This sermon was delivered to St Oswald’s in Maybole,
Ayrshire, Scotland on the 1st January 2012
(a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Summary: As a New Year starts, where has all the time gone, but more importantly what is in front of us. Can the simple dates of the Lords birth give us hope. Let us see!
Numbers 6:22-27 Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 2:15-21 Psalm 8
Welcome
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
2011 has come and gone. I hope it was a good year for you all; but I am sure you had your share of troubles the same as everyone else. Today the theme of our service is "Time" as we look at the dates of the Lords birth and what was happening at the time to see how these simple chain of events give us hope for the future. But more on that Later; for now we will start with the peace.
We meet in Christ's name. Let us share his peace.
The New Testament Reading.
Our New Testament reading is from the book of Galatians Chapter 4 verses 4 to 7.
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
For the word of the Lord: Thanks be to God.
“Please be seated, and join me in a short prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)
Introduction
In today’s New Testament reading we hear the apostle Paul say “But when the fullness time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might obtain adoption as sons”
This is a very complex and powerful verse, a verse I cannot do just in one sermon, so I will concentrate on the first seven words which are “when the fullness time had come”.
Today’s sermon is about time, well more specific, the fullness of God’s time; and when we read the fullness of time, we do not refer to the expression commonly used by Politicians to avoid answering questions or deflecting an answer, but an expression to show that everything that God has planned, has been executed and is complete in full.
Indeed, the noun ‘fullness’ carries the image a container of sorts, filled to the brim, with fullness suggesting nothing further to be added; and so it was with our redemption: (our being made right with God); which was all planned and executed in Jesus, and was made complete when he died on that cross.
The coming of Jesus was set in the context of God’s dealings with Israel, where the hopes of what we call the Old Testament, was about to be fulfilled.
It was also planned to be set in the context of the Roman Empire, where the Gospel would be communicated through its many travel routes.
The coming of Jesus was therefore a very decisive moment in time and it changed history forever. It was not a visitation by a prophet, or an angel or a seer; but a visitation by God incarnate, (in flesh and blood).
Jesus is therefore the human face of God, a face which reflects his Fathers love through grace and mercy, and a face that leads us directly to the Father. But you know all that.
And so we can agree that Jesus was conceived, born, lived, died and was resurrected in that order; so the Incarnation on its own is not an isolated historical event. Neither is the crucifixion nor resurrection; but together within themselves, they hold God’s eternal redemptive plan, total and eternal, with the word fullness in there somewhere.
The world focuses time in a chronological order with one thing following another, and we do as well or we would not survive; however we Episcopalians like many other denominations, also measure time in relation to the life of Christ and our redemption.
For example, we are living in the year of our Lord, the 1st January 2012. We split the year up into the different segments of Christ’s life: we start with advent, and then we move onto Christmas where we celebrate his birth. Next comes Epiphany and then onto “Ordinary Time” or as we call it, the “time after Epiphany”, where we focus on the manifestation of Christ's divinity.
After that we celebrate Lent and Passiontide in the build up to Easter and onto Pentecost. Then follows a long period of what we tend to call “church growth” in the build up to Advent again.
I really enjoy these different liturgical seasons, as well as the different celebrations we have, such as the feasts days, and special saint days: seasons and celebrations that have been marked in the Christian calendar for centuries.
But I also wonder how long it will be before the fullness of time is complete again, and our Lord returns; particularly as we have seen some of the signs of the end of the age; but don’t worry; I am sure it is still a long way off.
Anyway, we in the Episcopal Church have our liturgical calendar and our set of readings for each service. Today for instance is regarded as “the First Sunday of Christmas” as it is deemed a day of grace, a day for reflecting anew on the forth coming seasons.
However, as well as our normal Chronological time, and the Christian liturgical time, we also have time in relation to the natural movement the sun, moon and planets of our solar system.
Now, it is a remarkable fact, that Jewish tradition gave special honour to the date we know as March 25th. Ok this is the 1st of January but bear with me on this as we jump to 25th of March as it will all make sense.
The 25th March according to the Jews, was reckoned as the first day of creation, the day God made the heavens and the earth. It is also the official date of the near sacrifice of Isaac, by Abraham; and strangely it is also recognised as the day of the original Passover, and escape from Egypt.
The 25th March is also the date taken up by the Church Fathers as Jesus conception, for his entire life from conception to death must have been a perfect circle of time because of his perfect divinity. It is therefore accepted that Jesus was conceived on the 25th March and died on the 25th March, which is Easter).
And so, his birth, because of the same divinity must have been a perfect nine months later and therefore the date of his birth must have been 25th December, which give or take, is approximately the date of the winter solstice, (the shortest day). Now I am aware there are many academics who love to challenge these dates, but for us they all tie in.
So according to the early church fathers, Jesus was conceived on the 25th March, (the spring equinox, ie. Days of equal length of night and day), Jesus was born at the winter solstice, (25th December) and died at the spring equinox, (again 25th March).
Ok. To add to this, his cousin, John the Baptist, according to scripture, was six months older, so John was conceived at the autumn equinox, (which is 22nd September), and born at the summer solstice, (21st June ), where we still celebrate this day as a feast.
Now I did further research but I could not find the date of John’s death; I was hoping to find it around 22nd September but the bible is unclear, and scholars can’t even agree the year of his death, putting it between the years 30 to 36 AD.
Anyway, to move on, the death of Jesus was at Passover itself, the spring equinox, and this it is agreed by academics and scholars who go on to calculate that this was also the time of the Paschal new moon, bringing alignment into both solar and lunar calendar. This is a date of cosmic significance for the church Fathers, who used it to proclaim Jesus eternal and universal Lordship.
I find it fascinating watching the rhythms of the natural world become their own commentary on the realities of our salvation.
I look forward to the changing seasons, and the significance of the equinoxes; and to the summer and winter and solstices; as the sun in the sky witnesses the true Son of righteousness.
This then leads to me appreciating the Church liturgical calendar also, with the changing theological and spiritual themes from advent through to advent; with the whole calendar of festivals, saints and martyrs; through which we see our salvation unfold.
New Year or newer’day is an excellent time for us to think about time, think about the past twelve months, and decipher what went well, what did not. What did you plan for 2011, and what did you received?
Was it a good year or a bad year? If it was bad year, think of the things that were under your control, and then ask, where they predictable or unpredictable.
We are all different people from what we were a year ago; we have all moved on in the Lord. We are all 1 year wiser, in some case 2 or 3 years; as I think the level of tribulation decided how many years we have move on.
So what now, well I personally do not know what is in front of me; and I do not want to know. Had I known last year about the tribulations I was about to face, I would not have survived as well as I have. Praise God.
So my message this morning is to stop relying on ourselves, stop trying to be the master of our own destiny, stop taking blame for the things that are going wrong in our lives; and pass them directly onto the Lord.
That way we do not carry the world on our shoulders; give it to back to God, as I am sure he will run things better. We will also stop blaming ourselves, as we drink from the cup of salvation and let God wash away all our sins; and with them all the guilt and condemnation that goes with them.
Give God all the praise, and let Him guide and carry us through 2012. Learn to be dependant upon him to carry us through to victory.
Now that is faith, faith to know that God is in charge of our lives; faith to let God be our shepherd and master, and faith to let him guide us, whatever we face.
Amen.
Let us pray,
Father, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you that he is our salvation and that he is leading us to glory.
We also thank you that Jesus lived and walked with us on this earth and that he knows exactly our trials and tribulations and problems we face in this New Year.
Father these are difficult and changing times and we do not know what is ahead of us this year. We do now that it will not be easy, and we know that is will be more difficult for those who do not know you.
We first have to ask you to be our shepherd and guide whatever happens. We will stay close to you so that the world will not get us down, as you lift our spirits, and carry us whenever we need it.
Father give us hope for 2012, and give us purpose to do your will and help others find there way towards you.
Father we are thankful that you watch over us at all times, so that for our victories in 2012, we give you all the praise and glory, in the fullness time, the fullness of your time: we ask in Jesus name, Amen.
Father we also take this opportunity to pray for The Reverend Canon Dr David Kennedy and his congregation, whose inspiration helped me start and complete this complex sermon.
Father, we humbly ask in Jesus name, Amen.
Note to the reader:
If you have been blessed by this sermon, or any of my sermons, I would be greatly honoured to receive an e-mail from you saying so; I like so many others need encouragement.
I often feel that to deliver a sermon one time to my congregation is such a waste; where as many more could be blessed by its message, after all, it is not for my glory but for his. I would therefore like my sermons to bless more people, preferably internationally and not only in a small part, of a small country called Scotland.
Simply let me know where you are in the world … and any other information you may want to share or be prayed for. I would also take it as a compliment for you to use my sermons in order to bless others in his almighty name. I do not even need acknowledged, but he does, and I will receive a blessing directly from him.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and I wish you "all the best" as we say in Scotland … and I pray that your endeavours in the Lord are equally blessed. Yours in Christ, Gordon McCulloch, Scotland.
Compiled By: Gordon McCulloch (Worship Leader),
St Oswalds Episcopal Church,
Maybole. Ayrshire.
Scotland. UK
KA19 8KF
E-Mail: gccmcculloch @ aol.com or through Sermon Central
