Sermons - October 2023

ST. COLUMBA'S, PONT STREET
SUNDAY 15th OCTOBER 2023 11.00 A.M.
(20th SUNDAY after PENTECOST)

“Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth:
It will be said on that day,
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:8b-9

Writing yesterday on his daily blog, Swallows Nest,  Church of Scotland minister Tom Gordon,  reflected on his friend and fellow minister, the late David Ogston. Ogston was a brilliant, creative wordsmith – both poet and preacher. In Tom Gordon’s eyes, his friend was a confident, well-rounded and efficient person.  However, Gordon recalled being surprised to hear Ogston speak one day,  about a recurrent nightmare, relating to the very thing that was his particular gift: (The nightmare) of staring at a blank sheet of paper in his typewriter,  right up to the time he was due to leave for church to preach his Sunday sermon,  because, as he said, “he had nothing to say.”

Yesterday, Tom Gordon, confessed a similar feeling:
Feeling compelled to write something about the situation in Israel-Palestine,  but staring at a blank screen.

“I could say a lot! I could condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas.  I could rail against long-standing illegal oppression by Israel in the West Bank and in Gaza. But I can’t. It’s not my nightmare, as I stare at a blank page.  It’s the nightmare of war that leaves me with no words.

So, I weep. I cry in despair with those who have lost their homes and their loved ones.  I am consumed with anger because of the hopelessness I feel,  and the hellishness of the effects of the destruction I see. I have no words.  So, I will pray in silence, and I invite you to do so too …”

Other voices this week have also wrestled with the responsibility  of trying to say something about, or to, the human condition.

The Church of Scotland issued a letter updating on the situation for its staff in Israel: Two Mission Partners, Rev Dr Stewart Gillan in Jerusalem,  and Rev Muriel Pearson in Tiberias.  As well as around 160 locally employed staff,  at properties in Tiberias, Jerusalem, and Jaffa-Tel Aviv.

“At this time, our prayers are for all of those affected by these horrendous events.  They are with the families of those killed, both in Israel and in Gaza.
They are with those who have been taken hostage.
They are with those dealing with the decisions to be made in the days ahead.
There can be no peace without justice,
and we all must do what we can to bring justice,
to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza.”

Rev Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martins-in-the-Fields contrasted anger and rage. Anger, he suggested can be a constructive emotion,  stirring us from distraction and self-absorption to an acute awareness of wrong done. Rage is something different – red mist descends, incandescent,  desire for vengeance unrestrained.  Only through destruction can justice be restored, and fury satisfied. Rage is exhilarating. Accompanied by its sense of unquestionable righteousness.

Wells, quoting Jesus’ words, “I came not to bring peace but a sword,” says he hears those words as a warning against a sentimental peace; the sword, an instrument that divides anger from rage.

If rage obliterates - misguidedly believing, that will resolve everything, in contrast, anger can stir to action:
“… the brokering of ceasefire,
the measured and even-handed witness of the wider community,
the holding to account of wrongs done,
the patient hearing out of resentments and fears,
the finding of a path through to mutual security, dignity,
respect and hope.”

St Columba’s member, Rev Alistair Cumming,  spoke yesterday at a meeting of the Presbytery of England & the Channel Islands.  He returned from a visit to the Church of Scotland staff in Israel,  two days before the start of recent events. One of the visits undertaken was to the Tent of Nations. (William spoke of it recently.) A Palestinian run organic farm, southwest of Bethlehem,  where people from across dividing lines of nationality and religion are encouraged to meet, work together and learn from each other. Their vision:

“In the face of great injustice, we know that we should not hate, despair or flee.
We refuse to be enemies,
and we try to transform our pain and frustration into positive actions
that will help us to create a better future.”
Having shared communion with him,
Alistar heard words from the Tent of Nations Director, he says he will not forget:
“You can fight, or be a victim, or have hope. I choose to have hope.”

Writer, Rhidian Brook, who spoke at St Columba’s some years ago,  has also just returned from a year living in Jerusalem.  With the semblance of an ancient psalm, he began his Thought for the Day (Radio 4):

“While people argue about the equivalence of Israel and Gaza,
the blood of children cries out.
While generals plan counter offensives and politicians draw red lines in the sand,
the blood of children cries out.
If we could pause long enough amid the rage what would we hear?”

In answer to that question Brook quoted an Israeli friend whose son was killed by a Palestinian sniper in 2002 – the bereaved parent was clear: “They are screaming from their coffins, look what you did to us.  Stop the killing. Don’t do it again. Don’t do it in my name.”

Brook’s Israeli friend is part of a remarkable group called the Parent Circle,  a bereavement group for Israeli and Palestinian families. At the Parent Circle the Israeli met a Palestinian,  whose daughter, aged ten, was shot by an Israeli soldier.  Remarkably, they refused to be enemies,  when the world was telling them they should be.  They have become friends/family.  They have used their pain to campaign against the cycle of violence.

“You have to understand where the violence comes from.
Will my actions lead to the death of more children?
To take revenge would be like killing (my) own children.”

Isaiah’s words this morning spoke both of ruined cities and a city raised up. Written at the time of Jewish exiles returning from Babylon to Jerusalem, He offers a surprising vision, a discovery of how things might be. Provision and generosity, not just for a chosen people, but all people.
On this mountain, a feast of rich food, well-matured wines,
food filled with marrow, well-matured wines strained clear.
for all peoples.

If the news coverage of this week’s unfolding events
has left us with all with the feeling of holding blank sheets,  maybe that is the right first response,  but may we also heed the voices that say: It is not the last or lasting response:

So, if you have no words: pray in silence.
Or pray for the strength for yourself and others, to refuse to be enemies.
Find out more about the Tent of Nations.
Donate to the relief effort.
Be more aware/open to your neighbours – Muslim or Jewish.
And hope:
Hope in the prophet promise: that ultimately the thing destroyed,  will not be one people or another, but rather the shroud/darkness  that covers over all the peoples, all the nations.

Then seek the time, in line with God’s will,
“…when the tears will be wiped from all faces,
the disgrace of God’s people, taken away from the earth.
And on that day, it will be said:
This is our God, for whom we have waited.
Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”