Painting the Invisible King.

This may be a little difficult for those not indigenous to the U.K., though I'm sure similar problems and solutions have been argued about wherever you are. In order to control speeding offences, the British Government decided to introduce speed cameras to photograph cars that are travelling at illegal speeds. Initially they were meant to be hidden but, at the response of angry motorists, they were moved into open view and painted orange. In Blighty, there was a large debate as to whether this defeated the object. For Swanscombe, however, I was inspired to preach this.

Sermon preached at St Peter and St Paul's Church, Swanscombe on the Sunday next before Advent 2005, based on St Matthew xxv.31-46.

At the bottom of the hill
the speed camera stands
at the beginning of a sharp bend.

Its once muddy grey colour
has recently been changed
to the garish orange
of an embarrassed satsuma.

Daniel breathes a sigh of relief.

When the speed camera
was that invisible grey colour,
and half-hidden in the trees,
he would often get flashed
as he zoomed past.

It has cost him a fortune in fines.

But no more!

He now knows
when to slow down in his car,
and when to speed up again.

No more fines!

[PAUSE]

Sonya is happy too.

On too many occasions,
she has nearly collided with a car
speeding in the other direction,
even though she was keeping
to the 30 mph limit.

On the whole,
the number of accidents
has decreased since
the speed camera was painted orange.

Are speed cameras a good way
of reducing the number of drivers
speeding on the roads?

Daniel thinks they are
a cynical Government ploy
to claw back yet more money
from the motorist.

Do you think that speed cameras
should be made visible,
or kept invisible?

Whatever your thoughts may be,
one fact remains:
at the very least,
drivers do slow down when they drive past it.

This does mean that
Daniel does not knock anyone over
or collide with anyone
round this dangerous bend in the road.

Does this alter your views?

[PAUSE]

Crash!

The seventh seal is broken;
the seventh trumpet sounds;
the stars fall from the skies.

St John the Divine
looks exceedingly smug
that the Day of Judgment
is taking place
just as he said it would
in the last book of the Bible
- the Apocalypse.

Like everyone else,
you stand before the shining figure
sat upon the throne
in His resplendent glory.

His eyes are fixed upon yours
as He makes His decision.

Are you a sheep or a goat?

Do you go to His right hand
and life for all Eternity,
or to His left hand
and to a place that is rather hot?

Well, really that's between you and God.

But when you put yourself
into the picture in the Gospel,
then that very question awaits us all:
are you a sheep or a goat?

And it's a question that none of us can escape!

Jesus is showing us
that the answer is very clear cut.

Those who feed the hungry,
clothe the naked,
give drink to the thirsty,
shelter the stranger,
go upstairs.

Those who don't, go downstairs and smolder.

The Ancient of Days says to each of us in turn:

"Whatever you did
for the least of My brethren,
you did it for Me.

Whatever you failed to do
for the least of My brethren,
you failed to do it for Me."

[PAUSE]

A shout goes up
from a departing goat
destined for the Pit:

"No fair!

You should have been visible.

We'd have treated you
with some respect
if you'd been visible."

What do you think
as you stand before God?

Has he played fair
in remaining invisible?

[PAUSE]

What possible reason
does Our Lord have
for hiding His glory from us?

Surely we all want to see Him as He is,
in all His majesty?

Wouldn't it make it easier
for us to worship a visible God?

The answer to this isn't hard.

Until we are made perfect,
the full glory of His Majesty
would destroy us.

Remember, Moses on the mountain
is only permitted to see God's back
as He passes by.

Good though he is,
Moses isn't perfect,
he cannot see God and live.

But God has walked among us
- Jesus Christ -
and He didn't dazzle us
when He showed Himself
to us 2000 years ago.

Why hasn't He stayed with us as a visible king?

Then, when we see Him coming
we will know to
- help the poor,
- feed the hungry,
- clothe the naked,
- take care of the stranger.

At least then, all thos needy people
would get help.

Isn't that what God wants?

All the ills of the world cured
in one fell swoop!

If only He'd be here
then we'd know what
we're supposed to be doing.

[PAUSE]

If we think like that,
then we miss the point.

Do we really want
to paing god orange like the speed camera,
so that when we see Him coming,
we suddenly start paying attention
to the Big Issue seller,
or the starving refugee,
or the people standing
on street corners rattling tins,
all who are usually ignored?

St Theresa of Calcutta
- Mother Theresa-
says that
looking into the faces
of her little children
was like looking into the face of Christ.

"First we meditate on Jesus...
and then we go out
and look for Him in disguise."

She sees the invisible King.

She doesn't need orange paint.

For her, Christ is suddenly made visible,
His glory shining forth
from the faces of little children
needing a mother.

For her, the begging bowl
becomes the golden cup
helpd by the King.

For her,
the rags of a vagrant
become the sumptuous gowns
of golden raiment worn
by the One
Who sits on the Throne.

[PAUSE]

We acknowledge
the Kingship of Christ each Sunday.

We bow reverently at the altar
to recognise Christ.

We likewise bow or genuflect
at the Aumbry
to recognise Christ.

We sing "Hosanna in the Highest"
which loosely means
"Save us, Holy King."

For us in Church,
we have all these things
to remind us
of the invisible King with us.

But how will we recognise
the Invisible King in our week ahead?

Do we need some orange paint?