Sermon preached at Bradford Cathedral by Canon Williams

Bible Sunday 26 October 2008 - 10:15 Holy Communion

Col 3:12-17 & Matt 24:30-35

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you.

From our Epistle, Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” And earlier, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” So this morning, a question for us to ponder. What is the ‘word’ we allow to dwell in us? What is the ruling word within us? What message about the world around us and our response to it do we carry within us? And does it give us peace? Be thankful, says Paul. Does the word we carry cause us to be thankful? So what story, what narrative do we believe to be truth?

Words can both carry truth and give birth to truth. On Tuesday this week, 1 man spoke words, and what he said carried truth, but it caused that truth to be more real. Speaking in Leeds, Mervyn King, used the "R" word, the first high level policymaker to do so. He said: "indeed, it now seems likely that the UK is entering a recession". Of course, he was speaking truth, but political and economic commentators said that hearing the Governor of the Bank of England say it has brought the reality of it closer. He is in a position to know, so any residue confidence in the markets drains away.

‘In the beginning, the earth was an empty void and darkness covered the face of the deep. Then God said ‘Let there be light’ and there was light.’ God spoke and His word brought into being what he spoke. ‘In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth’. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

“My words will not pass away. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

The short Gospel reading this morning is part of a longer passage which makes difficult reading. But let’s not just read it, let’s try and hear it. Let’s put ourselves in the position of the Jews in the 1st Century listening to what this unusual young Rabbi was saying. We never hear things cleanly, we already have our minds stuffed with ideas and what we believe to be ‘truth’ – so how does what we are hearing now fit in with the truths we have already accepted? As Matthew presents it, this is a conversation between Jesus and his disciples, started when they had come out of the Temple and they were admiring its grandeur and beauty. So take ourselves there now. This IS a fine building, a beautiful building. As a Jew it makes me proud to see visitors travelling from far and wide to gaze in awe at this building. But more than that, it stands for security. We are Yahweh’s people, chosen from all other nations. We have an agreement with Him. He has promised to meet his people here, to inhabit this place of worship and honour our sacrifices. Its very presence speaks of promise and peace. And even though we can’t be in Jerusalem all the time, we carry the message of the Temple within us always. Its story – its history and its meaning, its narrative nourishes us within. So it is hard to hear what the Master is saying now. That one day, and within our lifetime, this will be destroyed, stone by stone. Can he truly mean what he says, that the holiest of holies will be desecrated? Please God, no. Well, we know that the prophets warned that the covenant works both ways, that if as His people, we fail to listen to Him, and persist in sin and rebellion, then he would withdraw His presence leaving the building defenceless. But can that really be about to happen, before this generation passes away?

Let’s move forward in time 40 years. By this time the disciples had made sense of Jesus’ warnings. Jesus had spoken judgement on the Temple and the truth he spoke, saw that truth brought into being. Just a few years after, in AD 40 the emperor Gaius Caligula tried to place a huge statue of himself within the Temple. Whilst that action failed, 30 years later Roman legions stormed Jerusalem and installed their own blasphemous standards in the Holy Temple. And for the Jewish people living there, it was as if Heaven and earth had passed away. But the words of Jesus had not; he had been mocked and scorned for his warnings, but now he was vindicated. And it is because he was vindicated that his words are to be taken seriously. What he was telling his disciples was that He (and not the Temple) was now the place where God meets with them. The glory of God is now not in the holy Temple, it is in Himself. ‘We have seen his glory, the glory of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth’. And this glory, unlike the Temple, cannot be destroyed. ‘Destroy this Temple, and in 3 days it will be raised again…my words will never pass away.’

Here is a narrative that is living, here is a word which gives life, here is a message to allow room within us, to let it dwell in us richly.

Today, in October 2008, we need more than ever to take care of what message we carry within us. These are troubling times. The Temples of capitalism are crumbling. But our hope should never be in them anyway, so let’s be careful about letting the news be the dominant narrative we carry within us; it will rob us of our hope. A woman I know who lives alone and listens to the radio a lot said to me once: ‘I make myself ration the news I listen to. I find if I listen to the headlines every hour it weighs me down, it depresses me’. So Paul’s advice is timely: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” and “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” This message is actually spoken, not to individuals, but to the church. The context in which Paul says this is about the way we relate to each other. It is about building a beautiful community, not a beautiful building. Christ dwells in his body, His people. The Glory of God is in Christ and Christ is seen by the world through His Body. If ever we give more attention to the externals of faith - to our schemes, our projects our buildings - than we do to the quality of our relationships maybe we should not be surprised if God’s presence seems to have withdrawn.

As individuals, we are invited to make sure that God’s word has a chance to live and breathe and grow within us, and through that to develop a thankful disposition. As a community, there are two ways in which the word of Christ dwells.

Firstly in our worship, as we ‘sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God’.

Secondly in the way we relate to each other. ‘Bear with 1 another, says Paul, forgive one another… above all clothe yourselves with love’. The character of Christ’s Body is to reflect His character. God is known through His Word, and Christ is the fullest expression of His Word. Christ expresses the truth of God and brings that truth into being. Now His Body is called to do the same, to express His truth, His beauty, and to embody His Glory. So may the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and may the word of Christ dwell in us richly, now and always. Amen.
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