Sermon at St John the Evangelist on 2nd Sunday before Advent, 19.11.17
‘You are all children of light and children of the day… not of the night or of darkness. So… keep awake.’
(1 Thessalonians 5.5)
Today’s readings are full of warnings of imminent judgement, as well as invitations to respond to God and live in his light, now.
They remind me of a line from the classic film ‘Dead Poets Society’, in which an enthusiastic group of young students – no doubt not unlike our school & college students today - are encouraged to ‘seize the day’ (‘carpe diem’), making the most of life. And it made we realise that we too are being called (at this time) to ‘seize the day’, to make the most of the time & talents entrusted to us… for none of us know when the Day will come. As Psalm 90 puts it, ‘teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.’
The only problem is, of course, that most of us are not very comfortable with the prophets’ ideas about judgement, and neither do we think seriously about what ‘seizing the day’ really means. Somehow their warnings of an imminent catastrophe, when the world (as we know it) will be brought to a terrible end – before the Lord’s Day – seem alien to us.
We shrink from such warnings, preferring to focus on life as we know it, without having to live in the light of what Zephaniah calls the ‘day of wrath’: the ‘Dires Irae’ of the Requiem Mass. And neither are we comfortable with the notion of accountability for our actions (beyond living within the law, the Social Contract of which John Locke wrote). As long as ‘you’re ok, I’m ok’, and that is all we think matters: the maximising of material reward for the greatest number of people.
Yet today we’re reminded of a perspective that couldn’t be more different. For both the prophets and New Testament writers really did believe that the time is short, that we’re called to be faithful – to seize the day in a radically different way – and one day all of us will be called to account, when the day of reckoning comes. And whilst we might dissent from some of the detail of judgement expressed in Zephaniah, Christians still believe that ‘the time is short’, life as we know it will not endure forever, we never know when our time will come, and therefore we must live in the light of eternity: God’s gift to us now. ‘For you yourselves know’ writes Paul to the Thessalonians, ‘that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night… But you’ [and this is the crucial point] ‘are not in darkness… for you are children of light.’
So in this context of judgement and with the knowledge that one day Christ will come again, we are challenged today (in this time of build-up to Advent) to live as children of light – children of the day - and to make the most of the faith entrusted to us.
Yes, ‘seize the day’, God tells us, because it really matters and you have a choice… A choice about whether to respond to God’s priceless gift, or to remain in the darkness of this world, which is passing away. And it’s interesting that our two New Testament readings express the same choice in different ways, each providing fresh insights into what living in the light might mean. Let’s take a look…
In Matthew we hear yet another parable about the difference between those who respond to God, and those who don’t; the parable of the talents.
Picture the scene. The master of the household is going away, and he entrusts his servants with talents – different amounts of money which they are encouraged to trade and make good. And remember that we’re talking here about vast sums of money. For one talent would have been the equivalent of 15 years ordinary wages. So what happens? The one with five talents trades them and makes five more. The one with two talents trades them and makes two more. And yet the one with only one talent goes and buries it in the ground, such is his fear of the master; and Jesus has harsh words for that one.
The point here, of course, is not about our ability to trade or make money, but our willingness to take the gift of faith – the mustard seed or treasure hidden in the field - and make something more of it, allowing it to grow.
Jesus has harsh words for those who merely guard it privately or worse still close their ears and bury it in the ground, failing to allow God’s gifts to grow or to share them with others: and we’re talking here not simply of what happens in Church but whole life discipleship, our following Jesus in the practical challenges of everyday living.
For Paul, speaking to the early Christians at Thessalonica, the contrast is even move stark. It is between those who live in the dark (as we all once used to) and those who live in the light, who put on the Lord Jesus Christ; his breastplate of faith and love, his helmet of salvation, and build each other up in love. So, Paul suggests, living out of faith, Baptism and worship, we need to be watchful at all times, not despairing when we get it wrong and fall back into our old ways (as will happen from time to time), but seeking to respond actively to God, and his grace in our lives… ‘For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him.’
It’s almost as if, mindful of all that the prophets foretell, and faced with the challenges and choices presented to us, we are mysteriously pulled back into the present moment: where the real work of responding to God – living in the light – happens. ‘Seize the day!’
So what might help us, in this Year of Prayer and as we gear up for Advent, to live in the light and make use of all the talents entrusted to us… that we fall not into judgement.
I want to suggest three key things (three durable foundations) that we might take seriously, if we are to continue on this path – the way of Christ:
Firstly, in a society that has no time or space for God, we need to pay serious attention to our relationship with God in prayer. Whether this be the prayer of talking to God and bringing our concerns to him, or the prayer of communion – of simply being in the presence of God, to receive – we need to give prayer a larger priority in our daily lives. And it doesn’t matter whether we’ve got much time at our disposal or little, prayer is always possible wherever we are; on the bus or the train, in the office or walking the dog, prayer is always possible. And yet prayer really works, because God is real, His presence always with us. Which is why, next month, there are going to be lots of opportunities to learn more about prayer, including our Advent School of Prayer and Quiet Morning.
Secondly, in a world which has lost sight of the truth and even claims to be post-truth (as if nothing is real anymore), we are invited to listen and search for the truth, rooting our lives in God’s word in the Bible. You know, sharing each week – as I have the privilege of doing – in one of our Bible study groups, and taking time to pray each day with a short passage, I’m reminded how much the Bible really is God’s gift to us, opening up God’s light, his truth and his presence, in our daily lives. The Bible really is the most amazing book, for it leads us to the face of Jesus Christ and into all that is living and true in our world.
And thirdly, in a world so often indifferent to the plight of the poor, the dispossessed, and to the big moral issues of our day, we are invited to take time to bring the light of Christ to bear on the big issues that really matter… whether that’s macro (justice & peace, good governance, the environment) or micro (how we, in our ordinary lives & our church life, in South Cambridge, can be faithful, bear witness and serve others in love). Yes, we have a duty, in order to use our talents wisely, not only to pray and to seek the truth in scripture, but to bring all of this to bear on daily living, at the coalface, as Jesus did.
So perhaps, after all, we should not find the prophets unduly alarming, but full of wisdom, in pointing us back to Christ – pulling us back into the present moment – that we might learn to be faithful, to live in his light (in prayer & word & action), as children of the day and not of darkness. Amen