Advent 1b 2011
A young girl asked her Sunday school teacher, "What's a lert?""A what?" the teacher asked. "A lert?" she said again. "Why do you want to know?" asked the bewildered teacher. "Because the pastor said that we should 'be alert,' so I want to know what a lert is, so I can be one.
Today we enter the season of advent, a time when we are told to be alert, to stay awake - to be ready to greet Our returning Saviour... 2000 years ago after Jesus ascended from the earth people took this seriously - people expected Jesus to be back soon, ready to collect his followers... People were ready to shout the words of Isaiah 'o that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence' (64:1)
But some of them grew impatient - today in the eyes of many that impatience has turned into indifference -
There is a little-known fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm entitled “Der Mond,” or in English, “The Moon.” It is a short tale that was adapted by the German composer Carl Orff into an opera. It involves four young rowdy misfits from a land where there is no light – no sun in the day and no moon or stars at night. These are people who, to use a biblical expression, “walk in darkness.”
These four travel to another land where they find the moon hanging on a tree. They steal the moon and bring it back to their land where they charge people money for their use of the moonlight. Eventually they grow old and die. As each one dies, one quarter of the moon is cut away and buried with one of its owners until there is no more light. In the opera, Petrus, “who rules the sky,” descends to the dead and retrieves the four pieces of the moon and hangs it in the sky for the benefit of all.
This rather obviously is a modern retelling of the belief that God brings light to the people who walk in darkness - it is a story about advent, a story about beginning - and it is a reminder of the gifts that are available to us - gifts to be shared...
At first sight some of the readings for this time of year can appear terrifying- the gospel readings have often used by preachers preaching a fiery message of repent before it's too late...
And in today's gospel (Mark 13:24-37) we can certainly read it like that - it talks of suffering, of the sun being darkened, stars falling from heaven - cataclysmic events - but into that suffering and pain God will come with great power and glory...
The message can be of pain, of suffering, of threats, or it can be of a God who lives in the middle of any pain and suffering with us, and who is waiting to come back - waiting while we try and share his message - his message of love and hope - his message that he doesn't want to see a world in pain but a world where everyone is rejoicing, a world where every tear is wiped away...
So, in advent, we wait... Waiting's a funny thing - when I was in school I used to spend most lessons looking at my watch waiting for the end of the lesson and they seemed to go on and on - I'm told, though I can hardly believe it, that some people do that in sermons ! But, as we all know, being busy makes time go much faster - and so advent is a reminder to stay alert, to watch for Jesus, but while we wait, we are to do his work - to share his light, to share his love...
And It's a time to ask ourselves where we stand in relation to Jesus... Are we the sort of person that enjoys an arms length relationship, are we the sort that actually isn't too sure that we have a relationship at all or are we the sort that wants to enjoy the peace and the joy and the strength and hope that a close relationship with God gives...
When we enjoy that relationship, we may go through any sort of crisis, any time of suffering, but we will always know we are never alone... And we will know that God is the same loving God, yesterday, today and forever...
As we begin a new Christian year may we do so committed to Jesus, to following him, to sharing our lives with him, to seeking his vision and his will for us and for our churches and may we be people who are always ready to share that light and love with others...
One day Jesus will return because he promised to do so - on that day may we be awake and ready, and may we have been busy in his service
Yesterday we had a breakfast with Garin Jenkins the former Welsh rugby international and one of the things he said was to dream dreams, big dreams - may we dream of a world full of Christians praising God - may we be willing to pray for that, to work for that and to trust in God's power to deliver that - Because what seems impossible to us is never impossible to God... Amen
Today we enter the season of advent, a time when we are told to be alert, to stay awake - to be ready to greet Our returning Saviour... 2000 years ago after Jesus ascended from the earth people took this seriously - people expected Jesus to be back soon, ready to collect his followers... People were ready to shout the words of Isaiah 'o that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence' (64:1)
But some of them grew impatient - today in the eyes of many that impatience has turned into indifference -
There is a little-known fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm entitled “Der Mond,” or in English, “The Moon.” It is a short tale that was adapted by the German composer Carl Orff into an opera. It involves four young rowdy misfits from a land where there is no light – no sun in the day and no moon or stars at night. These are people who, to use a biblical expression, “walk in darkness.”
These four travel to another land where they find the moon hanging on a tree. They steal the moon and bring it back to their land where they charge people money for their use of the moonlight. Eventually they grow old and die. As each one dies, one quarter of the moon is cut away and buried with one of its owners until there is no more light. In the opera, Petrus, “who rules the sky,” descends to the dead and retrieves the four pieces of the moon and hangs it in the sky for the benefit of all.
This rather obviously is a modern retelling of the belief that God brings light to the people who walk in darkness - it is a story about advent, a story about beginning - and it is a reminder of the gifts that are available to us - gifts to be shared...
At first sight some of the readings for this time of year can appear terrifying- the gospel readings have often used by preachers preaching a fiery message of repent before it's too late...
And in today's gospel (Mark 13:24-37) we can certainly read it like that - it talks of suffering, of the sun being darkened, stars falling from heaven - cataclysmic events - but into that suffering and pain God will come with great power and glory...
The message can be of pain, of suffering, of threats, or it can be of a God who lives in the middle of any pain and suffering with us, and who is waiting to come back - waiting while we try and share his message - his message of love and hope - his message that he doesn't want to see a world in pain but a world where everyone is rejoicing, a world where every tear is wiped away...
So, in advent, we wait... Waiting's a funny thing - when I was in school I used to spend most lessons looking at my watch waiting for the end of the lesson and they seemed to go on and on - I'm told, though I can hardly believe it, that some people do that in sermons ! But, as we all know, being busy makes time go much faster - and so advent is a reminder to stay alert, to watch for Jesus, but while we wait, we are to do his work - to share his light, to share his love...
And It's a time to ask ourselves where we stand in relation to Jesus... Are we the sort of person that enjoys an arms length relationship, are we the sort that actually isn't too sure that we have a relationship at all or are we the sort that wants to enjoy the peace and the joy and the strength and hope that a close relationship with God gives...
When we enjoy that relationship, we may go through any sort of crisis, any time of suffering, but we will always know we are never alone... And we will know that God is the same loving God, yesterday, today and forever...
As we begin a new Christian year may we do so committed to Jesus, to following him, to sharing our lives with him, to seeking his vision and his will for us and for our churches and may we be people who are always ready to share that light and love with others...
One day Jesus will return because he promised to do so - on that day may we be awake and ready, and may we have been busy in his service
Yesterday we had a breakfast with Garin Jenkins the former Welsh rugby international and one of the things he said was to dream dreams, big dreams - may we dream of a world full of Christians praising God - may we be willing to pray for that, to work for that and to trust in God's power to deliver that - Because what seems impossible to us is never impossible to God... Amen
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