ALL SAINTS MARGARET STREET

EPIPHANY 3, 2010

SERMON PREACHED BY THE VICAR AT THE ANNUNCIATION, MARBLE ARCH

Readings : Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6,8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21

A couple of years ago I was the guest preacher at a rather grand church. In the vestry before the service one of the servers asked me, "How long is your sermon going to last, Father?" My reply was, "Wait and see." In the event, he was quite complimentary about it after the service; so it cannot have been either too long or too dull.

One of the realities we preachers have to deal with these days is the short attention span of most of our hearers. The days when sermons often lasted an hour or more are long gone. The idea that we might, like the people of Jerusalem summon Ezra the scribe and have him read to us from the scriptures from early in the morning until noon. Television is a major factor in this. Nor is this simply a problem of the young; the evidence demonstrates that the older we are the more TV we tend to watch. The young spend more of their time playing computer games.

The people have returned from exile in Babylon. Under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, they have rebuilt the city. Now they sense that there is another work of rebuilding to do; that of God's people. During the Exile in Babylon, cut off as they were from the Temple and its worship which had been the centre of their spiritual life, the Jews had developed a new form of religious practice which would come to be known as the synagogue - from the Greek word for a gathering. This would hold services which consisted of readings from the Law and the Prophets and the exposition of them, what we call preaching, the singing of psalms, prayers and blessings. The synagogue would become remain part of Jewish life even after the return from exile and would become its centre again after the destruction of the 2nd Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. Our gospel this morning ,in which Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah in his home synagogue, is one of the oldest accounts of synagogue worship which has survived.

Well, let's return to Ezra the priest reading to the people from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand. What can we learn from that passage?

First: "All the people gathered together". Listening to scripture read was a communal activity, something people did together. In our individualistic culture we too easily forget that. We read books on our own, we listen to music on I-pod on our own; many families no longer even watch television together because everyone has their own TV in their room!

Those devices are all products of the communication revolution of our age. The previous great revolution was the invention of printing. Suddenly books which had been rare and precious objects produced by hand, became relatively cheap and widely available. Scholars tell us that this was one of the reasons for the success of the Reformation: its ideas could be spread rapidly and cheaply. One of the features of the Reformation was the translation of the Scriptures in English or German or French, so that anyone who was literate could read them. People fell in love with reading and reading as an individual act. William Tyndale, whose translation of the Bible was the basis for the Authorised Version and its descendant we read from this morning, spoke enthusiastically of every plough boy being able to read the Scripture and to understand it as well as any bishop. Other, wiser heads, realised soon enough that there were pitfalls here. The bible was a collection of books written not for individuals but for a people, for the people of Israel, for the Church. They were meant to be read and heard and expounded communally. So the primary place for the reading of Scripture is not in our own room with our own copy of the Bible, but together in church as part of our assembly for worship. So in the Church of England, we read the Bible as part of our Common Prayer and Worship. The primary context for reading and hearing Scripture is in the Church which has been given the variety of gifts of which St. Paul writes to the Corinthians; that variety needed for the proper hearing of the message of Scripture in our day. If we are to interpret scripture aright, we need to hear it with others.

Ezra is standing on some raised place - an outdoor pulpit. When he opens the book, which would in those days - as still in the synagogue today - a scroll, the people stand up as we do when the Gospel is read at mass. We stand, of you like, to attention, to be attentive, to listen: "the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law." One of the things that coming to church, taking part in its worship teaches us is how to listen. By learning to listen to scripture and preacher, we learn to listen to other people too; not just to the surface noise but to what lies beneath their words. Any preacher will tell you that preaching is not just a solo activity. Yes, the preacher has to study and pray, has to work hard at understanding the passages he is preaching on, has to find the right words and images. But his listeners have to work hard to; they have to pay attention. Open their minds and hearts. Preaching has been called a sacrament; a means of God's presence and activity. Just as we must have faith in the Sacrament so that we may feed on him in our hearts; so too, we must if we are to receive the benefits of preaching.

"The Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen|', lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground."

The reading and hearing of Scripture is surrounded by prayer and greeted by song. In our worship, the priest or deacon says to us "The Lord be with you" and we respond "And with thy spirit" as an act of prayer for each other. He then says, "Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke". And we say, "Glory be to thee, O Lord". When mass is sung, we have the lights which symbolise the one who is the light of the world. We have incense which symbolises the prayers of the saints, of God's holy people. We may make the sign of the cross; on forehead, on our lips, and on our heart. This reminds us that we are to receive the gospel in our minds live it in our hearts and proclaim it with our lips. At the end of the reading, the priest says, "This is the Gospel of the Lord" and we respond, "Praise be to thee, O Christ." We address Jesus directly because we believe that he is speaking to us directly in the reading of the Gospel. The Gospel Book is carried into the midst of the congregation as Christ coming among his people to teach us. In many churches, it is carried not just to the front of the congregation but right down into the midst, so that we have to turn round to face it; just as we are called to repentance, to change, literally to have our lives turned round by Jesus.

So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading." . The books of the Law were written in Hebrew, but most of the people no longer spoke Hebrew. So someone had to translate it for them. Most of us do not speak either Hebrew or Greek, the languages in which our Scriptures were written. We have to have them translated for us. Translation is a difficult business because languages and cultures are so different: it isn't always easy to find exact equivalents in very different cultures. Even within one culture and language, the meanings of words change over the years. Giving the sense so that people understand, is about more than just finding the right words. The books of scripture were written in a variety of periods and contexts which in many ways were very different from ours. Knowing something of those times and places helps us to understand what Scripture might be saying to us now. Knowing how Christians down the ages have interpreted them, what we call; tradition, the handing on of the things of God, helps us too. So we need scholars to study and to teach us these things. Preachers and teachers need to retell these stories in our own settings, but they must do so in ways which do not lose the original meaning.

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, 'Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" Jesus, his life and death, his teaching and his way of being God among us, is the lens through which we must read and hear all of Scripture: both its fulfilment and the key to its meaning.

Those people in Jerusalem, "wept when they heard the words of the Law". Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the scribe and the Levites who taught the people said, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.'" The people wept because they saw how far they had drifted from God's teaching. But they are told to rejoice because they have been given the means of return; not just to their city, but to their relationship with God. This is a cause of celebration: "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

When we have gathered in our Christian assembly and heard the words of Scripture read and interpreted for us in the Liturgy of the Word, called in Greek synaxis, which comes from the same root as synagogue, then we too are to rejoice; even when we feel as a community or as individuals that the words have shown us how far short of the glory of God we have fallen. God has not given up on us. He continues to speak to us, to call and challenge us, and equip us, to shape our lives and discipleship. And so we can rejoice to eat and drink at his table, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.