The Creator and the Creation

Festival for Andrew the Apostle

Psalm 19.1-6│Isaiah 52.7-10│Romans10.12-18│Matthew 4.18-22

Psaumes 19.1-6 |Ésaïe 52.7-10 |Romains 10.12-18 |Matthieu 4.18-22

The Creator and the Creation

God reaches out to us through the splendour of His creation. God reveals himself to us, is at work, in His creation. He reveals himself and comes close to us through the words of the prophets, through those bringing good tidings. God reaches out, in person, in the second person of the Trinity, speaking directly to the first disciples, transforming their lives, filling them with purpose, abundance. God reaches out to us through the work and witness of those disciples and of those who followed, who kept God’s word alive, lived it and passed it on. God reaches out to us, knocks on our door, makes his home with us, imbues our lives with meaning.

 

But the world can be overwhelming; the universe a cold place; events, pandemics, the politics of exclusion and hatred too distressing, and I struggle sometimes to sense this God who makes his home with me.

 

And so I pray this Advent: 

May the Spirit of God open our eyes to God’s splendour manifest in creation. May God’s Spirit bring to life Jesus’ words within us. May God’s Spirit enable us to recognise our Creator, to acknowledge, praise and love Him. May we respond to God's glorious and generous revelation.

                                                     Floris Faber

 

Collect for Andrew the Apostle: Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ and brought his brother with him: call us by your holy word, and give us grace to follow you without delay and to tell the good news of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

'St Peter and St Andrew', by Peter Koenig, 20th centuryFrom Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=53991 [retrieved November 27, 2021]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairity/152419210/.

Le Fils de l’homme est maître du sabbat │The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath

 

Psaumes 50│ Ésaïe 25.1-9│ Apocalypse 19│ Matthieu 12.1-21

Psalm 50 | Isaiah 25.1-9 | Revelation 19 | Matthew 12.1-21

  

Le Fils de l’homme est maître du sabbat │The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath

 

'Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David' by Aert de Gelder (Dutch, 1645 - 1727). 

Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

Devons-nous arrêter nos activités le jour de sabbat ? 

 

Mattieu souligne qu’à l’époque de Jésus, le jour de sabbat était scrupuleusement respecté par beaucoup de gens qui obéissaient ainsi à la loi (aller au temple, faire des sacrifices, ne pas travailler). Cependant Jésus sort de ce cadre, ce qu’il a fait plusieurs fois, disant aux gens que respecter la loi n’allait pas les sauver mais que le fait de recevoir la miséricorde Dieu était plus important.

 

Respecter le sabbat en arrêtant ses activités est pratiqué encore dans certains coins du monde par certaines communautés religieuses qui suivent à la lettre les écritures saintes. Alors devons-nous nous poser la question si « respecter de tradition est plus important que de recevoir la grâce ou faire du bien autour de soi ce jour-là, pour nous le dimanche en l’occurrence » ?

 

Je répondrais que le respect de la tradition ne doit pas nous empêcher de recevoir la miséricorde de Jésus dans nos cœurs. Nous sommes le temple de Dieu et je rejoins Jésus qui dit que « la foi et la miséricorde sont plus importantes… ». 

 

Sans la miséricorde de Dieu que se serait-il passé pour les personnes qui ont été forcées de quitter leurs traditions à cause de guerres pour se retrouver dans d’autres traditions auxquelles elles doivent s’adapter ?

 

Qui pouvait imaginer que le Covid allait bouleverser nos vies, nos traditions et nous confiner dans nos maisons comme si tous les jours devenaient sabbat ?

 

Jésus s’est sacrifié, et avec lui sacrifices et rituels ont été attachés à la croix, ainsi en toutes circonstances nous pouvons vivre la miséricorde et la grâce divines et prier à tout moment et en tout lieu. Ceux qui savent respecter le sabbat qu’ils le fassent car c’est important d’aller à l’église et ceux qui ne le savent pas à cause de leur métier (infirmières, médecins, pompiers etc.) qu’ils fassent le bien autour d’eux. Car nous suivons le Maître du sabbat qui veut déposer sa miséricorde dans nos cœurs et nous guider, surtout en ce moment de l’Avent qui prépare Noël.

 

Batiga Marie Léonille

The in-between

 

Sunday 28 November, First Sunday of Advent

Psalm 25.1-9│Jeremiah 33.14-16│1 Thessalonians3.9-13│Luke 21.25-36

Psaumes 25.1-9| Jérémie 33.14-16 |1 Thessaloniciens 3.9-13|Luc 21.25-36

The in-between

 

‘It is Advent,’ Fleming Rutledge writes, ‘the deepest place in the church year.’ Advent is the space in which the church exists. Or rather, we exist between two advents: Jesus Christ has come once before, and Jesus Christ will come again.

 

As we read the passages for today, we’re invited to reflect on our own situations. The Gospel is a crisis text: it speaks of the second advent of Christ as a time of great distress, when ‘people will faint from fear and foreboding’. With an ongoing global pandemic, political unrest around the globe, environmental disasters, this text sounds uncomfortably familiar. Taken together, the readings offer a collection of stabilizing practices for destabilizing times: observe the signs around you, be on guard, pray for strength, let go of the weight of sin and the worries of this life, increase in love for one another and for all. Which of these stands out to you? Are there walls that you would like to break down? Where do you find hope?

 

Keeping Advent is a way of ‘being in the in-between’. Each one of us has areas of life where we feel in-between, where we haven’t reached the place of stability we long for: whether that’s in our relationships, family, employment, purpose, health, finances. Perhaps one of the practices above can provide support. Especially in crisis, we wait, watch, and practice paying attention to the small stirrings of the Kingdom of God, confident that God will strengthen our hearts with holiness.

 

So we pray in the in-between, Almighty God, as your kingdom dawns, turn us from the darkness of sin to the light of holiness, that we may be ready to meet you in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Annie Bolger