‘THE COLOUR PURPLE’

 

‘THE COLOUR PURPLE’

Most colours are easy to make but purple…? It took centuries to discover. That is why Lydia (Acts 16:14) was somebody of note. She was in the trade. It was so rare it was reserved for emperors. Why did the Church choose it for Advent? I don’t know; but it might be something to do with the approach of royalty. The Messiah revealed himself in Bethlehem – so we use purple in Advent. And he revealed himself even more in his death and resurrection – so we use it in Lent.  

Whatever the reason purple is a combination of red and blue. Red stands for violence. Blue for peace. Our life is actually a combination of the two. We long for peace but Jesus said, ‘I do not come to bring peace but the sword’. Peace can only be achieved through violence – not to others – but to ourselves. ‘Unless you overcome yourself, you cannot be my disciple’.

What is different between this Advent and last Advent? Is it all vanity, as the writer, Qoheleth says; ‘What was will be again … there is nothing new under the sun.’ That was a bleak moment in the Old Testament. The underlying message of both the Old and New Testament is that we are involved in a process towards a goal. Paul appeals to the Thessalonians, to make more and more progress in reaching it.

The goal of all our efforts is to bring justice and peace to people everywhere. (Alice Walker wrote a novel, The Colour Purple, about the sufferings of African-Americans in the early 1900s in Georgia, USA).  The struggle for justice is the plan of God from the time of Abraham and it has to be achieved by human sweat because God has given us freedom and it can be hard to work to use our human freedom to achieve his divine aim. Thy kingdom come! But God cannot take short-cuts; that would be to disrespect our freedom. But we, humans, put up huge resistance and that is why the Church gives us these periods – Advent and Lent – to change, to overcome ourselves and let God in, so as to reach the goal.  ‘Watch yourselves or your hearts will be coarsened … and the day will spring on you like a trap,’ warns our gospel.

There is a homely image in Shona about strength oozing back into a tired person like milk intro a cow’s udder. Perhaps that is what Advent is – a time when we are renewed by the promise and joy of Christmas which comes to us once more. We are renewed after the tiredness of the passing year and, like footballers, enjoy the interval before the second half.

1 December 2024  Advent 1 C  Jer 33:14-16   1 Th 3:12-4:2    Lk 21:25…36

THE MESSIAH, THE KING

 

THE MESSIAH, THE KING

Imagine the shock of Saul at Damascus when he realised ‘this Jesus’, whose followers he was persecuting, really was the Messiah, the hoped for one of Israel. He had been full of zeal, determined to crush this breakaway group which was distorting the tradition of Israel. And now he has discovered these very people are the true inheritors of the longed-for promise given to Abraham.

So this was the plan of God after all. The Messiah would not be a heroic figure like David who crushed the enemies of Israel and built an empire in which the Jews could live undisturbed in peace. He would be a carpenter’s son from a remote village in Gailee who would be rejected by the very people he came to serve, condemned to death and die like a criminal in excruciating pain.

This is not what he, Saul the zealous Jew, expected. It was not what even Jesus’ closest followers expected. When Peter first learnt about the prospect, he burst out, ‘far be it from you that this should happen.’ Yet, as we know, this is precisely what did happen and John’s gospel, which we read today, tells us Pilate too was confused. And perhaps we too, who claim to know the whole story, can be confused.

A crucified Messiah! The feast of Christ the King was introduced quite recently – only a hundred years ago. (That is ‘recent’ in the story of the church!) It was a time, in Europe, when three emperors and a number of kings were overthrown. In their place came several -isms; Communism, Fascism, Nazism. It was a dark period with ripple effects across the world.

In the midst of it, the Church suddenly announced the celebration of Christ the King. Rulers may fall and -isms arise but the reign of the Messiah would continue until history was fulfilled. The reflection we stay with is what happened next when Jesus announced to Pilate that, yes, he was a King and that he had come to announce his reign. Pilate condemned him to death.

Jesus’ suffering and death are central to his kingship. He calls us to share in his life, his glory. This means that we must also share in his suffering. We flee from suffering. Naturally. No one wants to suffer and Jesus prayed that ‘this cup pass from me’. But, when it cannot be avoided, it is not a useless waste; it is the way we share in the work and the reign of the King. 

24 November 2024     Christ the King           Dan 7:13-14    Rev 1:5-8     John 18:33-37

‘THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED …

 

‘THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED …

… and the moon will lose its brightness.’ These are hard-to-handle words of Jesus in Mark chapter 13. What did he mean? Well, any of us can come with their suggestion. I don’t think the words are to be taken literally. It seems to me he was indicated great drama at the end of time. The ‘boundary’ between heaven and earth, as we understand them, will disappear. What we take as ‘normal’ will disappear. The kingdom of God will finally and completely ‘overtake’ us. The Son of Man will appear in his power and glory and ‘gather’ his people.

As we approach the end of another year, we are given readings that encourage us to be steadfast and persevere, even if they are strange. After a long jail sentence, we will finally be free. We are moving towards a fulfilment not only of what we desire but – far more – what we cannot even dream about now. These are lofty thoughts, drawn from the Book of Revelation and other texts especially the Prophecy of Daniel about the ‘Son of Man’ (7:13).  But, to come down to earth for a moment, we can at least understand the word ‘gather’.

Quite a lot of ‘scattering’ goes on in the scriptures and in our life. The Jews were exiled and scattered among the nations and, at the Passion, all Jesus’ disciples were scattered (Mk 14:27). Families scatter as children move away from home to look for opportunities. The sick and aged move from their familiar surroundings and often end up in a lonely corner where few visit them. We can be ‘far from home’ in so many ways. Even personally, we can be ‘scatter brained’, failing to concentrate and we end up aimless and frustrated.

Jesus gathers his people ‘from every tribe and tongue and people and nation’ (Rev 5:9) into the kingdom of his Father. He does it now when he finds a ‘lost sheep’ far from home and yearning for belonging. He does it through us when we reach out to the poor and lonely, the sick, the orphans and the disabled. And there are the migrants, the displace and the abused. He will gather them.

The apocalyptic (revelation) readings we hear as the year closes, alert us in startling language, that ‘the time is near’. The twigs on the fig tree grow supple and the leaves come out. It is a sign that he is near, ‘right at the gates.’ 

It is helpful and healthy to live in expectation, ready to be surprised, awake and alert, like a bird pecking in the grass but with one eye out for the cat or the hawk. ‘Stand ready’ is the constant message of this time of the year.

17 November 2024    Sunday 33B    Dan 12:1-3    Heb 10:11-18    Mk 13:24-32     

THE KING OF SPAIN

 

THE KING OF SPAIN

One image that stays with me all this week is not the American election but the sight of the King of Spain, Philip VI, walking through the crowds in Valencia in Spain where there were devastating floods, composed but unprotected - because the crowds had broken through the security cordon – and being pelted with insults, including ‘murderer’, and mud. People were furious that the government had not warned them of the impending storm that destroyed their homes and killed their relatives and fellow citizens.

It was not the king’s fault but his calmness, composure and understanding of their anger, was very moving. He was unconcerned about his own safety and focussed only on hearing their anguish. It was a remarkable demonstration of compassion. I know nothing of the man himself but this one glimpse was, I think, revealing. I could not help thinking of Jesus walking through the crowds on Palm Sunday as he entered Jerusalem hearing the cries of Hosannah which were a prelude to later cries of ‘Crucify him.’

As we hear, this Sunday, of the poor widow who ‘gave all she had’ in the temple treasury, we sense the attentiveness of Jesus to people. He notices everything. And he rejoices in the wild ‘impractical’ gesture of the woman who gives away all she had. He does not rejoice in her material poverty but in the poverty of her heart. She risks everything in order to do what she believes she is called to do and the heart of Jesus goes out to her.

What must strike us today when we walk, in our imagination, through the shattered streets of Gaza, the pulverized cities of Ukraine or the deserted villages of Sudan, is the seeming total absence of compassion our world so often shows to those whose lives are being destroyed. What possible political gain can outweigh the misery the people suffer? They must be hard people without pity who treat their fellow human beings in such a way.   

As Christians, and people of good will, we are called to be compassionate and attentive to the suffering of people around us and to pray that our world will turn away from indifference, hatred and violence and embrace the attractive and joyful message of the gospel. It is a message where pain is a prelude to revelation, healing and joy, just as the passion of Jesus was a prelude to his resurrection.

10 November 2024       Sunday 32B     1 Kings 17:10-16          Heb 9:24-28        Mk 12:38-44 

A GRINDING STONE AND A WINE PRESS

 

A GRINDING STONE AND A WINE PRESS

In the beginning of the Christian story there were the ‘Jesus followers’, who, when they spread to Antioch in Syria became known as Christians. In the letters they wrote they referred to one another as ‘saints’, that is, holy people, and they found their shared following of Jesus drew them together into communities which became known as ‘churches’.

In the Celtic church in the 700s, the custom grew of celebrating all the saints, all, that is who are with God now after their death. It was a way of encouraging the people who were about to enter the long dark cold northern winter that after darkness comes the light of spring and summer in the new year when the sun would return. This was what our Christian journey is like. Dark periods are always followed by light.

In 1511, German painter Albrecht Dürer gave us a picture of all the saints gathered in heaven and what immediately strikes the viewer is that they are all gathered round the Cross on which Jesus hangs. The centre and focus of glory of the saints is the crucified Lord. St Paul tells us this was a scandal to the Jews and sheer nonsense to the pagans ‘but to those who have been called, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God.’

The first Jesus followers, all Jews, found themselves caught between persecution by their fellow Jews for their belief in this crucified Messiah and persecution, later, by the Romans for refusing to worship their gods, particularly when the practice developed of calling the emperor ‘God’. But they quickly realised that by suffering for their faith in Jesus and even dying of this faith, they were following him on his way to the cross.

This all-the-way-to-the-cross faith is the badge, the uniform, which the saints rejoice to wear. The woman grinding at the mill and the man treading the wine-press, were acting out symbolically what the Christian life is all about. When we use the word ‘grind’ or ‘press’ it is usually in the sense of something hard that has to be crushed into shape. That is what a saint is.

And the Eucharist is the heart of it. For it is there that we receive the crushed grain that has become the body of Christ and the pressed grapes that have become his blood. So the following of Jesus can be tough; but if we find it so we are touching the heart of the matter. You do not have to be a Christian to know that facing opposition can be the making of a person. Any suffering can purify a person when accepted patiently. Our Christian faith gives us the power to do this.    3 November 2024                   All Saints                Rev 7:2…11            1 Jn 3:1-3                Mt 5:1-12               

      

   

HIS EYES WERE OPENED

 

HIS EYES WERE OPENED

Mark writes in a fresh engaging style that draws us into the scene. Take the Bartimaeus story. It’s Jericho: so the place where the Jews first entered the promised land. He is a blind beggar: so he is utterly poor. But he has one thing: curiosity. ‘Who is this one passing by?’ It is Jesus of Nazareth! He starts to shout! ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ And many told him to keep quiet. But he shouted even louder.

It is drama as Mark tells it. Jesus responds, ‘Call him here’ and the fickle crowd change their tune and say, ‘Courage! He is calling you.’ Delighted, he throws off his cloak (a precious possession) and goes to Jesus who cures him, ‘Go, your faith has saved you.’ And he follows him along the way.

So much for the story. What does it mean? Jeremiah gives us a clue in the first reading. ‘Shout with joy for Jacob! Hail the chief of nations!’ For some weeks now, we have been reading, implicitly, about the passion – ‘He have his life as a ransom for many’. Today, again implicitly, we are reading of the resurrection. It is not Jesus who spells out its meaning. It is the apostles in the Acts.

‘Everyone was amazed and perplexed … what does it all mean?’ (2:12ff) ‘Then Peter stood up, ‘Make no mistake and listen carefully. ... The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified. … the promise is for you, for your children and for all who are far away, everyone who the Lord our God calls to him.’

Paul will later rejoice, just like Bartimaeus, ‘because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I count everything else as loss’ (Phil 3:8). Paul was the most insistent announcer of the news that the hope of Israel was fulfilled in a crucified Messiah. He had been zealous in persecuting Jesus’ first followers but, like Bartimaeus at Jericho, his eyes were opened at Damascus and he entered a long period of ‘formation’ – fourteen years he tells us – before he began his ministry.

And we? Where do we fit into the story? Well, it is all for us too. We have our own blindness in our day. We have only to think of what goes on in our world. And Jesus is there too with us. He can pass us by and leave us in our blindness. Unless! Unless we are curious and searching and cry out to him. He will open our eyes too.

27 October 2024   Sunday 30 B          Jer 31:7-9   Heb 5:1-6   Mk 10:46-52

HE OFFERED HIS LIFE FOR OTHERS

 

HE OFFERED HIS LIFE FOR OTHERS

Our short text from Isaiah today is repeated - and fulfilled – in the last words of the gospel: He offered his life for others.  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the Russian writer, puts it this way:

At some thoughts one stand perplexed – especially at the sight of men’s sins – and wonders whether one should use force or humble love. Always decide to use humble love. If you resolve on that, once and for all, you may subdue the whole world. Loving humility is marvellously strong, the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it.

But it is a hard lesson learn. ‘Loving humility’ sounds so weak, so spineless. Can you imagine Netanyahu approaching his neighbours with loving humility? We glorify the heroes in war ‘who lay down their lives for their friends.’ Their sacrifice is certainly not useless and in the long run God can bring a new world out of the horror of war. The declaration of human rights and decolonisation followed soon after the end of the Second World War.

Yet the gospel calls us to eschew violence. ‘Put your sword away’ (Mt: 26:52). Jesus pointed to a higher way, one that is hard for us to believe in. It is so contrary to what we experience. ‘Offer no resistance to the wicked … set no bounds to your love, just as your heavenly Father sets none for you’ (Mt 5:39ff).

The disciples, at the time, found this too much. They were still caught in the values of ‘the world’. ‘We want to sit on your right and your left in your kingdom.’ The only ones on his right and his left were the bandits crucified with Jesus on Calvary. James and John declared their desire to follow Jesus but at the crucial moment in Gethsemane, they fell asleep.

Every page of the gospels speaks of the loving humility of Jesus. He is always the servant ever attentive to the demands people make on him, always ‘losing his life’ so that others could find ‘life to the full.’ In the end he is ‘handed over’ (betrayed) and is battered, this way and that, until he finally dies on the cross.

It seems like an impossible ideal for us to follow. But we all know countless people who, in small ways and sometimes big, reach for this ideal. It always takes courage, that noble human quality which overcomes our selfishness. Reaching for this ideal of ‘living for others’ is the gateway to the fulfilment of our deep desires.

20 October 2024   Sunday 29 B         Is 53:10-11  Heb 4:14-16    Mk 10:35-45