Homily on Luke 2:15-21

Homily on Luke 2:15-21
Originally given 31 December 2023 at St. Alban’s Church, Coventry

(Audio of Homily)

American President Theodore Roosevelt once said, ‘comparison is the thief of joy.’

‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’

These words have been ringing through my head this holiday season. For those who were able to attend an Advent group, we had some discussions about comparisons this time of year, and the pressure of all the commercialisation of Christmastime. Some might say it’s harder on parents of young children, children who see shiny new toys on adverts and talk with school friends about everything they have or don’t have. But it’s also incredibly difficult for the recently, and not-so-recently bereaved, remembering Christmases from years ago with the people they loved who are now gone. Without a doubt it’s difficult for people unable to celebrate in war-torn countries or places devastated by natural disasters. Instead of being the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas has become a time of comparing on social media who has the most Insta-perfect Christmas decorations, or who spent the most money on the most luxurious gifts, or who has the best matching Christmas pyjamas. 

As we contemplate what Christmastime has become, I remind you of the opening quote, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’

Today’s Gospel reading tells of the shepherds hearing about the birth of the Christ child, and going to see him laid in a manger. In other words, the lowest class of people who were covered in mud and smelling of sheep were the first to hear that the saviour of the world, the king of kings, had been born, and they went to see that he was in a building used for livestock sleeping in a feeding trough for horses or cattle. And witnessing this scene, the shepherds responded with joyful praise. 

Now two millenia later, we respond with joyful praise. Because Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Not because of the parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, or caroling out in the snow, but because God chose to become flesh in the most gritty way, celebrated by the lowest class of people, surrounded by the smell of manure and livestock. Christmas is wonderful because Christ shows us that the best gift comes from the most humble surroundings.

‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’ Nothing compares to the greatest gift the world has received. And we must not try to compare our Christmas celebrations with the secular, sanitised, gift-wrapped ideas of the world. Because our Christmas is not about what others have or don’t have. Our Christmas is about what we have all been equally given: The gift of God made flesh in the form of a baby, born to show us pure love.

Sermon on Third Sunday of Advent (Matthew 11:2-11)

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent (Matthew 11:2-11)
Originally given 11 December 2022 at All Saints’ Church, Coventry

Last week I learned a new German word: Vorweihnachtsstress. For those of you who didn’t get your degree in German, it literally means ‘before Christmas stress’ and roughly translates to the stress of the time before Christmas – German is great when you only want to use one word instead of six! All week I’ve been thinking about this ‘before Christmas stress’ and I can especially feel the pressure during this hectic time of year as a clergy mother. Most vicars will tell you that the lead up to Christmas is not only one of the busiest times for the Church, but also one of the most stressful times. And I think any parent with young children will agree that there is far less magic than there is stress at this time of year. Vicars and parents are all so busy preparing – preparing for extra services, preparing for extra food, preparing for extra visitors, preparing for extra excitement from what seem like eternally wakeful and watchful children. And Advent is meant to be a time for preparation, so perhaps all this preparing could be a good thing…if only it wasn’t all so stressful.

And then of course, there are also people who can’t even face the thought of preparing for Christmas. Last year, I remember being so caught up in my personal grief that I cried when we put up the Christmas tree. And there are countless people in similar situations this year. People who have lost someone they love. People who have lost jobs. People who are estranged from family. Right now there are countless people struggling to make ends meet, to keep homes warm and bellies full. There is so much uncertainty around the world with wars and famine and disease. On top of the personal pains, there is so much collective stress and collective trauma, especially from these past two years of isolation and navigating new normals that just feel incomplete, particularly if someone is missing from around the Christmas tree.

But today, the third Sunday of Advent, is Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for the verb rejoice. More specifically, it’s the second-person plural present active imperative form. With my background in languages, allow me to briefly geek out about how important this form of the verb is for our understanding of what this Sunday means. Firstly, second-person plural is to say you, as in all of you. Every single one of you is included. Next, Present active means it is something that is happening right now at this moment, and it involves you doing something, not just passively experiencing it. Finally the imperative form is the command form. So to properly translate the essence of the word gaudete, I would say every single one of you right now needs to actively rejoice. That is why the third candle we light is for joy. Because as it is written in Philippians, we are called to rejoice in the Lord always! 

In today’s Gospel, we see John the Baptist in prison, eager to know if Jesus really is the Messiah. I wonder how much joy John felt at this point? How much rejoicing was he doing? John had preached repentance in the wilderness, eating locusts and honey, wearing camel’s hair. John was convinced to baptise Jesus, although at the time he believed Jesus to be the Messiah, and therefore did not feel worthy to baptise him. Now John is sat waiting in prison. Waiting for the Kingdom to be restored by the Messiah. With all this waiting, it seems John is losing faith that Jesus is the Messiah, because he sends messengers to ask whether or not Jesus is in fact the Messiah that he’s been waiting for, the one he’s been preparing for, the one he’s called for others to follow. But John doesn’t get a straightforward answer from Jesus. Then again, I don’t think anyone ever gets a straightforward answer from Jesus. With all this waiting, a whole life of waiting, John has understandably lost some patience. And I would expect that he doesn’t feel much joy, especially being in prison.

Regardless, we are commanded to rejoice in the Lord. Because through Jesus, ‘The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.’ Is this not reason to rejoice in the Lord? Surely this was reason enough for John the Baptist to believe Jesus Christ was truly the Messiah, that Jesus was worthy of all the preparations and worth all the painful waiting. And in this season of waiting, a season that can be stressful and painful, we too can learn from John the Baptist that good things do come to those who prepare and wait.

It might be hard to see it now, the new Kingdom that Christ will bring. It might feel overwhelming to be waiting on the world to change. But although Advent is about waiting, rejoicing is active. So at this time of waiting, we are not called to passively wait for the Kingdom to come. We are instead called to actively rejoice in the Lord. To rejoice now means to show great joy and delight, but traditionally it is to cause joy to someone. To rejoice is to bring joy to others. To rejoice is to actively bring the joy of Christ to all who are waiting for his Kingdom to come.

On this third Sunday of Advent, I say to you rejoice in the Lord and bring joy to the world.

Sermon on Luke 1:67-79

Sermon on Luke 1:67-79
Given 24 December 2021 at St. Alban’s Church, Coventry

Tonight we come to celebrate the culmination of our Advent season of waiting. Over the past four weeks, we have heard of the hope, peace, joy, and love of this season. The first Sunday of Advent I preached the refrain, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord.’ This was to highlight the hope of the future God has planned for each of us. The following Sunday, Zoe preached on Ezekiel’s dry bones and the death of Lazarus, when Jesus wept. She explained that Jesus came to be alongside us in all our grief and pain, which can bring us peace in our darkest moments, knowing that we are not alone. For the third Sunday of Advent, we heard from Barney about the four Servant Songs found in Isaiah, which he described as a ‘celebration of the work of God’s servant,’ Jesus. This celebration is undeniably a reason for joy, joy that God loves each of us so much that he came to serve us. And finally, this past Sunday, Barney said, ‘The incarnation binds Jesus to the everydayness of human experience’, illustrating the love God has for each of us. God chose not to rule on high from afar, but instead to be with us in all our humanity – the good, the bad, the complicated and messy. Hope, peace, joy, and love. These are the themes of Advent, but they are not exclusive in themselves. Within each theme, you can find another, and over these past four weeks the sermons that we have preached contained bits of all four themes. And looking at the song of Zechariah, we can also see all four themes.

Hope.

Zechariah expresses hope for the future. Not hope in the modern sense of wishes that may or may not come to pass. Instead, this hope is full of God’s glory. God made promises long ago through the prophets to rescue his people and bring them to salvation. Zechariah knows that the promises of God are always fulfilled and through the birth of his son, John the Baptist, Zechariah can see the arc of God’s story bending toward the promise of mercy and the forgiveness of sins.

Peace.

A light shining in the darkness to guide our feet on the path of righteousness. This is God’s peace. Knowing that we will never walk alone, but that God will always be with us even in our darkest moments. God is with us in comforting us, but God is also with us because she knows our pain, hurt, grief, misery. Because God became us in the form of Jesus Christ, and even Jesus wept. Our peace is the knowledge that our Saviour fully knows our humanity and is fully with us in it.

Joy.

Zechariah’s song begins with praise to the Lord, because he is so joyful. He is joyful that God is the God of hope who always keeps his promises. He is joyful that God is the God of peace who is always with us in the darkest of times. Perhaps Zechariah is most joyful that God did not abandon him even when he revealed how little faith he had. Instead, God taught him a lesson by showing God’s true nature of hope and joy, by giving a child to Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Love.

As St. Paul explained in his first letter to the Corinthians, love is the greatest of all, and as John Lennon sang, ‘all you need is love.’ The song of Zechariah is bursting with love. Love for God from Zechariah, but mostly love from God for all of us. God’s love is shown in the promises he has kept, and by being our partner through times of sorrow, and in all the joy she brings to our lives. God continually gives us the blessings to get through the challenges of life, because God so loves us. 

Hope, peace, joy, and love. Zechariah sang of these things two thousand years ago, so what do they mean to us today?

Hope. We can look with hope to the promises of God. The promise of a new heaven and a new earth, with no pain, no tears, no death. We look with hope, because this is a promise that we know will be kept. 

Peace. Life is full of difficulties, but we will never have to face them alone.  In times of trouble and darkness, we can have the peace that comes from our relationship with Jesus, by taking all our worries to him in prayer. 

Joy. Each morning we wake up, we live to serve another day, and that is truly a beautiful thing. In all that we do, we can find the joy that comes with the gift of life that God has given us. 

Love. Jesus said, ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ (Jn. 13:35). As Christians, we’re not actually asked to do anything. The Church believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive our sins. There are no more sacrifices or burnt offerings we must make, because the grace of our Lord has saved us. And yet, how would anyone know we are a Christian? Jesus clearly says, to follow Christ, we must love each other. St. Paul had it right…and John Lennon. Love is the greatest, all you need is love. All that God has ever done for us was for love. So to show our appreciation, to reflect our hope for the future God has planned for us, our peace in the presence of God in our daily lives, our joy for all that we have received from God, all we have to do is love. Love each other, and love God. Or if we read Matthew 25, we must love each other in order to love God. 

As our Advent season comes to a close and we look to the gift of Christmas, we see that all this time we have been waiting for the hope, peace, joy, and love of God. But we don’t need to wait for anything, because Jesus has already called each of us to action. Jesus told us to go and love God by loving each other. So perhaps all this waiting in Advent is God waiting for us to be the hands and feet and body of Christ on Earth. God is waiting for us to bring hope, peace, joy, and especially love to all.

Sermon on Luke 4:16-21 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon on Luke 4:16-21 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Given on 27 January 2019 at Studley Parish Church

Some of you may be familiar with the story of the Rabbi’s gift. To tell it briefly, there was once a monastery in decline. The abbot, greatly concerned about its future, visited a Rabbi who lived nearby in order to ask for his thoughts and advice. The Rabbi said that while he empathized about the decline in the church and spiritual belief, he had no advice for the abbot. On parting, the Rabbi said only, “The Messiah is among you.” The abbot went back to the monastery and informed the monks: “The Messiah is among us.” As they prayed and contemplated what this meant, they questioned who among them might be the Messiah.

Each of the monks were very different, with different temperaments and different flaws, but also different gifts and different talents. With time, the monks began treating each other and themselves with more respect, knowing that the Messiah was one of them. As they began to hold each other in higher regard, people outside the monastery began to take notice. Eventually, the once declining monastery became active and lively, with new members enthusiastically joining.

The point of my retelling this story is to highlight two important aspects: One, we are all unique with our individual gifts bestowed by our Creator; Two, once we recognize and accept the gifts and talents within ourselves and others, we fulfill God’s promise.

Today we draw from two readings: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and Luke 4:16-21. The first reading focuses on unity and diversity in the body of Christ, or among Christians. The second is about Jesus Christ fulfilling scriptures in His hometown of Nazareth. On face value, these are two very different readings with different objectives. But if we delve into them, we can find a connection that makes the two appear as if they should always be read together.

Let’s look first at the 1 Corinthians reading. These verses were written by the apostle Paul at a time when there was much discord and disharmony within the Church. If you heard Alan’s sermon last week, he spoke a bit more on this topic and how these readings within our current political and social climate are actually quite apt. I won’t go into that today, but I’d like us to look at verses 12-14: “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” Paul then goes on to say in verse 27, “now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Just like the monks in that monastery, each of us as Christians within the Church have a role to fill. Furthermore, within society as a whole we all have our unique contribution. This may be our vocation, that which we are called to do as our profession. Sometimes it is simply a hobby, something we do in our spare time. Although we may not all find that dream job we wake up every morning loving to do, we do all have a purpose, and there is no purpose too small. Just as every part of the body whether big or small works together to help make us fully functioning beings, every role we uniquely fill helps the world to endure.

This brings me smoothly to the second reading, Luke 4:16-21. In this reading, Jesus proclaims what His unique role is. Jesus is come to bring “the year of the Lord’s favour”. What a glorious pronouncement. And it is so fitting that this is found in the gospel of Luke, which is referred to as the “gospel of joy”. Favour and joy – two concepts we may be struggling to see at a time when the world seems so chaotic and cruel. Perhaps, it is because the world has become exceptionally dark in recent times that our liturgical calendar should fall on the readings from Luke, the gospel of joy. The fact is, we can find hope in Jesus’ announcement in verse 18 that He will bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and let the oppressed go free. Even in the darkest of times, Christ has come to restore light, to bring us the year of the Lord’s favour. By stating to everyone His gift, Jesus is fulfilling God’s promise to heal a broken world. In the same way, when we accept our gifts and recognize the gifts of others, we help make the world a better place. We bring the world closer to the Lord’s Prayer of “Thy Kingdom come”. When we use our gifts and respect that everyone has a part to play, just like the monks from the story, we will grow more confident in Christ. And our confidence will shine as a beacon into the darkness of the world and bring others to our warmth.

Thus, once again, when we look at the two readings side by side, one is telling us we all have a singular contribution to make to the world. The other says we fulfill not only our purpose, but God’s purpose when we embrace our role. So, let me leave you with this thought: Are you pursuing God’s purpose for you? Amen.