blog
Trinity Monday Sermon
Monday 7th April 2014 @ 5:17 pm
This blog comes with thanks to Rev Dr Heather Morris, who has permitted me to post her address to TCD at the annual Trinity Monday Service which took place this morning … t’was great indeed.
John 12:9–19
This Chapel formed part of the backdrop to my time in Trinity. I have passed it countless times: I have walked past it, run past it when late for lectures; I have hobbled past it in high heels; I will confess I have occasionally cycled past it, sheltered under it; mostly not really noticing it, just passing it on my way to somewhere else. The Chapel moved from the backdrop to the foreground during exam time. Things may be different now but I did exams in the Exam Hall and in the Junior Common Room. The atmosphere before exams was crazy– some folk withdrawn and pale, tucked away in a corner reading that last chapter again; others exuberant; so many voices, “did you do that topic?” I am sure this will come up; if they don’t ask that I am …in trouble; in those moments, on those days, I would occasionally come over here, just to pray and listen for the one voice which amid all the other pressures and all the other voices I needed to hear.
Jesus is on his way into Jerusalem and there are so many voices vying for his attention. The obvious, most easily heard ones that day are the ones shouting “Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” …you are popular, we like you; meet our expectations – we will keep liking you as long as you do what we want you to do: and there were some in the crowd who were curious, hungry for a miracle; they had heard about Lazarus being raised from the dead and they came to see; entertain us; prove yourself to us; and then, then the quiet, the more obviously dangerous voices; the voices of those in the background just now but waiting for their moment, waiting to pounce, Pharisees, chief priests, religious leaders who wanted Jesus dead. So many voices, so many pressures.
We know what it is to live in a world with many voices and many expectations. This University, in common with all universities faces huge pressures; maintain academic excellence; keep up research levels; do all you can to make sure student satisfaction levels are good; when is the next inspection, the pressures of re–branding, where are we on the latest league tables; finance is stretched; maintain a good media presence
We know what it is to be bombarded with different voices, expectations, opportunities and pressures. And for those who are students they are there too; congratulations to the new scholars; rest and enjoy your achievement; but you too know what it is to live with lots of voices and expectations; succeed; keep succeeding; do that because it will look good on your CV; get a job, get a good job; get a job with the best firm; be popular, look good, do they like me?…
Expectations, pressures and opportunities are real, they are part of life, and in the midst of them all there is another voice which we are invited to hear. And not all the time, but sometimes it helps to draw aside to places like this to hear it. It is the voice of God, Creator of heaven and earth and all that is, seen and unseen; it is the voice of God whose name “Emmanuel” means God is with us. The voice of God who still loves the world and everyone in it
My experience, and its true not just on exam days, is that it helps to remember that. My experience and belief is that life is changed, and changed utterly when we remember that no matter how great our strength or how profound our weaknesses that One stands with us who knows us, loves us, enables us and challenges us to love more than ourselves.
High days, celebrations, expectations, pressures and opportunities and in the midst of it all we are invited to listen and hear Gods voice, who says no matter how you perform I love you; who says no matter how you mess up I forgive; who says “I am” the one who stirs in you that unspoken longing for meaning and purpose, who delights when you live your life generously, the One who smiles when you speak out for those, who for whatever reason, are vulnerable
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” “See this whole thing is getting us no where. Look how the whole world has gone after him”
All this going on, all these voices, and Jesus? Jesus doesn’t disengage, or run and hide; very deliberately he finds a young donkey and sits on it; because He knew that it was written “Do not be afraid Daughter Zion, see, your King is coming seated on a donkey’s colt” John is very honest he tells us that the penny hadn’t dropped for the disciples yet, they didn’t understand until later that Jesus was doing this as a fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy; at that stage they just saw Jesus getting onto a donkey; put yourself there without the benefit of hindsight and it must have been an strange sight. A man on a donkey plodding through crowded streets, But a man riding on a donkey was a subversive signal; a sign for those who have eyes to see of another Kingdom that was coming and is not yet.
When 40 years ago the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin declared that this chapel should be available for worship by other traditions; that was not just a political act it was, for those who have eyes to see a sign of another Kingdom; a sign of Gods Kingdom in which all are called to live in unity.
I visited Ghana in the Summer, we met many exceptional people, one is called Joseph. He is a minister who is choosing to live in a remote area in difficult circumstances because he believes that he can be of most use there, and he is; through an agriculture project as well as church work his life is impacting many lives. We visited an orphanage one evening when the staff told us about a little girl of 3 who lives with HIV/Aids. She is an orphan with no extended family and some had expressed reluctance to take her into their home and one of the staff members looked at Joseph and said “I was going to ring you because I knew you would welcome her to your family”. A man whose life echoes the truth of the God who welcomes all; a life that is a sign of another Kingdom.
Our lives too, should we choose it, can becomes signs of that other Kingdom, signs of God’s Kingdom. When we act on behalf of those who are conveniently forgotten; when we show unexpected kindness; when we develop policies so that no–one is excluded from excellent education because of social deprivation we are pointing to another Kingdom. Our lives pint to a different set of values, and to the God to whom all are significant, the God who desires justice and who loves mercy.
Hallelujah; many voices – in the middle of our many voices will we pay attention to the voice of God?
Hallelujah a man riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey becomes a sign for those who have eyes to see of another Kingdom that was coming and is not yet. Will we in advocacy, in kindness in policy making in striving for equality live in accordance with that other Kingdom? Allow our lives to be subversive and not so subversive signs of Gods fierce love for all.
Those who choose to live for this God leave behind an inheritance which can never be taken away
Comments
To leave a comment, click here