13 December 2020 - Kitty Price
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
It is rather humbling to have such a combination of splendid readings and I have to confess to feeling rather inadequate. So much to say and so little time, how do I do any of them justice. When the going gets tough, it’s time to turn to chocolate.
Today is a tin of Quality Street in terms of preaching – there are so many incredible passages / flavours to talk about. So, it is the idea of a Quality Street tin that will help us to unpack our readings. There are four elements to consider.
Firstly, in any self-respecting collection of chocolates, there is a menu, or as we like to call it, a book of instructions, telling you about each chocolate. Here they are at the bottom of the tin, so that the contents should be exactly what it says on the tin. Fairly clear communication.
What instructions do we get from our readings? This morning’s reading from Isaiah is basically a book of instructions for behaving properly if you are one of God’s people. “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me…” What an absolute corker?!
We have a list of things we are supposed to do:
• bring good news to the oppressed
• bind up the broken-hearted
• proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners – this does not require us to open the doors of prisons and let them all out, but perhaps those who are wrongfully imprisoned, those who are in a spiritual or psychological prison –
• to comfort those who mourn.
This is our task, should we choose to accept it. 2
At school with my Year 7 RS classes, we look at the passage from Luke where Jesus arrives in Nazareth, goes to the synagogue, and reads this passage. At the end he rolls it up, hands it back and says, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ It is the ultimate mic drop. Along with the Beatitudes, I use this as Jesus’ mission statement. The handout is entitled 00Jesus, licensed to preach, teach, and reconcile.
What does the testimony of John the Baptist tell us? Unlike the accounts from the other Gospels, John the Gospel writer gives John the Baptist’s own testimony that points out the difference between him and Jesus. “I baptise with water” only, whereas Jesus will baptise with the Spirit. John marked the shift from the old way of getting forgiveness – Temple sacrifices – to the new way – baptism. And although John doubted Jesus – he sends some of his followers to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah – but Jesus does not doubt John. He knows he is really important. John makes straight the way of the Lord – just like the long toffee in the tin - so we should do so too.
Secondly, we have different ways of using the book of instructions in a Quality Street tin, either by reading or pictures. Unlike other brands of chocolates, I have had enough experience to know which sweet is which by look alone. If you pick a red sweet out, you know it will be a strawberry crème, an orange, an orange crème, which happens to be my absolute favourite, so when I offer you a choice of sweets from the tin later, please be polite and leave them!
In Isaiah we hear that God “has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” Not necessarily as tasty as the purple one – how very advent?! (or the rose one for today!!) – but it ought to be obvious that we are Christians by looking at our actions. Our faith should make us feel like we are superheroes wearing Quality Street capes! 3
John the Baptist was recognised for being a Prophet because he wore a camels’ hair tunic with a leather belt and ate honey and locusts, which is a reminder that chocolate with honeycomb is now on sale in the cathedral shop!!! Elijah wore similar clothes, so this is a further pointer to both John’s and Jesus’ identity. John is to point towards Jesus.
Thirdly, Quality Streets make people happy. As a child, the tin wouldn’t be opened until Christmas Eve and we eagerly awaited it. Being one of four children, it could be a bit of a battle as to who would get first pick.
And happiness, giving thanks, rejoicing is what our readings advocate. Faith in God causes happiness. Two lines from the passage in Isaiah: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God;” and “so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” The name of psalm 126 is “Harvest of joy.” “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy…may those who sow in tears, reap with shouts of joy…”
Paul tells the Christians in Thessalonica to: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances…” The first letter to the Thessalonians is one of the earliest Christian texts, written about 20 years after the death of Jesus. There was a big tradition of letters in Classical literature and these bad boys mark the arrival of Christianity’s contribution to the genre. And the rest, as they say is history. Except it isn’t. It’s past, present and future. The theme of Paul’s letters is the focus on holiness in Church life in the expectation of the Second Coming. He talks about how followers of Christ should be recognised, not just because of their actions, but their attitudes. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. 4
Could this last part of Advent be a time of praise and rejoicing? 2020 has blindsided us, but amongst the hardship there have been extraordinary acts of kindness and generosity. Polls have indicated that many people do not wish to return to how life was like “pre-Covid”, that they have been reminded of the importance of appreciating a simpler existence. Just as in Quality Street, there will never be a return to the coffee one…..
Fourthly, what else does a tin of Quality Street show us? That we are all different, but each play a part in the same tin. The flavours might clash, and there is always one type of sweet that is left at the end, but they still belong in the tin. John the Baptist might be a bit austere for some – or, like the long toffee one, the message might get stuck in your teeth or throat, but constant rejoicing might seem a bit too frivolous for others. But we all have a part to play in the Quality Street mix of the Christian faith, and the Quality Street mix of the Cathedral community. What do we do about it? This is, of course, a whole other sermon, but I leave you with the words by Christina Rossetti used in the carol ‘In the bleak midwinter’:
What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man I would do my part, Yet what I can I give Him, Give my heart.
Amen.