Sermon - John 1:1-14

A sermon preached in St. Dorothea's Gilnahirk on Sunday 12th Feb 2012.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O Lord our Strength and our redeemer. Amen

This morning’s gospel reading is a very familiar passage ... a passage which we regularly hear at Christmas - It is usually prefaced by the words ... ‘St. John unfolds the great mystery of the incarnation’ ... It is good to have it here at this point in the church’s year as it contains the overview of all that is happening in the gospel. Between the nativity and the beginning of Lent

All of the gospel writers - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John Begin their gospels in different ways, Matthew concentrates on the genealogy of Jesus, Mark looks at the ministry of John the Baptist, Luke focuses in on Mary and Joseph and John, well he is a poet and focuses in on a summary of what the rest of his book is about.

With John he mentions lots of themes ... and gives us a taster of what is about to come along. One of my curate colleagues whilst preaching in college described this text as being like tapas small dishes to taste what the main dish is like.

We could pick up many of the themes in this text but what I would like to focus upon is the final sentence And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,^* full of grace and truth.

Within this sentence we have so much of what the Gospel is about.

One author has described it as God has come into “our real world where we live all year long - a world where there is political unrest and injustice, poverty hatred jealousy and both the fear and the longing that things could be different”

It is great to know that God knows what it is like to be human ... he knows our limitations, he knows our faults and failures of our flesh. Within John’s gospel we see this being worked out ... in terms of the fact that we see Jesus weeping, we see him in all sorts of circumstances

As we read this we get a glimpse of what the incarnation was all about - and the fact that it is great news ... news that the one who created the world has become human so that we might have eternal life.

This has immense implications for us ... for those of us who are struggling to find meaning in life ... Jesus is able to say “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full”

For those of us who are grieving over loved ones who have died ... Jesus is able to say “ I am the way, the truth and the life” and Peace I leave with you ... do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid

For those of us who are looking for direction ... Jesus is able to say ...”I am the Good shepherd”

For those of us who are in despair ... Jesus is able to say “I am the light of the world”

The fact that we have God who knows our weaknesses and is able to stand with us in them is so very important to all our lives.

John wrote his gospel mindful of the community of which he was a part - he wrote, we are told to recall all of the things which Jesus said and also that his community might believe and trust in his words. just under 2,000 years later his words echo across the world and Christians still find comfort and guidance in the words recorded.

As we come this morning to the communion table where we are fed by Christ’s body where we join as community, sharing in the miracle of the incarnation the Word made flesh.

We gather not because we are perfect, nor because our faith is unshakable nor because we have everything sorted out in our lives, but rather we gather as a community dependant upon God and one another - we come in the flesh we have been created in, the same flesh which Jesus came in... we come together as community in our weakness looking for strength to carry on ... and also to support one another as we grow in God’s love and share it with one another.

Sermon ... The raising of Lazarus

Sermon preached at service of Compline, 7pm Sunday 14th March 2010 in St. Columba's, Knock.

Text: John 11: 17-44

Let us pray,

Heavenly father, help us to unpack what your word means for us as we consider what it means to know you as the resurrection and the life, here and now.

We pray this in Jesus name
Amen


The old adage – there are two things which we will not be able to avoid – tax & funerals.

Each one of us here this evening will have their own experiences of funeral services, of the run up to them, perhaps planning them and also helping friends and family get through a most difficult time.

There are two sides to the funeral – the very practical side, of making arrangements with the undertakers, of hospitality, of arranging transport for family to come home.

And then there is the grief itself, the realisation that a loved one has died.

Throughout the centuries what Jesus did here in this story and then ultimately at his own resurrection has eternal consequences and significance when it comes to our own day and how we mourn. Mary and Martha in this passage are the chief mourners, they are the ones who are busy doing all the necessary family things in the midst of coping with their own grief. It is into these circumstances which Jesus steps.

He is moved to tears at the Grave of Lazarus, he knows what it is like to loose a friend. This man was dead, he was well dead … four days he had been in this grave. With the heat and the humdity of the climate once the grave is sealed it is well sealed … King James version the body stinketh!

Jesus uses this incident to teach more about his power, and what he has come to do. Throughout Johns gospel, continually Jesus is showing who he is to his disciples, The I am sayings as they are commonly referred to portray something of what he is doing

I am the way, the truth and the life, Bread of heaven, water of life, the good shepherd...

Here we have another one, a common portion of scripture which we use in this church as we process up the aisle at each funeral service … “I am the resurrection and the life says the Lord, those who believe in me, even though they die yet shall they live and everyone who lives in me shall never die” after saying this Jesus goes on a bit further and says to the sisters do you believe that?

I think that must have been a very hard question, they had, no doubt like us been to lots of funerals, they had seen many people buried in tombs and while they may have seen jesus doing lots of things there is something about death, the great unknown which we do want to know about. OK jesus you are the resurrection and the life but there is no hope for our brother is there? He has been dead 4 days now so he aint coming back.

Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died … They knew that Jesus could heal … he was a healer but there is more to Jesus than simply healing. Jesus was moved to tears. In this moment … Jesus told martha that see would see the glory of God. Lazarus, come out and he did.

Jesus did it … he turned death into life, he turned mourning into celebration.

This is indeed an amazing scene … no one had ever seen this done before!

One of the things we always do try to do is ask week after week in our sermons here in St. Columba's is what does this text mean for me in my walk with God.

Well this text cuts to the core of human life and questions about death, mourning and our relationship with Jesus.

Firstly, mourning, grieving and tears is entirely natural and needs to be gone through after a death of a loved one – Jesus wept, he was gratefully disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

Then we remember that we are in a relationship with God, with Jesus, the one who has the power over death – it is that hope of the Christian, not in a airy fairy I hope that I will win the lottery type of hope but rather in a sure and certain hope of the resurrection.

Jesus throughout his ministry we remember that he raised

Jarius' Daughter, The son of the widow at Nain and here Lazarus from the dead and then ultimately he himself was raised from the dead.

As we are here this evening … are we able to rest in the assurance in those familiar words I am the resurrection and the life says the Lord, those who believe in me even though they die Yet shall they live

The thing about this is if we know this then we can get on with living, with priorities of life sorted then we can live lives prioritised with the important things

I love the hope that is in the Easter Hymn – Thine be the Glory … the second verse says it all

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the Church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing;
for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.

Yes, funerals are extremely sad times, yes we miss our loved ones when they die of course we do. But our Christian hope, our christian faith tells us that what happened at the graveside of lazarus is a foretaste of what will be. And ultimately we are Easter people, we do as we are doing during lent- journey to the cross and the grave but we know the story does not end there, we are people who can rest assured in our relationship with Christ and in his resurrection.

Let us pray.

Late Evening Office - St. Columba's Parish Church Sunday 14th Feb 2010 @ 7pm

Bible Text

John 12: 27-36a

27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ 30Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people* to myself.’ 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah* remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ 35Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’ (NRSV)

Sermon

Let us pray,
Help us O Lord to apply your word to our lives, your teaching to our circumstances – Help us O Lord to be disciples living each day learning from you. In Jesus NameAmen.

Spec-savers have a new ad on TV running at the moment – an older couple have taken their cheese sandwiches to the beach for a nice day out they find an empty seat with a view of the sea. And suddenly their whole world changes as the bars come down and suddenly they are propelled round a very big roller coaster. Twists and its turns, it propelling the higher and higher round and round at all sorts of angles. Eventually the ride stops and they get off. The husband says to his wife …that was strange cheese.



Sometimes life can feel like a rollercoaster, sometimes its stationary, not moving, then suddenly something unexpected happens, we feel we are not in control – sometimes it can get very scary indeed, sometimes life is moving so fast we want it to slow down, other times we are really enjoying life, othertimes we just want to get off, sometimes we enjoy the views.

The life of Jesus' disciples could be described as a rollercoaster – sometimes they were really enjoying being with Jesus, some great teaching everybody happy, then times of adventure as they are sent out, scary times when they encountered evil or felt like they were going to die when jesus was sleeping in the boat admist the storm, moutain top times, such as the transfiguration when Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah or when they saw Lazarus raised from the dead. But there were disapointments and discouargements along the way – Jesus kept talking to them about when he would die, he was ready to die …. this is not what they wanted to hear … this was definitely a time when the disciples and the wider crowd wanted keep him quiet this wasn't the way the messiah was ment to behave.

The roller coaster, the dramatic ups and downs of life, the tight corners, the changes in direction leave us all unsettled, perhaps daunted ...asking what is life about?, what should I do?.


In our reading this evening we see ups and down as Jesus speaks to the crowd

At the beginning we see Jesus – uncharacteristically down – Now my soul is troubled he said .. but a corner is turned … should I say save me … no – he yields to the father's will which is a high point … the reading progresses through Jesus explaining what will happen. He knows that things are uncertain at this time but appeals to the crowd to stay … in the light.

In Johns Gospel Jesus teaches much about darkness and light and the contrast between them.

Darkness in Johns Gospel is seen as … uncertainty, death, sin, not of God

In the great chapter one the distinction is drawn between darkness and light
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not

In tonight's reading we see that we are all called to become Children of light. We are called to overcome darkness, we are called to overcome all that darkness means – sin, death

I wonder how we are all doing … I started off by thinking about a roller coaster … ups and downs, tight corners, scared, afraid of what is ahead. Jesus, as he looked at the road he must travel down was troubled but he did not loose focus, he did not say I don't want to do this, he did not say … “im your son get me out of here” ... what he did say was … father glorify your name.

In our world today – there is so much darkness – turn on the news and you see sin so prevelent, so much darkness in the mindsets of people, so many lives who see nothing but despair, grief, uncertainty and sadness.

However our reading tonight calls us to be people, disciples living a different way … people whose hope and trust is in God, people who are living as children of the light, people with purpose, with love, who face the darkest of nights with the knoweldge that whoever they encounter, whatever they come across, whatever they face they know that Jesus will help them through.

This is not simply wishful thinking but it is core to the Christian faith – Jesus knew the darkest of places and he knew how to overcome the darkness with light. Last week, at our dedication Bishop Harold spoke on the worry we can have and Jesus saying that we are not to worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. So often our attention is drawn to worry about the darkness,
worry about all kinds of things which may or may not happen.

As disciples, we need not worry about the darkness but rather be living as children of light, of getting on with the business of the things which God has called us to do. Of getting out into our dark communities, of loving our neighbours, caring for those who are lonely, of strengthening our Christian faith, praying, reading our bibles, getting to know strangers in our church, of living out our faith wherever we are.

Let us trust God, that he has a plan for our lives, not wasting time worrying but rather living life to the full. When we do that, when we talk about our faith, when we live out our faith – life becomes an adventure, when we focus on darkness it is very difficult to see light. But if we are focused on the light, when we are living in the light – we can have a profound effect on the darkness around us.

Are we prepared to live life to the full?

Let us pray.

Prayers

Jesus said "Now my soul is troubled"

We pray for all those within our community who today can relate to this … those who have troubles, worries, concerns and issues of whatever kind. We remember how the disciples journeyed with Jesus through the highs and lows of life. How they supported each other, how they allowed Jesus' teaching to inform their actions when faced with difficulties

We recall the fact that Jesus did not take the easy road, he did not promise a problem free life but what he did promise that he would be with us, that he is able to walk with us through the darkness and through the despair.

Jesus in our reading challenged us to live as "Children of Light"

We pray for the challenge to all those, including ourselves, who call ourselves Christian to live as Children of light, ridding ourselves of the sin which so easily entangles and to run the race with perseverence.

O Lord you know that it is not easy to stand up for what is right, to find time in the busy-ness of life to prioritise reading the Bible and praying. Help us Lord to do the things you would have us do, help us to cut out the the things of darkness in our lives and transform us to be beacons for you wherever we may find our selves this week.

In Jesus name we pray
Amen