The Sunday of Christ the King ---- 22 November 2015

Revelation 1:4b-8

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come…

·        John the Seer (or John the Revelator, as he’s called in a great Black spiritual song) begins his address to the 7 Churches of Asia with these words. Remember now that these 7 churches are in the Roman province of Asia which we’d call western Turkey, and not the entire continent as we know it.

·        John writes to them because they are undergoing persecution in a number of ways. He goes on to write to each of the 7 churches individually, having a message for each, and before he does so, he writes to the churches as a whole. He gives a message of hope, not a hope for victory over the persecutors, but a hope for final freedom by the grace and power of God.

·        Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. Whether this means that all people will be terrified or that all people will mourn their sins and repent is not clear, but I sort of hope for the second.

·        It wasn’t easy to be a Christian in the early days. There was ridicule and persecution, exile and pain. There was slander and poverty and suffering. Not every Christian or every congregation underwent this all the time, but they did face some hard times. It’s believed that the Book of Revelation was written during the reign of the Emperor Nero, a sovereign not known for his sanity and generosity to anyone, not simply Christians.

·        In this highly charged and greatly troubled atmosphere, John greets his fellow Christians with Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come who is and who was and who is to come… This guy seems out of touch with reality. Doesn’t he know what’s going on? John was supposed have had his vision while in exile on the island of Patmos, so he was under a sentence himself. You’d think he’d know what was going on!

·        He does know. Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come… He greets them with a blessing, a blessing of grace and peace from the Almighty, or “Pantokrator”, a great Greek word meaning “ruler of all.” He may take the various churches to task for their failings and the bulk of the Book of Revelation may read like a crazy, fevered comic book or fantasy novel, but his real message is that despite pain, suffering, persecution, and fear, it is the Almighty who is in charge. It is the one who was and who is and who is to come who holds both the persecuted and the persecutor in the hollow of his hand.

·        This turns all earthly power and conceit on its head. The Crucified has put his heart and soul and life on the line for those without power. The one who received no mercy from imperial powers will ultimately conquer through mercy and grace. The strength and power and self-glorifying acts of the powerful will be revealed as smoke and shadow puppetry in the light of God.

·        We don’t know how the Christians of the 7 churches of Asia received this book. This book has been interpreted (and quite often mis-interpreted) throughout all of Christian history. Its ultimate goal was not to predict the future or give people a road-map of what is to come.

·        Wait… I take that back, or at least part of it. The Book of Revelation was written to let people know what was to come. John the Revelator insists that God is in charge and no matter what might happen to individuals, God remains in charge of all that is, including what is yet to come.

·        Our own day is a very troubled time. You can’t turn on the radio or television without being bombarded with words and images of terror, fear, suffering, exile, and war. The so-called “four horsemen of the Apocalypse” – Conquest, War, Famine, and Death – seem to be riding everywhere with no one to stop them. Things are uncertain and we don’t know where to look for strength.

·        Much has been said that stirs up fear and anger and much could be said that would be self-serving and easy on the ear. I would be very easy for me to say that, but that’s not why I’m here.

·        So I say to you what the Apostle who’s name I bear said to those early Christians in the face of their troubled world: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. God remains in charge. God remains the Almighty, the Pantokrator. In Jesus Christ, who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, we have been made, through grace, a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father.

·        Don’t get me wrong; make no mistake, there is plenty to be concerned about and much work to be done, but the final end in in the secure hands of God… and where else would we want it to be. We are assured of his grace and peace.  So it is to be. Amen.  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

The 25th Sunday after Pentecost ---- 15 November 2015

Mark 13:1-8
{1} As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" {2} Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." {3} When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, {4} "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" {5} Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. {6} Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray. {7} When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. {8} For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

·        We are approaching the end of the Church year. The new year begins with the first Sunday in Advent. The way the readings for worship are set up, the end of the year always looks to the prophecies of the end times and what we call “the Second Coming.” Once we come to Advent, we will hear the ancient prophecies that speak of the coming of Christ and the redemption of the People of God. The end of the church year always does this, that is, make us think about the future, the ultimate future, not simply what’s in store for the rest of the year. The end of the year reading complete the circle.

·        When we hear Jesus speaking of “birth pangs”, we might be left to wonder what is to come. We might wonder just what is being born, to use the Gospel’s illustration.

·        Birth always brings about change. And as with birth, changes can be painful. Yet as in giving birth, it is something to look forward to, even though everything around will be changed

·        So how then could this talk of change be “good news”?

·        Considering where Jesus was and whom he was talking to when this subject came up, there is a good new element in it. What is promised and spoken of is nothing less than the destruction of the Temple, the centre of Jewish religious life and in fact, of the Jewish identity and culture. The loss of that structure was an incredible blow to the people, one that is remembered to this day. Yet the people of Israel survive to this day as well, so they found a way to deal with the change. Oddly enough, the loss of the Temple permitted the Jewish people to live, worship, and thrive anywhere through the use of the synagogue as a gathering place, while still mourning the loss of the centre of their worship.

·        For the rest of the world and for the poor and oppressed of Israel, Jesus’ words could be good news. Not that the Temple would be destroyed but that the change that was coming would bring about something new for all the world. All the oppressive powers of the world would be ultimately overturned.

·        Exactly how that would be done and when that would be done is not spelled out in detail, despite the requests of Peter, James, John, and Andrew, who asked "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" 

·        I had to stop and wonder why the disciples asked for the signs of what was to come rather than actually asking what was to come. They don’t ask what and why, only when. They are not able to see beyond the catastrophe of the destruction of the Temple. They are not even able to ask what comes after it all. Jesus’ answer is rather vague, especially since there have innumerable disasters and wars since his time.

·        Mark is talking about the destruction of the Temple by the Romans during the brutal Jewish War. It is unclear if Mark wrote before or just after that war, although it is held that Mark wrote before the war. Matthew and Luke write with more detail, reflecting the stories of witnesses of the siege of Jerusalem.

·        The details of this momentous event are unsaid. For our sakes, this allows us to apply all that was said to our own situations and our own days. In a sense, we have to stay on our toes and remain watchful. It is faith and perseverance that make the difference in Mark’s version of Jesus’ words.

·        We may want to remember that what is to come is not simply for Jerusalem, but for all the world. We might apply Jesus’ words to our own personal situations but what is promised is promised to the entire church, and the entire world.

·        So here at the end of our church year, we look to what is to come in light of what has already happened in the history of salvation. We hear of the “birth pangs” of the world to come, realizing that, as in so many other parts of our lives, changes – whether they are in health, age, situation, relationships, place, or time – are unavoidable. We might prefer the status quo and what has grown to be comfortable and familiar, and we know in our heart of hearts that change will happen. We can take change as disaster or annoyance, as a challenge, or even as an adventure, although that last option might be quite tough.

·        When Jesus speaks the good news of the birth pangs of creation, he is speaking of something good. Not easy, not painless, not comfortable, but good. Much like the birth of a child. And much like the birth of a child, everything will be changed. Things will not be able to go back to the way they were.

·        Yet with God in charge, through God’s grace and mercy, what is to come will be what we hope for and wait for. We are bold enough to trust in the promises of God, both for our present and our future.

·        And what Jesus calls the “birth pangs” promise a future.

All Saints Sunday ---- 1 November 2015

John 11:32-44

32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

This Sunday, Bishop Michael Pryse, our synodical bishop visited us and preached a wonderful sermon. We also memorialized those of the congregation and of the member's families who had passed away since last All Saints Sunday. Following the worship service, we all took part in a great pot-luck lunch.

Here our acolyte, Kate, lights one of the candles set out in memory of those who had died.
Bishop Michael actually took this photo.