Transcript
Heavenly father, we give you thanks for your holy word that we have heard this morning. Read in this place. Help us to be those who can hear your word and receive it and apply it to our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Well, a very good morning to each and all assembled here. It’s the holiday weekend, and I think we’re a little bit maybe fewer than the usual. And, I’m acknowledging I don’t recognize faces, although my wife, Pam, and I do come here to worship. Whenever I’m not doing Sunday morning supply. And we usually sit down where she is, there beside the Saint Luke’s window. But that’s usually at 9 a.m.. So we know all the faces of the 9 a.m., folks. But do you 11 a.m. folks? Good to see you. I’m glad you’re here this holiday weekend.
The first time that I stood in this pulpit was in Thanksgiving week in 1999. Yes. I was the new rector over at Emmanuel Church there on Mercury. And the priest who was here at that time, a name Rick Vincent. And Rick gave me a telephone call, and I said, Derek, we have a custom here. The churches of Hampton, all four of them. We come together for the Thanksgiving service. This year’s going to be hosted at Saint John’s. And he says we’ve also got another tradition. And so I thought, wait for it. He says our tradition is that the newest priest in town is a guest preacher. So that’s how I became the preacher. Now, that’s exactly 25 years ago this week. So it’s a little bit providential that I should be here this morning as we conclude the Thanksgiving week. It’s just wonderful.
We have a lot to give thanks for. The children’s hymn says, count your blessings. Name them one by one, and it will surprise you, what the Lord has done. And also we have other reasons to to to give thanks. I thought it was one of the most wonderful things I’ve heard on the news media this week, when the president announced the peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel, and I thought, oh, thank God, at last some of those heads are getting knocked together and starting to talk rather than shooting each other. So give thanks for that initiative on peace. But there’s still a long way to go. With Gaza and with Ukraine and with Syria and Sudan and all the places with war. Pray, pray God, to bring peace to these places.
But to continue the Thanksgiving theme, I think it’s great when we can have Thanksgiving in our lives. Have that gratitude in us all the time. Saint Paul has a wonderful verse for that. He says, pray without ceasing, and in every thing give thanks. That’s it. Pray without ceasing and in every thing give thanks. If we adopt that attitude for this year, that’ll be wonderful.
Well, today is Advent Sunday. Isn’t it? And every time I think of that word advent, I think of a little story of this Sunday School teacher who was, talking to his group, and he asked them, what’s the meaning of the word advent? And some of them volunteered. The word advent means coming. And then, of course, the teacher asked the kids, well, who is coming? And there was this little five year old at the back of the class, and he jumps up vigorously and he says, I know, I know. So the teacher said, well, who is coming? And it says, Santa is coming. Santa is coming. Well, who is coming? Who is coming?
Jeremiah the prophet in the first reading today, I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David. And so the Old Testament reading is a prophecy looking forward to the first coming, the coming of Christ to Bethlehem, to the cross, to be our Savior, the first coming. But the second coming, is what’s mentioned in the gospel for today, Jesus looks ahead and sees a time in the future. And he says of that, no one knows the day or the hour when the Son of Man comes, but encourages the followers to look forward to that time when there will be distress among nations. And he talks about how they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. And so for the past 2000 years, Christian people have waited and anticipation. We believe in the coming again of Christ. Today.
Advent is special in another way. In the church calendar year. This day is New Year’s Day. It’s the first day of the Christian calendar year. Starting today, advent. And so happy New Year Day as we move forward as Christian men and women, as we worship God week by week and endeavor to serve him day by day in the new year. And so I want to pose a question for you.
Are you in a mood to do thinking this morning? Maybe if you’re too much wine during the week. Thanksgiving. It might not be up to that. Well, let me ask the question anyhow, for this new spiritual year, this new church year, for the new year, in our individual spiritual journeys. Let me ask the question. What is the church called to do in this coming year? What might it be for me as an individual? What is God calling the church to be at this time as we look forward to another year? You know how some people do New Year’s resolutions on January 1st. So in the church we might say oh well what might be our goals spiritually for the coming year in the church and in our individual lives? There are challenging times for the church these days.
You know we have come through the recent elections and we have seen how divisions arise so much in our country. And also, darn it, our divisions have arisen in the church about that. And you have this church group for this side and that church group for that side. And that side think they are the enemies and no the other side says the other side are the enemies within. Oh my. Have we listened to that discourse, the untruths, the- all the theories that have been put forward in social media and all the lies that have come out? It’s been that kind of period.
I had a neighbor visit me on the day when I went out and did the voting, and we were chatting about the election and about the nature of the discourse in America at the moment. And my dear friend and I just going out the door, he says, you know, Derek, it seemed like to be a politician today. You have to be able to tell lies. Oh my, is that who we are? You have to be able to tell untruths, to mislead, to deceive? Because that’s what lies are for. They’re meant to deceive you, right? You have to be able to lie? What, we are supposed to be Christians.
And there’s a commandment. If you look up here, it’s number nine. Thou shalt not bear false witness against who? Thy neighbor. Oh, and my friend is saying, well, maybe, you know, in the political system we have to violate that commandment. Throw it out. Throw it away. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
What did Jesus say about that? Well, he affirmed the commandments, one didn’t he? But then Jesus said this know the truth, and the truth will set you free. And what way did Saint Paul put it? Saint Paul says, speak the truth in love. The Bible teaching for us Christians is all about our behavior, how we represent Christ in the world, not in division, not in calling each other enemies, not in lying to each other, trying to deceive. Oh, no, we’re supposed to be the people of God who are known for speaking the truth, for honesty and integrity and ethics and moral living. That’s who we’re supposed to be. Could that be the church in the coming year then? Oh, what a challenge. What a challenge.
Well, look, I’ve got a story to share with you this morning. My wife Pam, had a birthday this past week. So, you know, I, as a good husband, thought I need to do something. So I took her out to the movies and for a meal. But it’s a movie we went to I want to mention to you. And some of you when I’ve heard of it, it’s the movie Bonhoeffer. Have you heard of it? Oh my, well, a lot of us have read about the European history and the Second World War. Of course, we all know then of that Bonhoeffer.
His full name is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor. Is there anybody here who is has Lutheran background? Anybody, a Lutheran background? Oh, yes. Good for you. Well, the Lutherans are very similar to Episcopalians. And so Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor there in Germany in the 1930s, the 1940s, at a terrible time in European history. Just a terrible time.
Most of you know a bit about that story, the rise of Nazism and, how that the government then tried to orchestrate it, to push one group against another, whether it’s labor unions or political groups or religious groups, and especially, you remember who really got hard hit? Who was it? Yeah, the Jewish people. And people would be there in their neighborhoods and they’ll say, oh, have you noticed the Jones family have disappeared? It was a terrible time in Europe, and the church was caught in that. And in many ways, as the movie dramatizes it, some of the church folk went along with it. Can you believe, you say. Well, no, it wouldn’t have. It’s amazing what at a particular time in history, people can get drawn into.
And so the church was divided, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he set up what was called a group called the Confessing Church. He said lines from ecumenical stance, people from the Lutheran church, Catholic Church. And let’s come together as what we’re going to call the Confessing Church. And that’s oppose the wrongs we see happening in Germany. And that sounded, said, a central part of Bonhoeffer’s theology. He said, when we Christians see a wrong being done to another person, rather than turning our head away from that, we should speak against that wrong. We should confront it or oppose it. That was the first theory of the Confessing Church. If you see a wrong, you say, as a Christian, I oppose that. I differ from that. And secondly, he said a second principle. If you think, you know, I don’t want to get involved in this, I’m going to just be silent. Bonhoeffer said, if you see a wrong and you become silent about it, it’s also wrong to be silent in that situation.
Well, Bonhoeffer struggled with his colleagues, with his own bishops in the Lutheran church, with other Christians, and they struggled together. How can they deal with what was happening in that tragic situation? How do you address wrongs? Do you stay silent in front of wrongs, injustice, sins that are being used to hurt other people? Do you stay silent? Well, as you know, the all of that story in that movie is well worth seeing if you ever have an opportunity. It’s a great teacher from a Christian perspective. Also a wonderful history. And it’s a wonderful movie. Well done.
But anyhow, I just want to mention that with Bonhoeffer, he wrote a book providentially entitled The Cost of Discipleship. Oh my. And he paid the cost. And it was his, he was hung just two weeks before the end of the Second World War there in Germany. Incidentally, Bonhoeffer did spend some time here in the United States teaching. And, he, however, felt rather than stay here safe in the US, he felt his calling was to go back to his homeland and to oppose the wrongs, the evils of that time. Well, during that movie, I admired of course, and we’d all admire the courage of dear Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It took courage and steel and grit to stand in that time, and he was so disappointed by the lack of of truth coming from government sources, the lack of justice, the lack of ethics, morality. That was the church even in the church of his day.
You know, I began to wonder as I watched that movie. Let me ask another question. What would Bonhoeffer say of the church of 2024? Particularly here in America, as we go through the elections, as we did. And more, I think of other world examples. You know, when the Russians began their invasion of Ukraine, I remember reading how 150 priests in the Russian Orthodox Church signed a petition anti-war for peace. Where did it go? Their patriarch said, no, I can’t go with that. Their chief bishop said no. And so the church in Russia just division. Disunity couldn’t stand together in that situation. And hence the great tragedies that we have seen in Russia and Ukraine in this terrible war.
Well, we could go all talking of other examples, other examples where the church has been called upon to hold up the light of Christ, the commandments to hold up the truth, the Word of God. And often, so often we have had difficulty doing that. The church, however, was set up by Jesus Christ with a particular mission. It was given a particular purpose. It wasn’t set up just to be another religious group. The last thing in the world those folk 2000 years ago needed was another religion. Just like all we need today is another religion. No, they were given a mission. The church was set out with a purpose.
Remember the words of Jesus. Go into all the world and bring the good news to all people. The good news that Christ had the first coming. He came into the world to be our Savior, to teach us the way of love and reconciliation and forgiveness, to teach us about the qualities of life, the ethics of life as a Christian person due to others as you would have them do to you. And so Christians were set out by the command of Christ to be Christ’s eyes, ears, hands in the world. That’s right. Like Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Now, sometimes there’s a cost there. And so, as we saw the different Christian groups struggle during the time of election, whether they could stand together or whether they were pitted opposed to each other, there we saw that. We wondered were we failing our Lord Christ at that time, were we failing or where we were living up to our calling.
So, to bring a few thoughts together, my friends this morning, as I have the privilege of standing here in this historic pulpit, let me ask the question in another form this time. As we look forward to a year in our spiritual journeys, in our spiritual pathways. As you look forward to a year worshiping and serving Christ, what might be your goals? Spiritually as a Christian in this coming year? Well, I could say, oh, I just keep on going as I am. I don’t need to bother. Everything’s okay in my house. And Christ is still calling. Derek Pringle and you, when you say go into all the world, bring the good news to everyone. Yeah, that even means loving thy neighbor as thyself. That even still means the old commandment. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. You don’t tell lies. As a Christian, you’re known as a person of truth.
Some people say, well, it can be difficult in situations. Maybe if you are a salesman, it might be difficult to be always truthful. Well, what are we called to as a politician? It might be difficult to always be truthful. But what are we called to as Christians? There is a high calling for us people. So, my friends, I raise before you the goals of Christian living in this coming year. This coming year, as we again look forward to Jesus as our leader and anticipate his coming again to the world sometime.
Did you hear that message in the gospel today? Did you hear those sharp words? Listen to them again. Jesus says to his listeners. Be on guard. Not fall asleep at the wheel. He says to the church, be on guard. And you know, Jesus didn’t stop there with just one line. Although that one line maybe was enough. He goes on and again, we get in the gospel. He says, be alert at all times. Christian men and women be on guard. The evil one is always trying to deceive us. Be alert at all times. Yeah, it’s in those moments when we’re not alert we get entrapped.
So my prayer this morning on as we end Thanksgiving week on this first Sunday of the Christian year, Advent Sunday, is that God gives us the grace not just to profess this Christian faith, but to practice it all the way to which Jesus calls us to practice it. May God give us the grace, the guidance, and the strength to do so. Amen.