Sermons from St
Faith's
The end of all things
Fr Dennis Smith,
Sunday 18th November, 2018
Jesus answer to the disciples' question about the end of
all things is a gift to those of an apocalyptic turn of
mind. Their interest in cataclysmic events, which can
usually be conveniently attached to current items in world
news, is not blunted by the cautionary opening: “Beware
that no one leads you astray.” Nor is it modified by what
follows. Jesus will go on to speak of the personal cost of
being a disciple, disowned by family, punished by civic
authorities, and hated for speaking in his name.
There’s a difference between apocalypse and eschatology,
between a vision of our relationship to God cast in terms
of violent punishment of sin in a series of cosmic
disasters, and one framed in the light of a promise of
salvation already given in Christ. Knowing that difference
may not make circumstances easier for the victims of war,
persecution, famine, drought and earthquakes. It’s
certainly not a quick and easy answer to perplexity about
the action (or not) of a loving God in all these things.
But, knowing the difference between apocalypse and
eschatology does make it possible to be purposeful about
living in the good time that is given to us. It’s this
time that interests the writer of the Letter to the
Hebrews, who continues to explore Jesus’ high priestly
ministry in contrast to the kind of priesthood familiar to
the audience.
The distinction is itself best defined in terms of time.
Conventional priests repeat the offering of sacrifices,
“day after day”, because human sin is repetitive. As
sinful human beings themselves, they can never get beyond
the daily need for atonement. Jesus, perfectly human and
perfectly divine, has offered a sacrifice not confined by
time, but “for all time”, needing no repetition. And
having done that, he has reset the clock according to the
time of salvation, sitting down at God’s right hand to
wait until those for whom he died catch up. This isn’t
passivity or disengagement. Waiting is dependent on
relationship, imagined as a covenant, and kept alive by
the presence of the |Holy Spirit.
The writer recalls Jeremiah, who wrote of the covenant
that God would establish with Israel after the exile – not
as a theoretical agreement, but as a living and embodied
promise, written on the hearts and minds of the people In
this new covenant, there is an answering embodied element
in the blood of Jesus that washes sin away, and the flesh
that becomes the way for our imperfect flesh to find its
way to God. How should this time of active waiting
be used? The writer offers urgent practical advice to
those who have received the hope and assurance of sin
forgiven. They are to goad one another to love and good
deeds.” English translations haven’t retained the
energising picture of a sudden outburst of love, suggested
by the Greed “paroxusmon” and still used to convey
extremes of behaviour – from paroxysms of weeping to
paroxysms of overspending. They focus on the root word
“oxus”, meaning “sharp” and choose the more prosaic
“provoke one another” to describe the almost competitive
encouragement demanded of the Christian community with its
eye on the end of “the race that is set before us.” Such
incitement is best achieved by meeting regularly for
worship, study and hospitality – all part of a training
for life in God’s eternal Kingdom. Last week we
commemorated vernacular saints whose stories are models of
these good principles made real in dedicated lives. On the
16th November Margaret was remembered. The English
princess who grew up in exile in Hungary, while the
Danes ruled England; she returned to marry the King of
Scotland after the Conquest, and devoted herself to the
feeding of the poor and the good governance of the Church.
