Sermon 286: 4th. Sunday of Advent (A)
(Isaiah 7:10-14;
Romans 1:1-7; St. Matthew 1:18-24)
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, you
know very well the Gospel account of Mary’s conception, the birth of Jesus, and
Joseph’s loving and protective care of them both; so perhaps we may today
profitably give deeper attention to ‘why’ Jesus came among us rather than ‘how’
The simple, yet absolutely astounding,
fact is that the Son of God became man in Jesus to save us from SIN, sin in us and in the world around
us; and sin in always means sin active in us and in the world
around us.
Let us first of all try to appreciate that
fact: Jesus did not come as some pagan-type of deity to work miracles, make
stupendous changes of whatever sort in human political and social life; He came
most humbly as a little child, simply and solely, totally and exclusively, to
save us, free us, from the shackles and consequences of sin that He might then make us one with and in Himself for the
Father as adopted children in His heavenly Kingdom. Our being no-longer-helpless under the
earthly burden of sin is the supreme
Gift Jesus wants to offer and to give to each and every one of us this
Christmas; and the greater fulfilment of that prospect of freedom is the HOPE
we treasure and seek to share during our Advent preparation and throughout our
Christmas worship and celebrations, by sincere good-will to our neighbour and
gifts to our children.
Throughout the whole of the Old Testament
period God was working to enable His Chosen People to recognize, acknowledge,
and seek freedom from, sin. And we can appreciate what enormous and deep-rooted
opposition to God’s teaching and grace there must have been even among His
Chosen People, because we ourselves in the twenty-first century find that
although the effects of sin
are now so palpably manifest to the extent that it is impossible to understand
how humanity can inflict such blatant horrors on its fellows, and although such effects are so
deeply lamented and sincerely deplored all over the world, nevertheless, the fact, the spiritual reality, of sin -- especially personal
sin and sinfulness which Jesus came to attack and destroy directly -- is almost
totally ignored and largely denied by society as a whole today.
It is increasingly recognized that a human
being can suffer much from unsatisfactory relationships with other human beings
in the social set-ups at work, at home, and at play; and for such sufferers,
helpers called ‘counsellors’ are increasingly provided with ‘promotional’
qualifications, so to speak. But there
is no public recognition of human relations with God! All sicknesses are
exclusively referred to those ‘qualified’ counsellors who, as such, profess no
spiritual awareness, no aspirations to holiness of life, nor are they given any
authentic training in Christian spirituality.
Anyone feeling guilt for committed sin is just to be told that it is all
a matter of psychological crossed-wires or of the ‘genes and juices’ of human
physicality.
You however, Jesus’ Chosen People of God, can
recognise not only the sin of the world, but also the sins (at least some of
them) you commit personally, and you are well aware of sin’s power over, and ever so subtle
influence on, your daily experience of living life. When Our Blessed Lord humbled Himself to the
utmost before His crucifixion by accepting the full weight of human sinfulness
upon Himself, He sweated so profusely that it was as though drops of blood were
‘watering’ the Garden around His kneeling or prostrate figure.
The fact that Jesus comes expressly to
take away such a load from us by offering us, in Himself, peace of heart and
soul through our restored relationship with God, is the reason why we, as
Christians, are so filled with JOY at Christmas!
And in all this monumental campaign
against sin, Jesus did not come seeking to accuse anyone, but simply to save
one and all!
He
came to begin His Father-given task
as a child, so beautiful, so helpless and needy, and – for Mary, so
cuddly!! And He ended that task by dying on the Cross for love of us, with
absolutely no recriminations. So,
throughout the whole of His life on earth, Jesus sought not to personally
accuse but to embrace and save all who were and are willing to hear and respond
to the first words and very essence of His Gospel:
This
is the time of fulfilment; the Kingdom of God is at hand; Repent and Believe
the Good News.
‘Repent’ means turn away from sin,
and in order to do that it is necessary to ‘believe’, that is turn towards,
aspire to, Jesus’ Gospel or Good News of salvation offering freedom from
sin. We can appreciate how unique Jesus’
message and offer was if we think that men’s thirst for revenge -- so prevalent
in radical groups throughout the world but more especially in the current,
truly vicious, middle-East-originated troubles -- is a deliberate rejection of
and refusal to accept an absolutely essential part of Jesus’ Good News, namely
that we must forgive ‘those who trespass against us’ if we want to have part
with Him and gain freedom from the dominating power of sin in our lives.
Sin is incontestably manifest not only in
the world around us but also in individual lives: young people’s pride
manifests itself so often in a distaste for what is ordinary, and their
subsequent desire for excitement to lift them out of the ‘ordinary’ so easily
leads them on to criminality and violence, excessive drink, sexual abuse, and
ultimately drug addiction. Jesus’ offer
of freedom from sin means His lifting from our shoulders all such burdens of
pride, selfishness, anxiety, anger, lust, envy, sloth and covetousness by His
gifts of peace, hope, mutual love and respect, all of which are fruits of
Jesus’ self-sacrifice and God’s grace in our lives. Such fruits are redolent with the blood of
Jesus and the incense of His Most Holy Spirit and they cannot in any way be compared with, or imitated by, the political
pseudo-blessings of the inglorious and bloody French Revolution, though
expressed by rational ideals of equality, fraternity, and liberty which convey
no God-given grace whatsoever to raise us up above our native earthly frailty and
subjection, and are always themselves subject to changing human interpretations
and aspirations.
For us, however, we have Jesus’ own chosen
words to make clear for us the purpose of His coming among us:
The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me: He has anointed Me to bring glad tidings to the
poor; He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to
the blind, to let the oppressed go free.
(Luke 4:18)
He is the Anointed One, sent, come, to
bring the Good News of the Gospel proclaiming His offer of liberty, freedom,
for all presently held captive by their own sinfulness; together with the
option to see the way to true life for all at present benighted by the darkness
and evil in the world around them; and ultimately -- through His own sacrificial
death and victorious Resurrection -- the destruction of sin and death by His
bestowal of spiritual freedom for all those hitherto so grievously oppressed.
And we have that situation of powerless
subjection and glorious redemption put into most memorable words for Mother
Church on earth and in heaven by Saint Paul and by the Book of Revelation:
I
see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me
captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me
from this mortal body? Thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:23–25)
I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power
come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. (Those who fear Your Name) have conquered (the Devil) by
the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
rejoice you heavens, and you who dwell in them.” (Revelation 12:10–12)
Dear faithful People of God, your rejoicing at this Holy Mass
would indicate that you already ‘dwell in the heavens’: only initially, it is
true, but in a way that is open: awaiting, praying, and ever more ready for
God’s goodness to bring it to full and final perfection. You rejoice because Jesus is coming to be our
Christmas joy and delight, our deep peace and sublime hope; let us therefore
prepare to celebrate His coming with Mary who knows supremely well how to
cherish her beloved Son, and how -- as Mother of all of us -- to help us best
co-operate with His Most Holy Spirit in learning to give sincere and heart-felt
thanks to God the Father, Who gives us all that is good.
