Sermon: Epiphany

Date Preached: Sunday 3rd January 2010

Bible Reference: John Chapter 1 verses 10-18

As the world slips hesitantly into the fresh measurement of what it means to enter a new year, the Church begins again to think about the ministry of Jesus Christ. Next Sunday begins our Epiphany season that starts with Jesus’ baptism by John and it’s the beginning of a story that changes the lives of millions of people who hear to it – (or rather who listen to it.) But already, today, we’re in the seasonal mood for new beginnings, announcing that the good news is starting to unfold – right here, right now.

As we’ve been considering again the familiar nativity story, it’s incredible that all this happened over the same biblical landscape where we’ve watched rockets and missiles fall, landing on towns long familiar from Scripture stories – like Bethlehem - in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian town under Israeli control – a place still full of tension.  Let’s remember that Jesus was born in an occupied land and knew what it was like to be refugee in Egypt.  So from lots of different understandings and points of view the world longs to see a very different kind of new beginning in the near East, in the Holy Land – or the land of the Holy One – longing to see peace, salaam, shalom. And surely we too  want to see the same well-being breaking into our community here in ‘the Lord’s Meadow’ that is Waunarlwydd.

(Now) there’s been plenty of time to think about all this recently as (no doubt) we’ve found ingenious ways of finishing off the turkey (!) - and when we bring feelings of tiredness, helplessness and inadequacy to our worship after all the exertions and pressures, we can be comforted by the sense of what we might yet be able to do and be together in our own tiny, individual and passionate way – if only God gets his way in us – because we all know (fine well) that, left to our own devices, nothing much is going to change.

The Apostle Paul reminds us of the riches of Christ’s glorious grace and the basis we have for hope in the extract we have from his letter to the churches in Ephesus.

But this word ‘Grace’. What is it? It’s a word we use a lot in church circles. It’s when we know a meeting’s over because we say ‘The Grace’ together. We say Grace before meals. But what does it mean? Roger Federer has been described as ‘graceful’ when he plays tennis – and do you remember the time when you could delay taxing the car because you’d be given ‘30 days’ grace’? (Not any more! There’s been a white van on Victoria Road over Christmas with a conspicuous yellow notice saying “untaxed vehicle”!). But all of today’s readings hint at something lovely, something right/righteous, something completely undeserved, something that belongs to God, but something that he lavishes upon us.

Whether we like it or not Celebrity Come Dancing is now a part of our cultural diet. And Jane Williams the theologian has a lovely way of likening ‘grace’ to a dance:

“God has designed his world as a great dance of grace and life, with parts written in for us from the beginning. These parts we are to learn by watching and imitating Christ, the principal dancer. We’re not, initially, very good dancers. We are quite clumsy, and we can’t hear the music very well. But that’s all right, because God has designed the dance to accommodate us, and varied the music, so that there are whole sequences that are appropriately danced by lumbering creatures and toddlers like ourselves. The music and choreography is designed to make us look natural and graceful, in the right place at the right time, even if we ourselves have only the haziest notion of what we’re supposed to be doing. The principal dancer (Jesus) works around us, weaving our well-meaning efforts into the whole, drawing us out and responding to us, making us look good with his own, gloriously graceful, dancing. Gradually our confidence builds, and we begin to invite others from the audience to join in. We give them our understanding of the shape and flow of the dance and encourage them to experiment, as we have, to respond to the music and the principal dancer and begin to build their own style into the dance.”

Have you ever thought of Christian faith and relationship with God as a dance? May I suggest it’s a much better idea than having to be good and follow certain rules and regulations, don’t you think?

Of course (as Jane goes on to say) “it’s perfectly clear that the whole conception and execution of the dance stands or falls with the choreographer, the musician and the principal dancer. Without them, there would be nothing. But their enjoyment comes from our participation. We can carry the Spirit of the music in our hearts and our heads and as we hear it, we begin to see the magnificent design of the whole dance, and to know and trust in our own part in it. We become graceful with God’s own grace, because he has specifically designed the dance to suit our abilities and enhance them.”

As I was preparing for today I thought what a great picture – and it hints at the fun and hilarity to be had by joining in (like the Davies family game of lah-de-dah we played on Boxing Day!). And it’s the mood we need to pick up on this first Sunday of 2010.

But the gospel writer John’s slightly more sombre picture is of those sitting around the stage and refusing to join in. Some no doubt are puzzled, some intrigued, some are openly sneering at the failings of the dancers. Others aren’t looking at all, and haven’t even noticed there’s a dance going on. Still others think that the principal dancer is doing it all wrong and is deliberately ruining an old traditional dance, and they’re trying hard to disparage what’s going on and discourage people from getting involved and joining in.

Well more fool them! Those who do join in soon find that they’re working, for the first time in their lives, with someone who can really teach them how to be graceful. “He’s endlessly patient, and he seems to know exactly what each person is capable of and how to bring the best out of each one. Instead of hogging the limelight…with his own superb dancing, he puts all his energies into helping all the dancers look wonderful. Some have been trying all their lives to dance, but never had anyone to show them how before Christ came. He’s the only one who has ever been able to show them how to move gracefully and respond to the music.”

Here’s the thing about grace if we can possibly get it this New Year morning: God adores the dance. He designed it from the beginning specifically for us.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit – choreographer, dancer, music maker – have worked out a dance between them that is just right for us – one in which every one will be graceful.

“Dancing together, watching the Son, listening to and moving with the Spirit, we find our own freedom and gracefulness for the first time. We never thought we had it in us, and to begin with we have to accept it as a gift, but soon it becomes so utterly natural to us. We are doing what we were born to do, and giving joy to God as we do it.

So let’s remember that these are promises that come hand-in-hand with the invitation to the dance. And I’ll finish with these verses from Jeremiah that echo the hope and joy we can know as God’s own people (have a look at them:

They will be [utterly miserable??] – oh no - radiant because of the Lord’s good gifts - the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the healthy flocks and herds. Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone. The young women will dance for joy, and the men - old and young - will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing. [I specially like this next bit..]The priests will enjoy abundance, and my people will feast on my good gifts. I, the Lord, [the Lord of the Dance] have spoken. Amen