Below is the text of my sermon at St Aldhelm’s, Branksome, on the second Sunday of Advent, 8th December 2019. It refers to politics but puts primary emphasis upon the need of each one of us – or in my case, me – to take to heart the Advent message of repentance and integrity.
The photos are of this year’s St Aldhelm’s Christmas Tree Festival (taken by Jane O’Connor) and of the parliamentary candidates for local constituencies, attending hustings that I chaired.
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is come near Advent 2 08.12.19
My friends, we meet amidst a piece, or the peace, of heaven, as imagined and illustrated by the continuing art installation that helped us celebrate our 125th anniversary and as imagined by the creators of about 70 Christmas trees who were given that phrase as their theme.
How we need and relish such reflections of heaven! I watched as young and old entered these doors yesterday and it was delightful to see faces illumined with delight and wonder, an inner light even more beautiful than the lights of this amazing event.
O how we need and relish such reminders!
For we live in times that are far from the kingdom of heaven. Of course it was in some ways ever thus. Isaiah, whose stringent but salutary songs of protest and indignation – and of hope against all hope because his hope is in God: his prophecies punctuate our Advent and Easter seasons. In today’s section we hear of that hope, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. But earlier in the week, in the still quietness of Morning Prayer, I was disturbed by his scorn and his anger as we read the daily lections:
Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death,
and with hell we have an agreement;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
it will not come to us;
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter’;
therefore thus says the Lord God,
See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation:
‘One who trusts will not panic.’
And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plummet;
hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.
Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with hell will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
you will be beaten down by it.
As often as it passes through, it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it.
For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim,
he will rage as in the valley of Gibeon
to do his deed—strange is his deed!—
and to work his work—alien is his work!
Now therefore do not scoff,
or your bonds will be made stronger;
for I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts upon the whole land.
O, that homely yet agonising image of the bed that isn’t quite big enough and the duvet that can’t quite stretch over you!
Do Isaiah’s words not raise an echo in our selfish and ‘selfie’ days?
Do they not raise questions of us as a society?
Do they not, indeed, ask questions of those who would have us vote for them, and of all of us who must vote for one of them?
What would Isaiah say to a nation in which the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer?
What would he say to politicians and political parties – and a Prime Minister – for whom telling the truth is no longer considered a mark of honour? What would he say of our governing political party with its long and worthy history that re-branded a propaganda Twitter feed as an allegedly independent fact-check site? That is extraordinary enough, but more so that when called out their leaders were unflustered and said, in effect, so what? ‘Who gives a toss?’ were the actual words of the Foreign Secretary! Do not suppose I am being partial. I have no doubt that opposition parties and leaders may be accused of as bad or worse. But if, as they say, we get the leaders we deserve then we have collectively landed up in not a very good place.
John the Baptist for sure would have words to say, by the banks of the Thames as by the banks of Jordan of old.
But I am not St John, I am no saint, I can only confess my sin and my share in the world’s sin, and plead at the feet of my Lord, my Saviour, my dear friend, Jesus.
Because whatever we see writ large in this election and in some of our leaders we need first to recognise written in miniature within each one of us: our selfishness, our fear, our blaming others, our projecting on to others the faults that are more surely our own, our shame and our ingratitude. Yes, John declaimed against the leaders and against Herod – until the latter made a rash promise to a pretty girl and – with sincere sadness no doubt – had John’s head removed (a warning to all leaders to take care what they promise…) But John called everyone to awake and repent, each in his or her own circumstances. And that must be our first response to the dark clouds that hang about our national life: each of us to face the truth about ourself and earnestly seek God’s forgiveness, healing and blessing.
Let this Advent ring bells in heaven that resound on earth and call each of us to penitence and to truthfulness: truthful perception of ourselves, truthful acknowledgement of our faults and truthful sincerity in seeking to lead a new life following in the path of Christ.
Please, everyone vote on Thursday. But remember as you do so that as you vote so must you live, with commitment to the poor, kindness to the stranger, love for your enemies, and a fundamental commitment to truthfulness and integrity.
And…may God give us leaders better than we deserve.
Pip the Vic 