The sermon at church this morning began with a scenario we were to imagine; that we it was a dreary, cold, dismal December Monday morning - we were on the way to work, assumedly a job we didn't particularly enjoy, and everything was miserable. Then coming towards us was someone so full of joy - beaming from ear to ear, face lit up, a bounce in their step. As they reached us, they bounded right up to us, grabbed us and kissed us on each cheek "just for good measure". 'What do you have to be happy about?' came our response. The joyful person was confounded for a moment, before their smile returned and with a wink, they bounded off, with their joy intact.
The preacher went on to talk about how it is utterly confusing to us, when someone doesn't feel the same way as we do. But it is even more baffling when someone doesn't feel how their situation causes us to expect they would. The examples he gave, from the readings we had in the service, were Zephaniah, John the Baptist and Paul. All realised the dire situations they were in - Zephaniah often prophesying doom and gloom, John out in the wilderness with people coming to hear him whom he considered a "brood of vipers", and Paul locked away in prison awaiting death for much of the time in which he was writing. And yet all also talked of great hope and rejoicing, for one simple reason; they all knew the Lord was near. It reminded me of an experience I had in Palestinian Occupied Territory in October 2013. I was visiting a friend of the lady who'd organised the trip I was on - she'd prepared a wonderful meal for us and was telling us her story about when the Separation Wall suddenly grew up, along 3 of the 4 sides of her home, blocking off all trade to her little shop and generally just making her life a lot harder. In her shop, she was also selling handmade nativity sets like the one in the photo above, with a detachable separation wall down the middle. And as she was showing this to us, she said, "The wall is detachable, because we live in hope that one day it will come down." Her husband happened to be walking through the room at this moment and he quickly, and bluntly, retorted, "It will never come down." But his wife continued, "He says that because he follows the politics and laws around it all, and by that way - at the moment - there isn't a way it will come down. But we still have hope, because our hope is in a God who is bigger even than that wall." Sitting on a flat roof, surrounded by a thick concrete wall, even taller than where you are sat, on 3 out of 4 sides around you, with soldiers in towers on corners of it waving their guns, you realise how big this hope is. I have been overcome recently, experiencing the joy of Advent; the joy of building towards Christmas, this GREAT celebration recognising God with us. But for a lot of people, Christmas is especially difficult, precisely because this joy is perhaps harder to find. But we still have hope, because our hope is in a God who is bigger even than that wall. At this time of year especially, we should all find reason to renew our hope, even if there seems to be none, for God is with us and is bigger. And this should give us joy, even in sorrow - not necessarily smiles or a bounce in our step, but peaceful joy in response to God giving himself because of his great love for each one of us. Joy when there's sorrow; hope when there is none.
2 Comments
The mysterious 'T'
13/12/2015 22:35:31
That story about the wall is so sad :(
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Rebekah Blyth (Moderator)
13/12/2015 23:35:34
It is. But it also tells a story of great faith, which can be an encouragement to anyone going through hard times. That said, the whole Israel-Palestine current situation is incredibly sad; and having faith in a God who is bigger than that situation doesn't mean we shouldn't stand up against the oppression and injustice happening there. On the contrary, it gives us the confidence to. :-)
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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