Second Sunday of Advent, The Prophets

The Prophets

9^th Dec 2018

Are you confused, I’m not surprised, on this the 2^nd Sunday of Advent we lit the candle of peace for the prophets and next week a candle for John the Baptist and yet, we just read the gospel about John.

Yet we have to remember that the whole of Advent, the season of preparation is both a looking back and a looking forward, we stand if you like in the middle of future and past, the past as we remember the prophecies of the Old Testament and the future  & the coming of Christ (both as the babe of Bethlehem and as the bringer of everlasting hope and peace when he come again).

John too is intimately bound up with past and future as he also

stands in centre of future and past, of the old and the new between the Old Testament stories of Patriarchs, Prophets and priests, remember John parents are themselves descendants of Aaron, thus linking John to Moses and the future in the fact that John as a prophet himself is preparing the way for Jesus and his ministry.

Now if you go online and look at the second Sunday of Advent in the SEC Liturgy and Lectionary, you’ll find on this page the Benedictus.

Said everyday throughout the church at morning prayer, one of the 3 great canticles in Luke’s Gospel but perhaps not as well used by people as the Mag or Nunc, here it is, uttered remember by Zechariah when he regains his speech after the birth of John. It comes in too parts, again past and future

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*

for he has come to his people and set them free.

2       He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*

born of the house of his servant David.

3       Through his holy prophets he promised of old*

that he would save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all that hate us.

4       He promised to show mercy to our fathers,*

and to remember his holy covenant.

5       This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:*

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

6       free to worship him without fear,*

holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

7       You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,*

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

8       to give his people knowledge of salvation*

by the forgiveness of all their sins.

9       In the tender compassion of our God*

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

10     to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,*

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

In this Zechariah both confirms the linkage with John to the prophets of old, to Abraham and King David and also confirms the status of John as a prophet of ‘the most high’ who will prepare the way for the Messiah, confirming that John is indeed the coming messenger that Malachi  who we heard in our old testament reading speaks about.

And so John is a key figure in both the 2^nd and 3^rd week of Advent so it seems appropriate to tell you that this week we spent a few days in Vienna, and visited Melk Abbey, a  Benedictine Monastery  set high above the city of Melk just outside Vienna. In one of rooms  we visited, filled with the Abbey’s treasurers there was a beautiful chalice from 17^th C with fragments of bone supposedly of John the Baptist. The prophet who we see today as the voice crying out in the wilderness whose message will prepare the way for the salvation to come with the birth of Christ who will guide our feet into the way of peace.

Today we still dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,  as the problems across our world show only too clearly, so the message of deliverance is as real today as it was in Old Testament times and two thousand years ago, and yet another story from Melk Abbey, that of St Coloman ( carved statue below) shows how real that shadow is and has been down the centuries as we still struggle to find the ways of peace.

Coloman, the son of an Irish King, so the story goes was on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem when in Austria he was taken as a spy, tortured and executed by hanging on an elder tree. The tree soon began to blossom and miracles occurred, so his body was taken to Melk Abbey and buried there, he became the first Patron Saint of Austria until 1663. The text by his statute today states ‘As he fell victim to prejudices, the saints legend should stand as a warning against Xenophobia’

And this is only one a the shadows that faces us all today, so  we must ask ourselves as we contemplate our lives and how we live our faith how  can we in all our small ways, in our own places bring the Advent hopes of peace and joy  for future generations into our world today. Something to contemplate as we prepare to meet God Incarnate on this coming Christmas Day. Amen.

2 Stories 2 Outcomes

How are actions define us

Sermon -29^th July 2018

You may wonder how on earth these 2 readings from Old and New Testament can possibly go together and they don’t, one is about lust the other about care, total opposites you might say, and I would have to agree with you.

Except both tell the same story of the consequences of our actions, I’ll explain.

1.    David and Bathsheba – that well known story, David anointed King Chosen by God yet very human in his desires and with the power to satisfy them, sees a beautiful woman bathing as he strolls on the palace roof – so far so good, but he uses his power to have a brought to him and (OK this is my spin on it, but how else can we read it – forces, coerces her to lay with him – result pregnancy) so bad enough already, but she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite so David tries to pass the child off and when Uriah ( totally innocent in this tale of lust and power will have none of it) orders ,”Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest and then fall back, so that he gets wounded and killed.” So at best adultery, at worst rape followed by murder.

2.    Followed by the 5 loaves and 3 fishes which feed a crowd of over 5000.  One of the great miracles, where by his actions Jesus shares all he can access at that moment with all who are present. Various scholars suggest that Jesus action of taking the 5 loaves and 2 fishes and blessing them precipitates a miracle of sharing as others in the crowd with simple small amounts of food are moved to share as well. Then there’s the traditional version where the food 2/5 is by faith made enough for all. Which ever way you can accept as truth, it’s a miracle, from apparently very little, over 5000 are fed. So Jesus by his actions is shown to be ‘indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”  Jesus, as he realized they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, fled to the hills at once.  So compassion and care place Jesus in peril.

3.    Actions have consequences!

4.    Can you think of a time when you have done something ad needed to cover it up – like David! So you have done something and them put the blame on someone else – anybody remember a specific occasion?  No or not saying – or conveniently forgotten – I spent some time racking brains this morning but couldn’t think of anything personal which means we are very good at dismissing our own mis-demeaners but I can remember – Christmas Morning with our 2 eldest children. The eldest came in to our room with the contents of both stockings, then a very upset younger one who thought Santa had not left anything for him. Soon the eldest was Blaming Santa! Until we got a confession.

5.    Can you think of the any others actions that have had a positive effect.  Young Enterprise & Nestle story. As a business advisor I was asked to mentor a school on the Young Enterprise Programme and was involved until the list of sponsors was released, among them was Nestle, a company whose ethical values do not chime with mine, I stood down as a mentor, explaining to the young people why. Following discussions they decided they could not participate if Nestle were sponsoring and we wrote and said why. The positive thing here is that the students thought about what they were doing and who they represented, it was a lesson in values and how to preserve your own.

Because our actions and how we live are lives are important, the consequences of our actions change lives, maybe not as drastically as David’s but can impact for ill on others, or they can impact for good.

So what are we to learn from this – 3 things:

1.    Making a mess of things happens, big messes not just little ones, but as we know from the rest of David’s story you can be forgiven.

2.    The consequences of compassion and careful actions can be detrimental, as Jesus discovers – Ad those who follow him also discover- For following Christ does not mean an easy life of peace and prosperity - Until his assassination by right-wing gunmen, Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980) of San Salvador spoke out courageously in defence of human rights and social justice in strife-torn El Salvador.

3.    Most of all we can learn from David’s story what it means to be human, to fall like David into sin and we learn from the Gospel how to care for other, we may not be able to feed 5000 but we can try to rise to every occasion and follow the example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In the name of The Father the Sn and the Holy Spirit. Amen

New Website for Highland Perthshire Linked Charge

Well after a lot of work we now have a new website

www.hplc.scot

Why not try it out

Newsnight Palestine - A Play for Palm Sunday

NEWSNIGHT  PALESTINE (Adapted from Matthew, Mark & Luke’s Passion Narratives)

Characters        

Kirsty Warkman

Caiaphas

Pontius Pilate

Mary of Magdala

Kirsty: Hello, this is Kirsty Warkman welcoming you to Newsnight Palestine for a round up of this weeks news and events. Just a reminder to you all that lambs are in short supply all over the country after panic buying for Passover continues.
But this has been an extraordinary week of disruption in the streets of Jerusalem and scenes that verged on anarchy in the Temple. The authorities finally executed the ring leader of the troubles, one Jesus of Nazareth, this morning.
So lets review what’s happened this week, but before I do let me introduce my guests tonight and we are very privileged to have reflecting with us on these events, firstly the High Priest Caiaphas, who was heavily involved in the whole affair, the Honorable Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea and a bystander at the events Mistress Mary of Magdala.
 All three guests: Good Evening Kirsty
Kirsty:  Well of course its all over now, the body of Jesus has been buried, (to Pilate) through I gather you have put a guard on the tomb your Honour?
Pilate: That’s correct Kirsty, at the request of the Sanhedrin, though I don’t know what they are so afraid of, dead men can’t walk.
Kirsty: Well not often anyway. As I was saying the execution is finished just in time for the holiday, but because of the extraordinary impact on Jerusalem, we are going to spend a few moments commenting on the events of the past week. You will remember I’m sure the scenes of wild excitement when Jesus rode into Jerusalem last Sunday, apparently on a Donkey it seems, to fulfill an ancient prophesy that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey. So we must ask the head of the church in Jerusalem (to Caiaphas) did this Jesus believe he was the Messiah?
Caiaphas:  All the evidence points to that.
Kirsty: And what exactly did he do?
Caiaphas: Well eventually after all the shouting died down, what actually happened was that he went into the Temple and caused a scene, It was shocking, everything was in uproar, doves flying, animals running wild, looting, in the end we had to send in the Temple Guards. It was anarchy; this upstart from Nazareth was telling us what to do. We knew then that we had to take it seriously and we arranged to have him arrested.
Kirsty: There are rumours that you had the help of one of Jesus’ supporters, who my sources tell me later hanged himself.
Caiaphas: That is true I’m afraid, though very regrettable, the fellow was quite beside himself, we’d paid him for his information but he came and threw the money back at me shouting that he had ‘sinned against innocent blood’ quite mad poor fellow.
Kirsty: Ah yes, I was coming to that, there are quite substantial rumours that this Jesus was indeed quite innocent and that the Sanhedrin and indeed yourself High Priest are guilty of a serious miscarriage of Justice, (to Pilate) some say that you were not even keen to convict this man your Honour.
Pilate: That’s quite true Kirsty, I could find no real fault in him, certainly not one that justified crucifixion, but I have to keep order, my hands were tied, I’m afraid his own people had decided to kill him and I know you think we Romans are all powerful, but I was facing a riot. What could I do?
Kirsty: Moving on then.  Mary? You were I believe a follower of this Jesus, what can you tell us?
Mary:  This was judicial murder, the authorities have always wanted to get rid of Jesus, he didn’t stand a chance, we were all against his coming to Jerusalem, we told him what would happen. But he wouldn’t listen, wanted to come to Jerusalem for the Passover. Well he did and now he’s dead. But we won’t forget him; he gave us this wonderful meal, and said we were to eat bread and drink wine to remember him; it was as if he knew what was going to happen.
Then after the supper we went out for a walk, into the garden down the road, Gethsemane it’s called, we stayed there most of the night, that’s where they found him, do you know they arrested him while he was praying!
Kirsty: That’s shocking, what happened?
Mary: Well it was remarkable, he didn’t argue, just held out his hands and let them tie his wrists, didn’t complain or fight, but one of his disciples, Peter I think it was drew his sword, and attacked, managed to cut off the High Priest’s servants ear before he was restrained, then he just fled.
Kirsty: Yes I’d heard about that, how is your servant your Grace?
Caiaphas: Much better thank you, somebody had the presence of mind to stick his ear back on and it seems fine.
Kirsty: I beg your pardon, somebody just stuck the ear back on and its OK, you didn’t have to take him to hospital.
Mary:  What he’s not telling you Kirsty is that it was Jesus who did it, of course it was all right, Jesus healed him.
Kirsty:  Ah,…… moving on then, Jerusalem is quiet tonight, perhaps too quiet, Jesus, who thought he was the Messiah is dead and his followers scattered and demoralized, so I guess your Grace that’s the end of the story.
Caiaphas: We certainly hope so.
Pilate: Don’t be too sure, one of my best commanders, a Centurion whose been with me all over the Empire, was outside as I came here tonight, he stopped me and said that he was most impressed with the man Jesus, now he’s a most sensible down to earth chap but he said to me he really thought this Jesus was in fact ‘The Son of God’.
Kirsty:  Well its seems the events of this week are still rumbling on, but its time for us to go, so thank you to my guests tonight, Governor, Your Grace and Mary of Magdala, its been most interesting and I leave you (to congregation) all to ponder. Who was this man? a troublemaker, a felon, the Messiah or even more incredible the ‘Son of God’, somehow I have a feeling we haven’t heard the end of this story.

Liz Baker - 2018