Sermons

First Sunday of Christmas
Sunday 31 December at 10am

Kathryn Elliott
Readings: Luke 2.41-end; Colossians 3.12-17

It's the first Sunday of Christmas in the church calendar and the last day of 2006 - New Year's Eve. A new year lies ahead. It's a time of recollection of past joys and sorrows. I wonder what treasured moments or days happened for you this year - maybe a family celebration, a successful job-application, exam achievements, or a special phone call from a friend or family member who lives in another country….
And I'd like to ask you, were there any treasured 'God' moments in your life for you this year?

In our gospel reading we learn how a normal enough yearly event - the Passover festival - turned out to be very special for Mary, Jesus and Joseph. It was an experience in her own and her son's life which Mary would never forget and she added it
to the store of memories she already had - memories of the Annunciation, of her visit to Elizabeth, of Jesus's birth and the message which the shepherds had shared about the angels singing, and proclaiming the birth of a Saviour - Christ the Lord.
Mary treasured all these things in her heart.
And it's treasuring which I want to explore with you today.

But first a story, a true story of a special time in the childhood of Raylia Chadwick: Raylia was born into an Orthodox Jewish family. She writes:
Looking back over life, I suppose this longing for the Divine… began in early childhood. I remember distinctly setting off with my small brother to find God. Life was happy and full of possibilities, imagination took flight and dreamed impossible dreams. On a sunny day in summer, so many years ago now, my brother and I made sandwiches and, with a bottle of lemonade and a posy of lavender as a gift for God, we set off.
W e were climbing over the wall at the end of the garden, where it met a neighbouring farmer's field, when our mother appeared. In our zeal and enthusiasm we had forgotten to ask her permission.. we ended up sitting outside father's study. After listening quietly to our story, he asked, Ah yes - but where is your invitation? This was news to us: what invitation? Well, you might want to find God, but does God want to find you? This had never occurred to us. He went on, softening his voice, You will just have to wait. What can one do but wait? One day, your invitation will come and then your own footsteps will take you there.
Each night I would fall asleep praying that God would call

For the moment, let's return to the gospel reading…
Jesus is twelve years old - he's on the verge of adolescence - at an age when Jewish boys become responsible for their own spiritual, ethical and moral conduct. According to a previous verse (2.40) Jesus has grown into a strong, healthy child: Jesus grew in both body and wisdom, gaining favour with God and people.
I wonder when his awareness of the Holy Spirit and his life-calling began; what we do know is that when his father and mother found him after two worrying days of searching, it was in the Temple and Jesus felt it right to be there:
Didn't you know that I had to be about my Father's business? So we find Jesus listening and obeying the voice of his heavenly Father as well as his earthly parents. A strong sense of vocation is evident and is emerging from treasured 'God' moments. What are 'God' moments like?

I feel God comes to us in ways uniquely and personally suited to us. Some will feel moved by music and dance or by a beautiful sunrise; for others God comes as we pray or read, or listen to a sermon! Often, these God moments come unexpectedly. Whatever form they take for you and whenever they come, treasure them, as Mary did, in your heart; if appropriate, share them; grow through them - follow on, let them encourage you in difficult times, allow them to encourage you in difficult times, allow them to envision you for future times…

We return to Raylia's story: It was in middle age when God's call came; it wasn't easy for her to respond:
In the end, there was no mistake about it. It came near to the Passover (Easter) and led me to a church where people were busy, streaming in and out. Enemy territory as I understood it then. The heart said Yes and the mind said No. There was nothing to stop me from walking across the road and joining them, except for my orthodox Jewish upbringing. So I surrendered it, there and then, on the pavement outside that church, to God, for it belonged to him. What was to unfold, over time, was a deep, deep perception of Orthodox Judaism fulfilled in Christ. It marked a turn from an outward search for God in the external world, to a deeply inward reflection. In a warm and welcoming church, priest and church family, who have nurtured my Christian faith with patience, love and kindness, they stood with me, supporting, encouraging, deeply delighted, at my licensing as Reader. I do not think this is for myself alone. The effects flow out into the wider community in which we live and work, expressions of love and devotion one toward another.

For the moment, notice three points:
-There was nothing stopping me from joining them (ie the people going into church) except for…
Sometimes the heart says yes and the mind says no.
Have we held back from walking on into God's future for us? Is now the time to shed our inhibitions and say yes?

-Notice her description of the church community:
warm, welcoming, nurturing, patient, loving, supporting.
As we consider our vision for what S Edmund's might be and do, may these qualities always be seen amongst us so that others are encouraged to move on in God's will for their lives.

-The effects flow out into the wider community in which we live and work…
Do our treasured 'God moments ' remain exclusively our own or do they result
in bringing in God's kingdom amongst others?

Let's go into 2007 treasuring God-given moments, responding to his call
and taking our part in his mission for the community in which we work and live.

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay