Christian Life

You join us in the Wesley Theatre as we draw to the end of the year.  Before the heat of Christmas and summer holidays, Staff gather with our evening congregation for an end-of-year service which is being held at the beginning of the Christian year on Advent Sunday.  So we have an end and a beginning on the very same day!

Advent liturgies first appeared in the sixth century in the Church of Gaul in France.  By the ninth century the season of Advent was widely accepted in the Western Church as a commemoration of the period before the birth of our Lord.  In the early church the words Advent, Epiphany and Nativity were employed interchangeably to denote the importance of the birth of Christ.

The word ‘Advent’ means literally ‘to come to’.  All the tenses are caught up in the meaning of this day – we celebrate the bold assertion that God has come (past tense), but also that God is come (present tense), and that he will come again in triumph at the consummation of all time (future tense).

Part of the difficulty of the modern Advent is that we have jumped onto the theme of excitement, anticipation and joyful preparation and forgotten that there is a less ‘jolly’ theme to the season – and that is one of examination of our own lives.

The task of the preacher at Advent is to proclaim that God has come to this selfish world as Saviour and Lord and it is his grace that will help us to live in the in-between time, which is ours to share.

Romans 13:12
“The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.”

This text comes as part of a block in Paul’s ethical teachings which run from Romans 12:1 to 15:13 – and directly follows a discussion showing how love is to be lived out in various relationships, including the ethical imperative regarding governing authorities.

Using the image of day and night, light and darkness, the Apostle reminds the Roman Christians that God’s coming in Christ is imminent.  Therefore, in the knowledge of that coming, we should strip ourselves of all that would hinder his light shining in the world and, as Paul described it, put on Jesus Christ.  “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 13:14)

Paul’s images of light/darkness and night/day have to be viewed against the backdrop of the anticipation that Jesus Christ will come again – and this day was expected to be soon.  Paul sees the final coming of Jesus Christ as an opportunity to throw off all that does not sit comfortably with the good news of the Gospel.

This theme fits rather well with our broader purpose this evening – to thank God for all that has happened during this past year – for it raises the question about being alert and alive to the challenge of now!

Any adult who has travelled on a long journey with children in a car will know that one of the frequently-asked questions just a few kilometers after leaving home is “How long before we get there?”

If you have a particularly perceptive young person sitting in the back of the car, they will remind you of the question every five kilometers!  The real test for the driver is to be patient.  Incidentally I have found that when you actually approach your destination, the child falls asleep and wakes up all grumpy!

However, the question “What time is it?”  is always an important one to consider.  I would like to suggest three answers to the question, with particular relevance to ourselves this evening – and I hope to those of you at home:

It is time to recognise the challenge of change

Living ‘in between’ is always a time of change.  Advent is a period when promise becomes the adopted mood of the season and where expectation transforms the way we live now!

Within the whole Wesley family, we are part of a process of change that does not have an end date to it.  The reality of change is the context in which we operate and serve.

I recall reading an alternative Beatitude which ran something like this – “Happy is the person who has discovered that there is nothing permanent in life but change.”  The change we have begun will continue and month-by-month new aspects will emerge, as we discover what it is God is calling us to do as a Christian community engaged in mission and ministry in twenty-first century Australia.

The Spanish have an old proverb which says, “A wise man changes his mind, a fool never.”

Let me commend four important Christian aspects of the challenge of change -

• Change is the challenge which tests whether we have the appetite to do whatever it is that God is asking of us.  Fyodor Dostoevsky argued, “Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.”

• Change is a constant reality which demands laying down and taking up.  I remember once reading a simple thought which, on re-reading, I considered profound: “A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn!”

•  Change requires courage, determination and persistence.  People who resist change often do so to the point where the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of changing.

•  Change is to live in tune with God.  In John’s great Book of Revelation, in the penultimate chapter of the Bible, we see a vision of the New Jerusalem which is seen to be coming down out of heaven from God.  There is a promise that God will deal with his people and that he will wipe every tear from the eyes of those who hurt – and the vision is of One seated on the throne who says, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5) 

The past cannot be altered, but the future can – and the driving force and power of such change becomes possible as we live in the light of the coming of Jesus Christ.

Another take on new wine requiring new wineskins can be discerned in Chekov’s “The Cherry Orchard”.  It’s hard to think that it was written well over a hundred years ago, but it’s lesson is still pertinent.

Chekov tells the story of a one-time rich family facing economic ruin.  Their one asset, apart from their family home, is their large cherry orchard which is of no commercial value.  A business friend suggests to them that they could turn the orchard into an estate of holiday cottages, and so retain their old home.  They hardly listen to him; the idea is so painful to take on board!  In the end, the outsider buys the orchard and they are evicted.  Chekov calls his play a comedy, whereas it could be argued to be the tragedy of our times.  New visions are required and cannot be hooked onto old coats and mixed with old wine!

It is time to recognise the positive steps we are taking 

Living in the light of the kingdom of God means we are able to examine our present situation with clarity and purpose.  Before we take our summer break and enter the last few weeks before Christmas, we reflect that:–

• Joined Up Thinking and Practice is starting to bear fruit as an organising idea and is allowing us to cross boundaries creatively and improve our services and mission.

• Our values are being bedded down within Wesley Mission and articulated in a way that is positive all round – namely Christlike Servanthood, Unfailing Integrity and Courageous Commitment.

• We have begun to develop outcomes which will help us to monitor our effectiveness and consistency into the future – namely Expanded Impact, Greater Financial Independence and a Growing Spiritual Community. 

• We are beginning to build on the very best of the achievements of the past in a way that will allow a new world to emerge. 

We affirm a distinct position as a Christian Mission; we are holding firm to our evangelical heritage and so we do not buy into ideas about God that are not soundly grounded in the Bible; we are committed to an understanding of church that still has an evangelistic thrust in all it does – and yet we are, at the same time, firmly committed to the concept of compassion for the marginalised, the poor and those in need.  We refuse to collude with the idea that when God blesses you, you get rich - or that the keynote of the Christian is success.'

The place where we have positioned ourselves is not overcrowded! – for people rush to occupy the area where theological attractiveness is measured by its eccentricity – or, on the other hand, with a kind of religious fundamentalism which places most people in straightjackets and a fortunate few on the road to success.

I mention this because it is the authentic message of Wesley Mission Sydney – and we continually return to our twin emphases of Word and Deed

‘The Beatles’ surprised the world in the 1960s and they took the United States by storm.  It marked a new era of popular music.  Their music and lyrics were heard by a whole new generation who had been fed on a diet of ‘rocking in the jailhouse, surfing on the beach and dating a girl called Peggy Sue’.  People were pleasantly surprised by deeper insights and rather poignant lyrics.

In “Eleanor Rigby” for example, The Beatles sang about a woman picking up rice at a church where a wedding had taken place.  Holding the rice, peering through the window, living in a dream that she will someday wed, death comes instead.  The Beatles’ lament –
“All the lonely people,
Where do they all come from?”

With almost simple innocence, The Beatles tapped into the universal mood of the day.  That same scourge of loneliness has not gone away and in our large cities the curse of isolation remains, albeit more complex and sophisticated!

The answer to the long loneliness of “strangers afraid in a world they never made” is found in Advent in the coming of God in the Person of Jesus Christ who steps into history.

In all the positive steps that we are making together, we clearly need to discover what can bring meaning and purpose into a technological and fast-moving world, which leaves far too many people on the scrapheap of life, remote from all that can bring deep purpose.

It is time to live in expectation of the future

Back to those children in the car – they keep asking the question “Are we nearly there?”  We shall never know the precise answer to that question with regard to the coming of Jesus Christ, but we can take hold of the truth that Advent declares – that God has come and is coming with a message that assures us of his presence.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 13 argues, “The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11)

Not all time is of equal significance.  Farmers know that a right time exists for planting and harvesting.  They know all too well what happens if they disregard the opportune moment.  A sports game might last sixty minutes, but not all minutes and seconds are equal.  A miss two minutes from the end feels more crucial than an error in the first two minutes.

In soccer when the regulatory ninety minutes come to a close, the Fourth Official holds up a board which tells the crowd and players how many minutes will be added as extra time.  Manchester United used to have a ‘Super Sub’ called Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who will always be remembered for scoring twice in a European Champions League Final and both in the dying minutes of the match.  Some people have made whole careers out of doing well at the close.

On the first Sunday in Advent, we mark the beginning of the Christian year and the call is loud and clear – Awake! For Christ is coming!

It is possible to miss moments, not just for negative reasons, but because we are busy about good things.  We anticipate 2008 as an important year in Sydney, when the Pope will visit World Youth Day.  In 1993, hundreds of thousands of young people gathered at a similar event in Denver, Colorado.  The big draw was Pope John Paul II.  A priest from Omaha, in charge of a busload of kids, was left behind.  He directed a bunch of them to go to the bus, while he searched for the rest of the group.  The missing teens found their way to the bus but, when the youths’ shepherd arrived at the place of departure, the bus had already pulled out.  Being ready is important in all our activities.

In the New Testament, there is the special word for time – kairos: not chronological time, but a special kind of time.  Kairos can be described as ‘crisis time’, though I prefer to read it as ‘time for opportunity, time for fulfillment and time for something really qualitatively new to happen – in other words – The Right Time!’

Some Christian preachers have chosen to use this season of the year to launch into ‘pulpit terrorism’, feeding on the kind of hysteria which takes root in the context of people being fearful about the end of the world.

Make no mistake – the Christian faith affirms our hope in the return of Christ.  These words of Paul were written as he anticipated meeting the Christians in Rome – and in readiness for the return of Jesus Christ.  What he is actually writing is a commendation and charge to live in the light of Jesus Christ’s two comings – the first we shall celebrate in just a short time – and yet the second we eagerly await.

I take a weekly journal of news from around the world and invariably look at the obituaries of notable people; usually they are politicians and people of world recognition.  One of the most moving was of a person who would never have imagined that her death would be reported all over the world.  Rosa Parks died in October 2005 and she will be remembered for one action on 1 December 1955 – when she refused to leave her seat on that Montgomery, Alabama, bus.  It was a creative moment that had reached its time.

As we meet at the end of a year – and on Advent Sunday – we thank God for all that has happened and look to the future with hope.  As Paul put it, “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.”