Advent II sermon

Herewith a verison of Tim's sermon this morning...

MESSAGE: Peace
1 Introduction
How well do you know the book of Malachi? Probably better than you think. Did that first reading sound familiar?
tempting to sing the readings - text of Messiah
Handel saw a lot in the prophecies of Jesus' coming, and he set parts of them beautifully to music. The Messiah gives us a picture of a mighty king, wonderful counsellor, and so on. Today, though, our theme is peace, and that comes up less often.

2 Peace
What is peace?
Not quiet, or an absence of noise or conflict - more than that.
On Friday some of us were at the children's disco at school. It certainly wasn't quite, or still, but watching the children enjoying themselves I felt a definite sense of peace. Things were as they should be; God was there.

Our book group recently read "The Shack" by William Young. It gave us all a lot to think about. One of the things that struck me was a passage where the central character learns, "The Bible doesn't teach you to follow rules. It is a picture of Jesus. Words may tell you what God is like and even what he may want from you, but you can't do any of it on your own. You didn't think you could live the righteousness of God on your own, did you?"
And a bit later "Just don't look for rules and principles; look for relationships - a way of coming to be with me."

Peace is about relationships; about the relationship between us and the people around us, or between us and God, or between us and the world we live in. Relationships are active; they have to be worked at.

One of the names given to Jesus is "King of Peace". That doesn't mean he kept quiet and did nothing, or that he avoided conflict. On the contrary, at times he seemed to be looking for a fight! Sometimes the absence of conflict is a sign that we're ignoring evils that should be fought.

3 Readings
Peace isn't about accepting everything as it is, about an absence of change. If anything, it's more about accepting and welcoming change. Look at today's readings!
Malachi writes about a refiner's fire, and fuller's soap; Isaiah, quoted in Luke, wrote about valleys being filled and hills being made low.
As long as relationships are broken, or non-existent, there isn't real peace.

4 Christmas
Jesus came to show us his way. The thing that really stands out when we read the gospels is that he cared about people. He noticed them. They mattered to him. He needed friends, and he worked with them and through them.

In this season of Advent we're preparing to receive the greatest present anyone could ever have, the gift of God's own Son. He came to show us how to live in the right sort of relationship with God, one that would enable us to live in peace with God and with each other.
Have you ever given someone a present, and then been disappointed when they didn't show any interest, when all the thought you had put into choosing that present seemed to have been wasted?

A child perhaps - I can remember one birthday when Ian was about two when he was much more interested in a large cardboard box than in the present that had been inside it!
If you can picture yourself in that situation, perhaps you can imagine how God must feel when we reject his gift; when we show more interest in the turkey, and the parties, and the material gifts we're hoping for, than we do in the amazing gift of his Son.

5 Conclusion
I hope you'll have a peaceful Christmas - in the truest sense of the word. One thing we can do to make that more likely is to work at relationships. If we put real effort into the time we spend with the people around us, and with God, amazing things can happen. Amen.

Advent - season of peace

Mary:

in blue headdress, representing divinity

in white top, purity

A rope-like belt around her waist...
does it anchor her into her reality
or is it almost an umbilicus into the border,
a permanent link to God.

An orange-brown skirt shows humanity? the flames of the Spirit?




The central figure represents both angel and Spirit,
perhaps Angel gently greeting
Spirit flames coming upon her, hovering over her.

Central image represents God,
Mary breaks the symmetry, leaning into God.
A willingness to be involved.
God has made room for Mary.
Mary's foot is well-anchored into her humanity,
tucked into the green earth.

There is a sense in which her skirt mirrors the flames of the Spirit.

The light at the top is perhaps an illusion to the star.
Symbolising that this is where the action is
Watch this space.
Almost dove-like in shape ... "This is my Son..."

And from this central tableau, rays radiate out into the world, like the sun.
Shedding light and hope and peace beyond Godself.

With thanks to http://www.opawa.org.nz/advent

Don't Panic! - The Wave

More than 50,000 people came together to demand action on climate change today at The Wave, the biggest ever UK climate change march. The Wave and called for the Government to take much more urgent and effective action. People from all over the country dressed in blue encircled Parliament, calling on the UK government to settle for nothing less than a climate deal in Copenhagen that avoids dangerous climate change and protects the world’s poorest who are already feeling its effects... and I was there!

It was a very humbling event and began with an act of worship at Westminster Central Hall. Over 3000 of us gathered to pray and praise before protesting. Both Archbishop Rowan and Archbishop Vincent were present with Joel Edwards and others to lead us. You can hear Archbishop Rowan's address to us by clicking the photo of the service sheet below.


It seems to me that today's events are archetypally Advent focussed. ++Rowan spoke about not allowing the threat of climate change to fill us with fear, "...This is not about fear. This is not about Christians saying to the rest of the human race ‘it’s not time to panic’, ‘worry harder’. Because we know from experience that doesn’t actually change very much... In sharing the good news there is life for us, life for our neighbours and life for the creation in which God has places us and that is something of joy, not fear … we must act not out of fear but out of love and generosity... Our liberation is the world’s liberation. Good news for us should be good news for the whole of God’s world...” That sense of hope is surely a theme, if not the theme running through this holy season.

As part of the act of worship, supported by many different demoninations, we also gathered to praise God in song, and to pray - seeking forgivness for what we have or have not done to the Earth and it's peoples and to praise the Creator who brought all of this into being, and who is redeeming us into action. It was a very fitting way to begin our protest.


Prayer led me to protest - something of a new experience for me. And yet protest is surely also a theme running through this holy season. Advent calls us all to acknowledge before God that things in our world shouldn't be like this, and aacknowledging this before the powers that be, calling them to account, and prayerfully, expectantly, demanding that God should come and redeem the whole of Creation...















We used a version of a prayer by St. Theresa of Avilla:

Christ has no body now on earth but ours.
no hands but ours,
no feet but ours.
Ours are the eyes through
which Christ's compassion
is to look out on the earth.
Ours are the feet by which
he is to go about doing good.
And ours are the hands by
which he is bless us now. Amen

Why Are we Waiting...

As we wait, don't forget the online resources out there, especially
the Church of England's online Advent calendar - click the logo to see it...

Also have a look at Beyond's website and especially their blog, at the very interesting real-life Advent calendar they are doing using beach hut instalation art. Below is a sample...

Coffee Shop Annuciation

The angel went in and said to her, ‘Greetings, most favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was deeply troubled by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean. Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for God has been gracious to you’ (Luke 1:28-30)

Outside in the pedestrianised heart of the city the chilly air and failing light of a winter’s afternoon are turning shoppers thoughts to home, but in the cosy warmth of a top floor coffee shop two young women are engrossed in their conversation. What does this candid photo reveal? Could this be a moment of annunciation; a precious time of unexpected blessing and affirmation, or is the texture of their dialogue altogether different? Is one of these two an ‘everyday angel’, the bearer of uplifting, encouraging or soul-soothing words? It seems to me to be perfectly reasonable that we should expect God to be speaking to us within our everyday conversations and encounters. When the angel tells Mary that God is with her I rather think that this is a reminder of a continuing truth. God’s graciousness is for sharing freely and often. We can be agents of everyday annunciation and channels of God’s blessing too.

To be truly seen, heard and appreciated with kindness and care is to be enveloped in the warmth of divine love. To be encouraged, guided and challenged by others to fulfil our own individual life vocation as the unique person we are is to discover godly intention running through the complexities of our lives together. In the weaving of meaning and hope in dark times we are all capable of being everyday angels. As Mary discovered, God’s love is for sharing; it is purposeful and demanding, yet liberating and profoundly authentic.

Everyday annunciation is about accepting and offering, receiving and sharing love as gift. And equally we can all expect to be surprised by the blessings God has in store. Perhaps annunciation is not the exception after all but rather the everyday norm of how God operates. Because God is always wanting to birth kindness, justice and peace where they are most needed.

From www.http://davesdistrictblog.blogspot.com

More compassion less consumption...

What can we do this Advent?
Be more about compassion and less about consumption.
Be more about presence and less about presents.

Incarnation isn’t about escaping from our human stresses – quite the opposite – incarnation is entering our ordinary, messy human lives more deeply…

See the excellent website that the clip comes from (it's a bit American, but...)

With thanks to www.liturgy.co.nz

More waiting...

This piece of art is by Ben Bell, from London. I have used it on the jeader of this Advent blog as it uses something urban and contemporary to reflect on matters spiritual. It is Sacramantal - it is an outward sign of the inner grace of God available to us through Jesus Christ.

And so this art image is an everyday image from his urban life. An everyday image for us, we all pause as pedestrians, waiting at lights.

This piece of art invites us to consider our experience of waiting; How do we feel when we wait at lights? What makes it hard for us to wait? What are the forces that push us, not to wait, but to hurry across? How do we feel about those who don’t wait?

And so with these everyday experiences, we approach Advent.

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.

In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate.

We affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. That acknowledgment provides a basis for a Kingdom lifestyle.

We are called to be faithful stewards "between the times." We confess with "all creation that we are groaning awaiting its redemption," and our responsibility to "love the Lord our God with all our heart" and to "love your neighbor as ourself." Advent invites us to wait for the coming of Jesus.

And so, using Ben’s art, we ask ourselves the same questions: How do we feel as we wait for Jesus? What makes it hard for us to wait for Jesus? What are the forces that push us, not to wait, but to hurry across? How do we feel about those who don’t wait?

With thanks to http://www.opawa.org.nz/advent