Advent Sunday 2014:
Imaginative sympathy and the
power of Christ
We are delighted this morning that Eliza has found her way to St
George’s for baptism, and it has been a great pleasure getting to know
her and all of you as a family over the last few months. It is also very
exciting that she has chosen Advent Sunday to be her occasion of
formally becoming a part of the Christian community. For Advent,
notwithstanding all that’s going on around us pulling us towards
Christmas, is a time of extraordinary energy and urgency.
And we catch a sense of this in our gospel reading from Mark Ch 13
where the writer speaks of a time when, “the sun will be darkened, the
stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be
shaken”, for “then they will see the Son of Man coming with great power
and glory”. It is speaking, therefore, of a time of revelation and new
disclosure from God, through the coming of the Son of Man – when, it is
hoped, there will be an overturning of the existing order so as to
establish something infinitely new and better....
And Mark goes on to tell his
audience, “this generation will not pass away until all these things have
taken place”. Thus, what is being spoken of, from the point of view of
the narrative, is in the NOW! But before the time of revelation, there will
be these great disruptions and tumult and uncertainty.
It is widely thought that the gospel of Mark was written in Rome just
before the catastrophic events of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70,
probably in AD 69. The years coming up to the fall of Jerusalem were a
time of intense political upheaval across the Roman Empire, with
Jerusalem and the surrounding region being the focus for some of the
sharpest impact. And the violence and intensity of these events is
captured graphically by Simon Sebag Montefiore in his book ‘Jerusalem
– the Biography’ which some may have read. In these latter years of the
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reign of the emperor Nero, there was a potent mix of Roman
oppression, the capricious and compromised rule of the Herodians in
Judea and Galilee and the activities of multiple insurgent groups, vying
for supremacy and notoriety. It is very likely, therefore, that when Mark
writes about the suffering and the tumult, he is reflecting this political
climate of instability and alarm, especially as it affected the early
Christians. When, theologically, he connects this with a future hope for a
time of the re-establishing of the rule of the Son of Man, we see how
these first Christians longed for another world – a world where, once
again, the values and priorities of the kingdom of God, and the reign of
their Saviour would prevail. In the meantime, the only thing that could be
depended on was that, “my words will not pass away”. “Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”.
Mark Ch 13 is an example of the ‘apocalyptic’ genre that is to be found
in different parts of the bible. Characteristically, as we have seen, it
speaks of future revelation, and indeed consolation, as this relates to
extremes of repression or trauma or constraint in the present. In so far
as our own political landscape has not for many decades exposed
Britons to these kind of conditions, we are likely to find this literature and
its concerns both strange and remote. And yet we can perhaps, through
an imaginative leap, capture the sense of urgency and of longing for the
rule and reign of Christ that communicates itself through this kind of
writing. And there are two ways in which I think we can benefit by giving
it our consideration. The first is through what I would call ‘imaginative
sympathy’ for others whose experience comes close to the traumas or
deprivations or oppressions out of which an apocalyptic outlook is born.
In the present we might think, for example, of the minority communities
of Northern Iraq and Syria, including there many Christian communities,
for whom we have been praying these last weeks, and lighting the
justice candle, who have faced intense assault, violence and loss of
life, property and livelihoods. They have been plunged into a living
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nightmare and there is little doubt, it seems to me, that they will long for
a day when the Son of Man, “sends out his angels and gathers his elect
from the four winds”. Only something completely new can restore
confidence and hope. Our Advent urgency for the new reign of Christ
can lead us, then, to re-double our prayers and actions for an end to the
present madness and the establishment of something new and better.
This latter example requires imaginative sympathy to a great extent for
those we consider ‘part of us’ – for many are fellow Christians.
To take a different situation,
it is likely to be more difficult for us to feel imaginative sympathy, for
example, for Russians in eastern Ukraine. From the perspective of the
alliance of the UK with the present Ukranian government, the Russian
action of entering Ukraine is an unjustified act of aggression. In terms of
international law it is probably this already. To many Russians, however,
it is a matter of righting the wrongs of history – for from their
perspective, their rights were violated decades ago when what they
considered to be their own territory was once annexed and taken away.
It is a difficult question to face as to what our Advent urgency for the
reign of Christ should lead us to pray for in this situation. But perhaps it
asks of us that, at the least, we take the trouble to listen very carefully to
where people are coming from and how their present actions or stances
have been shaped and influenced.
Imaginative sympathy, especially as this leads to prayer that is
meaningful, is something that Advent invites us to cultivate. It can lead
us towards a deeper grasp of what a commitment to common humanity
really demands of us. And one day, I hope that Eliza will grow to
become someone whose depth of humanity in Christ, will allow her to
feel for and pray for her fellows in ways that reflect a commitment to the
flourishing of the whole human family.
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The second thing that strikes me about today’s Advent longing for the
rule of Christ, is that we should never let it die – for the simple reason
that it is through Christ that we are transformed – both individually and
corporately! In our verses from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we
hear him speak of the transformation that has taken place for the
believers of this community. “I give thanks to God always for you
because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus,
for in every way you have been enriched in him”. This is a fine testimony
to the power of Christ at work in people. For what we should remind
ourselves of, is that these Corinthians, Paul knows very well, are far
from perfect. Later in the letter he will refer to them as “you wretched
Corinthians!” and will berate them for their factionalism and lack of
mutual sympathy. And yet right at the beginning here he declares
without reservation, that notwithstanding their human frailty, they are
Christ’s and they have been renewed in Christ. “He will strengthen you
to the end”, says Paul, “so that you will be blameless on the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ”!! The rule and reign of Christ in their hearts and lives
has changed them for ever! And it is in this promise of a new life in
Christ that we rejoice today with Eliza as she embraces it for herself –
and as her parents and godparents embrace it on her behalf.
Our readings today suggest that the transformational power of Christ is
both political and personal. My prayer for Eliza today is that she will one
day come to express for herself first of all that gift of ‘imaginative
sympathy’ that allows our prayer and our living to acquire a new
appraisal of others, especially in their suffering and constraint, and can
lead the way to a fresh understanding of common humanity. I pray also
that she will never need to doubt that in Christ she is made new, and in
Christ she is forever renewed and strengthened, come what may! May
she always be awake to these rich gifts of God’s Holy Spirit – and the
rest of us with her!
Reverend Julian Francis 30.11.2014.
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