Dear People of God
Grace to you and peace
Happy New (Liturgical) Year! Year B, the year of Mark, begins today. We share a Common Lectionary with the other western liturgical communities in Australia: ourselves, the Roman Catholic, and much of the Uniting Church traditions. In this cycle the focus will be on Mark’s gospel, although we vary from time to time for special observations.
The Giving Tree is still in place on our churches, although decorations will be placed only gradually upon them as Advent progresses, until they “bloom” at Christmas. Gifts for distribution by Samaritans will be received for the next couple of weeks. And of course, we light the first candle on the Advent Wreath this week. If you think the candles look a bit “used”, you will be right. Rather than spend $100 on a new set of candles of each church. It makes more sense to recycle. (Some people will suggest that I already do this with my sermons, but the last year B was long enough ago, so who’s going to remember them? That’s a joke, just in case anyone takes it seriously!)
I caused some confusion with the times of the carol service and Children’s Pageant.
HOWEVER the times ARE as advised in the bulletin:
Combined Churches Carol Service, St Paul’s 6:00pm 10December
Pageant and Eucharist, St Michael’s hall, 5:30pm 24 December
Midnight Mass of Christmas, 11:45pm at St Paul’s 24 December
First Eucharist of Christmas, St Michael’s 8am 25 December.
The Christmas tree will be progressively decorated during Advent, and the lights will go on at the midnight Mass of Christmas. And remember that Christmas lasts right through to Epiphany and may be extended to the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (The Presentation of Christ in the Temple) on 2 February, even though the shops may be selling Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs for 26 December!
At the end of this mailout I have included a seasonal poem by John Betjeman the British Poet Laureate of yesteryear, who was writing in the middle of the 20th century. Betjeman was a devout Anglican and the Poem “Christmas”, although very English and speaks of a very “Englishness”, nevertheless packs a punch when it comes to the last verse. I commend it to your reflections.
The Lord be with you
Fr George
PROPERS FOR ADVENT 1
Sentence
“Heaven and earth will pass away” says the Lord, “but my words will not pass away” (Mk 13:31)
Collects Of the Day
Eternal God, through long generations you prepared a way for the coming of your Son, and by your Spirit you still bring light to illumine our paths: renew us in faith and hope that we may welcome Christ to rule out thoughts and claim our love; to whom be glory for ever. Amen
Collects Of the Season
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came among us in great humility, that on the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through him who lives and resigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen
Readings
Isaiah 64:1-9 A prayer of penitence and longing for God
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Penitence and longing for God
1 Corinthians 1:1-9 Paul affirms the community’s faith
Mark 13:24-37 The coming of the Son of Man
SERMON (Fr George)
In the Name of God. Amen
When we lived in North Queensland, the weather at this time of year was oppressive: very high humidity and regular afternoon storms which produced lots of sound but very little by way of rainfall. We knew that the Wet Season was just around the corner and we longed for it to start, if only to lay the dust of the long Dry. The first real Wet Season storm and downpour came as a relief! (Mind you, by the time the Season was over we were rather tired of the 90% humidity and 100+inches of rain! Plus there was usually a cyclone in the offing!). Advent always puts me in mind of the Build-Up: you know something’s about to happen, but when? And the midnight mass in Ingham frequently started with a crash of thunder and flash of lightning, as though the Second Coming was imminent! And often a power failure: I was the organist and the organ was electric power!)
The readings for today have echoes of that yearning: “O come, O come Emmanel”, one of our Advent hymns, is a good expression it.
Isaiah yearns for a manifestation of God such as Yahweh’s appearance to Moses on Mount Sinai and confesses Israel’s sinfulness which gets in the way of their union with God. God is indeed coming, but perhaps not in the way for which the prophet yearned. The Psalmist has a similar plea “Restore us again, O Lord of hosts: show us the light of your countenance and we shall be saved: Take note of the plea in verse 17: ”Let your power rest on the man at your right hand: on that son of man whom you made so strong for yourself”. From our standpoint, the power comes to rest on that “strong man” who went to the cross and, in the process, defeated that worst that evil could throw at him. Show us the light of your countenance in our Christian understanding, comes to mean Open our eyes that we might see You. Where you stand, indeed, determines what you see.
St Paul, as St Paul frequently does, softens the readers up, commending the Corinthians’ faith, before giving them something of a rebuke for dissensions in their midst. Just imagine what he’d have to say to the contemporary Christian Church! Throughout his correspondence with the church in Corinth he gives us some of the deepest exposition on matters of doctrine. The letters deserve intense study on their own and I could not possibly do it justice in brief sermons.
Now we turn to the Gospel. If you go to the beginning of that chapter, which takes us to the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we meet a group of country people on their first visit to Jerusalem. They are used to small village buildings of simple construction, probably earth walls or wattle-and-daub, and here for the first time they see massive buildings of stone, probably over 35 meters high. When I was much younger, on the occasional visit to Sydney, I was overawed by all these skyscrapers of up to 10 floors! WOW! But Jesus, having a pretty good idea of what was ahead of him, because you don’t take on a corrupt leadership where the temple authorities and the Roman administration are in each others’ pockets and where the religious leaders have so corrupted The Law as to make it well-nigh impossible to enter a deep relationship with God, and expect to get away with a “talking-to”, sees what will inevitably happen when the aspirations of the people are crushed by overwhelming authority.
I find these passages difficult, when Jesus appears to be making uncanny predictions about the details of destruction as well as apocalyptic sayings abut the “end of time”. Some people tell me that Jesus knew all things because he was God Incarnate. To overemphasise this is to underestimate the fulness of humanity in Jesus the person. As a human being Jesus was as limited as we are in his knowledge of history. I am in no way denying the fulness of his relationship with God: it was unique and is the only way in whch we can say that God is revealed in Jesus the Incarnate Word. BUT…
The Gospels as not written as they happened: it is not journalism as we know it. Mark, which is generally agreed to be a record of the preaching of Peter, who is preaching from his direct experience of the ministry of Jesus, seems to have been written about 65AD, that is about five years before the destruction of Jerusalem in the revolt against Rome. By the time Mark was written persecution of the followers of Jesus was well under way and Jesus, knowing that the Temple authorities had it in for him, cold also confidently expect that his followers would get much the same treatment. The authorities could be brutal in their suppression of dissent. The story about the healing of the man born blind, where his parents are asked how it is that he came to receive his sight, say “He’s of age: ask him” because they are all being threatened with expulsion from the synagogue: what we’d call excommunication.
Is Jesus expecting history to come to a full stop with the total disintegration of the universe? I don’t know about that, but I do know that history is going to come to and end for each one of us, regrettable though we might find the thought. And of course there are gong to be false prophets, both within and without religious organisations: I’m not going to name them here because the list would be too long!
We are commencing Advent, with the expectation of renewing the experience of the Incarnation and Nativity (not one and the same thing) as well as looking forward to our own experience of the coming of Christ into our brief histories: it’s that sense of expectation to which I referred earlier, when we know that something is about to happen: the when and the where doesn’t matter so much as the inevitability of it.
Do you now that story about the cardinal rushing into the Pope’s office and saying “He’s back! Jesus is walking across the Square outside! What should we do?” And the Pope calmly replied “Look busy.”
God bless you in your “busyness” of Advent. Amen
INTERCESSIONS (Dawn Holland)
Loving God, we are saddened as we see so much pain and suffering in our world. We ask forgiveness for our lack of care for or world and for each other. We pray for world leaders, that they may see the folly of their desire for power over other nations and the greed for worldly possessions rather than sharing wealth fairly thought the world, and that their decisions may be just and wise. In our prayers we remember the people of Ukraine and Gaza, for those suffering loss of freedom, death of family members; hostages, and children who have been orphaned. We pray for parents whose children have been killed, and for an end to the terror brought about by Israel’s response to the Hamas attack. We earnestly pray for peace in all countries where war and violence reign
Loving Father God, in your mercy hear our prayer.
Loving God, we thank you for the encouragement and hope you give from the Scriptures. As we approach the Christmas season help us to walk the journey through Advent, seeking the guidance of your Holy Spirit; to see the hope spoken through your prophets of old, looking forward to the coming of Jesus.
Loving Father God, in your mercy hear our prayer.
In our prayers for your worldwide Church we pray for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Primates Meeting; for all leaders of the faithful; for our sister Diocese of Guadalcanal. In this diocese we pray for our Bishops Peter, Sonia and Charlie; for the ministry of the Anglican Schools Corporation, and for the bishops and other clergy living in retirement in our diocese; and for those parishes awaiting the appointment of a new priest; we pray too for those men and women newly ordained to the priesthood. In our own parish we pray that you will guide us in the developing pathway which we must take; for our clergy George and Gail and their families; for our OpShop Volunteers, our families, our neighbours and our friends; and for the other churches in this community with whom we will share in the Combined Churches Carol Service.
Loving Father God, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for our community. Guide us day by day that we may be aware of those whom we meet who need friendship or care. As we give yu thanks for Doug’s healing, we also remember before you those who have sought prayer or for whom prayer has been sought: Jenny, Indi, Barbara D, Val Frazer, Lynn, Betty, Les, Ann, Daphne, Bruce, Debbie M, Samuel, John J, Ryan, Nicole M, Jenny H, Didi, Peter McC, Susan, Elizabeth M Heidi, Wendy F, Peter, Vicki L, Jenny M, Val D, Ben, Sammy Jo and Noah, Stuart McInnes, Sue T, Derek, Zoe, Paul and Katrina, Livi, Arlo, Grace, Lisa, Sandy, Mike N, those known to us and those known to you alone.
Loving Father God, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We thank you, Lord, for our fellowship in that community which none can number, whose hope was in the Word made Flesh: Mary the Blessed Mother, Paul and Michael our Patrons, Nicholas Ferrar, Nicholas of Myra, Ambrose of Milan, and Richard Butler, whom we remember this week; and those whose Year’s Mind falls at this time, Samuel Hamilton; and those whom we have loved and who have passed into your nearer Presence.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon them
Almighty God, we pray that what we have asked in faith we may, by your grace, receive, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
SAINTS and Commemorations of the Week 3-9 December
4 Nicholas Ferrar deacon and man of prayer (1637) who founded a community in Little Gidding, which met daily for Morning and Evening Prayer: at least one person was present 24/7 in the church they restored. They provided schooling for the children at a time when education was not universal, as well as basic health care for the village. The community was forcible broken up by Cromwell’s army in 1647
6 Nicholas of Myra bishop and philanthropist (342) bishop of Myra in modern-day Türkiye, the model for the traditional Santa Claus (ie Sinterklaasl) who was generous in his often anonymous gifts of sustenance financial or otherwise, to people in need. The Pawnbrokers Balls derive from the story of the three golden balls tossed through the window of a poverty-stricken household as dowry for the three daughters
7 Ambrose of Milan (397) bishop and teacher was Governor of Milan when, while still a layman, was unexpectedly and popularly elected as bishop. He was a staunch supporter of orthodoxy against Arian heresy, wrote extensively and is credited with musical expertise, writing several hymns in what is known as “Ambrosian chant”.
8 Richard Baxter, (1691) pastor and spiritual writer was almost constantly at odds with the Established Church and the Non-Conformists, at home in neither tradition. His writings are still available although very dated and had some influence on the evolution of “Non-Conformist Protestant Capitalism” (my term. Fr G)
The Diocesan auditing procedure for safe ministry practice now requires us to reproduce this statement on our regular bulletins and mailouts.
SAFE MINISTRY IN THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF NEWCASTLE
As a parish we have taken steps to keep our environment safe. Clergy and volunteers are subject to strict requirements such as Working With Children Checks and Safe Ministry training. We are committed to being a safe place where survivors of abuse experience care and support.
A link to our Parish Safe Ministry Policy is being placed on our Parish Website.
FAITHFUNESS IN SERVICE IN THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF NEWCASTLE
This is code for personal behaviour and practice of pastoral ministry b clergy and church workers. A copy of this code can be found at https://newcastleanglican.org.au/wp-content/uploads2020/08/faithfuness-in-service-anglican-diocese-of-newcastle-july-2020.pdf
The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle takes allegations of misconduct and abuse seriously. If you would like to speak to someone, please phone 1800 774 945 or contact the through: https://www.newcastleanglican.org.au/governance/safe-ministryprofeessional-standards/
Newcastle Anglicans expresses a profound regret that children were harmed while participating in activities associated with the Diocese. It offers its apology to every survivor. More information can be found at: https:///www.newcastleanglican.org.au/governance/safe-ministry/redress/
Christmas, by John Betjeman
The bells of waiting Advent ring.
The Tortoise stove is lit again (A slow combustion heater)
And lamp-oil light across the night
Has caught the streaks of winter rain
In many a stained-glass window sheen
From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green. (Artists colours)
The holly in the windy hedge
And round the Manor House the yew
Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge
The altar, font and arch and pew
So that the villagers can say
‘The church looks nice’ on Christmas Day
Provincial Pubic Houses blaze,
Corporation tramcars clang,
On lighted tenements I gaze,
Where paper decorations hang,
And bunting on the red Town Hall
Says ‘Merry Christmas to you all’.
And London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.
And girls in slacks remember Dad
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children’s hearts are glad.
And Christmas-morning bells say ‘Come!’
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel. (A high-end hotel in London)
And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass windows hue,
A Baby in an ox’s stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Became a Child on earth for me?
And is it true? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent,
And hideous ties so kindly meant,
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with the single truth compare –
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.
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