Au revoir…

Sermon for 7 October 2001, 6.30pm Evensong, St Mary Magdalen, Sheet, published on www.trikeshed.com

Nehemiah 5:1-13, John 9

This is the last time I’ll be speaking to you for a little while, so I thought I’d end my season with some personal reflections. I read the news every day and much of it depresses me. Two recent awful cases of cruelty to children, Victoria and Lauren, have upset me particularly as a dad but also as a human being. And of course 11 September and all that flows from it, including the stark reminders of poverty and suffering in many different parts of the world. But as well as being upset, I find myself saying, surely there must be something special for our world in this gospel that we preach and in this faith we hold. Well, I’d like to share with you simply, three aspects of our faith that our special and important and that we should be shouting from the rooftops and planting with love in people’s lives and in our own lives. They come from our New Testament reading, from our Old Testament reading and from the season of Harvest. They are

These three things also span the first week of creation as told in the first chapter of the book of Genesis. This is one of my favourite passages in the Bible. I’m doing well, am I not? Maybe in my next ten years as a Reader I’ll get on to Genesis chapter 2!

Day One. God said, "let there be light" and there was light! Jesus said "I am the light of the world". The man born blind said "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see." I’m glad we had this reading in full, because it has a wonderful pace to it. At the heart of it, a simple fact. The man was blind and Jesus made him see. But because of the politics of the world and the fact that nothing can ever be simple, motives have to be questioned, suspicion abounds. No sooner has this most clear and simple miracle happened than there is an almost uncontrollable outpouring of fuss and palava and kerfuffle. First there was an argument among the neighbours – was this the man? Some said yes, some know. Yes I am, he said. Who did this? Jesus. Where is he? I don’t know. Next complication, it was on the Sabbath. He’s a sinner. No, he’s a prophet. Oh, we can’t believe all this. Go and ask his parents? Our son, yes, he was born blind. But ask him about it, he’s not a baby, you know! He’s a sinner. Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see. You’re his disciple? We don’t know where he comes from. Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. Don’t you lecture us, you were steeped in sin at birth, get out. And finally, Jesus finds him, he says "Lord I believe" and he worshipped him.

What a contrast between what this man, who is so (as we would now say) centred, and the kind of Satanic panic, the darkness and confusion being sown all around. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it. This light is surely what the world needs right now. Yet Jesus says something paradoxical to the man. For judgement I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. You could have a whole talk on that, but I want to share the second thought, judgement and justice – God’s demands on us. Nehemiah is having the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt after the Exile in Babylon. It started well, despite opposition. But now greed and corruption and injustice are creeping in. Nobles and officials are exploiting the situation, becoming loan sharks so people could pay their taxes. People were effectively becoming slaves again, but this time their own people were enslaving them. God’s prophet Nehemiah brings justice and respect to the workers. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice? On the sixth day, God made man, male and female, in his image, to have dominion, to be just rulers of the earth. You have all this to enjoy, but you are like me, so what do I require of you? To do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. And what does our world require at this moment? Justice. Justice against terrorism but also justice for the poor and just and right stewardship of our world.

And on the seventh day, God, who had brought light into the world, who is the energy of the Big Bang and all the billions of galaxies and stars and planets and elements and plants and animals, the whole earth, air, fire, water, rested. He had finished. He rested. He didn’t have "quality time". He just rested. The Lord of the harvest takes a nap and he gently invites us to relax with him. I said that I wouldn’t be preaching for a while. I’ve been a Reader for eleven years, and after those six years (!) it seems good to take a sabbatical year – well, six months anyway. Some people have asked me "what am I going to do"? Well, with respect, if I had any great plans it would not really be a sabbatical. I do hope to look at a few more stars or cycle a few more miles or play a few more tunes. I quite possibly won’t. But seriously, this seasonal rhythm, seedtime and harvest, the earth’s annual sabbatical of winter, fallow fields, Sunday rest, time out, is the very stuff of creation and it’s how God himself lives. Time to rest, time to listen to God, or more topically and just as true, to look for God, just as he has looked for us. And what does our world require? A rest, surely? A rest from the binge feeding on the resources we have been given. Resting, taking stock, listening and looking, as an antidote to fanaticism. Sometimes we are called to give that 100%, but we are not machines. We have a beating heart and a sense of rhythm that God has given us and we need to dance to that rhythm.

I leave you for a little while with a prayer.

Thank you God for giving us Jesus, the light of the world. Make us lights too.

Thank you God for honouring us with high expectations. May we live out your demand for justice.

Thank you God for your gentleness as you invite us, each at our time, to rest awhile. May we be renewed and filled with your Holy Spirit.

Amen.

© Mike Knee, 2001

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