Sermon Tone Analysis

lass=MsoNormal>It comes as no surprise to anyone that today is known as the 1st Sunday after Christmas.

A day that has become known as one of the “Low Sundays”

                        The Sunday after Christmas and after Easter are the two “Low Sundays” of the year

                                    With all the excitement *that* the high holidays bring

                                                - the follow up to that, is a naturally… a let down

                                                            - a time of recuperation

            This year with Christmas day landing on Friday

It means that only three days ago you were here for the biggest Christian celebration of the year

It is certainly understandable that the Sunday following Christmas Friday will be a low Sunday

But it is precisely at these “low days” of the year where how you live out your life in faith really characterize your “relationship with Christ” - our Lord and Saviour

                       

                        These are the days of character building

                       

It reminds me of a billboard that I used to pass by most days when I lived in Hamilton - it said:

 

                                                /6am// practices lead to 7pm games/

/ /

Now we are not involved in “competing” *where* what we do results in a trophy

            But we are *training*

                        We are *conditioning*

                                    We are *journeying* along a path with a goal in vision

            That goal is a “life in Christ”

                        And the vision is for both the *journey* and the *outcome*

                                    As it is written in the Lord’s prayer

 

                                    /“on earth - as it is in heaven”/

 

The readings for the day are ideal for this particular day and this time of the year

            The last Sunday of the year - marking an ending

But also the first Sunday after we celebrate the incarnation - God coming as Emmanuel - God with us

            Time when we think about *Beginnings* and *endings*

                        - and how we will live…

                                    “all the *life* in the middle”

 

It is also a day where I will have the incredible privilege of baptizing two new members into God’s family

 

This too is remarkably timed

 

The Old Testament reading tells of Samuel who was a miracle baby

            His mother Hannah was one of two wives of Elkanah, and she was unable to get pregnant

One year on the annual pilgrimage to the Temple, she prayed to God that *if* she became pregnant that she would dedicate the child to God

God bless her with Samuel and after being weaned he was dedicated to God and raised in the temple by Eli the priest

 

Samuel became an incredible figure in Ancient Jewish and Christian history

            As the last of the “Judges” that ruled Israel

The one that choose (guided by God) both their first King - Saul and their greatest King – David - King David who is the patriarch of the messianic line

                                    And of course ancestor of Jesus

….Our OT reading today closes with

 

/Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people./

/ /

Our Gospel reading from Luke today tells part of the story of the greatest gift the world has ever seen

            The miracle baby - Jesus - born of a virgin

                        Tells the story of how Mary and Joseph made an annual pilgrimage - as usual

                                    This time with a 12 year old Jesus who stays behind and

/ /

/After three days /(in great anxiety) /they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers/

/ /

Our reading today closes with

/            Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in divine and human favor/

 

In both stories we have:

            A miracle baby - a gift from God

            A devoted religious yet humble family

            An annual pilgrimage

            A child in the temple

                        - in service for others

            being *discipled - trained - conditioned - growing*

                        /both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people./

Samuel, one of the greatest figures of Christian history was taught

            And grew in faith

Jesus, *God in the flesh* was taught

            And grew in wisdom and stature

 

God, through the writers of scriptures, sends us a clear message

            ….All creation is on a journey …

                        We are all in need of being taught - being discipled

                                    Even the giants of our faith were once discipled

 

What an incredible message for a time of *Beginnings* and *endings*

-          But most importantly for how we will live “all the *life* in the middle”

-          and what a great message for a baptism

Because in baptism not only is a child brought into the church

            - but parents - Godparents and the whole congregation present

                        make significant promises for *“a life in faith”* - *“A life in Christ”*

 

It has been said that “it takes a community to raise a child”

            And the church is the special community in which God “is the author”

                        We are all on a journey

                                    A journey discipled in community

 

It has been observed that the entire book of Luke is structured as a journey, as Jesus travels from Galilee to Jerusalem in important stages in his life

As a Baby - then young adult - finally His adult ministry

Luke arranged the material to communicate his message.

This suggests that the journey in Luke is more than just a physical journey,

            and the setting is more than geographical.

The reading tells us that Mary and Joseph made an annual pilgrimage

But it is in the 13th year of Jesus life that we have the *only* glimpse into his upbringing in Jewish culture during the 13th year a child went through a Bar Mitzvah and was considered *an adult* for the purposes of accountability and responsibility under the law

                        As now, a legal adult, we see him learning and answering questions

 

An aside that was an incredible discovery for me during my study this week

      (that a male became a full member of the community at age 30) - this is *next* time that we see Jesus

            he starts serving out his adult ministry once he is recognized as a full member of the community

 

Luke also plays with the word father

      For the first time Joseph is referred to by Luke as father not Joseph

            This is done because I believe he wants to show the contrast and the power of Jesus’ statement

/                        “I must be about my Father’s business”/

 

This is a radical call ‘for all of us followers of Jesus’ to discipleship that unfolds from being /"about our Father’s business"/

·         *Let us be about our Father’s business!

*

I have known from an early age that all I wanted to be was a Dad - a parent

o        The reason for that I am sure is complicated but the simplest way I understand it is that, I wanted to share Love and to be loved

Now because I am ordained priest in the Anglican tradition, a title that I am sometimes called is: father

And today we as a congregation are going to welcome a new one into the church

The greatest gift the world has ever seen - is the gift from God our Father to all of humanity when he gave of himself – his one and only Son into the world to be our saviour

·         Today as “father” I get to baptize these precious ones

·         and will be doing "our Father’s business"

·         We will all be doing our Father’s business in the promises that we make as a Church - a Community to help raise these new members to the family /both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people/

·         To bring them into new life in Christ

And what is that “life in Christ”