January 5, 2014

Ann Mellor

The Epiphany     Matthew 2:11-27

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This time of the year around Xmas and New Year I find myself often in a reflective mood.  Thinking about 2013 - the celebrations and the struggles and what awaits in 2014 that will bring joy.  What changes I can make that will create a more wholesome life, ways I can make a difference.

I look forward to this time of year and the holidays as a great big full stop.  But this reflective process which insidiously  intertwines with the celebrations  creates more of an uneasy feeling.  It can really drag you down when all you really want to do is blob!

Then this week I found the scripture texts preparing for the sermon were a blessing.  I thought I would share the words which spoke to me especially at this time when I was reflecting on struggles my friends are experiencing with ill health, financial troubles and family breakups. Words that gave me great hope.

The first reflection is a reminder to pursue a spirituality of connection with Christ.

In Psalm 84 we read “Happy are the people who live in Gods  house!  Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion”.    These words cry out to me - Keep Christ in your heart as you endeavour to journey on a straight path.  I am reminded to be forever mindful of a developing spiritual journey that requires constant work on my part to keep the connections open – to dwell in the house of God on a daily basis. 

A spiritual journey is one which helps us to discover what God intends for us.  Our spiritual  journey is made up of the choices we make about life which give it meaning. In an ever changing landscape we make many choices along the way in our careers, our partners, leisure time, the way we worship and the way we share which may or may not maintain our spiritual connection  with God.  The process of reflection I find myself drawn to at this time of year is part of this ongoing progression towards a more life giving reality.  

A journey like the exodus from Egypt to Canaan lasted for 40 years and was full of diversions, false starts and doubts along the way .   Whatever our goal or expectations for our spiritual journey we can  expect much the same as we move out of our comfort zone towards the mystery of Gods call to seek out the person we are called to be.   In the Lord of the Rings Frodo was downcast and experienced a longing to rest  and be at peace by Bilbo Baggins side.  The story goes   “At last with an effort Frodo spoke, and wondered to hear is own words, as if some other will was using a small voice.  I will take the ring, he said, though I do not know the way.    The same dread must sometimes shadow our own spiritual journey but if we stay with the basics  -an on-going self critique, and prayer and worship that works for us we can experience the living God today. 

So… how do we remain in Gods House.  The story of Jesus being born under a star, his ministry and the apostles own stories become true for ourselves but in a different way.  We can’t know Jesus in person but we can know him through reading and praying over the scriptures, by taking their meaning for our life today and so discovering the same truth the disciples and the women close to Jesus experienced.  To encounter this truth we need to remain in Gods House.  For me that means praying when I am swimming or in the garden or walking the dog and by these endeavours to live in Gods house I always find hope.  We need to ask “How do we keep on a straight path where we won’t  stumble - what changes do we need to make?  What barriers do we need to remove that keep us from being in Gods House?  Sometimes the frustration of maintaining this connection may lead us to endless seeking after new gurus or traditions.  Believe me I have tried.  There was the Ashram in San Francisco where we would make frangipani lays for the visiting Guru (the same one in Eat, Pray Love by the way) and she would touch us with a feather on the head.   But the early morning wake ups and endless chanting was not for me!   Neither were the new age channellers –  The Lazarus channeler was my all-time favourite.  I followed them around California until I found my way to Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill San Francisco where at last I felt at home.  I urge you to dwell in Gods house – to stay with Christ, embrace the moments when you are touched by the Holy Spirit and it is here that you will find your life giving journey unfold.   It’s funny but I find those Holy Spirit moments bring tears – not sad or happy , just tears that are.

The second reflection is about Hope in the darkness.  

Jeremiah 31:7-14   we read “With weeping they shall come and with consolations I will lead them back. I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble.”  Jeremiah was a prophet of the Babylonian exile time  and forewarned his people prior to the exile that King Nebuccadnezzar was invading from the north.   Noone listened of course, but thanks to him the people who endured the catastrophe were able to experience e the exile in Babylon in faith and hope, not being overwhelmed by their misfortunes, but rather discovering a new meaning in life.  They saw God with them in their pain and suffering.

When people say it was Gods will that their child died I wonder what sort of God this is.    I wonder what the parents had done with their grief.  Isn’t it better not to deny the pain or cover it up, but to embrace it knowing that Jesus walks beside us.   A way forward could be to enter the silence and the mystery, mindful that we don’t always have the answers.   It is in this space that we can find hope in the darkness through putting ourselves in God’s hands. When we pray the words in the Lord’s Prayer “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, we are trusting that all will be well, all manner of things will be well in our time.  An uplifting saying from Julian of Norwich a 12th century mystic.  

We will find hope if we live in Gods House – it is here we will find consolation in the darkness.  

The third reflection  is  about sharing the hope with others.

In Ephesians 1 we read  “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.”  How do we share the spirit of wisdom and revelation.  How do we recognise and then share the God moments we encounter.

This address to the people of Ephesus (in what is now Turkey) talks of the hope, the new inheritance which is given through Christ and is offered to everyone.   Being chosen in Christ is to let the whole world know that God cares states feminist theologian Letty Russell.  The church is not a new Israel holy and set apart but a new humankind who are called to share with all.

It is our job to be aware of the God Moments – and to translate the moment into a daily understanding in a concrete way.  It is to be bridge between the sacred and the ordinary.  It is this connection in our everyday lives which brings others hope.

I ran into a travel colleague of mine recently at Napier airport at the Avis counter.  She looked very down so I asked her what was wrong even though I didn’t know her well.  I trusted in the Holy Spirit in that split second.  She said she was in napier for her fathers funeral and tears welled up in her eyes.  I took a punt and said lets pray.  We were surrounded by people at the counter, but no one noticed.  It was just a few seconds.   She later sent me an email although I had never corresponded with her before to share her story and the details of her father’s life, death and funeral.  I am sure this was part of her healing and I am also sure that she will pray again.  These moments make me feel very humbled, but what incredible power we unleash by taking a chance.  By putting into words the hope that she was seeking at this devastating time.  Take the moments and use them to share in Gods hope and love.

Right…

we need to keep our connection with Christ through a very intentional Spirituality.  

Be encouraged as our faith will always lead us to hope in the darkness.

We are called to share the hope by communicating the God Moments with others as they are presented to us.

I will end with a prayer St Francis – an interpretation of the Lords Prayer words “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.  Let us pray.

“May we love you with our whole heart by always thinking of you, with our whole soul by always desiring you, with our whole strength by spending all our energies in your service.  And may we love our neighbours as ourselves, drawing them to your love, rejoicing in their good fortunes, and caring for them in their misfortunes”.  Amen.