On the Second Sunday of Advent we are reminded that a fundamental change of heart is necessary if we are to experience the coming of God’s peaceable kingdom. This change of heart is repentance, without which participation in God’s kingdom will not be possible. Matthew’s Gospel reminds us of the need to repent now.

There’s an urgency in the call of John the Baptist; the rule of God is about to break upon the world; the words of the prophets are about to be fulfilled. John’s appearance, the way he dresses and the way he behaves, quite deliberately recall the prophet Elijah. John is a new prophetic voice after centuries of silence, of patient waiting for God to act anew, and the people respond to him in large numbers.

Everyone, even the religious leaders, is eager for some new thing to set them free. It’s very important that even the most religious people repent and don’t just rely on their position in the Synagogue as evidence of their righteousness, for God’s coming activity will involve judgement as well as redemption and none will be exempt. The call must be to stop where you are and turn back to God.

This is an extract from Sheila Cameron’s sermon to the St Margaret’s congregation on 4 December. Do read the whole of it, downloadable at this link, to see the link with the picture by Edward Hicks, which comes from the online collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=175611)

On Advent Sunday, Sheila Cameron’s sermon to the St Margaret’s congregation ended with these words:

Isaiah sees the house of the Lord as being the place from which the whole earth will receive instruction in the ways of peace. The image of light is also very important in this passage. Our text ends with the call to action: “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” Our life in Christ is a movement from darkness into light, from ignorance, depression, fear or anxiety into assurance of God’s presence with us, mediated by Christ, the one in whom God took our human nature on himself and redeemed it. With Christ we live in light, whatever the darkness of the world that surrounds us. This is the good news in which we rejoice and which we proclaim to the world in our speech, our attitude and our demeanour. In the light of Christ, everything is possible, here and now. Not when this world ends and another one begins, but right here and now.

Our Gospel reminds us that the world beyond this one is not a remote, hypothetical place but a reality that can break upon us at any time. We are to be prepared; in other words, we are to live here and now as if we were living then, in the presence of God. It’s here and now that we can know the joy of walking in the light of Christ and the safety of dwelling in the house of the Lord.

We pray that during this holy season of Advent, our Christian community might be a place where many who have been traumatised by what they have experienced in this life may find peace and joy and safety in his presence. Amen.

For an insight into Sheila’s choice of title, you’ll need to read the whole of her sermon (available at this link). In it she made reference to the international campaign “16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence” organised by the Mothers’ Union, and to the work of the charity Embrace the Middle East.

The text of our image was overlaid on a photograph by Joshua Rodriguez on Unsplash.

Rev Sheila Cameron’s sermon to the St Margaret’s congregation on 20 November – on the last Sunday after Pentecost, kept as the feast of Christ the King – included this challenge …

Christ the King is the God who lived among us and shared our humanity. If we are to represent his kingdom and make it visible among us, then we must show God’s concern for those who struggle in this world: the poor, the lonely, the rejected, the vulnerable and the suffering. Our reading from Jeremiah 23:1–6 speaks of shepherds who have failed – evidently kings and leaders who let the people down by not protecting or nurturing them, perhaps pursuing personal ambition or the desire for power or wealth. The sheep have been scattered and have become prey to wild animals.

What are the hazards that threaten today’s flocks? Country folk know that shepherds are experts in the ways of sheep, aware of all the dangers they may encounter and the diseases that may afflict them, which suggests to me that Christians should be experts in the ways of the world if they are to reach out to others as Christ did, with courage and empathy, and also taking the same kind of risk that led to his suffering and death on the cross. Are we up to that challenge, prepared to live sacrificially, as we must be if we are to be effective shepherds in today’s world?

Do read the whole of Sheila’s sermon at this link.

Our image was taken in June 2021, and comes from the collection Triumph crucifixes in Gotland by Bene Riobó, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Rev Sheila Cameron’s Harvest sermon to the St Margaret’s congregation ended with thoughts on our reading from the final chapter of Paul’s First Letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:6–19) …

We do, of course, have basic needs for food and clothing, and Paul (v.8) acknowledges that, but the danger lies in our tendency to pursue the unnecessary. A.K.M. Adam remarks that there is “a transition from basic food and clothing to nice food and clothing, and from there to stylish clothing and rich food [that] takes place gradually.” And there, of course, lie the pitfalls: the competitiveness, the envy, the getting into debt, the descent into dishonesty. “The love of money,” writes Paul, “is the root of all kinds of evil” (v.10).

In contrast to the worldly discontent that leads us astray so very easily, Paul writes of another way, a way that recognizes the uniqueness and transcendence of God. God is “the only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords”, the one who “has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light” (v.15). This God provides for us richly “with everything for our enjoyment” – and we acknowledge this especially in the harvest season. The Christian life is far from dull, but on the contrary full of all the interest and stimulation, adventure, refreshment and comfort we need. In Christ, we are invited to “take hold of the life that really is life” (v.19).

Living in the light of the Resurrection, wherever we go, whatever the changing circumstances of our lives, we know we will encounter the living presence and the love of Christ. So let us set your hope on him and “take hold of the life that really is life.” Amen.

Read the whole of Sheila’s sermon at this link.

The picture by Frans Francken “Christian deeds of mercy” comes from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw, and is used via Wikimedia Commons.

Jesus visits Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38–42)

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Which is the better part?
For years interpretation has sought
to divide Martha and Mary
determining that only one of them
can be commended by our Lord
that only one way
is important in the kingdom.
Yet truth be told
we know all too well
that we need those who welcome others
doing all the things necessary
to provide hospitality
as well as those
who will take time to listen,
affording intimacy.
And in both women
we see the norms of the day
confounded yet again
turned on their head
by women refusing to conform.
Martha, welcoming Jesus boldly
as a head of a household might.
And Mary, sitting at the Rabbi’s feet
as a disciple might.
Both, in their own way contributing
to the table fellowship they shared.
And, we can imagine Jesus
taking the fruits of Martha’s labour:
bread still warm from the oven
its aroma filling the room
and sweet, heady wine,
kept for just such an occasion
and, wrapped in the adoring gaze of Mary,
transforming those gifts
in the knowledge
that the portent of death
was not missed in this home
For here were two women
who simply got it
and, together, made room for the One
in whom everything made sense
Two women who demonstrated that love
does not consist in either/or
but in both/and.
Martha and Mary
who recognised
that the kingdom was near.

Thanks to our good friend Liz Crumlish for allowing us to re-post her blog.