O Sapiential 2024

 

Reflecting on the words of the Ancient Liturgy.

Confronting the Inevitable III

Sermon for the third Sunday in Advent 

The one you love

stands on the edge of an abyss,

over the edge,

utter darkness,

oblivion,

nothingness,

annihilation.

The one you love

cries out 

cursing existence,

cursing pain,

cursing you,

cursing life.

And then

the one you love 

walks off the edge of the abyss.

And yet,

in one movement of instinct

you dive

and grab your loved one's arm

holding tight,

preventing descent

into non-existence.

You have saved 

the one you love.

But your loved one 

cries in agony,

repeating the curses

rejecting your love 

rejecting your life.

Do you let go?

[PAUSE]

Surely it's selfish of you

to hold on.

Just because you love 

doesn't mean 

you should force 

someone to accept

your love 

by stopping them 

from making their choice.

But you will 

prevent your child

from sticking wet fingers

in an electric socket

even if 

your child really wants to do it.

And live

is the will 

for the complete happiness

of the other.

And someone who exists

is happier 

than someone who doesn't.

Ah,

but then a voice from the pit

says,

"someone who exists 

is unhappier 

than someone who doesn't."

But unhappiness,

is like darkness,

like evil,

like a hole.

That which does not exist

cannot possess

any happiness

just like it cannot possess light

nor can it possess 

any good.

Your loved one exists

and is happier now

than a plunge into the darkness

would achieve.

Happy memories 

still remain,

memories of love,

of excitement,

joy and fun,

these still remain.

By holding on,

your loved one 

is happier 

even if they are kicking

and screaming 

and swearing at you 

to let go.

They still have something 

to remind them

of the ecstasy 

of living.

It is your love 

that causes their pain 

but without your love

they would not be happy

in any respect.

[PAUSE]

You are God's loved one.

Just like everyone else.

Just like the saints.

Just like your family.

Just like the man over the road.

Just like the Muslim family 

down the street.

Just like Richard Dawkins.

Just like Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Just like Bonhoeffer and Hitler.

Every human being 

is God's loved one.

And God holds on.

Some of us reject Him 

and try to scrub out

His image from us.

Some of us

will prefer the idol

that we have made 

and pretend is God.

And when we see ourselves 

reflected against Christ

and choose to depart 

from His presence

thinking that

we can jump into the abyss,

God holds on.

God holds on

in perfect love,

holds on trying to give

the true happiness

that is being rejected

giving His grace 

which is ignored

or spat upon.

For some,

this is Hell,

but Hell isn't filled 

with everything unpleasant.

If anything,

Hell is life as we know it

but without any

awareness of God

without awareness

of His light,

His love,

His warmth,

His riches,

His kindness,

His joy in living.

God gives those 

who hate Him

what they want -

Life staring into the nothingness 

that is the absence of God.

For where God is not

there is only nothing,

and it is into that nothing

that the haters of God leap

and God holds on.

But God holds on

for Eternity 

because the life 

of the loved one

He is holding onto

is eternal too

and cannot change,

for change 

requires Time

and there is no time in eternity.

And no matter 

how much

we kick and scream,

God holds on.

God always holds on.

Anglican Catholicism, Sex and Family

 How do Anglican Catholics approach questions of sexuality?

Confronting the Inevitable II

Sermon for the second Sunday in Advent 

We know how

to respond when

someone tells us,

"Jesus says 

we mustn't judge others."

We know that

this is not what He says.

He does say,

"Judge not lest ye be judged,"

and then goes on

to say that 

we shall be judged

using the same method

that we use to judge others.

It means that those who judge

based on hatred 

will receive the same judgement 

and they receive that judgement 

because

they have rejected 

God's justice.

But we are not exempt!

We will be judged

by the same means

as we judge others.

And our judgement 

is as inevitable 

as our death.

We shall stand before God

as The Judge

and we shall be judged.

But judged for what?

What is this judgement?

[PAUSE]

We tend to have 

a very legal point of view

of judgement 

but,

at the heart of it,

there is a decision

about right and wrong,

what should be 

and how things 

are not how they should be.

At the back of our minds,

however,

when we say, "judgement"

we think,

"crime and punishment."

Always in our mind

if someone does something wrong

they must be punished,

fined,

imprisoned,

even executed!

Is sin really like that?

We are born in sin, true.

We are born 

separated from God

unable to perceive 

His presence,

His love,

His grace,

even though we always

have them near us.

Baptism is our 

first point of justification,

an opening of our eyes

to the brilliance of God.

And then we grow

in our justification 

through Faith

working in Love.

We are guilty of sin

when we perform an act

that separates us from God

and dulls our senses to Him.

A sin causes us

to deviate from our life's goal

- God!

And this is where 

judgement comes in.

[PAUSE]

After death comes judgement.

The light of God 

shines on us

and shows us who we are.

And it also shows us

who we are supposed to be.

We are supposed to be 

like Christ.

And our judgement 

centres 

on how much

we are like Him.

He is the standard 

against which we are judged

but not to our punishment,

but rather 

to our reconciliation.

And here

we see why 

we cannot earn our way

into Heaven

for how can we become like

someone we do not know?

How can we become like God 

without God's active presence 

growing in us?

And we call God's active presence 

in us

Grace.

[PAUSE]

In living lives

receiving God's grace

and co-operating with that grace,

we grow more like Him.

When we die

and appear before God

who we are

will be apparent to all.

Everyone will be able to see

how much we are like Christ

how much we bear

a family resemblance to Him

and to each other.

We shall see those on the right

who look like Christ,

and those on the left

who thought that 

doing things that they deemed

good 

but we're not good

would get them into Heaven.

These on the left

justify themselves 

and live up 

to a false image of Christ.

They are idolaters

and proud of their idolatry.

And when we see them,

and we see that they bear

no resemblance to Christ

then will we hear the Lord say,

"I never knew you."

[PAUSE]

It is here that 

we find ourselves 

in a process of perfection 

where the image of Christ that we bear

is cleansed and made whole

so that we reflect Him perfectly.

And those who have rejected Him,

rejected His rule,

His judgement,

His love 

His life

His grace

will depart on the left

into the outer darkness.

[PAUSE]

Perfect justice 

is no law court:

it is Christ Himself.

And as we journey 

to Bethlehem to meet Him,

to watch His birth,

to watch Him grow,

to watch Him live,

so do we ourselves

find ourselves born from above,

grow in His image

and live His life in us

so that when we die

we shall be like Him

for we shall see Him 

as He is.

Laughter and the Devil

 

1) How should we laugh?

2) Why everyone who does not believe what we believe is not satanic.

Confronting the Inevitable I

Sermon for the first Sunday in Advent 

In his famous ghost story 

O Whistle and I'll come to you, My Lad

M. R James presents us

with a whistle 

inscribed with

Quis est iste qui venit?

- Who is this who is coming?

In blowing the whistle 

the question is answered 

to the terror of the one who blows it.

But this is a question 

that we all face:

what is this that is coming?

What do we have to face 

that is inevitable?

[PAUSE]

In these dark days of winter

and the season of Advent,

we Christians reflect

upon the four things that are 

coming for us:

Death, Judgement,

Heaven or Hell.

This may seem

to be uncomfortable 

or even morbid 

but it is the duty 

of each Christian

to stand up 

and face what is inevitable.

These four last things

are as inevitable for as

just as much 

as for anyone else.

We don't get to avoid them

just because we are Christian.

But,

it is because we are Christian 

that these things

should hold no terror for us.

How on earth 

can we stand up 

and face Death?

[PAUSE]

It is amazing 

that Christians who say

that they believe in life after death

often don't act as if they believe it.

There is a fear of pain,

of being incapacitated,

of loss of dignity and joy

but these cease with death

along with everything else

in this world.

But while Christians

should not fear death

this does not mean

that they hate life.

We are told to prefer

the life God offers us

to the life offered by

the world.

[PAUSE]

We live in a world 

in which life and death

can be decided by law,

voted upon by parliament.

We live in a world in which

we are "encouraged" 

to put aside our belief in God

in order to make "rational decisions"

regarding the life and death

of the unborn,

of the disabled,

of the mentally ill,

of those in pain

rather than seek their good

by giving them the proper care

that will give them 

a better quality of life

- a life determined by 

the One Who gives it.

The death that this world offers

is a denial of the dignity of life

a denial of the sovereignty of God

a denial of His ability to offer

meaning, hope, and dignity

even miracle,

in the most excruciating pain

- a pain that He suffers with us

and consecrates upon the Cross.

The death that this world offers

is a convenience,

a way of getting rid

of those who upset the system.

It is a death of disposal

and annihilation 

a rubbish bin for those 

who are broken

and in the way.

This is not 

the death that God offers us.

With God,

even Death can become a gift

but only if the life He gives us

that we live

is truly valued.

For with God,

death becomes a gateway,

a one-off event,

into a new life 

a life like the one we know

but lived in the presence of God.

If we choose life in Christ

and the death that God offers us

then Death itself 

is the death of our sin

our corruption,

our misery and pain.

[PAUSE]

We watch the King

enter into Jerusalem 

on a donkey.

We watch Him 

come to us

to offer us 

true, meaningful life,

no matter who we are,

no matter whether we are

in the womb,

or in the hospice.

Death may be coming 

but it's the Death 

that God gives us

so that we might be with Him

Eternally.