Hope moving forward

 There is an expectation in the readings for today. An expectation of the coming of God and God's kingdom here on earth. These expectations we have been encountering recently in our Sunday readings as we move towards Advent, and here we are. The readings though are different, the hope is still present but in a very different manner and for a very different purpose. The hope that is in the present is a hope of fulfilment in prophecy. Prophecy in terms of something that is coming that is greater than what is present. There is also a sense that the people have admitted their guilt and they hope for redemption (Is. 64:6). There is also a hope in the fulfilment of prophecy in Christ's words and a challenge to ensure that we are aware of what we are doing in the world (Mk 13:24-37). The hope portrayed is a hope that we are all prepared for the coming of God's kingdom and ready to participate as all things and point the way to God (1 Cor 1:7).

What is hope? Do we understand what it is that hope is? We hope for a lot of small things to make our world and life easier but this is not the hope that is being called for here. Hope that is being looked at today can really only be found in the most desperate situations and calls for a change of life circumstances from where we are in desperation to a new place a new life. This is a deep foundational longing that is found as an ache in the heart for something that is unachievable or at least appears to be unachievable. It is found only when we are at the bottom and striving for something that is way beyond us but something that we know in our hearts we can reach. Our deepest desire as Christians should be the coming Kingdom or reign of God that we spoke about last week.

This year hope has been a predominant theme for the world as we have gone through various disasters. It has played a very real role in shaping Australian society in the aftermath of Fires and COVID 19. For some it has shown the flaws in the characters of those we elect into leadership while others have not hoped for the betterment of the world but rather the betterment of their own lives at the expense of others which has led people into despair rather into hope for a new future. For us as Christians, who remain in hope for the coming again of Christ, we need look at ourselves and determine if our hope is a hope for self or a hope for community. This is a very important reflection as we enter into Advent and the expectation and hope that this brings to our lives.

Hope springs up at the darkest hour as we look forward to a new future

We cannot hope for a new life whilst we are in the midst of looking towards those things which created the life we live now. The selfish behaviours that pit ourselves above all others, is something that society has pushed as its agenda for the past number of years. We can see this and its end in the way American politics has degenerated into a farce of self over other. We in this country are no better as we elect those who see only themselves and their friends as the receivers of goodness whilst neglecting the poor and the outcast. For too long we as a society and as a faith group have lost the hope that Christ brings into our lives by moving with the majority of society and not going against the grain of society. Hope is only generated when it goes against the grain of the expectations of the majority. It is generated as a small light at the end of a tunnel, just as the vaccines have generated a small hope for the end of the pandemic.

We as the body of Christ hope in the incarnation of God in humanity. We are not hoping for some happy place were we all end up. We know that we are called to God and in the end God will see us face to face but we hope for the incarnation. God in this place at this time and as we hope for this simple thing we need to remind ourselves constantly that God is with us, God is here, God is now and then perhaps if God becomes incarnated we will recognise God's presence.

Sheep and goats

 So we come to the end of our liturgical year. Christ the King is celebrated this day which marks the end of the year and a need to reflect for ourselves on the coming year. For us this is almost like New Year's eve, a time for reflection and resolution. The descriptions in the parable that is told by Christ is fairly straightforward but who wants to be known as a goat or a sheep (Matt. 25:31-46). Perhaps, in some ancient world this is a fitting reflection but it seems to cast a negative light on goats, which are just as intelligent as sheep at times. Perhaps, the real reason for the comparison is the rapacious appetite of goats compared to sheep as they can and do cause desertification, if not managed. However, it is all very well using the analogy but what does this look like in real life, how can we discern the difference in attitude?

It is often easy to see the difference between those that do not do and those that do but it is sometimes hard to see those that are adept at seemingly doing and those that actually do. This is the aim of the parable, it is not the obvious ones that do not do but the less obvious ones that seemingly do. The Kellock triptych at Kempsey is a marvel of emotional figuration, if you compare the two side panels you will come to understand the difference between the sheep and the goats. It is a subtle attitudinal change in people. This is what we need to really understand about our own attitudes as we move forward into a New year for the Christian tradition and in our lead up towards the incarnation. In attempting to emulate Christ's presence within our lives we fall into a pattern of doing what we believe God wants without any heart or soul. In other words what we do may appear to have the touch of Christ but in our hearts we are doing the work for ourselves. It is so that we can stand up in the congregation of the faithful and gain the kudos of their blessings rather than the kudos of Christ's blessings. This is at core the difference between the sheep and the goats.

Kellock tryptich side panels from Kempsey

The description from Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:20-22) is even more graphic and opens our eyes to behaviour patterns, which we need to account for and displace. The need for, not only, attention but a degree of power over others to attain what appears to be greatness or influence over others is prominent amongst humanity. This causes a lot of grief and anguish in communities when this sort of behaviour comes to light. Yet, it is the behaviour which is seen as the norm of society in today's world. A world that states that the I is prominent and no one else matters. This can be seen in general when people are asked, for example, to mask for the good of the general population, many do but you can see a prominent few that go against all advice. When you ask them the question "Why?" the response is always an opinion that involves their own egos or their own wishes rather than a consideration of those around them. The world has encouraged, or rather societies around the globe, have encouraged this self filled attitude of shoving those that are weaker than you to the side-lines. We can see it in all manner of situations from politics to our own agendas within churches and denominations.

In coming to this celebration at the end of our liturgical year we come to a time when we celebrate the understanding of Christ the King or the Reign of Christ, to be politically correct, in our hearts and in the world. The issue for us is that if Christ does not reign in our hearts we do not see Christ's reign in the world. It is our attitudes that need reform more than anything else prior to being able to truly celebrate. Today, we must reaffirm our commitment to Christ's reign and we do that by putting the other first within our hearts. For if we love our neighbours in the same way we love ourselves then the selfish behaviours are let go as we move with compassion and love to ensure that Christ reigns within us. Today, we reflect on our past year and ask ourselves have we been sheep or goats? As we ask this question we then begin again to start our journey towards the incarnation and the reality of the cross in our own lives. We seek to be the shepherds God calls for and allow Christ to reign once more in our hearts.

Omni- of God - the ultimate rescue

 In the space that is today, in the time that is now, it is true to say that the universe will end not in a blaze of glory but more likely in a wimp of darkness but it will end. The world will likely end in a blaze of glory as we are eaten by the sun. The heaven of the past is no longer up there as the astronauts can probably attest but our super dooper telescopes do so much better. If this is the case then what does this mean for readings that we have today speaking of a day of the Lord and preparedness for the coming of God (Zeph. 1:12-18; 1 Thess. 5:1-11; Matt. 25:14-30)? Perhaps we need to turn our thoughts to the very prosaic inhabitant of Judaea who in his insights proclaimed that the Reign (Basilea) of God was present to us in the here and now. Using this insight we may be able to disentangle the entanglement in our theology of Neoplatonism and a foreign world view.

All good plans take time to mature and plenty of planning. Changing the world does take a bit of doing but as Christians that is our purpose to re-make the world to conform with and live in love and peace and yes at the end of the day, when this eventually comes into being, there will be a lot of gnashing of teeth. The Gospel story has severe political overtones for the society in which the parable was told. It is all about political manoeuvring on a grand scale in Roman times but has much to say that is beyond the overt political message for us today. Quite honestly we are probably, 90% at least, in the category of the failed servant. Shock, horror and claims of "No we are not". Well I suppose that has to be an expected response to such an announcement and of course we would all put ourselves within the 10% that are not. Of course of those 10%  only  99% fall into category 2 and in reality only 1% are anywhere near category 1. All those statistics what does it mean in real life. 

We invest in relationships of love that always bring a return

The reality of the current day is that most of us are lazy when it comes to our spiritual and faith responsibilities. We would much rather put things to the side and go on about our business and not about God's business or the business of faith. Don't get me wrong, those in religious institutions fall just as equally within the percentages as anyone else. It takes effort to do the work of God and prepare for the coming Kingdom but it is in the work that we see the beginnings of that kingdom here on Earth in the present. Our wandering Aramean did not put philosophical spin nor was he tangled up in the question of who is God / What is God / Why is God? and so forth. His stories and preaching were about the present, the end was now as we moved into a new understanding of how to relate to each other as we moved into the reign of God's presence reflected in our own interactions in the present. For Christ the time was now to move into the reign of God, which meant that the time was now to change how we relate to each other. It is our investment in our community that God is looking for. For us to realise the coming of God's reign we must invest ourselves in our relationships to show the love which God represents to us.

It is our lives that are at stake. It is our communities lives that are at stake. It is our planet that is at stake. We cannot afford to park the investment of our lives and not do anything. If we do that we are literally banking on others whose interest may not be ours and quite honestly is usually their own benefit rather than looking towards their neighbours. The stakes are high but we can visibly see the returns on our investments in love within the community. Unlike burying ourselves behind closed doors or watching the stock market investment fall when we invest in love it is always on the way up. The reign of God is just around the corner and it comes when we begin to invest in our communities with the love that God has given us. The longer we leave that love buried in our hearts while we wait for better times and God appearing at the end of creation the longer it will be before the reign of God comes. Christ said that the reign of God was here, now. It was at the end of this present age and until we understand that we are harbingers of the end of the present day when we allow God's love to enter into our communities we will not see God's reign. We will continue to be caught up in metaphysics and Greek philosophical views compounded by an out moded world view.

Prepared to show love

 We know that the essential part of living as a community of God is to live in love. Essentially, we are called to show love to those who are around us as friends and neighbours whilst at the same time glorifying and loving the Lord our God. In the final chapter of the book of Joshua the Israelites make a promise about their dedication to God (Josh. 24:19-24). This promise is made with them as witnesses against themselves. The prophet Amos in a round about manner reminds them of this promise by stating that God wants above all else justice, not worship services, not being in a temple or church but being in the community ensuring that justice flows (Amos 5:24). In these readings there is a message to us, not necessarily as a parish or a diocese but to us as the body of Christ joined across the world. A call to us and a reminder of the promises made before God just as the Israelites did at the end of Joshua.

Many may take this to mean that they do not have to come to church but can participate in the world showing the Christian attributes. Yes, but.. The significance here is not about God not wanting worship service the significance here is in showing the works of love. This is hard to undertake when you are on your own and participation in worship at a communal level allows us to become part of a significant whole rather than an insignificant cog doing nothing but turning in circles. God may not require it but we do require it so that we can form around God's presence as a community that is engaged in love of God and love of neighbour. The Thessalonians are praised for their practice of love (1 Thess. 4:9-10) towards their fellow Christians and others throughout the province. In this respect the parable that Jesus tells in Matthew (Matt. 25:1-13) is an extremely good example of this community aspect of our lives centred as it is on God.

Let's not squander the lives that we have but show love to our neighbours

The group of young girls is perhaps typical of such a group in such a setting. Five are drawn out into a party frame of mind, it is after all a celebration of marriage and all the good things in life to come for them. The other five are more circumspect and have perhaps been drilled into sensibility by their parents. They acknowledge the festive occasion but are ever mindful of their responsibilities and the covenant that they have entered into with the community to fulfil the role of the welcomers at the bridegroom's house. In going of and doing things on our own we waste our energy, even if we are caught up in the fun and frivolity of society. In this we are like the foolish girls, we are wasting our time and when we are summoned to fulfil the requirements for what we are engaged in by God we find ourselves standing on the outside looking in. We have lost touch with God's presence because we have been caught up doing things our way. Due to the unexpected/expected delay in undertaking our responsibilities we have to go and seek a means to undertake that which we said we would do. We have lost our contact with the community and with God and so can no longer express that love which God has asked us to give to those around us. We spent that all on our own self indulgences.

Our covenant from baptism is to live as Christ and ensure that we are proponents of that love in the world. We have a limited life span and during that time we are asked to ensure that we live as Christ and live in the love of God. If we spend our lives away from God it is no wonder that we have issues in our lives at a later stage, when in our twilight years we complain about all the things that are missing. The grumpiness that we often see is a disruption of our living well in Christ. Only when we spend our lives in the presence of God will we know the presence of God throughout our lives. In age it is often when we find that we are missing something not only because our children have allowed others to take the burden of care but also because we have neglected our spiritual and faith lives during our life. We need to be constantly reminded that it is the presence of God in our lives that allows for our sustainable comfort into the future.

Deserving to be Saints

 Today, we celebrate All Saints (or All Hallows day) and yesterday was All Hallows eve (commonly known as Halloween). Pope Gregory III is the responsible party for these curious days in the calendar. The celebration of the one, All Saints, was meant to stamp out the underlying pagan festival of the European countries, Samhain or Summers end of the other, All Hallows eve. Thus, the prayers and services of All Hallows eve in preparation for the following day supposedly removed the temptation of the celebration of Samhain. Irrespective of the origins it is a time for us as the Christian faithful to reflect on a couple of things on this recognisably spiritual twenty four hours from the Eve to the Day. Recognisably spiritual because whether pagan or Christ follower it is to be recognised as a time of coming closer to God's presence.

Firstly, what or who are the saints we are celebrating? Pope Gregory III firmly established the date as a day to celebrate all those who had died in the Lord and passed into heaven. It had been celebrated on various dates throughout the year often coinciding with pagan feast days or celebrations. The Saints are often associated with those who have been granted sainthood, most notably the famous ones like Luke or Mary MacKillop. Yet, in the scriptures the word saints is reserved for all those who are in Christ, in other words believers who are both living and dead. In some respects as we gather at All Saints, Buraja today we are remembering both the living and the dead associated with a place that showed the face of Christ to the world. Yet, in our celebrations today we often only celebrate the dead rather than the living and remembering that God is the God of the living not the dead. Whilst our readings celebrate those around the throne (Rev.7:9-17) we need to remind ourselves of those that are around the throne lived as Christ.

Can we live the lives of the saints?

Our Gospel reading for today points this out (Matt. 5:1-12) as we hear of the way to live in an ethical and Christian manner. It is not pie in the sky goals for us but actual living that is the requirement of God. It is a means of reacting and being in relationship with those around us so that we are likened to the saints who were the living followers of Christ. Something that we often forget, partially due to how we are conditioned to think theologically, is that Jeshua (to remove our normal associations) spoke to people who were poor and who were in the midst of daily struggles. He did not preach in theological terms but in the parlance and relevance of a downtrodden society that had been colonised. On this day, if on no other, we need to remember that the Gospel is for those who are struggling and it is good news because they are given the understanding that we struggle with them, they are not alone. In our theologising we often allow ourselves to follow ancient Greek philosophy and Augustine's meandering as a trusted part of who Jeshua was and neglect the honest story that is behind the theologising moment.

The second take away message from today, is that in light of having been lured away from the simple minds of the past into a confusing array of theological words that divide us more then anything else, we need to live as the Christ. Not, I might add, the theologised Christ. We need to go back to basics and live as the Saints of yore did in speaking the truth and living the truth of the Gospel. It is this that makes us saints nothing else for we are just as human and frail as everyone else but as followers of the Christ we bring the Good News to those that are at the margins of society. We bring the truth that needs to be spoken into the lives of our own society irrespective of the cost for we are all martyrs for Christ.  In 1 John the writer informs his recipients that the reason the world does not know us is that they do not know God (1 Jn 3:1b). The reason being that as Christians we are truth speakers, which is anathema in the world, for the world does not want to know the truth and hence God's presence of love that comes with the truth. We are those that bring the truth of God into the lives of those around us.