guest and shelterer, hospitality, friendliness, and hospitable reception. Now isn’t that a remarkable connection between the two readings… First of all, the story in Genesis 18, of the Lord’s visit to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre. When Abraham looked up, he saw three men standing near him and he ran to meet them and bowed to the ground in greeting, offering hospitality to them. It is interesting that he addresses them in the singular, ‘My Lord,’, although he recognises them as three. This story is famously portrayed in the Rublev Icon, also known as the Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, all looking at one another and also, strangely, at us, as if to invite us into the holy circle. There is food on the table, the calf that was prepared as the story tells us. Abraham offered hospitality, that is: food and shelter, with friendliness and generosity. His hospitality, in other words, was sincere; he did not skimp. In Luke’s Gospel, we find the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here, too, hospitality is offered, with that central notion of ‘hospital’: not by the most obvious of people, like a priest or a Levite, responsible for religious leadership. One of the most unlikely people, rather, a man from the despised people of Samaria, he came to the rescue of the man who had fallen into the hands of robbers and left for dead by the side of the road. Not only did this Samaritan take pity and offer first aid, he also took time to put him on his own animal and take him to an inn, staying with him and giving the innkeeper money for his care until his return. Top marks as a first aid responder! Two readings, then, each giving us a story about generosity and care, about looking after the wellbeing of the other, without asking for anything in return. In the first one, in Genesis, there is a lavishness in Abraham’s offering of food and shelter, including washing of dusty feet. [The story continues with the question from the Lord and his own generous hospitality toward Abraham and Sarah in the promise of a son.]In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the man who received care was in no position to give anything back in return. He was at the mercy of the goodwill of the Samaritan. It can be tempting to offer hospitality with ‘strings attached’, like the idea that ‘if I give you this, you will give me that’. But true hospitality is not like that at all. It gives what is needed, and is perhaps reciprocated but perhaps not. That should not be an issue. In the context of Christian Unity, we may wonder how we do that. In most parishes, churches are working with other denominations in Churches Together, like we do in our Benefice. Yes, we are from different denominations, with a preferred way of worship, but we are all part of the Body of Christ that God has called to be one. And hospitality is a gift that we can share as one in the way we are church in this area. Not forced, or ignoring the differences, but, in humility, celebrating our common connection with God and with one another as Christians, followers of Christ, who came to save us all. True hospitality has that central notion of hospital, of nursing and healing. Wellbeing is a favoured topic nowadays, and some of the things that the churches do is around that: looking after body and soul, offering refreshments and chats or a safe space to be and share our humanity. The ministry of tea and cake. I like cake, not just for its own sake, but for what it comes with: community, connection. Cake says care, generosity, love. Too much sugar is not good for us, but ‘a spoon-full of sugar helps the medicine go down’, as the song says [‘In every job that must be doneThere is an element of funYou find the fun and... snap!The job's a gameAnd every task you undertakeBecomes a piece of cakeA lark! A spree!It's very clear to seeThat... a...Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go downThe medicine go do--ownThe medicine go downJust a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go downIn a most delightful way’]We have been called to be the salt of the earth, for preservation and flavour, but maybe we could add a bit of sugar to that calling, to brighten the day for someone else. So that true hospitality and love may grow and give honour to the One who offered everything for us. Amen.
