Saturday, December 8, 2007

Confession

Short Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent

At this service, the words of absolution are to be given to people individually by the laying on of hands. The emphasis of the service is a proper celebration of the Christian understanding of penance and forgiveness.

If you attend an American university you can chop your degree into two parts, the major and the minor. Its become an accepted verb to say that ‘I’m majoring’ in this or that. Today I want to think about forgiveness as one of the Church’s sacrament, sacred actions, which has two facets; a major and minor.

The first part of the story of forgiveness is our sins, the fall of mankind which begins in the third chapter of Genesis. After the armistice of World War I, many men returned from battle unable to connect not only with their families and wider communities but with what the Church was doing. In many parishes the churches carried on doing the same old things as if not much had happened. To many of these scarred veterans it all seemed incomprehensible and parochial. Christmas in particular seemed a tweed nonsense nested, and almost lost, in the verbosity of the liturgy. It took an imaginative Anglican priest to decide to address this by creating, the service of Nine Lesson and Carols. The lessons don’t start with Bethlehem or even the angel Gabriel but take us right back to the genesis of our sins, the fall of Adam and Eve. Nine Lessons and Carols was a simple formula which made the story of the Bible accessible to the masses.

The Scriptures and the Christian tradition speak of our sinfulness as a fundamental break in our relationship with our creator. In seeking restoration we are seeking to mend not only our own personal sins but also our lack of justice and concerns for our neighbour. The ancients saw humanity acting as a single body, no one could shrug their shoulders and say “I wasn’t there governor!” or to quote Cain the first murder: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” This idea of us all being responsible is a difficult concept for us to get in our individualistic culture and it makes preaching, ‘we all crucified Jesus’ almost indigestible to modern listeners. Profoundly movie director Mel Gibson understood this in the Passion of the Christ when he insisted on using his own hands to film the knocking of the huge nails in the hands of the actor playing Jesus.

On one level we can be too casual about our need of God’s forgiveness. “I’m as a good a person as the next” is a frequent rebuttal to religious piety. But the misunderstanding is that goodness in the Bible is not defined as an average of the British population. The New Testament is clear that there is only one standard, Jesus Christ. He is the measure against we must measure our goodness. Paul says quite clearly “All have fallen short of the glory of God”.

The second part of the story of forgiveness is what God is doing for us through Jesus Christ. My first real experience of forgiveness as a sacramental action of the church was going to confession for the first time at the age of 21. The elderly priest was a dear friend, almost an uncle, and an exceptionally wise man. As many of you know I gave our son his middle name, Douglas. Yet on that day I remained scared stiff as I knelt by his side. I was going not with a heavy list of sins but had come to an awareness that if I was to minister to other and grow spiritually I had take on some discipline like this. I was a reluctant penitent. As I waffled and stuttered my list of faults, rehearsed over many days, I looked up and became aware of the old priest's face holding an incredible warmth and compassion. After giving me my very easy penance he lay his hands on my head and said the words of absolution. At that singular moment, like none before, I knew God loved me. For days I was high as kite and light on my feet. I got a taste for it and I now see as part of the church’s healing ministry.

This is the second part of the story of forgiveness and can you guess which is the major and which is the minor. I had spent days sweating over what I was going to say, focussing earnestly on my sins. But this was a minor issue in respect to the love I was to experience. Yes, the discipline of knowing our sins, acknowledging our part in the tragedy of the fall is important but it is second fiddle in comparison to the experience of God’s total forgiveness and all encompassing love. Yes, confession is underrated and underused but God’s love is the end point.

Here’s a liturgical thought. When the priest says, ‘Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.’ What do you do in these few seconds, what races through your mind? Its very difficult to list a range of sins in such short time unless we have prepared for it. It maybe useful to offer in prayer one or two things but let in this liturgical pause let us swing it the other way around and not think so much about us, but rather about God. Let us celebrate his mercy.

Name your sins but more importantly – name your saviour.



Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Great Expectations

A couple of years ago I got invited to go to one of the Queen's garden parties. Unfortunately, as it was near the due date of our first child it was impractical for us to attend. I did however notice on the invitation card that there was no RSVP. It dawned on me later on that this signifies something quite profound in royal etiquette - IE one does not turn her Majesty down and so there is no option to decline.
If you do go to one of these royal events a certain sense of expectation fills the air before the monarch arrives. I am told there is a buzz in the air and a great hush when the Queen arrives. Even before you get to the venue you are preparing yourself mentally and rehearsing what you are going to say or do. There is no room for the flippant or casual remarks.

Advent as a season holds a certain air of "royal" expectation. On a theological level Advent reminds us not only of the birth of Jesus but also his return to judge the world and put all things into completion. I have a corny fridge magnet which says 'Jesus is coming - look busy!' Nothing motivates a workforce more than knowing the boss is around the corner and will be in soon.
Some of the early 5th century depictions of Jesus showed him as a Byzantine Emperor, regal and majestic. The priests referred to Jesus as the 'Pantocrantor' (Greek Παντοκράτωρ) that is the Almighty. The icons (see above) and mosaics are stunning but also somewhat fearsome to look at. This is not so much gentle Jesus, meek and mild but the Lion of Judah and the judge of the world. It reminded me of the description of Aslan in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. On hearing that Aslan is on the move Mr Beaver confirms to Lucy and the children that Aslan is no tame lion rather the contrary. But although Aslan is terrifying to be with, he is fundamentally good and kind.
And so in Advent we hold in tension two images of Christ; the vulnerable baby and the returning judge. Both images are not contradictory but are equally valid and invite us to a new relationship with God. As Christians I think Advent also challenges us to reflect on what we are doing when we worship and what do who we expect when we come to Church? It's all too easy to get casual and forget that we are worshipping God Almighty rather than God All-matey.
Let me provide another example. If at the Eucharist we truly believe that we are coming into the sacramental presence of Jesus Christ then how will we carry ourselves? Is it just another day in the park or should we be trembling a bit at the awesomeness of what is happening? Because if we really believe the doctrines of the Church then the Eucharist is mind blowing, it is the ultimate miracle.

"The sacramental body and blood of the Saviour are present as an offering to the believer awaiting His welcome." Joint Anglican-Roman Catholic Statement on the Eucharist - 1971 para 8.

It is inspiring to see how in other faiths people display reverence quite openly, removing shoes, prostration, bowing, silence, dressing appropriately, etc. Yet as Brits we have tended to shun all of this a bit. Is it because we are bit "buttoned up" and don't like to display our enthusiasm for God? Or worse still is it because deep down we dont believe any of it any more. Yet a proper air of expectation in the liturgy of the church can be a great evangelising tool. It allows others to see that something extraordinary is happening here. This does not have be displayed by effervescent charismatic guestures or complex series of genuflections. If the heart is the right place then a sense of awe will permeate our worship. If the heart is the wrong place then any rituals, songs, prayers will be hollow and ape the pharisees of old.
So here at St Clements we have decided to keep the liturgy fairly simple for Advent. Nothing too grand, fussy or flashy. We have tried to expand on the silent bits and not feel embarrassed about it. There is less music, fewer words, and in these gloomy winter Sundays, even less light. Of course, come Christmas Eve, all of this will change.




Monday, December 3, 2007

Bring back that Advent Hush

At its best Advent is a time of expectation rather than a mad rush around. Before things got all too commerciliased my childhood Advents in Devon were exciting times when there was a lull before the festivities of Christmas. When Christmas came it was not just a celebration of one day but a whole 12 days. I was genuinely sad when Epiphany, 6 January, passed.

Now Advent seems chronologically constipated with endless activity. By Christmas Day many of us are glad its all over and are very fed up with the endless pressures it brings. Advent in Britain used to feel like a warm but brooding darkness pentrated by a growing light. Now it feels more a mad drive in the pouring rain with intermintant oncoming headlights blinding the road ahead. Advent has become a migraine and a casualty in the war of supermarkets.

Did you know that supermarkets daze us with unnatural light so as to confuse our sense of time. Outside light is blocked so that we forget what time it is. If for example we knew how late it was then we may hurry rather than stay for more shopping. Designers of these modern day tenmples do not want us to see the darkness outside. And yet I find I want the Advent gloom to blanket me so that I am ready afresh for, to paraphrase the Benedictus, the light which shines through the shadow of death.

The words of the US author, Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957), capture it so well. It was famously used by George VI in his Christmas broadcast, 1939, And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown'. And he replied: 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.'