The Hour of the Unexpected

Nov 29^th, 2020

1 Cor 1:1-9

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

² To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— ⁶ God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. ⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸ He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

^{Mark 13: 24-27}

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^[a]

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it^[b] is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert^[c]! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

Isaiah 64 

 

^[3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
⁴ Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
⁵ You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
    who remember your ways…

⁸ Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
    We are the clay, you are the potter;
    we are all the work of your hand.
⁹ Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.

 

 

** 30 Doughnut Days later…

·        We are fully aware of the dangers and implications in not being watchful – our lockdowns and restrictions have been lessons in patient endurance –compliance and non-compliance!

·        We now have our masks ever at the ready and our awareness of social distancing is built in to our everyday behaviour

·        The unenviable alternative is fully obvious in other places where infection rates are out of control…

 

Today is the first Sunday of Advent – a season of preparation and watchfulness, of hope and expectation.  Beginning the season of Advent with passages about the second coming reminds us that the work of the first advent (coming) of Jesus is not complete. The risen Jesus instructs (and empowers) the church to continue its witness until the second coming (Matthew 28:16-20).

The Gospel writers had an end-time (apocalyptic) orientation, believing that history is divided into two ages -- a present, evil age that God would soon replace with a new age (often called the realm of God or the realm of heaven). The old age is marked by the presence of Satan and the demons, and by idolatry, sin, injustice, exploitation, sickness, enmity between nature and humankind, violence, and death. The new age will be characterized by the complete rule of God and the angels, and by authentic worship, forgiveness, mutual support, health, blessing between nature and humankind, and eternal life.

For Matthew & Mark, God is acting through Jesus Christ to effect the change. The birth, life, and resurrection are the first phase of the transformation, with the complete fulfillment arriving with the second coming. The theologians call this A fully realized kind of eschatology.  Meanwhile, the early faith communities lived in a kind of conflict zone between the ages. Again, the Apostles called their communities to follow the instruction and model of Jesus.

Some scholars believe that many amongst those fledging congregations were losing confidence in the coming of the Realm. The apocalypse was delayed. Their witness was fading. Mark wrote to encourage them to continue.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert^[c]! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴

We are reminded that neither the angels nor even Jesus can know the precise time the apocalypse will occur. Only God knows.

Mark reinforces the idea that the community must “be ready.” In this context, to “be ready” is to continue to do what Jesus taught his disciples. The community is to prepare for the final advent less by doing special things and more by living and witnessing as Jesus instructed.

Our liturgical season of Advent is an annual reminder of the importance of faithfully doing what Jesus said... to Be Ready

Jesus calls the disciples, and empowers them, to witness faithfully to God’s ultimate purposes of love, peace, joy, and abundance. Coming to such clarity of thought and action is a powerful way to prepare through Advent.

It’s about being watchful…

If we aren’t watchful, if we aren’t paying attention, we will be taken by surprise when something happens.

** Driving on Advent Roads can be fraught!  Constant Vigilance is needed as traffic assumes a kind of ‘manic’ quality from here to Christmas – it’s even more needed on the bike as Christmas shopping-distracted drivers rarely notice the lone cyclist!

Constant vigilance in our lives too!  This doesn’t mean we can anticipate every difficult event—accident, illness, loss, financial or political upheaval. However, being watchful means being ready, awake, prepared.

** We are certainly grateful for the preparedness and watchfulness of our governments, our health workers and our border security personnel as they have helped navigate the country through these difficult days – they have paid attention and kept watch for us

>>> Paying attention is one of the main Advent challenges and raises questions for us:

·         How can we best Pay attention to the people closest to you. How will you give and receive love in those relationships?

·         How can we best Pay attention to the people you encounter. How might your interactions aim toward being holy moments?

·         How can we best Pay attention to the people least like you. This may be more difficult, but how will you learn from them?

·         How can we best Pay attention to God and to what God is doing in the world. How can you awaken your senses to notice goodness and peace?

·         How can we best Pay attention to yourself. Self-awareness is highly underrated. How will you be awake to your body, soul, spirit, and values during Advent? How will that self-awareness translate into how you spend your time?

We never know what’s going to happen next, but faithful watching can help us be prepared for both the good and the bad, the delightful and the challenging.

Pay attention. And be ready.  John Shea writes in The hour of the unexpected…

Many other things that happen to us in this life are unexpected… First something happens.

 A friend dies; a child smiles us into wonder; an old lady refuses to be old; an adolescent finds a way out; a secret weakness is painfully exposed; we are unexpectedly kissed.

 First something happens.

 A short fall is suddenly without bottom; an expectation is reversed; a comforting self-image is shaken.

 First something happens.

 At the center of our best effort we discover our worst motive. Our perfect plot fails and their sloppiest plan succeeds. In single-minded pursuit of one goal we blithely achieve the opposite. When all retreat at the sight of the dead, we stay and stare and do not know why. First something happens.

 In these moments, and many more, we are thrown back on ourselves. More precisely, we are thrown back into the Mystery we share with one another. These moments trigger an awareness of a More, a Presence, an Encompassing, a Whole within which we come and go. This awareness of an inescapable relatedness to Mystery does not wait for a polite introduction. It bursts unbidden upon our ordinary routine, demands total attention, and insists we dialogue. At these times we may scream or laugh or dance or cry or sing or fall silent. But whatever our response, it is raw prayer, the returning human impulse to the touch of God.

 This is how it was for Jesus. The Kingdom of God which he preached came as a gift, suddenly overtaking the weariness of the soul.

 ·        In farming a barren field, a treasure is stumbled upon; a corner is turned and the perfect pearl is for sale;

·         out of nowhere an invitation to the King's party arrives.

·        The advent of God, even when we are looking for it, is always surprise and any encounter with Jesus always holds the unexpected.

·        To the lawyer who wished justification Jesus gave challenge. The rich young man wanted advice and received an unwanted suggestion.

·        Zacchaeus merely hoped for a glimpse of a prophet yet dined with his savior. The woman at the well came for casual conversation and went away with self-revelation. With Jesus people seldom got what they asked for. They always got more.

 We pray out of more, when our emptiness is suddenly brimming, when our ravaged lives are called to greatness, when we crash into limits and recoil.

 We pray out of our experiences and the Christian Scriptures.

 We place our personal stories within the Spirit-created story of Jesus.

 In this placing, in the interaction of the two stories, the deepest meanings of our lives unfold. We discover ourselves in dialogue with the events generated by Jesus, with the personalities who preceded him in faith (Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah) and those who drew faith directly from him (Peter, Mary, Paul). Like all who encounter the Christian story we are spun around. Old worlds are subverted: new worlds rise from the ruins. We are touched by Love beyond love, aware of life within Life. We are timid people suddenly filled with daring.

 Every word is prayer.

 And we remember… remember the courage of Mary, the betrayal of Peter, the abandonment of Magdalene, the fidelity of God, and the compassion of Christ. At times these prayers directly address God; at other times they do not. Yet all are witnesses to grace, stuttering accounts of the God whose ways are not our ways.

 In the end there is only one justification for these prayers.

 When God either muscles or smuggles his way into our activities, we know all words are betrayals; yet we speak. At that moment prayer is neither guilt nor task but just the word that is there.

And Finally this… in Beyond Words, Frederick Buechner writes:

The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised his baton.

In the silence of a mid-season dusk there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen.

You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff in the air of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you've never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart.

The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment…

But if you concentrate just for an instant, far off in the deeps of yourself somewhere you can feel the beating of your heart. For all its madness and lostness, not to mention your own, you can hear the world itself holding its breath.

 

Psalm 100 1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. 2Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. 

Not been a lot to laugh about in lockdown ! ** Here’s a few covid-cartoons that only resonate because of 2020! 

We’re going to dip into the Psalms today… our first day for a long time of broadcasting from this sacred space – a place that hold a special place in the hearts and faith lives of many who have inhabited this space over many years… it has been a sacred, worshipful and even sacramental space – where lives have been transformed, hearts changed and faith discovered and renewed… 

Commentators also talk about “the sacramental nature" of the Psalter, with its "ability to mould and transform the believer." Others have spoken of the importance of the Psalms in community as they remembered and as they prayed… it seems appropriate that as we emerge from lockdown that we can once more hear these well-known and richly-filled words. The ancient psalmists remind the community to praise God with song, shouts, musical instruments, raised hands, loud voices, dance, twirling, and in silence. Worship throughout the ages affirms that integral connection between God and humanity. Worship hold a unique place in our experience… 

You can almost hear the outbreak of jubilation described in this summons to praise in Psalm 100. This psalm calls the entire community to lift praises to God. On this, Christ the King Sunday, This psalm is the last of a group of what are known as enthronement psalms (93, and 95-99). These psalms celebrate with an understanding that the LORD (Yahweh) is God. The psalm begins with a note that this is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. In ancient Israel, the thanks offering was a voluntary offering given as a sign of gratitude to God. Worshippers are admonished not just to praise God, but to offer praise in a spirit of thanksgiving. 

The psalmist uses seven different verbs to call to the community to worship: make, serve, come, know, enter, give thanks, and bless. Although there are moments when we need to be still and quiet in the presence of the LORD, this is not one of them! Surely the psalmist was imagining what it might sound like when all the earth is praising the LORD at the same time. What a joyful sound, indeed, that would be!

 ** I can remember years ago when we invited the local Pentecostal congregation to join us for a prayer meeting… As we started, all the Baptists were seated around the circle, and all the Pentecostals immediately got up out of their seats and began praying loudly – and all at once!! ** This psalm resonates with sound! This is the kind of praise that so frightened an attacking army it began attacking itself instead of attacking Israel during the reign of King Jehoshaphat. (See 2 Chronicles 20.) On this occasion, the choir was in front of the army. What an awesome reminder of the power of praise. What an awesome reminder of the responsibility of the worship leader for the Church! The psalm reminds us that the sound of joy that arises from deep within cannot be stifled. This is the sound that conveys the wonder of simply being alive.  

The four verses which make up this little psalm, pack a punch. And, because these four verses are so rich and deep, there are so many things that can be said about them. 

The Psalm begins: 1Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2Worship the Lord with gladness 

Affirming this sense of joy, the psalmist encourages those assembled to worship and serve God with gladness. (In Hebrew, “worship” and “serve” are the same verb.) This is the gladness that breaks forth fully aware of the realities of life. This is the gladness that enables one to come into God’s presence with a voice raised to sing praises to our Creator. Just as there is time for silence before God, there is also time for lament, but this is not it. The praise of this psalm reminds us of a familiar spiritual which says, “If I don’t praise him the rock’s gonna cry out glory and honor, ain’t got time to die!” 

When I hear the word gladness, I cannot help but think of the gift of LAUGHTER I can’t help but wonder if laughter - in church, in conversation or even in private -part and parcel of making a joyful noise unto the Lord? We need to laugh! Laughing is honest in the sense that it's so natural, physiological, as if reminding us that laughing is supposed to happen. When we laugh we our mind has been somehow jostled into clarity. When we smile, our muscles loosen and our mood lifts. When we laugh, we feel the physiological results of it. Without a disclaimer about how we ought not anthropomorphize God, I'd like to imagine God's response to our laughter quite similar to our response to our kids and grandkids… 

 Here's the thing - to get a giggle out of us sometimes takes a lot of work. We are fortified against laughter sometimes, the fort built up by disappointment, disease, and daily news. (or lockdown, isolation and loneliness) Sometimes we think we must first get through the serious stuff before we can laugh (Baptists were once described as God’s Chosen Frozen!) -

** Living in USA – I used to make the mistake that people my age would love Monty Python as much as I do! I found it that much of the satire went straight to the keeper! 

** Characters like Barry Crump (Search for the wilderpeople) gave rise to comedians like John Clarke aka Fred Dagg, who was another of my early formative influences… I can still hear the quirky “If you ain’t got your gumboots… where would you be! If you think about it, we as a culture are often looking to satire to give us a lighter take on the news these days… Clark and Dawes, The Office and other classics appeal to our antipodean sense of humour – we like to take to see the funny side of ordinary situations… Of late we’ve been starved for laughter amidst the disappointment, disease and daily news. During Lockdown Stand-up comedians were more appreciated than ever… 

• I wonder if the psalmist would find his or her rank alongside these satirists? 

 • I wonder if the psalmist was surrounded by laughter? 

• I wonder if the psalmist wished to be surrounded by laughter? 

 • I wonder if you wish to be surrounded by laughter? And I wonder what might happen if God attempted to get a giggle out of you sometime this week? …come into his presence with singing 

The other gift embedded in this Psalm is SONGS OF JOY 

When we come before God in worship, why do we sing rather than merely think or talk with one another? 

 • singing can lift our hearts to adore God, 

 • awaken and engages our emotions 

 • and inspires us as we remember God's transforming love for the hurting world. 

This great psalm calls upon us all—all lands—to approach God. We’re to come near. And, we’re to come near with joy. With a song. Kids often like to sing for no other reason than they want to make a song, and make a song for us. They want to bring us joy, and they want to experience the joy on our faces. 

** Our youngest, Jonathan, loves to sing… we’d often hear him through his open windows (as would our neigh bours!) He doesn’t always sing exactly in tune… and it doesn’t really matter!! Not to him , nor to us!! 

I think that’s very close to what the psalmist is getting at here. We’re to come before the Presence of God—who has made us, and we are his—and we’re to sing him a song. Maybe it’s a song we know. Maybe it’s another psalm. Maybe it’s one of the great hymns of the church. But…maybe…it’s one we just make up on the spot. That barely rhymes. A song that doesn’t even fully resolve. And is out of key. But, nonetheless, a song that is sung with pure joy by a sheep of the pasture of God—in His Presence, square in the middle of one of his courts. 

Now, that’s good stuff! THAT’S what a relationship with God looks like—a relationship full of self-abandon and joy. 

FINALLY… This threefold call to praise (make, serve, come) is followed by an explanation of the reason behind this outburst of praise. The community is to give praise to God simply because God exists, simply because God is. 3Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. With this reminder, the psalmist acknowledges that life begins with God. God created us. God is to be worshipped because God is the Creator who calls Israel into covenant. In other words, God is to be worshipped for who God is, not just for what God has done. God is a powerful God! The psalmist is glad to be counted among God’s people. The reference to sheep conveys an assurance that not only is God present, but God provides for His sheep, including the psalmist. In other words, God is to be worshipped not just for what God has done, but for what God will do for humanity now and into the future. And why? 

For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

 Matthew 25:1-13

 

The Challenge of Waiting and the Need for resilience

     ** We wait for the results of the USA election – one which has aroused extraordinary attention around the world, and at this mid-point of the week is impossible to predict the outcome – let alone what will happen if the outcome is not clear…  we keep watch because we do not know the day nor the hour

>>> As a society, and particularly as Melburnians, we are well acquainted with the challenge of waiting – waiting for case numbers to be revealed, waiting for the next change in restrictions, waiting to be able to see loved ones again, waiting to re-gather as a faith community…

 

In many ways today’s parable resonates strongly with our current context…

 

THE TEXT

And while all these parables present their own distinct challenges, I have to confess that I find this one the most challenging.:

Matthew 25 “When the end comes, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids. They took their oil lamps and went to meet the groom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The foolish bridesmaids took their lamps, but they didn’t take any extra oil. 4 The wise bridesmaids, however, took along extra oil for their lamps. 5 Since the groom was late, all the bridesmaids became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight someone shouted, ‘The groom is here! Come to meet him!’ 7 Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready.
8 “The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘We can’t do that. There won’t be enough for both of us. Go! Find someone to sell you some oil.’
10 “While they were buying oil, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went with him into the wedding hall, and the door was shut.
11 “Later the other bridesmaids arrived and said, ‘Sir, sir, open the door for us!’
12 “But he answered them, ‘I don’t even know who you are!’
13 “So stay awake, because you don’t know the day or the hour.

 

Firstly, We’re not accustomed to the role virgins/bridesmaids played in ushering in the groom to the wedding and so the whole parable feels a little archaic and somewhat confusing.

 

Secondly, Matthew’s parable are, by and large, exhortations to a community that has come through some significant duress to keep the faith, to confess Christ, and to wait expectantly for his return, even though it has already been delayed beyond what first generation believers anticipated. Considering that the Thessalonians to whom Paul was writing around 51 AD or so are already anxious that they have missed out on Jesus’ return, we can imagine that it’s quite a bit harder to inspire Matthew’s community to vigilance thirty years later.

 

Now, project that out another nearly 2000 years and you begin to appreciate the challenge of preaching this text today. I mean, who is still waiting eagerly, anxiously for Jesus’ imminent return? Well, pretty much only those folks who predict it on billboards across the southern USA and at whom we typically poke fun.

 

The parable seems, quite frankly, a little unfair. All the bridesmaids brought oil, all waited, all fell asleep. And the decision about who gets in comes down to who anticipated the bridegroom would be this incredibly late and so brought more oil. Okay, so maybe it’s not unfair. Maybe it’s just that I’m pretty darn certain that I would have been among the foolish bridesmaids. Yes, there are some folks who are incredibly prepared, always plan way in advance, always bring more supplies or food or whatever than necessary, and are always there early. Yes, there are such people, and I’m not usually one of them.

 

So… what do we do with this stubborn, somewhat archaic, and rather threatening parable

 

We are well acquainted with waiting. Whether what we are waiting for is good or bad hardly matters, the anxiety and stress of the living in the “in-between time” of waiting can be difficult. And this parable reminds us that we are not alone in our waiting.

 

From the earliest Christians on, we have confessed that waiting can be most difficult. Moreover, Jesus tells this parable in his own “in-between time,” his own time of waiting. This parable is set between Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his trial and crucifixion. And one thing Matthew and all the Evangelists agree on is that Jesus knew what was coming. And so here he is, teaching the crowds, facing off with his opponents, and instructing his disciples…even as he waits for the coming cross. Jesus, too, knows how difficult waiting can be and is with us and for us in our waiting.

 

But let’s also recognize that opportunities for waiting on Jesus’ presence are all around us. Each time we work for justice (as Amos invites in another one of the readings for this Sunday), we testify to the presence of Jesus. Each time we bear each other’s burdens, we testify to Jesus’ presence. Each time we advocate for the poor, or reach out to the friendless, or work to make this world God loves a better place, we testify to the presence of the Risen Christ.

 

Waiting, is something we’re all accustomed to. Whether it’s waiting for Christmas that most of us remember vividly from our childhood or waiting for a phone call from a certain special someone or waiting for news of a loved one’s safe arrival while traveling, we all know what it is to wait. In particular, we know how hard waiting can be. And here, I think, is really the centre of this passage: waiting is often hard, really hard, and often is tinged by anxiety.

 

“Make haste to help me, Lord! Hasten to me, O God! Lord, do not delay!” The words of the Psalmist, in conversation with the Gospel and epistle texts for this week, seem like just the right words of response.

They seem like the kind of words that the disciples would have uttered after hearing Jesus’ parable of the ten bridesmaids -- “How long will we have to wait, Jesus?” They seem like the words that would come to the lips of the Thessalonians as they witnessed their loved ones dying before their eyes and before Jesus’ return. “When are you coming back, Jesus?”

“Lord, do not delay” are words of waiting.

They express what is almost unutterable -- the lack of control, the fear of the unknown, the worry of whether or not we are ready, the anxiety about being prepared for what is to come.

Waiting carries many emotions -- anticipation, wonder, eagerness, dread, agitation, fear, longing, loss. Of course, much of our emotional response is determined by that for which we wait. Our time of waiting will be experienced differently depending on that which we expect. Waiting is hard. Yet, sometimes difficulty with waiting is not so much the spectrum of feelings experienced, but the fact that we can’t seem to be content with the present.

Perhaps what we are waiting for is waiting for the Lord to show up in our waiting!

Or perhaps how we choose to cope with the wait. And yes, we want the wait to be over. But, at the same time, we trust that God will show up… and in faith we believe that God will show up to be just what we need God to be depending on how we experience the waiting. i.e.

·         If our waiting is experienced in fear? God comes with peace.

·         If our waiting is experienced in longing? God arrives with deep and abiding satisfaction.

·         If our waiting is experienced in anticipation? God accompanies us in the joy that should be our present.

In the words of Matthew, yes, keep alert. But rather than keep alert for what is to come, keep alert for the ways in which God enters into our present attempts at alertness -- and seems to bring exactly what we need.

To keep awake does not mean the absence of God. It means to recognize our absolute dependence on the presence of God. It means, in effect…

 Developing Spiritual Resilience

Sadly, Qantas A380 pilot Captain Richard de Crespigny has had his career ended by Covid-19.

De Crespigny, now 63, was celebrated around the world for quick thinking after an engine explosion on board the Qantas Airbus A380 he was commanding forced an emergency landing at Changi Airport. All 469 passengers and crew were uninjured. That momentous day changed his life, catapulting him to instant fame. His book about the ordeal, QF32, was a best-seller internationally in 2012 and his second book, FLY! Life Lessons from the cockpit of QF32, in 2018 was all about resilience.

 FOUR CORNERS  this week… interviewed a number of diverse Year 12 students…

On a goat station in north-western New South Wales, Barney Mort is glad to be home for the school holidays after spending four weeks in lockdown in Victoria. In early July, the Victoria-New South Wales border closed and Barney and his brother Charlie became effectively stranded at school. His family’s home is more than 1,000 kilometres from Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, the school he attends as a boarder throughout the year.  Barney says a few dozen other students remained in the one boarding house they nicknamed ‘the Orphanage’, but he desperately wanted to come home. “When I look back at 2020, I’ll just see it as, the only thing that I can really take away from this is I’ve toughened up. “It’s been hard, but it’s been very tiring. And at times it, it does pull you down. It does also kind of leave a lasting effect.”

Across the city at one of Melbourne’s public housing estates, Nada Osman is finally enjoying
a little freedom and sunshine after enduring the harshest restrictions in the country. She says:

2020 for me has been a rollercoaster to say the least. It started off a great year … then COVID hit and the year just took an ugly turn.” In early July, the Flemington housing tower she lives in was put into hard lockdown and nobody was allowed to leave the building after an outbreak of COVID-19.

“We had police surrounding every exit and every entrance,” she says. “There was a lot of tension, because nobody knew what was going on, and no-one was explaining anything.

. “It put a lot of pressure and stress on me because it made me behind in my work. I missed out on a lot of things, and that stressed me out for school. “Being confined for so long, it mentally plays with you. But Nada is conscious of what she gained, not just what she lost, in 2020. “I think this year has changed me a lot. I’ve matured a lot, I’ve gone through a lot. “It’s shown me the true colours of the world and it’s shown me society’s priorities. “I feel like at my age, a lot of people don’t experience that. But I think I’m very lucky to have gone through this at this time, because it’s changed me to be a better person.”

Over in Western Sydney, school captain of Bankstown Senior College Ali Aqa Ashraf has just graduated — for the second time.

The 24-year-old Afghan was born in Iran, where he finished high school. He came to Australia three years ago as a refugee and had to do it all over again. Like many young people, the challenges he’s faced have taught him resilience.

“I think this year has really changed me and made me stronger. I feel like I’m a grown-up man this year because lots of difficult things happened.

“And I think growing through this stuff, these things made me stronger.”

How can we gain Spiritual resilience in these challenging times of waiting?

Dr. Lynn Moresi, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology at Whitley College wrote recently about the
importance of Spiritual Rhythms – of Silence and Solitude 

Lyn writes:  There is a line in a song by Pink that says “I don’t wanna be the girl who has to fill the silence.  The quiet scares me cause it screams the truth.”]  Silence can do that.  Silence has the ability to open us up to places of truth and honesty that provoke and confront us in ways that sometimes feel uncomfortable and raw.  However, silence can also be the womb of promise that incubates new seeds of hope, sparks fresh perspectives of joy, and opens optimistic future horizons.  That’s because silence is the language of the Spirit, or as Thomas Merton suggests, silence is the place where God’s very presence dwells.[2] 

 Jesus knew the value of silence and solitude.  He withdrew from the crowds in order to be quiet and still before God.  Solitude and silence connected Jesus with the Father and enabled Spirit to touch his heart beneath the expectations, demands, and celebrity of his daily life.  In silence, God infused truth, peace, groundedness and unconditional acceptance into the depth of Jesus being. In silence, Jesus’ heart was stilled and he knew God in deep and intimate communion.[8]

 I wonder, however, how often we intentionally set aside time for silence?  Do we, as Christ-followers, actually follow our namesake in this practice? 

The intentional practice of silence and solitude is a much-needed antidote to the materialistic, noise-filled world in which we live.  Carving out time to quiet the constant din around us and to simply sit in the stillness of silent meditation can be a balm to our harried souls.  We breathe in.  We breathe out.  “[Our] soul waits in silence for God only.”[11]

 “God cannot be rushed.  A sense of hurry or panic undermines our ability to recognize God’s voice.  Our deadlines and timetables are often artificial and often need to be set aside so that we can attend to God, allowing God to speak to us in his time and according to his timetable.”

 Can we echo the Psalmist’s words:

 “Make haste to help me, Lord! Hasten to me, O God! Lord, do not delay!”

Finally, let’s also admit that even this kind of waiting and preparation can be hard to sustain. That we can grow weary in our work, frustrated by the lack of outcomes we see, or distracted by the thousand and one other obligations that fill each of our lives. In short, let’s admit that on any given day, each of us may discover we are a foolish bridesmaid. Given this reality, let’s reclaim church as a place where we can find help and support in our waiting – all kinds of waiting! – and support as we try to live our Christian life. I find it striking that Paul closes this part of his letter to those first-century Thessalonians that found their own waiting nearly intolerable with these words, “Therefore, encourage one another….”

 

Yes, that is our role as the church. We are those who wait for each other – wise and foolish alike. We are those who sit vigil for each other at times of pain, loss or bereavement. We are those who celebrate achievements and console after disappointment. We are those who give hope when hope is scarce, comfort when it is needed, and courage when we are afraid. We are, in short, those who help each other to wait, prepare, and keep the faith. In all these ways, we encourage each other with the promises of Christ. That’s what it means to be Christ’s followers, then and now. And that’s why we long to come together each Sunday, to hear and share the hope-creating promises of our Lord… For now, we do this virtually – and one day, Lord willing face to face!  In the meantime… we wait!