Sermon Archive
Readings for 2 December 2007
Advent 1
Year A
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!
Romans 13:11-14
You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Sermon
The Rev. Jack Zamboni
You know what time it is. (Romans 13:11)
The Last Battle, the final book in the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, is a great Advent read. It recounts the last days of Lewis’ imagined world and the coming of a new world. Near the end of the book, Narnia’s Christ figure the great Lion, Aslan, calls out,
Time!
TIME.
In the far distance, the children standing with Aslan see the silhouette of the hugest of all giants, blocking the light of the stars as he stands up in response to Aslan’s command. Two of them recognize the giant as Father Time, a figure they had once seen sleeping deep underground and whom they had been told would awake the day the world ended.
Father Time lifts up a horn to his mouth, and blows a blast of “a strange, deadly beauty.” Immediately, the stars begin to fall and Narnia nears its end. Its creatures come face to face with Aslan for final judgment; the mountains fall, the sea covers the land and finally the giant reaches out his hand to squeeze the rising sun to nothing. Narnia is pitched into darkness.
The children have loved this world dearly and they mark its ending with tears, as well they should. Yet even as they grieve, a new reality opens before them. They are invited to journey “further up and further in” to what turns out to be the real Narnia, the new heavens and new earth of a new world in which all that was good and beautiful about the old Narnia has been saved, indeed, restored to fullness of life.
Lewis’ conviction that when the world ends God’s Kingdom will begin is the hope that is at the heart of this First Sunday of Advent -- this season in which we await with hope the ending of the old world and the coming of God’s new creation. Today, I am particularly struck with how this story’s opening words echo St. Paul’s words to the Romans, “You know what time it is.” Aslan’s announces Narnia’s end – and re-creation – by saying:
“Now it is time.”
“Now it is time.”
Lewis wrote knowing as author that it was time for his seven books of Narnia stories to come to a close. He knew also that within the imagined world of Narnia it was time for an end and a new beginning. Lewis knew that in the ways of God and in the life of God’s creation there are moments of time that are opportune for certain things to happen; times for decision, for action, for endings and beginnings.
In New Testament Greek there is a word for such special moments of time: Kairos. Kairos time is “the fullness of time,” the time in which God acts. When Aslan says, “Now it is time,” the Karios moment for the ending of Narnia and its new beginning has come.
Kairos moments come, too, when God’s people recognize it is time to act in response to God’s call. These moments when we know that it is time to act come in all of our lives. Think of the person who, after years in one line of work, recgonizes it is time to go back to school to prepare for the career she’s always dreamed of. I think of someone I know who, after considering ordination for a number of years, has seen that now it is time to enter the formal discernment process. I think, too, of a person who senses it is not yet time to take on a new ministry within the parish he belongs to, but who is seeking in prayer to be open to the kairos moment when it does come.
You might have noticed that these examples all have to do in one way or another with vocation– that sense of direction and calling in life that people of faith seek from God. This is not an accident: questions of vocation and kairos are often intertwined. Much of the discernment we all do about the direction of our lives has to do with discovering when it is time – time for one chapter to end and for another to begin.
Questions about vocation and kairosIn recent months, however, I have come to believe that for the life and ministry of the parish to be renewed, it is time for new leadership. Through prayer and reflection on our life together and in conversation with trusted colleagues, I’ve sensed that I have done the work God has called me to do here as best as I am able. It is now time for me to step aside so that you, God and, in the right time, a new rector can take the next steps in creating a new future for this congregation.
As I’ve sensed that it is time for renewal in the life of the parish, I’ve also sensed that it is time for my own renewal in ministry. I have dearly loved my years with you here at Grace-St. Paul’s, but now it is time for a change for me. Before I retire from full-time ministry, I want the opportunity to serve God and the Church in new places where my gifts can find new expression. I have begun conversation about future possibilities for ministry in our Diocese with Bishop Councell and the Rev. Elizabeth Geitz, Canon for Ministry Development. At present I do not have a call to another parish or other ministry setting, but I trust that God will lead and guide me in my journey into new ministry as I trust also that God will lead and guide you in your journey to renewed ministry.
You may well think that changes in my family life have played a role in this decision, and, of course, they have. Within the past 18 months, Judith and I have been married and my son, Jonathan, has left home for college. These changes have given me the freedom to consider new possibilities for my life. But my belief that it is time for change has primarily to do with my sense of the need for renewal in the life of the parish and in my own ministry. As I have found myself saying to family and colleagues in recent weeks, “It is time for the parish. It is time for me.” It is time.
So now to practicalities. I plan to conclude my ministry as your rector by the end of this program year – most likely in June, 2008. That will give us time to complete planned work together, to prepare for an orderly transition, and to say our good-byes to one another.
Those good-byes will include good-bye also to my dear friend and colleague, Mother Susan. Because we have worked together as team for many years, she and I have long known that we would need to leave the parish together to give you the freedom to discern the future God is calling you to with new clergy leadership. Mother Susan and her husband, Scott, have put into motion long-standing plans to move fully into the retirement that Scott has begun to enjoy the past 9 months. In time, they will relocate to Chincoteague, Virginia, where they have vacationed for many years. Susy has begun to explore part-time ministry possibilities for herself in that area.
The exact timing of when and how each of us will finish our ministries here will be worked out in consultation with the Wardens and will, of course, be communicated to you. The Wardens will also be in contact with Canon Geitz to begin planning for the transition time to come at GraSP.
We will have about 6 months yet to worship, work and play together. This will be a time to celebrate the joys we have shared over the years; to acknowledge the pain of parting; to say “thank you” for the ways we have blessed one another and “I’m sorry” for the times we have failed each other.
For now, I want to thank you for the enormous privilege it has been to serve as priest and rector in this place with you. Thank you for the confidence and trust you have placed in me; for the ways you have loved me; and for the ways you have challenged me. I am grateful for it all. I know Mother Susan would say the same – and surely will, in her own words, in the days ahead.
Most of what I’ve just said is in a letter you will receive shortly by snail mail or email, if I’ve got your address. I know you will need time to absorb and respond to this news and I hope reading over what I’ve told you this morning will help in that process.
But for this morning, this is still a sermon and I want to finish it as such. The message of Advent is that all of Time belongs to God, including beginnings and endings like this. All of the kairos moments of our lives as individuals and congregations are in God’s hands. That is important to remember when faced with kairos moments when one chapter of life ends and another is just beginning – for such moments can be unsettling. Believe me, I find the kairos moment of this morning unsettling, even as I’m sure as I can be that it is, indeed, time.
So it is good to know that in this moment, and in all the moments that will flow from it, we are with God and God is with us. In that knowledge is our hope. Advent’s message that the kairosof God is coming unsettles us – but Advent remains fundamentally a season of hope. The endings that Advent proclaims are always paired with God’ new beginnings, and so I trust it will be for me, for Mother Susan and for Grace-St. Paul’s. We stand at a moment of kairosin our lives, the ending of one chapter and the beginning of chapters yet to be written. But because we live in God’s Time, we can trust that the chapters to come will be filled with blessing, grace and unexpected joy. For Advent hope like this, it is time.
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