Tag: judgement

Advent 12: Give way more

NB this photo was taken during Covid when bright sparks would add additional text to signs!

My great great aunt told me that marriages need two bears in them: bear and forebear. To forebear, to give someone else priority, to hold back can be a virtue that make life less competitive and more harmonious, less judgemental and more inclusive. And this sign is perhaps particularly encouraging by inviting us to ‘give way more’!

So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make others stumble or fall into sin. Romans 14:13

“… yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22: 42b

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6: 10

The feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday before Advent .

Reflection (readings follow on)

Reading again the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, I think we would all be herded onto the side of the goats. There are so many people suffering and in need across the world, and despite the wealth that the planet has – in natural resources, in the wealth of human ingenuity and in the economic wealth – we have not managed to distribute these such that we do truly care for our brethren. 

This is not a new situation. If I went back to my teenage years, or when I was at university, or when I was a mother of young children, there were so many things wrong in the world which we either did not address or could not resolve: the debt crisis of developing nations, starvation in many regions, imprisonment of those standing up for social justice, the subjugation of women, the persecution of those with different sexual orientations, people suffering from infectious diseases and treatable illnesses, victims of war and civil violence, and the list goes on. I often imagine that in the afterlife anyone of these victims will turn to me and ask, ‘Why didn’t you help?’

Perhaps the parable from Ezekiel is an easier read. As it begins, we feel reassured that there is going to be happy conclusion to life, that God will ensure that we all get to live good, comfortable and contented lives; that creation will be the bucolic, biodiverse garden God envisaged; that God’s salvation will be one of effortless happiness and serenity.

But then we pick up a jarring note, that this future will only be reached through judgement; that there will be a casting out of what is self consuming, a readjustment of priorities and relationships. 

So who are we? Are we the fat sheep who have pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with our horns, and  scattered the vulnerable far and wide? 

This week a report was published by the Guardian, Oxfam, the Stockholm Environment Institute and others, called The Great Carbon Divide. Its headline message was that “The richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%, with dire consequences for vulnerable communities and global efforts to tackle the climate emergency. [This]  most comprehensive study of global climate inequality ever undertaken shows that this elite group, made up of 77 million people including billionaires, millionaires and those paid more than US$140,000 (£112,500) a year, accounted for 16% of all CO2 emissions in 2019.”

“The super-rich are plundering and polluting the planet to the point of destruction and it is those who can least afford it who are paying the highest price,” said Chiara Liguori, Oxfam’s senior climate justice policy adviser. The twin crises of climate and inequality were “fuelling one another”, she said.” 

“The suffering falls disproportionately upon people living in poverty, marginalised ethnic communities, migrants and women and girls, who live and work outside or in homes vulnerable to extreme weather, according to the research. These groups are less likely to have savings, insurance or social protection, which leaves them more economically, as well as physically, at risk from floods, drought, heatwaves and forest fires.“

Isn’t this the story of the fat sheep pushing aside the lean sheep?

Neither the parable from Ezekiel nor the one from Jesus, is a comfortable read. If we want to live in a good, comfortable and contented world, then we do have to look at and change the way we live. 

The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is such now that temperatures are going to continue to rise, causing more extreme weather events and rising sea levels. It is likely that by 2070 3 billion people will be living (or rather dying or escaping from) areas of the world that are too hot for human life. So far our response to the climate crisis has to been to do very little and then years later regret that we didn’t make changes sooner. That is surely something we can change!

I am often reminded that we can’t individually solve all the world’s problems, but, as the letter to  Ephesians reminds us, we can ask God for wisdom and power through Jesus. As Advent approaches maybe we all need to look at the ways we can alter our lives to protect human life and the environment; to look at how we can take practical, generous, action to be of use to those in need (knowing that in serving them we serve Jesus); and how we can tackle through petitions and activism the unfair differentials of power and wealth that beset the world. And if we can do this together and act collectively, we can become a significant minority and then a major majority.

There are many organisations that you can provide you with information and ideas and whom you then actively support. EG:-

Christian Aid and Cafod, Green Christian, the Laudate Si movement, Christian Climate Action

Practical Action, Tear Fund, Oxfam, A Rocha

Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion

The Trussel Trust, the Rowntree  Foundation, 350.org, 

Just Money, Fuel Poverty Action, Christians Against Poverty, Debt Justice

The RSPB, the WWT, the WWF

Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace (101 ways!), Green Christian and Imperial College’s Grantham Institute are good places to start to make your lifestyle climate friendly. 

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

Psalm 95:1-7a

1 Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

3 For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have moulded the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Ephesians 1:15-23

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Proper 28, 19th November 2023

Reflection (readings are below)

On Thursday I took part in an interfaith service praying for climate justice – we gathered beneath the statue of Robert Clive outside the Foreign Office, as we reflected on how our actions have a global impact. 

One, a rabbi, told us a story that when God first created Adam, God took him on a tour of all the trees in the garden of Eden, showing both how beautiful and how useful they all were. And then God told Adam that all this had been created for him – for humanity. ‘Make certain’, said God, ‘that you do not ruin and destroy all this, for there is no one to mend it after you!’ 

We are not children, said the rabbi, that someone else will tidy up our mess. We are adults and have to take responsibility to mend what we have damaged. 

Today’s readings have the theme of judgment. The prophet Zephaniah talks of the impending ‘day of reckoning’. A  day when our pluses and minuses, successes and failures, are weighed up.

And in today’s Gospel Jesus tells a parable in which a master judges whether his servants have been trustworthy custodians of what he gave them.

In just under two week COP28 will get underway. One of the key agenda items is to address the outcome of the global stocktake – an assessment of progress that has been made by the nations against the targets in the Paris agreement. The report itself was published in September with the conclusion that  although progress had been made, it was nowhere near enough, and that achieving net-zero emissions required “systems transformation” across all sectors and contexts, including scaling up renewable energy and phasing out fossil-fuel projects.

It feels as if we are fast approaching a day of reckoning. How will we be judged? Will it be shown that we have taken sufficient care of the earth God has given us? 

To return to Zephaniah, it will not be enough that we ourselves have gained wealth, built ourselves comfortable homes and vineyards. Judgement of the earth will be more subtle – it is not a question have we got enough wealth, a safe home and a fruitful vine – that is just to be complacent – but have we ensured that the earth’s wealth has been fairly shared with our neighbours? Have we ensured that it has been garnered in such a way as to not to destroy the earth – and all the trees – that God has given us? 

The jury is out.

The words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ opening remarks to the Climate Ambition Summit in September, sounds as forceful as those of Zephaniah. “…and our task is urgent. Humanity has opened the gates of hell. Horrendous heat is having horrendous effects.  Distraught farmers watching crops carried away by floods; sweltering temperatures spawning disease; and thousands are fleeing in fear as historic fires rage.

Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge… But, the future is not fixed.  It is for leaders like you to write it…We must make up time lost to foot-dragging, arm-twisting and the naked greed of entrenched interests raking in billions from fossil fuels.”

So while we have time, we must take action. The Psalm reminds us that God is our refuge, our port of call for help. We must ask God “ to teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” If we trust in God, we should allow God to shape our actions, to guide our thoughts and to inflame our hearts with love. 

We must not be complacent, but rather we must, in the words from Thessalonians, be awake and sober. We must put on ‘the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation’ and that salvation comes through Jesus. A few weeks ago we reflected on the Beatitudes and the teachings that Jesus gives to us his apprentices, that we should love without counting the cost, be truthful without counting the cost, be faithful without counting the cost and stand up for what is right without counting the cost.

If we and all people of faith can accept our responsibility to care for the earth and for our neighbours, then, in the words of the Hindu swami at Thursday’s Interfaith service, we, the people of faith, will be a fighting force for good, a force that can change the world.

António Guterres closed his speech saying, “The future of humanity is in your hands.  One summit will not change the world.  But, today can be a powerful moment to generate momentum, that we build on over the coming months.”

Zephaniah 1:7,12-18

Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;

the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
he has consecrated his guests.

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the people

who rest complacently on their dregs,
those who say in their hearts,

“The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do harm.”

Their wealth shall be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.

Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;

though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.

The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,
the warrior cries aloud there.

That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness,
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.

I will bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind;
because they have sinned against the Lord,

their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.

Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath;

in the fire of his passion
the whole earth shall be consumed;

for a full, a terrible end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Psalm 90:1-8, 12

1 Lord, you have been our refuge *
from one generation to another.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born, *
from age to age you are God.

3 You turn us back to the dust and say, *
“Go back, O child of earth.”

4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *
and like a watch in the night.

5 You sweep us away like a dream; *
we fade away suddenly like the grass.

6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; *
in the evening it is dried up and withered.

7 For we consume away in your displeasure; *
we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.

8 Our iniquities you have set before you, *
and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

12 So teach us to number our days *
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus said, “It is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Proper 27, 3rd Sunday before Advent

12th November 2023

Reflection (readings are below)

Amos is asking his audience if they are sure that want the Day of the Lord to come soon? Do they really want to be exposed to  God’s judgement? For that surely is part and parcel of the Day of the Lord? If it is a day of honest judgement, might it be more than we bargain for? Might it be like meeting a bear when you have just escaped from a lion? Or like reaching the safety of your home, only to put your hand on a scorpion? 

Earlier this week I was at conference considering how faith groups go about investing their financial resources. Would their choices of investment reflect well on the groups? How, for example, would they feel if they had to reveal to their congregations or supporters, where – in what companies and industries – they had invested their money? Would their investments reflect their commitment to God’s way, to the coming of the kingdom of God, or would they reflect the mercenary views of the ‘world’?

It seemed a good question to ask of ourselves. How would we feel explaining which bank we used, which pension provider, or which companies we invested with? How would we feel if we had to explain how we spent our money each week? 

So yesterday I was Christian Climate Action outside the Steam Museum in Swindon where the National Trust was holding its AGM. We and all the NT supporters recognise the good that they do to protect and enhance the natural environment, and to make it accessible to more and more people. A few years ago they divested from fossil fuels. Why then, we asked, are you banking with Barclays one of the worst in terms of their financing of fossil fuel projects? Is this in keeping with your values?

Amos then goes on to ask his audience if they are sure they know what God wants from them. Are they sure that what God wants are offerings of burnt incense or some songs of praise? Rather, says Amos, what God wants are deeds of justice and righteousness, deeds that will be ongoing – rolling – like a never ending stream. That will be the basis on which God will judge us.

If we look at the state of the world – the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, in North Sudan, in Yemen, in Gaza – do we feel ready to be judged? 

If we consider that in 2022 3.8 million people in the UK – including 1 million children – experienced destitution (struggling to afford to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed) – do we feel ready to be judged? 

If we look at global greenhouse gas emissions which are still rising, reaching a record high of  36.8 giga tonnes in 2022, whilst continuing to expand fossil fuel production- do we feel ready to be judged?

Jesus tells his audience a parable about judgement. Ten bridesmaids are tasked with doing what is expected of bridesmaids – that they be ready to light the way for the bridegroom when ever he arrives. Five take the task seriously, whilst five choose hope their work to date has been sufficient. 

Keeping lamps alight is like maintaining justice and wellbeing. It requires constant attention and resourcing. And that is our calling – our vocation – as Christians. To work constantly to maintain justice, to care for creation, to love our neighbours as ourselves – this is how we serve the kingdom of God. This is how we love God. 

Amos 5:18-24

Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:

Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, not light;
as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;

or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.

Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;

and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.

Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

Psalm 70

1 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me; *
O Lord, make haste to help me.

2 Let those who seek my life be ashamed
and altogether dismayed; *
let those who take pleasure in my misfortune
draw back and be disgraced.

3 Let those who say to me “Aha!” and gloat over me turn back, *
because they are ashamed.

4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; *
let those who love your salvation say for ever,
“Great is the Lord!”

5 But as for me, I am poor and needy; *
come to me speedily, O God.

6 You are my helper and my deliverer; *
O Lord, do not tarry.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus said, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Third Sunday of Advent

11th December 2022

Reflection (readings follow on afterwards)

“…prepare and make ready your way …. that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people…” What would John the Baptist be saying to us this Advent? Would he see  in us a people likely to be found acceptable when Christ Jesus passes judgement on the world?

Isaiah envisaged how the world would look when renewed by the glory of God – or as we would now understand it, when transformed by the good news manifesto of Jesus. In today’s passage from Isaiah, Isaiah describes the wonder and the beauty of the age to come, a time of abundance and joy, an era when needs would be met and people would no longer be fearful. 

When we look around our world today, we are faced with multiple needs and  and great fear. In our own country we hear of people who lack the wherewithal to feed themselves and their families, who lack the wherewithal to heat their homes. We hear of people who lack homes, who lack jobs and opportunities. People who lack freedom to make choices about their lives. And we sense their fears for the future. 

Jesus in his conversation with John’s messengers, echoes the words of Isaiah that in God’s kingdom the blind will see, the deaf hear and the incapacitated walk. But what of those who do not see the people starving to death in East Africa? What of those who do not see the destruction of the rain forests and the escalating loss of biodiversity? What of those who do not hear the pleas of the people of Pakistan for aid to rebuild their country after this year’s floods? What of those who do not hear the pleas of climate activists for a safe future for their children and grandchildren? What of those who will not step out of their SUVs and walk, or walk outside their gated communities to see how others live?

The words of Isaiah tells us what we should be doing to be called ‘an acceptable people’. The words of Mary tell us what we should be doing if we wish to follow the example of Jesus. Advent is the time to examine our selves and our lifestyles, to measure ourselves against the words of Isaiah and the words of the Magnificat. Do we need to recommit ourselves to the task of bringing down the mighty and lifting up the marginalised? Do we need to recommit ourselves to feeding the hungry and safeguarding the future of generations to come?

As we look forward to the coming of Christmas, let us also look forward with renewed commitment to the coming of the kingdom of God and the establishment of God’s reign on earth. Let us echo the cry of the angels that there should be peace in earth and goodwill – wellbeing – for all. With God as our strength and Jesus as our guide we can do this.

Collect

O Lord Jesus Christ, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;

like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
“Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;

the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;

the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The Song of Mary Magnificat

Luke 1:46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; *
for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

James 5:7-10

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Matthew 11:2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

First Sunday of Advent 

26th November 2022

Reflection (readings follow on below)

Is Advent just a precursor for Christmas or is it a season with its own focus and purpose?

Advent Sunday marks the beginning of the Church’s year. Whilst with the secular New Year one focuses on new beginnings, fresh starts, transformative resolutions, the traditional themes for Advent are death, judgement, heaven, and hell. Another view of Advent is to see it as a time to ‘Prepare  the way of the Lord’ with a focus on both the nativity of Jesus and his second coming. Other themes that Christians observe are hope, peace, joy, and love. 

Maybe Advent is both a time to make a fresh start – to repent and realign our daily lives with God – and a time of hope for the coming of Jesus through whom we once again receive the good news of the coming of the kingdom of God. And in just under a year’s time we will again celebrate the feast of  – and our allegiance to – Christ the King. 

Kingdoms centre round a castle or palace or capital city from which the rule of the kingdom extends. It is the place from where justice is meted out. It is the place of learning and fashion that shapes the culture of the kingdom. The passage from Isaiah talks of the mountain as the Lord’s house – the pinnacle from which God’s presence is spread abroad. This mountain has become the highest point – now everyone and every nation can see where God dwells and feel the influence of God’s rule. This renewed prominence draws the people to God in their desire to learn God’s ways which encompass peace and justice and reconciliation. 

Jesus in his ministry drew people to himself as he preached the good news of the coming rule of the kingdom of God. His message was radical and transformative, calling on people to renew and reform their lives, following in the ways of God. Jesus also spoke about a day of judgement, a day of denouement when the success or failure of our lives will be tested. This day does not sound pleasant; it sounds as if it will come with pain and tears and suffering. Jesus likens it to the time of Noah and the flood. There was life after that catastrophic flood, a new beginning. There have been other times too when humanity as a whole or in various areas of the world, has faced similar cataclysmic situations – war, floods, hurricanes, financial collapse, pandemics – which have become a time of reckoning and from which life has re-emerged, often wisely, and hopefully with a renewed understanding of the right ways of Godly living. These times of reckoning will continue to occur as we continue to wrestle with our human inclination to trust in greed and self interest. So maybe each season of Advent should be seen as a challenge to face up to our unwholesome inclination, and a time to refocus on the right ways of living in harmony with God and God’s creation.

The passage from Isaiah has words of hope that God will arbitrate between peoples and nations to establish justice, such that the weapons of war can be reformed as tools of peace and prosperity. In our time our greatest threat comes from the use of fossil fuels and the release of excessive quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere causing global warming and climate change on a catastrophic scale. If we do not curtail this decisively and speedily, we know we face a near future in which vast numbers of plants, animals and people will suffer and die. It will be a a doomsday of our own making. The weapons that enable this crisis, are our patterns of consumption and our patterns of investment. We need to transform these to create sustainable and equitable patterns of consumption and to invest in renewable and sustainable technologies. 

Advent is a season to reflect upon and amend the relationship we have with creation, with technology, with society, and with all that shapes our daily live. We need to focus on those ways which will establish a way of live that reflects God’s will, and to share that so that it is a world wide transformation. 

We should not wait for the climax to be reached before we reform our lives in line with God’s way. Now is the time to be ready. Now is the time to ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ’!

Isaiah 2:1-5

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;

all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,

‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;

that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.’

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!

Psalm 122

1 I was glad when they said to me, *
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

2 Now our feet are standing *
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built as a city *
that is at unity with itself;

4 To which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord, *
the assembly of Israel,
to praise the Name of the Lord.

5 For there are the thrones of judgment, *
the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: *
“May they prosper who love you.

7 Peace be within your walls *
and quietness within your towers.

8 For my brethren and companions’ sake, *
I pray for your prosperity.

9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, *
I will seek to do you good.”

Romans 13:11-14

You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Matthew 24:36-44

Jesus said to the disciples, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Third Sunday before Advent

6th November 2022

Reflection (readings below)

Job has been sorely afflicted and his friends bring him little comfort. Job is sure that what he is suffering is not because he has sinned. His suffering is, he feels, undeserved yet real.  His friends fail to hear what he is saying  and continue to tell him to simply repent and all will be well.

Despite the hardships and trauma, Job is confident of two things – so confident that if he could he would write them in lead with an iron pen! He is certain that God is ultimately in charge of his life  and, that God will redeem him.  (It is useful to note that redemption – salvation – does not of itself preclude suffering in our lives.)

The Psalmist expresses similar feelings, a conviction that he will be shown loving mercy by God and that his life will have a purpose. The Psalmist confidence comes from his (or her) relationship with God, through prayer and through following God’s law.

Both the passage from Job and the passage from the letter to the Thessalonians envisages an end time when God’s salvation will be made manifest. The understanding of both the resurrection of the dead and of a day of judgement – often linked to the creation of a new world – was a growing belief in Judaism in the era following the return from exile in Babylon, and then in Christianity. It wasn’t a homogeneous belief and, as we see in today’s gospel, there were powerful groups who did not belief in resurrection (and therefore not in an end judgement day either). Scepticism and uncertainty continued amongst Christians too, who were uncertain how or what resurrection and judgement would look like. Early on many Christians thought that Jesus’s return in judgement would happen during their life time and that they would pass straight from this life to the next as enjoyed by the risen Jesus. As time passed, and as those of their communities died without experiencing a resurrection visible to their companions, people were reviewing what they believed, trying to work out a better understanding of judgement and resurrection. So it is that the writer of the letter tries to reassure the congregation in Thessalonica. They are reminded that they are loved by God, that they are – already – the first fruits of salvation, and that they have been sanctified – sealed – by the Holy Spirit and are a living demonstration of the glory of Christ Jesus. 

In our current era, many people suffer for no good reason other than that they are victims of a climate crisis that is not of their making. Many others are fraught with anxiety and uncertainty about what the climate crisis portends, how it may affect them and how they should be responding. Some feel the need to take radical action, others to shy away completely from the thought of what might lie ahead. The message from Job would be to stay engaged with God – to pray, to argue, to remain faithful. The message from the Thessalonians would be to sift the stories we hear so as to discern what is truthful, and to continue as committed followers of Christ, remembering that we have Jesus as our guide and exemplar, and the Spirit as our staying power and that both the ‘Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loves us, …. [will] comfort our hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.’

Today’s gospel reading shows Jesus caught up in just such a dispute between those who believed in the resurrection and those who did not. It is one of a series of debates in the temple precincts where those who oppose Jesus are trying to pick holes in his teaching. Jesus’s answer is succinct: ‘God is the God not of the dead but of the living; for to him all … are alive’. What we humans understand as death is not as God understands it. In each of the gospels the writers record for us the good news that Jesus brought. The good news that showed us how we should live in relation to one another and in relation to God. The good news of Jesus is radical. It challenges our conventional ideas. It challenges the institutionalised ideas of our social and business worlds. It challenges our priorities. It calls for an active and prayerful response.

In the face of the climate crisis and the urgent need for radical justice, the gospel is a timely challenge to us to review our lives and reapply to them the teachings of Jesus. In this the Kingdom season, the call is to work with Jesus in establishing the kingdom of God here on earth. 

Job 19:23-27a

Job said,

“O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!

O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;

and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,

whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.”

The Psalm

1 Hear my plea of innocence, O Lord;
give heed to my cry; *
listen to my prayer, which does not come from lying lips.

2 Let my vindication come forth from your presence; *
let your eyes be fixed on justice.

3 Weigh my heart, summon me by night, *
melt me down; you will find no impurity in me.

4 I give no offence with my mouth as others do; *
I have heeded the words of your lips.

5 My footsteps hold fast to the ways of your law; *
in your paths my feet shall not stumble.

6 I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; *
incline your ear to me and hear my words.

7 Show me your marvellous loving-kindness, *
O Saviour of those who take refuge at your right hand
from those who rise up against them.

8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; *
hide me under the shadow of your wings,

9 From the wicked who assault me, *
from my deadly enemies who surround me.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?

But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

Luke 20:27-38

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”

Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”