A crazy religion to this world

‘…And the Word became flesh and lived among us....’ (John 1:14)

                                                             picture: Mary Du Charme

John 1:1-18  (Year A: Christmas Day, 25^th December, 2019)

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SERMON NOTES (436 words)

We know many things about babies – among other things they are noisy, sometimes smelly and always cuddly. At the centre of the Christmas scene somewhere behind all the glitter, noise and fuss is the image of a little baby. On the basis of hard historical facts we know that the baby depicted in the postcard cribs was not a chubby, over-sized, pale-skinned smiley baby of clearly European image. But, we do know that the story of what happened over two thousand years ago in Bethlehem would change the world in a dramatic way.

What is this Christmas thing? Is it a marriage of mid-winter pagan lights festival with a new religion of God made flesh in a small baby? Is it more an over-rated commercial season or something that marks out a belief and practice that sounds crazy, viz. the idea that God could become a vulnerable, crying and dependent baby in some sort of make-shift temporary dwelling? Think about it. It is crazy in the sense that it overturns the values and notions of a society grounded on wealth, power and traditional religious order. This story gets even more crazy – the God become baby grows into an adult who heals and preaches and meets with a terrible death. Yes, God is crucified on the cross – the very person who was a defenceless baby in the womb of blessed Mary. And to cap this ‘crazy’ story the crucified one rose from the dead and now lives among us and is in some mysterious way joined to every living human being regardless of who or what they are.

I reckon that such a ‘crazy’ God is so mad with love because that is what God is – love. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son …. (John 3:16).  Love was born in a marginal family, in a marginal place to a marginal people crushed by the Roman Empire. Love showed itself in the deeds of many today who carry the message and the truth of God-who-is-love.

Today, if we are fortunate enough, we will receive gifts – tokens of appreciation and kindness on top of the good things most of us already enjoy such as health, shelter, food and safety from harm. However, the greatest gift we can receive this Day is the gift of the one who saves – Jeshua – Jesus the Christ. This is especially so in the sacrament of the Eucharist. It is after all Christ-Mass and we are spiritually present at Bethlehem - literally the house of bread. Are we ‘crazy’ enough to believe and to live out the message of a self-emptying God who has suffered and died and lives now in our broken and still-to-be-healed world?

A short note on the ‘Prologue of St John’

The Gospel of St John is different from the ‘synoptic’ gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.  Where Matthew opens up a long Jewish genealogy and Luke opens with pregnancy and birth stories, John opens with a high-theology, contemplative genealogy of the Divine. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..’ – so begins this gospel. It starts with something like a hymn to the Logos – the very utterance of God-who-is-love. Eastern, Asiatic mysticism could see, here, the manifestation of the Seed which gives life to many, many other seeds.  John knows how to tap into a Jewish audience and, for that matter, a Hellenistic-Greek one too. The Logos (Word) is identified with Sophia (Wisdom) and is our life, our light and the very ground on which we are rooted. The Word is also identified with the Torah or Law given by God through Moses. However, the Word – or New Law – will be a key point in the writings of John including the Letters attributed to John which are read at the daily Eucharist in the closing days of this and every calendar year.

We are because the Word is. In him we have life because the Word is not some philosophical idea or code of behaviour. The Word is deeply personal and relational in a way that is more personal and more relational than we could ever guess or imagine in our little worlds. The Word is not some mere manifestation or by-product of the Divine however we might conceive it. The Word is, as John writes, God without beginning or end.

Ready to receive

‘…Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.....’ (Matthew 1:19)

Matthew 1:18-25  (Year A: The Fourth Sunday of Advent, 22^nd December, 2019)

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AN OVERVIEW OF THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS

COI	RC
Isaiah 7:10-16	Isaiah 7:10-14
Psalm 80:1-8,18-20	Psalm 24
Romans 1:1-7	Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25	Matthew 1:18-24

There are no parallel Gospel readings to that of Matthew 1:18-25

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SERMON NOTES (1,308 words)

Another week to go! Those cards, those presents, those visits, hiding the toys in the attic or with the neighbours, those last-minute things…`

Or maybe ….

Another Christmas with mixed feelings, family politics, tipsy uncles, that awkward visitor once a year and the silent, deadly dread of what a new year is likely to bring by way of developing illness, personal financial debt, job uncertainty or some other impending reality.

Whichever speaks most (or something of both?) we can find rest in the story of God-with-us or Emmanuel.  The name Emmanuel might sound more like the name of some impossibly impressive film star than the original Hebrew meaning in the prophecy of Isaiah (chapters 7-8).

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin [young woman] will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel [God with us]

Hidden in the 7^th chapter of Isaiah towards the beginning of the ‘Emmanuel chapters’ from 7 to 12) is a little precious gem – for us who read this prophecy as Christians with the light of faith and experience of those who went before us.  And if some should doubt or not believe let them be open to the mystery and beauty of these chapters interspersed as they are with warnings and cries for change.

Line by line:

‘Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.’ (v. 18)

To be unmarried and pregnant was a source of scandal and severe punishment in relatively primitive societies. Such scandal and severe punishment was widely practiced until very recently in these parts of the world.  The great irony of this passage is that, were Joseph to have carried out the ‘letter’ of the Law he would have publicly denounced Mary and had her put to death and Jesus also. (See Chapter 22 of the Book of Deuteronomy, for example.)

The bible tells us that Mary was ‘found to be with child from the Holy Spirit’.  We do not know exactly how but we believe that Jesus – the Son of God – was born of the Virgin Mary and that this was by the power of the holy spirit. This is a key and essential part of our ‘creed’.

‘Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.’ (v. 19)

Some translations render the first part of this verse as: ‘Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law’. Two vital components sit side by side in this verse:

The faithfulness of Joseph to the spirit of the ‘Law’; and

Joseph’s strong love and care for Mary and his motivation to not ‘expose her to public disgrace’.

His plan was to deal with the matter ‘quietly’. In other words he did not allow his faithfulness to the ‘Law’ in any way to speak or act that would have brought additional suffering to Mary. This was to be a private scandal dealt with in a very tactful and loving way. But, what was to emerge was not a private scandal…..

‘But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’ (v. 20)

Joseph listened to his ‘dreams’. Put another way, he listened to his very own heart and, there, he found the calm voice of Love speaking through ‘an angel of the Lord’ and gently inviting him to not be afraid but, rather, take Mary as his wife. This was going to be a crucial moment of decision and trust on the part of Joseph. He could have doubted what he heard. He could have run way and still let Mary go without a public fuss. No, he said yes to God’s will in a way that made a huge difference not only to Mary but Jesus who was growing in the womb of Mary.

‘She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ (v. 21)

Had Mary already told Joseph that the angel who visited her recently had also given the name of Jesus or Jeshua (the one who saves)? It looks as if Mary kept all this to herself at least until Joseph had received the name of Jesus in his dream.

‘All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ (v. 22-23)

The passage of Isaiah 7:14 is taken up in the Gospel of Saint Matthew and is applied directly to the birth of Jesus Christ. The travails of the people of Israel across the centuries and books and prophecies find their fulfilment in the promise and coming of the One who will save not just the chosen people of Israel but all peoples who turn to the Source of Salvation.  What a gem. What a precious pearl. A pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44). Later, Isaiah will write (45:3):

‘I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.’

‘In man there is a deep so profound, it is hidden even to him in whom it is’. St Augustine (Exposition on the Book of Psalms)

‘When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,’ (v. 24)

Joseph was more than a dreamer and recipient of divine instruction. Joseph was a doer and a doer who would bring upon himself much adventure, hardship, dislocation, travel and wonder.  We do not know much about Joseph except for those rare occasions when he steps in and steps out again from the gospel stories.  Yet, his role is crucial to the unfolding of the story in those early years of Jesus’ life.  Assuming that Joseph had died before Jesus began his ministry could we surmise that Joseph’s passing deeply impacted on Jesus in some way? Might the commencement of Jesus’ ministry have been triggered by the death of Joseph? Death can have many impacts on those who are extremely close.

‘…. but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.’ (v. 25)

The situation that Joseph faced when he received Mary was one of uncertainty, doubt, a gradual revealing, a struggle and acceptance. He received Mary – and Jesus – into his heart and home. He welcomed God’s ways which are not our ways and can, sometimes, stand in quiet defiance of the norms, prejudices and petty judgments of society.

Post-script

For some reason, liturgists in some traditions cut short the gospel extraction for this Sunday half-ways through a sentence crossing verses 24 and 25. Perhaps they thought that this particular part of a sentence did not ‘add’ anything to the key storyline for this Sunday? Some exegetes have been quick to rush in with an explanatory footnote that nothing can be read into ‘had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son’. Whatever interpretation is held we know by faith and tradition that (a) the conception and birth of Jesus was ‘from the Holy Spirit’, and that (b) what happened after the birth of Jesus is not addressed by the gospel writers because (c) it is not relevant to the key message of the Gospel.

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SOME IDEAS FOR INTERCESSIONS

We place ourselves in the hands of God who is love and God who is with us. Together with all peoples throughout the world we pray for:

• Peace and harmony where hatred and selfishness has torn apart…..
• Justice and respect where greed and complacency have left so many robbed of their rights and dignity…
• The people of the United Kingdom at this time …
• The Christian churches that we may witness to the joy of God with us in this time of Advent…
• One another….
• Other named persons ….
• Remembering with thanks those who have gone before us….
• … praying in silence….

God our redeemer, who prepared the blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son:
Grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour, so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge; who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. (BCP © 4^th Sunday in Advent)

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Ready to witness

 ‘…And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’....’ (Matthew 11:6)

Matthew 11:2-11  (Year A: The Third Sunday of Advent, 15^th December, 2019)

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AN OVERVIEW OF THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS

COI & RC

Isaiah 35:1-10

Psalm 146:4-10

James 5:7-10

Matthew 11:2-11

A parallel Gospel reading to Matthew 11:2-11 is found in Luke 7:18-27

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SERMON NOTES (791 words)

On this, the third Sunday of Advent, we are moving closer to that great feast of the Saviour’s birthday. However, the warnings and unedited declarations of John the Baptist gave way to a new phase in our history of salvation.  Now, the focus turns towards the cousin of John. In terms of the Gospel story we skip forward from John at the river Jordan preaching, warning, baptising and clearing the way for someone who is to come to John who is in prison awaiting trial and, presumably, execution. 

There is no evidence, on this occasion, that Jesus organised a protest or a petition to have his cousin released. News of what was happening outside the prison got through to John.  He had his networks and supporters and, so, he sent messengers to check out who Jesus really was and what his goal was.  John surely knew Jesus to some considerable degree. After all, their mothers were closely bonded from at least the time of their pregnancies.  John had even leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary, carrying Jesus, greeted John’s mother, Elizabeth.  As they grew up (and they were, of course, of the same age) did John wonder who this cousin, Jesus, really was?  At the end of Jesus’ life (the last 10% of his total life span, we might say) something extraordinary started to emerge in Galilee where Jesus commenced his ministry. Down south in Judea a whole ‘movement’ had been generated around John the Baptist. The two ‘movements’ were about to be joined up. Something new was about to happen.

In his reply to John, Jesus spells out what is happening in verse 5:

the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised, and
the poor have good news brought to them

This very much echoes Luke’s account of the announcement of Jesus ministry (Luke 4:18-19)

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

Here lies the test for us listening to these gospels texts year after year. When we gather in His name or when we witness, together, are the ‘blind’ given sight as a result?  Do the ‘lame’ walk? Are ‘lepers’ healed?  Are the ‘dead’ raised to new life?  Does our message and the way we live set others free let alone on fire? Are the poor, marginalised and oppressed set free? Does it make any difference? Who are the ‘blind’, the ‘lame’, the ‘deaf’, the ‘dead’ anyway? Could we be counted among these already?

Sometimes, church-going folk worry and fret a lot over the decline in ‘religious practice’.  Particular concern is expressed about the free-fall in ‘vocations’ (at least in the post-modern, post-truth, post-industrial, post-Christian, post-anything world).  Particular concerns are also expressed about the sharply ageing profile of church congregations in many places and denominations (some more than others). What’s going on?  The answers, just like the reasons, are complex and many-faceted.  Various zealous returns to ‘orthodoxy’, ‘discipline’, ‘evangelisation/catechisation’ and a host of local innovations do not seem to be able to turn the tide let alone arrest it – at least in the economically prosperous parts of the world.  Religion is dead and countries like Ireland are just aligning with this new post-faith world, so it is claimed by many among the de-churched or the non-churched. Is ‘religion’ really dead in this part of the world? And what is ‘religion’ anyway?  Might it be helpful to raise two questions at this stage of what seems like terminal decline in the fortunes of many mainstream Christian Churches in Ireland (and I am sure the same could be applied elsewhere):

Does Christianity need to be rediscovered and re-presented in today’s world as an invitation to relationship, meaning, trust and growth? (people have not given up searching for ways of life).

Would a truly radical and heart-full return to Orthopraxis release a wave of energy and life that would be so credible, authentic, attractive and new that many are drawn in?

The mission entrusted by Jesus to his disciples then and to us today is no less valid, no less true, no less urgent, no less powerful.  Who else will live the message so that it might be told to everyone everywhere? And when we really start doing this we may have the impression of causing scandal or upset (probably more in our limited way of thinking and in our limited church circles) – “And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.” (verse 6)

Postscript

Matthew sends out an important signal in the following:

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples.

The Gospel of Matthew places a strong emphasis on the Messiah (or the Christ).  This emphasis would not have been lost on his Jewish audience since the transition from a baptism with water and prophecy as with Elijah must now, decisively, give way to a new baptism in the Spirit and a new definitive revelation of God.  All of history leads to this event, this era, this teaching, this prophecy. It was no longer just a question of Jesus the extraordinary and ordinary cousin of John but it was a matter of Jesus Christ the ‘he-who-saves’ (Jeshua in Aramaic) and the Christ or Messiah (Christou in Greek).

Who were the ‘messengers’ sent by John the Baptist?  The old Greek version of Matthew 11.2 has: Pempsas dia tōn mathētōn autou (πέμψας διὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ) or ‘Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples’ (King James Version).  So, the original text indicates that two were sent and not just one. And these were disciples and not just any two messengers.  Although not elaborated on we could surmise that these two witnessed together the work of Jesus and brought this news back to John before his execution.  Moreover, these two joined the band of disciples beginning to crystallise around Jesus.  In witnessing to the love of God we never travel alone. For where two or three are gathered in his name there is the Spirit of freedom and the spirit of God and the real sacramental presence of Jesus the Christ.

Ready to change

 ‘…Prepare the way of the Lord....’ (Matthew 3:3)

Matthew 3:1-12 (Year A: The Second Sunday of Advent, 8^th December, 2019)

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AN OVERVIEW OF THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS

COI & RC

Isaiah 11:1-10

Psalm 72:1-7,18-19

Romans 15:4-13

Matthew 3:1-12

Parallel Gospel readings to Matthew 3:1-12 are found in Mark 1:1-6 and in Luke 3:1-9

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SERMON NOTES (843 words)

The approach of Christmas is associated with a time of preparation, waiting and renewal. Here, in the northern hemisphere, we are closing in rapidly on the shortest day of the year, circa 21 December. When steering the liturgy of the young Christian communities in the first centuries after Christ, the disciples of Jesus were very much conscious of pagan myths and rituals especially around the times of the winter and summer solstices and spring or  autumn equinox.  In the advanced religion of the Jewish people the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, has a special place in the Northern winter around this time of the year. A festival of lights is also found among other religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. When it is darkest there is a natural human desire to witness some light.  In a striking way, this innate human desire is illustrated in a spectacular way in the construction of Newgrange some 5,000 years ago.

For us, today, Christmas stands at a secular crossroads with many roads leading to and from IKEA, B&Q, Tesco and others leading in other directions among which are counted (if we are fortunate or not) office parties, drinks, meeting up, a trip back to Ireland for the emigrants or somewhere else, Mass once a year with the grandparents, family get-together, walks by the sea or mountains, the sales on ‘Boxing Day’ (it is still called St Stephen’s Day in Ireland at least for now), back to work, January bills etc. This time of year brings many memories to people – mostly happy and wonderful but sometimes not since a place at table is vacant or some other reminder of less than happy things in the past associated, somehow, with Christmas time.  Whatever representation Christmas presents to us we do well, I suggest, to take a trip into those dark places within us as we tread gently there with candle in one hand and an anam-chara in the other. We may stop our searching and striving for a while each day and stay there in that silent and not so bright place; waiting and ready to receive in God’s own time and way.

This Sunday’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew might provide a short piece of text to stop and think about in that not so bright place. It speaks to us of someone who stood apart from the crowd and was not afraid to speak truth to power. Moreover, it speaks of someone who is a sign of contradiction. John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, points to a new way of life and a new order of things which is already breaking in to our world. He was no ordinary person. Clothed in ‘camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist’ and with ‘locusts and wild honey’ as his food we are picturing, here, not some finely clothed priest in the Temple or some man about society and the synagogue.  Here was someone who was a reproach to the social norms of the time. Yet, people came to him. There was something about his message and its impact. However, the cousin of Jesus plays something of a very backseat role in the gospel. Just as Jesus emerges on the scene, the Baptist fades away. Yet, his role and ministry is hugely important – like of that of Mary the mother of Jesus. 

When the Pharisees and Sadducees presented themselves for baptism, John in characteristic mode was not operating from the manual ‘How to win friends and influence people’ in declaring:

‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”.

This declaration is a direct assault on a religion of show, power and entitlement. Its purveyors miss the key point of real religion which is to bear good fruit born of a loving relationship with a God who is no more or no less than love. This is the meaning of true repentance – a decisive turning away from what is wrong and harmful and a turning towards what is good and wholesome.  Such a dramatic change of mentality and heart may be gradual or sudden as the case may be.  For most of us conversion – in the true sense of the term – is a slow, painful, two steps forward, one back (or one forward and two back at times) process.  To be saved is to know that peace and freedom that comes from a life well spent.

This advent is a time to be refreshed and to experience, again, the fruits of our own baptism. Advent is about waiting. But, it is also about openness to change. Change is possible no matter who we are and where we are at.

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A PRAYERFUL WALK THROUGH MATTHEW 3:1-12

John the Baptist features this Sunday and next. Then he fades away somewhat from the gospel story lines at least after the baptism of Jesus which signalled the beginning of his public ministry.

v.1-3   The voice of one crying in the wilderness

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. ’This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:  “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”’

John the Baptist knows his scripture and knows that something new is hidden in the Old while the Old is now about to be revealed in the New. He quotes Isaiah 40:3. Where are today’s prophets crying? And, what do they cry out?

v.4-6   Come to the waters

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

A large number of people came to him for healing and liberation from their demons. The image of water and immersion in it is powerful. It connects us with a Baptism in water and in the Holy Spirit which would follow in the not too distant future.

v. 7-10   John gives the religious respectables a lashing

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”.

John did not mince his words!

“The Christian of every generation is called to be awake and attentive to where society is slipping into wrong ways and to cry out like the prophet to return to the ways of God” (Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (December 2019).

v. 11-12     a baptism of fire beckons to us

‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

There is a clear difference between John’s baptism and that of Jesus (though it seems that Jesus did not, himself, baptise during his earthly ministry).  This distinction was important for the early disciples to grasp since even after the death and resurrection of Jesus some followers clung to John the Baptist. They had do let go of the good Baptist to fully immerse in the Holy Spirit.

We live our own baptism throughout our lives and not just at one special moment of decision (although this may also feature in the disciple’s journey).  The Baptism of John was an important sign and challenge for the people of his time. The Baptism of Jesus would not be revealed until after his death when he poured his Holy Spirit on the those who believed in him. This latter baptism is witnessed today by countless millions starting with a once-off sacramental event but not stopping there because our baptism in the Holy Spirit and in the fire of God’s love is never finished until we have run life’s course.

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SOME IDEAS FOR INTERCESSIONS

During this time of special preparation for the feast of the birth of our saviour we unite our prayers with those of Christians throughout the world. In particular we pray for:

True freedom of conscience and expression in society including the Middle East…..

Those suffering the effects of sectarianism, war and terror…

The people of Iran at this time …

The communities in which we live and work…may we extend a genuine and warm welcome to those who seek truth and love….

The Christian churches … that we may hold to the true faith of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit entrusted to us…

One another….

Other named persons ….

Remembering with thanks those who have gone before us….

… praying in silence….

Loving God accept gather up our prayers – those spoken and those unspoken in the depths of our hearts. In the places we live, work and communicate, may we be channels of peace and reconciliation in a tormented world.