Dear All
I hope you are all well.
We had a lovely service this morning for the Feast of Christ the King. Our worship was enhanced by the wonderful singing of Liz and Gail under the direction, of course, of Gordon.
Below is the script of the sermon.
Next Sunday is Advent Sunday, we will also, at the same service, celebrate our patronal festival of St Andrew.
I have sent for a number of copies of “Advent for Everyone through the Apostles by Tom Wright” This book offers daily readings and reflections throughout Advent. Please let me know if you would like one, if you are not coming to church I can deliver it to you or you could send off for it yourself.
Another piece of exciting news is that Steve McVey has offered to do a Christmas magazine! He would be delighted to receive material from any of you. Please do send to him or me, via email, any articles and photos that you would like to be included. He is hoping for lots of lockdowns stories and adventures!
Have a good week!
Andrea x
Christ The King Sunday before Advent 2020 St Andrew’s Milngavie
Ezekiel 34:11-16,20-24. Ephesians 1 15- End. Mathew 25 31-
There was once a man called Martin from Tours in France. He was a Roman soldier and a Christian. One cold winter day as he was entering a city. A beggar stopped him and asked for money. Martin had no money, but the beggar was blue and shivering with cold. so, Martin gave him what he had. He took off his soldier’s coat, worn and frayed as it was. He cut it in two and gave half of it to the beggar. That night he had a dream. In it he saw heavenly places and all the angels and Jesus among them. And Jesus was wearing half of a roman soldier’s cloak. One of the angels said to him
“Master, why are you wearing that battered old cloak? Who gave it to you?” And Jesus answered softly “My servant Martin gave it to me”
“I will tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” Matthew 25:40
Profound words of Jesus in the parable of the sheep and goats, words which illustrate all that it means to live a truly Christian life. But this passage is not just about caring for one another. It also speaks in no uncertain terms about judgement and how we will be judged – it’s therefore a challenging piece of scripture. But as we discussed last week the whole of chapter 25 of St Matthew’s gospel is challenging.
Like many of the readings towards the end of the gospels it is primarily about being prepared for the return of our Lord. First, there was the foolish bridesmaids who ran out of oil and so missed the wedding. Then last week there was the slave who wasted his chance of increasing the value of his talent while his master was away. And now we have the parable sheep and the goats. All these people in the stories are unprepared for what is about to happen, and they face terrible consequences as a result. They all made their judgements.
The foolish bridesmaids decided there is no great rush, the slave with one talent decides to play it safe and do nothing and the goats decide there are some people not worth bothering about. God then makes his judgment and unfortunately it is different from theirs.
At the throne of glory as the people are separated into two groups one on the right and one on the left, it is clear both groups are equally puzzled. They are both unprepared for this standard of judgment. Neither group had lived their lives expecting to have them judged in this way by this man. The king does not explain his rationale, but he could have pointed to the law and the prophets which make it clear what God expects.
The reading from Ezekiel for example shows God himself looking for the lost sheep and longing to care for them.
In today’s culture we are encouraged, conveniently, to brush the issue of judgement under the table. We like a sanitise religion and so we perhaps persuade ourselves that there will be no real consequences in divine judgement for the way we live. But if we are to take this piece of scripture seriously, we must realise that we will face proper judgment – Jesus makes the point clear in all the gospels.
However, before we all condemn ourselves to a life in the pit it’s important to examine what we do know. God is loving and forgiving – we know that as it is at the heart of all his teaching and illustrated so often in the parables. “Love your neighbour as yourself” he tells us. And as for how many times we should forgive, “ I tell you, not seven times but seventy seven times”
And then we think of the words of Jesus to the robber next to him at the crucifixion. “Today you will be with me in paradise” Luke 23:43
No talk of any lengthy judgement process there and finally, in John’s gospel, his words of reassurance to his disciples “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16 Shall not perish – no mention of condemnation to eternal punishment there.
So often in scripture and a life of faith there can be no one answer to some of the difficult questions we have. But we can be sure of some things:
that God does call us to care and love for each other,
to make the most of what we have, and to grow in faith.
And as for Judgement and salvation we must leave that to him.
Amen