Sermon 29th November 2009
Today, our Associate Vicar, John Itumu, preaches based on the reading from Luke 21:25-36
This passage tells us to be ready for a day that will come on all who live on the face of the earth v35. The immediate thing that comes to mind is death – and which really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. But also this; being told to be ready raises all sorts of questions – and a big one is this:
Is there really more to life than this?
Is there really more to this life than being born, going to school, being a young adult/professional, raising a family, pursuing a career, retirement and then waiting to die?
It is true life is all these things and more. Many of us will almost inevitably go through these. I would love to see some of my aspirations met. The question however remains, is that all we should expect from life? What is the meaning of life? What if we don’t exactly fit and live up to the schedule and mould that our families and society designs for us long before we can comprehend what is going on?
What about our unrealised dreams and aspirations – the careers that we never got to pursue? The relationships that didn’t work; the children that never quite made it in life and pursued the ‘right’ career? What about the unanswered questions about suffering and pain, about other religions? Why should I get up on Sunday morning to come to church? These are tough questions and two major answers are available.
There are those who think that organized religion (especially Christianity) is the root cause of this restlessness in human experience. Most of you will have seen the atheist campaign posters on London buses: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The idea behind the campaign as according to Richard Dawkins was to ‘make people think’ because ‘thinking is anathema to religion.’ Alister McGrath a former atheist and now a leading evangelical scholar has most recently been associated with the Christian response to Dawkins book ‘The God Delusion.’ His opinion is that ‘atheism is indeed a fundamentalist religion in its own right – with its own popes, sacred texts that you are not allowed to challenge.’ He recalls a discussion in which he said:
‘Dawkins does make quite a few mistakes in ‘The God Delusion’. To which a student immediately said:
No, no, that’s wrong. It’s an infallible text. It’s right. You can’t say he’s wrong.
Alister replies: Why not? He is.
The student responds: If you do, my life will fall into pieces because I have built my life on that book!
What have you built your life on?
The other response heightens panic, as we are reminded that the end of the world is nigh – and with precise timings at that. For instance a man called Joseph Rutherford (1869-1942) who refined the Jehova’s Witnesses belief predicted that the patriarchs of ancient Israel would soon be coming back on earth along with Jesus. Before he died he purchased a shiny new automobile and built 10 bedroom mansion beth sarim because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were expected in southern California where he lived at the time.
And wasn’t the millennium predicted to be the end? Where were you on the millennium’s eve? I now understand that the latest prediction is 12th of December 2012.
Panic and false predictions!
I want to speak briefly about a response which in my opinion is the authentic and most avoided – because it makes one think. Let us begin by setting some context to the passage we have read. At the beginning of the chapter a poor widow puts in two very small copper coins into the temple treasury. Jesus remarks that she has given all that she had to live on (she has given out of her poverty and all others out of their wealth) and therefore has given more than anyone else present. The conversation that ensues is about the temple. Some of his disciples then start to remark on the beauty of the temple. History tells us that this was the second temple, double in size which had been built by king Herod the Great and whose magnificence had turned it into a huge tourist attraction. And then Jesus points to it and says, to everyone’s shock
21:6...the time will come when not one stone will be left on top of the other...
You can imagine the shock and anger they must have felt to hear this. This was the socio-religio-political centre of the Jewish world! But before they can even get over their shock he goes on to talk about another more catastrophic event.
V25
There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive at what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory
Jesus intends to make a point here: The wars, persecutions, the fall of Jerusalem (the temple was actually burnt down about 30 years later in AD 70) and the cosmic signs - all these point toward the arrival of the kingdom and the end of history. Just as there was a beginning of all that we experience and are able to know in this life; there will also be an end.
V31
Heaven and earth will pass away but by words will never pass away.
Everything else is temporal, only the word of the uncreated one, God will stand and endure forever. These are the lens that God has provided for us to perceive and make sense of life with. Therein brothers and sisters lies the Christian hope and this is not a delusion. We catch it and see it through the eyes of faith. Now that requires some thinking! Elsewhere Jesus even warns about false estimations on when these things might be. He is not concerned with the precise discernment of the timings of the end:
Mark 13:32
But about that day or the hour no-one knows, not even the angels in heaven...
We are however called to conduct our lives in the light of an eternity. Yes, an eternity because this is not all. The Christian hope starts now and goes beyond our graves. For those who believe, this life is prelude to the finale with our creator, the living God. The end may delay, but this delay will not be indefinite. We are called to live with a constant vigilance and expectation of the time when all things will come together, when all the questions will be answered, when our tears will be wiped, when we shall see our loved ones who have gone before us.
This is not all friends! There is even cause to rejoice! We used to sing Soon and very soon we are going to see the King with gusto and in expectation of this magnificent end!
God’s answer gives hope and makes life worth living today. We are more valuable than animals and birds (Matt 25:26), we are more valuable than what the world tells us. But we are reminded be on guard and to live like a people with hope. Elsewhere Jesus himself said this:
John 14
Trust in God... I am going to prepare a place for you...and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back to take you to be with me.
In the meantime however, we are to orientate our lives to an eternity, watch out especially on areas we are likely to fall prey to:
V34
Being weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness
and the anxieties of life
We all know the inclinations which put us most at risk Watch out for those! Watch and pray at all times!
I am aware I stand the risk of sounding like my old primary school head teacher on a Monday morning as she gave a torrent of moral platitudes. But all I want to say is this. Jesus will return and there is an eternity promised to all who believe. I also understand that if you don’t believe this might sound like nonsensical. If you are here and feel like that please allow me to say this: Truth is objective, but people usually aren’t. A perfect argument may often fall on ears deafened by prejudice, ignorance, misunderstanding incomprehension or even ideology. These filters largely determine what we often choose to believe. And this is where faith kicks in. Christian belief is based on faith. When faith comes first, then understanding follows. This understanding is in turn largely aided by faith itself. Only faith eyes can allow us to see that God seeks after us and welcomes us just as we are, by his immeasurable amazing grace, to give us a life of hope. That is the deal.
If you honestly are seeking for the truth and you doubt that God exists then on this Advent Sunday I invite you to pray the sceptic’s prayer:
God I don’t know whether you exist. I am a sceptic. I doubt. I hereby declare myself as a seeker of the truth – whatever/ wherever it is. If you are the truth, then show me. If you can dare believe those words and declare them, and because Christianity is true, then God will reveal himself to you. Many have done that and have had their lives turned around. It could be your turn today. That is my prayer this Advent Sunday of 2009. All that God asks for is our honesty to openly admit that we are seekers. Honesty is a choice of the will. God leaves that choice with us. Amen.
This passage tells us to be ready for a day that will come on all who live on the face of the earth v35. The immediate thing that comes to mind is death – and which really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. But also this; being told to be ready raises all sorts of questions – and a big one is this:
Is there really more to life than this?
Is there really more to this life than being born, going to school, being a young adult/professional, raising a family, pursuing a career, retirement and then waiting to die?
It is true life is all these things and more. Many of us will almost inevitably go through these. I would love to see some of my aspirations met. The question however remains, is that all we should expect from life? What is the meaning of life? What if we don’t exactly fit and live up to the schedule and mould that our families and society designs for us long before we can comprehend what is going on?
What about our unrealised dreams and aspirations – the careers that we never got to pursue? The relationships that didn’t work; the children that never quite made it in life and pursued the ‘right’ career? What about the unanswered questions about suffering and pain, about other religions? Why should I get up on Sunday morning to come to church? These are tough questions and two major answers are available.
There are those who think that organized religion (especially Christianity) is the root cause of this restlessness in human experience. Most of you will have seen the atheist campaign posters on London buses: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The idea behind the campaign as according to Richard Dawkins was to ‘make people think’ because ‘thinking is anathema to religion.’ Alister McGrath a former atheist and now a leading evangelical scholar has most recently been associated with the Christian response to Dawkins book ‘The God Delusion.’ His opinion is that ‘atheism is indeed a fundamentalist religion in its own right – with its own popes, sacred texts that you are not allowed to challenge.’ He recalls a discussion in which he said:
‘Dawkins does make quite a few mistakes in ‘The God Delusion’. To which a student immediately said:
No, no, that’s wrong. It’s an infallible text. It’s right. You can’t say he’s wrong.
Alister replies: Why not? He is.
The student responds: If you do, my life will fall into pieces because I have built my life on that book!
What have you built your life on?
The other response heightens panic, as we are reminded that the end of the world is nigh – and with precise timings at that. For instance a man called Joseph Rutherford (1869-1942) who refined the Jehova’s Witnesses belief predicted that the patriarchs of ancient Israel would soon be coming back on earth along with Jesus. Before he died he purchased a shiny new automobile and built 10 bedroom mansion beth sarim because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were expected in southern California where he lived at the time.
And wasn’t the millennium predicted to be the end? Where were you on the millennium’s eve? I now understand that the latest prediction is 12th of December 2012.
Panic and false predictions!
I want to speak briefly about a response which in my opinion is the authentic and most avoided – because it makes one think. Let us begin by setting some context to the passage we have read. At the beginning of the chapter a poor widow puts in two very small copper coins into the temple treasury. Jesus remarks that she has given all that she had to live on (she has given out of her poverty and all others out of their wealth) and therefore has given more than anyone else present. The conversation that ensues is about the temple. Some of his disciples then start to remark on the beauty of the temple. History tells us that this was the second temple, double in size which had been built by king Herod the Great and whose magnificence had turned it into a huge tourist attraction. And then Jesus points to it and says, to everyone’s shock
21:6...the time will come when not one stone will be left on top of the other...
You can imagine the shock and anger they must have felt to hear this. This was the socio-religio-political centre of the Jewish world! But before they can even get over their shock he goes on to talk about another more catastrophic event.
V25
There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive at what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory
Jesus intends to make a point here: The wars, persecutions, the fall of Jerusalem (the temple was actually burnt down about 30 years later in AD 70) and the cosmic signs - all these point toward the arrival of the kingdom and the end of history. Just as there was a beginning of all that we experience and are able to know in this life; there will also be an end.
V31
Heaven and earth will pass away but by words will never pass away.
Everything else is temporal, only the word of the uncreated one, God will stand and endure forever. These are the lens that God has provided for us to perceive and make sense of life with. Therein brothers and sisters lies the Christian hope and this is not a delusion. We catch it and see it through the eyes of faith. Now that requires some thinking! Elsewhere Jesus even warns about false estimations on when these things might be. He is not concerned with the precise discernment of the timings of the end:
Mark 13:32
But about that day or the hour no-one knows, not even the angels in heaven...
We are however called to conduct our lives in the light of an eternity. Yes, an eternity because this is not all. The Christian hope starts now and goes beyond our graves. For those who believe, this life is prelude to the finale with our creator, the living God. The end may delay, but this delay will not be indefinite. We are called to live with a constant vigilance and expectation of the time when all things will come together, when all the questions will be answered, when our tears will be wiped, when we shall see our loved ones who have gone before us.
This is not all friends! There is even cause to rejoice! We used to sing Soon and very soon we are going to see the King with gusto and in expectation of this magnificent end!
God’s answer gives hope and makes life worth living today. We are more valuable than animals and birds (Matt 25:26), we are more valuable than what the world tells us. But we are reminded be on guard and to live like a people with hope. Elsewhere Jesus himself said this:
John 14
Trust in God... I am going to prepare a place for you...and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back to take you to be with me.
In the meantime however, we are to orientate our lives to an eternity, watch out especially on areas we are likely to fall prey to:
V34
Being weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness
and the anxieties of life
We all know the inclinations which put us most at risk Watch out for those! Watch and pray at all times!
I am aware I stand the risk of sounding like my old primary school head teacher on a Monday morning as she gave a torrent of moral platitudes. But all I want to say is this. Jesus will return and there is an eternity promised to all who believe. I also understand that if you don’t believe this might sound like nonsensical. If you are here and feel like that please allow me to say this: Truth is objective, but people usually aren’t. A perfect argument may often fall on ears deafened by prejudice, ignorance, misunderstanding incomprehension or even ideology. These filters largely determine what we often choose to believe. And this is where faith kicks in. Christian belief is based on faith. When faith comes first, then understanding follows. This understanding is in turn largely aided by faith itself. Only faith eyes can allow us to see that God seeks after us and welcomes us just as we are, by his immeasurable amazing grace, to give us a life of hope. That is the deal.
If you honestly are seeking for the truth and you doubt that God exists then on this Advent Sunday I invite you to pray the sceptic’s prayer:
God I don’t know whether you exist. I am a sceptic. I doubt. I hereby declare myself as a seeker of the truth – whatever/ wherever it is. If you are the truth, then show me. If you can dare believe those words and declare them, and because Christianity is true, then God will reveal himself to you. Many have done that and have had their lives turned around. It could be your turn today. That is my prayer this Advent Sunday of 2009. All that God asks for is our honesty to openly admit that we are seekers. Honesty is a choice of the will. God leaves that choice with us. Amen.
posted by Parish Administrator at 5:29 pm
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