Fr Harry's Sermon– Sunday 23rd January 2005

What follows is the sermon, believe it or not - I prefer to talk about a ramble through the readings at Mass this morning; but to save you from burning your Sunday lunch or whatever - anybody got a watch on? Somebody must have a watch on - good - would you be timekeeper & kind enough to flay me down after 5 minutes? - O.K. whether we finish or not - right O.K.

We start with Isaiah - this is where the children's' liturgy are starting this morning. All this business about people who have walked in darkness & seen a great light - all those who live in a land of deep shadow & light that shone. The background to that reading is, that it is relating to the ten northern tribes - two I mention, Zebulon & Naphtali - they were way up there north of Galilee. The reference really is to the fact that they had been occupied, by the Assyrians, they've lost everything, their homes, farms; you name it, they've lost it. They're desperate & the language at the end, where God promises that He's going to do something about it, He's going to lift the yoke that is weighing them down; the bar across their shoulders; the rod of the oppressor, the Assyrians. These you break as on the day of Midian (a reference to a great victory they had over their enemies) - you read it in the Book of Numbers - the victory at Midian. So it's a pretty bleak outlook really for the people who are living at that time, the northern tribes.
The two southern tribes got their turn about seventy years later, this time it was the Babylonians who moved in, sacked Jerusalem & carted them off into exile. In the midst of all this Yaweh says the light is coming. I will rescue you.

If we jump to the Gospel today - you may not have thought of it this way - Jesus' first day at work. Strange, thirty years he was hanging around Nazareth & now He gets underway, with the job that His Father has sent Him to do. Which we are told, by Matthew, in the Gospel, that Jesus is underway around the Sea of Galilee, up North; the area that Isaiah is talking about in the first reading. Prior to Jesus, Cousin John (the Baptist), has been preparing the people. John's in the 'dark'; he isn't the 'light', &, in the 'dark', John is saying repent, because of one who is coming, that God has promised to send - the 'light' that comes into this world - & the 'darkness' cannot overcome it. Here's Jesus underway & His first message - repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand - repent; change your way of life, radically; rip the selfish inside out & let God in there. Why, because the Kingdom of God is round the corner - that's the 'light.

It doesn't end there; we see at the end of the Gospel this morning, Jesus is on a recruiting campaign; he involves other people, in the work of proclaiming the Kingdom; two sets of brothers - Peter & Andrew; James & John (the sons of Zebedee); they're roped in (How am I doing on time? O.K., that's not an answer - how many minutes? 21/2 left - I'm up to speed then - right) So, He ropes in other people, as well as those two sets of brothers.

In the second reading (they are all connected this morning), what do we find? Paul; Paul writing to very new Christians, in his church in Corinth, & it's only the beginning of the letter O.K., but what is Paul saying? He's saying that Christ didn't send me to baptise; He sent me to preach the Good News, to bring you the Good News. The Good News that God's Kingdom is established in His Son, Jesus - the Light that has come into the World of darkness. That's a fairly straightforward message, that's what Paul has to do; he's reminding them, in other words, of that message. Various things have started going wrong with his church, in Corinth; & so he says; "I beg you, I appeal to you; make up the differences between you. Instead of disagreeing among yourselves, be united again in your belief & in your practice; make up the differences between you. The only thing that matters is Christ, the Light, that the Father sends to us, not our particular interests or groups or anything else. It doesn't matter, it's not important; the only thing that is important is - repent -change your way of life; radically, to God's way".

That must be 5 minutes- right if you stand we will say the Creed together.

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