Back to School Sunday!
Sermon by the Revd Dr Brutus Green
Readings: Isaiah 43:2-7, Psalm 23, Ephesians 6:13-18, Luke 4:14-21
This Gospel is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In terms of Luke’s understanding and memory of Jesus, we can’t overstate how important this passage is a statement of Jesus’ person and mission. I always think it’s quite an imaginable scene: not dissimilar to how we are here and now. The context is a religious service. The regular congregation is there as normal, There is, perhaps, a bigger sense of anticipation; a growing reputation. That sense of a moment in history approaching.
People are alert to the sense of change; Of revelation; Perhaps revolution; and here is Luke’s Gospel, a social Gospel: Good news for the poor; Comfort for grief; Healing; Vision; Freedom; The kingdom of God come near. Things are happening HERE and NOW.
Essentially – for all the difficulties of the world – Material want, loss of heart and sense of purpose, the disasters that befall us – There is a promise of restoration in this new beginning that Jesus is announcing. But as will become all too clear, this kingdom is not what people were expecting.
First days tend to stick with us. I can recall something of the excitement of first days at school in Septembers long gone. The sense of possibility – of new subjects, new challenges. Of beginning universities in new towns. Uncertain first days at new jobs; First days travelling with the freedom of the open road, or in days gone by perhaps even an airport, in front of you. An overwhelming first day as an ordained minister in Paddington, wearing a clerical collar for the first time. A very nervous first day in the army. A first day of marriage, where my mother-in-law woke me up at 7:30am to take the empty bottles down to the recycling because she was worried about wasps. Start as you mean to go on. A first day as a father, full of fear and trembling; My first day here; Returning to parish ministry, with the energy and anxiety of a new beginning.
Even if the details slip away – you can still recall the feeling of these key moments: Trepidation, enthusiasm, possibility, uncertainty. When that day arrives, one way we can reassure ourselves is through our preparation. Whether it’s school uniform, army uniform, a suit or something else – there’s a certain comfort in laying out our clothes and dressing with that sense of preparing ourselves for the day. And in my experience, if you look the part you can get away with most things. Certainly, in the Armed Forces if you don’t look the part you’ll be told very quickly.
St Paul in today’s epistle famously describes faith like preparation for battle. ‘take unto you the whole armour of God… your loins girt about with truth, the breastplate of righteousness… your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace… taking the shield of faith… the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: There’s an exercise of prayer here, in facing a difficult hour, where you mentally put on the armour of God to withstand the hour, the day that is coming.
Similarly, before services, there are vesting prayers to help the priest prepare, which refer to this Scripture. The prayer as you put on the stole reads: “Lord, restore the stole of immortality, which I lost through the collusion of our first parents, and, unworthy as I am to approach thy sacred mysteries, may I yet gain eternal joy.”This prayer refers us back to creation and Adam and Eve. Our Old Testament likewise reminds us that God created, formed and redeemed us. It is that first day traced back to the actual first day – however you conceive it – that is the measure of our confidence: the belief that we have been made, formed, redeemed, in a creation where love is the first principle. Were it an indifferent world – our lives would truly be nasty brutish and short as one philosopher put it. Chased from insecurity to illness before death, With moments of pleasure snatched from the inescapable jaws of suffering.
The work of faith is to defend the belief that each of us is formed with care and purpose. And to show that same care to the world around us. That is the shield of faith that will protect us in adversity. That is the helmet of salvation that will cool our thoughts. Here, today, faith is our common assent to the Gospel of Jesus’ first day: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ And to say: ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’ To believe that despite the difficulties of life, we are ultimately safe in God’s hands.
Even those among us who have lived a great long time in this world have known a few new first days in the last 18 months. The uncertainty remains – At 10am we have our first all-age service in 18 months and nothing creates uncertainty like children. As we return to colder weather we may well have to buckle back on the whole armour of God, And raise up the shield of faith.
Living with faith will not prevent disease, anxiety or death; Rather we put on the whole armour of God in order to overcome these obstacles. Knowing that despite the valley of the shadow of death, our last day will be like our first, Like that first day when Adam walked easily with God. Like the first day of the week, when Jesus rose from the tomb and met his disciples. When we will say again, as on every day: ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’
Every day is a new beginning. After all, tomorrow is another day. We are here to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. So let us put on the whole armour of God. And let us preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Amen.