Sermon preached at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton at 9.45am Holy Communion (BCP) on Sunday 5th December 2010. A shorter version of this sermon was also preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist at St Mary’s, Lapworth.
Advent 2 – Year A
Readings: Isaiah 11: 1-10 Matt 3: 1-12
There is a tradition that on the second Sunday of Advent we reflect especially on the prophets, who foresaw the coming of Jesus, many centuries before he was actually born. Now there were many prophets spoke of the coming of a great Messiah. Messiah means anointed one. Now the kings of Israel were not so much crowned as anointed with oil, so Israel certainly expected the Messiah, the anointed to be a great king, like King David or King Solomon from Israel’s glory days, which were about 1000 BC.
As I said, many prophets spoke of the coming of the great Messiah, but it is probably the book of Isaiah that is the richest source of these prophecies, and it is no surprise then that we often read a great deal of Isaiah in Advent, as we look forward expectantly to the coming of the Lord.
Now Isaiah the prophet was writing in the eighth century BC, but the book of Isaiah contains a lot of later material from the sixth century BC presumably included by followers of the Isaiah tradition. The Messiahanic prophecies run through the whole book. The passage that we heard today if probably from the earlier period (although different scholars have different views). It is one of the classic prophecies of about the Messiah and it is very helpful text to reflect on in Advent. Let’s have a look at what the passage tells us to expect in Jesus.
“A shoot shall spring from the stock of Jesse”. Well Jesse was the Father of King David, so we are told to expect a Messiah who is a descendent of King David. This also fits well with God’s promises to David in 2 Samuel 7 and repeated in the Psalms (e.g. Psalm 89).
“The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him” We are told that the messiah will have the Spirit of God, he will somehow be particularly close to God and walk in relationship with God.
We are told the messiah will have the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. In the Christian tradition these “seven” qualities have become known as the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (There are also the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5) I don’t know if you were counting, but I only listed six gifts of the Holy Spirit. Well apparently the Vulgate Latin bible had two expressions for “fear of the Lord”, one of which was usually translated at piety, so that makes seven.
Then the text gives us several qualities of the messiah, which we might associate more with the second coming of Christ than with his first coming. It tells us he will be a judge, and will judge with integrity. He will judge by righteousness, rather than by outward appearances. His judgement will bring justice for the meek and the poor. It will being death and downfall for the wicked.
And then we hear a description of the kingdom where the Messiah reigns. It will be a kingdom of justice and peace. The wolf will lie down with the lamb, the lion will eat straw like an ox. It is like a return to the perfection of the garden of Eden, before sin entered the world and where where everything seems to have been vegetarian. Humanity it seems lives not only in perfect harmony with God, but also in perfect harmony with nature and the environment. “The infant will play over the hole of the adder, and the baby put his hand in the vipers nest, but hurt or harm will be done on the Holy mountain of the Lord”. It seems that even the snake, who caused all that trouble in the garden of Eden, has somehow be brought safely and peacefully into the Messiahanic Kingdom.
So, Advent is about preparing for the coming of the Lord, both the baby who comes to us at Christmas time, and the great king and judge who comes to us at the end of time. And how do we prepare for his coming?
Well last week I made two suggestions. The first was to prepare by improving and developing our life of prayer and worship. I said that through prayer and worship start a relationship with Jesus, that means we are not at first base when he comes. It is as though we are pen-pals or internet friends who meet in real life for the first time. Well it seems to me that this suggestion is very consistent with what Isaiah says. He emphasises that those qualities of the Messiah to do with wisdom and insight, knowledge and fear of the Lord. Prayer and worship is a critically important way into these gifts of the spirit. They are gifts; we can’t just grow them ourselves, but we can ask for them, and seek them through prayer and worship, and this is pleasing to God and it encourages him to share with us wisdom and knowledge, as we grow to know him better and contemplate his ways.
Also last week I suggested that to greet Jesus well, we need to be accustomed to greeting him in all his different faces in the people who we meet in the different circumstances of our life. And just as we meet many different kinds of people, so more likeable, so less so, so there are many aspects to the character of Jesus, some towards which we feel drawn, some of which feel less attractive. But they are all Jesus, we need to learn to love them all. Well again I think this has great consistency with what Isaiah says. Isaiah talks of the Messiahanic Kingdom of justice and peace. We need to prepare ourselves to be good citizens of that kingdom. It is what we are called to, the destiny towards which we must move. And to live in that kingdom we must live by justice and peace. To be just means to treat people right; to give them their proper due, to afford them the dignity that God affords to them, to recognise the image of God in their creation. Of course this is much easier if they are also being just to us, but just as God always takes the initiative in love, is always the first to love, so we need to learn to be the first to love, being just to others even before they are just to us.
So, as we think about the prophets preparing the way for the Messiah, and as we give thanks to God for the Isaiah tradition in particular, so we can continue our preparations for meeting with Jesus. We can continue to develop our life of prayer and worship so as to grow in the knowledge and love of God, to grow in wisdom and understanding and the fear of the Lord. Similarly we can practice being good citizens of the coming kingdom of God by becoming ever more just in our treatment of other people, by properly honouring and respecting God’s creation in them. Amen.
Showing posts with label Isaiah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isaiah. Show all posts
05 December 2010
07 February 2010
Living out the Word of God
Short sermon preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday Second before Lent, RCL readings:
Isaiah 55: 10-13 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58 Luke 6: 39-49
Our readings today include two important similes help us to understand the Word of God and the effects that it has.
First of all we had the beautiful image from Isaiah of God’s Word being like the rain. In the water cycle the rain falls from the sky and eventually it returns to the sky, by evaporation. But this does not happen without the rain watering the earth, so that plants sprout and our food grows. God says that in the same way his Word (and we think of God’s word as God’s message, especially in the coming of Jesus) goes out from God and returns to God, but this does not happen without the Word accomplishing the purposes of God and succeeding in the thing for which God sent him. And just as the rain gives life to plants and makes them grow, so Jesus brings life, eternal life to us, and makes it grow within us. Thanks be to God!
Then in our gospel reading Jesus emphasises the importance of living in accordance with his teaching, his word. He complains that we cry to him “Lord, Lord” but don’t do the things he tells us. He tells us the parable of the house built on rock and the house built on sand to show how his teaching provides a firm foundation for our lives. It is the solid rock on which we can build. Looking from the outside, focusing on the external appearances only, they probably does not seem to be much difference between the house built on rock and the one built on sand. But when the flood rises and the river bursts against them then the crisis separates what is enduring and true from what is transitory and passing.
So the words of Jesus are the secure foundations for our lives and the word of God is like the rain that allows plants to grow. So we must nurture ourselves on the word of God and allow eternal life to grow within us. It is not enough just listen to the word of God, or just read the bible, we have to put the teaching of Jesus into practice in our everyday lives. Now sometimes we struggle to link the teaching of Jesus with our everyday lives. After all Jesus did not leave clear instructions about how often we should vacuum the carpet or the best route for getting to the office in the morning, but Jesus did teach us to love. He taught us to love everyone, even the very least in society, not excluding anyone (Matt 25: 40). He taught us to love even our enemies (Matt 5: 44). He taught us to be the first to love, not waiting for the others to love us, but rather taking the initiative in love (Matt 5:46). And I think when people think about love they sometimes think about pink fluffy bunnies or a liberal sprinkling of rose petals. But these are not helpful images in helping us understand what love is all about. A better image is Jesus on the cross, dying because he has given everything for his brothers and sisters. Another image is the good shepherd, searching after the lost sheep. Another image is the father running to meet the prodigal son and forgiving him. Another image is Gandhi, seeking the good of the British, whilst insisting on Indian independence. Love is about seeking the good of the other, it is about wanting to share the life of heaven with the other person. It is about giving time, attention and resources to help the other. It is about nurture, and patience and gentleness, all the things described in 1 Corinthians 13.
So as we try to put the word of God into practice in our everyday lives, the key opportunities occur every time we encounter another person; every time someone is standing or sitting near us. What is our attitude to that person? Do we ignore them or resent them or experience them as a threat? Do we want their good, seek to help them, serve them, listen to them? It’s a real challenge, but practicing love helps us to grow in love. This is how we grow into eternal life, like plants watered by the rain. This is how we build our lives on firm foundations; foundations that will withstand even the great crisis of death. Let’s pray for the grace to practice and grow in love. Amen.
Sunday Second before Lent, RCL readings:
Isaiah 55: 10-13 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58 Luke 6: 39-49
Our readings today include two important similes help us to understand the Word of God and the effects that it has.
First of all we had the beautiful image from Isaiah of God’s Word being like the rain. In the water cycle the rain falls from the sky and eventually it returns to the sky, by evaporation. But this does not happen without the rain watering the earth, so that plants sprout and our food grows. God says that in the same way his Word (and we think of God’s word as God’s message, especially in the coming of Jesus) goes out from God and returns to God, but this does not happen without the Word accomplishing the purposes of God and succeeding in the thing for which God sent him. And just as the rain gives life to plants and makes them grow, so Jesus brings life, eternal life to us, and makes it grow within us. Thanks be to God!
Then in our gospel reading Jesus emphasises the importance of living in accordance with his teaching, his word. He complains that we cry to him “Lord, Lord” but don’t do the things he tells us. He tells us the parable of the house built on rock and the house built on sand to show how his teaching provides a firm foundation for our lives. It is the solid rock on which we can build. Looking from the outside, focusing on the external appearances only, they probably does not seem to be much difference between the house built on rock and the one built on sand. But when the flood rises and the river bursts against them then the crisis separates what is enduring and true from what is transitory and passing.
So the words of Jesus are the secure foundations for our lives and the word of God is like the rain that allows plants to grow. So we must nurture ourselves on the word of God and allow eternal life to grow within us. It is not enough just listen to the word of God, or just read the bible, we have to put the teaching of Jesus into practice in our everyday lives. Now sometimes we struggle to link the teaching of Jesus with our everyday lives. After all Jesus did not leave clear instructions about how often we should vacuum the carpet or the best route for getting to the office in the morning, but Jesus did teach us to love. He taught us to love everyone, even the very least in society, not excluding anyone (Matt 25: 40). He taught us to love even our enemies (Matt 5: 44). He taught us to be the first to love, not waiting for the others to love us, but rather taking the initiative in love (Matt 5:46). And I think when people think about love they sometimes think about pink fluffy bunnies or a liberal sprinkling of rose petals. But these are not helpful images in helping us understand what love is all about. A better image is Jesus on the cross, dying because he has given everything for his brothers and sisters. Another image is the good shepherd, searching after the lost sheep. Another image is the father running to meet the prodigal son and forgiving him. Another image is Gandhi, seeking the good of the British, whilst insisting on Indian independence. Love is about seeking the good of the other, it is about wanting to share the life of heaven with the other person. It is about giving time, attention and resources to help the other. It is about nurture, and patience and gentleness, all the things described in 1 Corinthians 13.
So as we try to put the word of God into practice in our everyday lives, the key opportunities occur every time we encounter another person; every time someone is standing or sitting near us. What is our attitude to that person? Do we ignore them or resent them or experience them as a threat? Do we want their good, seek to help them, serve them, listen to them? It’s a real challenge, but practicing love helps us to grow in love. This is how we grow into eternal life, like plants watered by the rain. This is how we build our lives on firm foundations; foundations that will withstand even the great crisis of death. Let’s pray for the grace to practice and grow in love. Amen.
24 January 2010
Jesus announces a social revolution
Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday 24th January 2010, Epiphany 3
Readings: Nehemiah 8: 2-3,5-6,8-10 1Corinthians 12: 12-31a Luke 4: 14-21
The story we heard in our gospel reading today comes right from the very start of Jesus’ public ministry. It is the first public teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke’s gospel. And Jesus uses this occasion to announce his manifesto, to declare publicly what he is all about, what he is going to do. He says he has come, “…to declare good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free…” Jesus is reading from Isaiah 61, but it is interesting that Jesus chooses to define his ministry in this way. We might perhaps expect him to say he has come to reconcile humanity to God, or to teach us to walk the road to heaven, or to bring about the kingdom of God. But no, Jesus chooses to emphasise the social revolution which is implicit in the gospel message. The gospel is good news for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.
But it is not immediately clear how this social revolution comes about. How is the gospel good news for the poor, how are the captives released? Well one suggestion has been “Liberation Theology”. This was an attempt to import some socialist and communist ideas into the gospel so as to bring about this revolution. The trouble was Liberation Theology was not always true to the whole gospel, which also urges us to respect legitimate worldly authority and demands that we love the rich as well as the poor. Liberation Theology has now mainly passed away.
It seems to me that a much more realistic, more demanding and ultimately more complete model for the Christian social revolution arises from the teaching that we heard from St Paul in our epistle reading today. The Church is the body of Christ. We are all members of this same body. When one is honoured, all are honoured. When one is hurt, all are hurt. All have different roles and purposes in the service of the whole body. Some might be thought of as higher or greater, so lower and less respectable, but we cloth with greater honour the less honourable members and afford greater respect to the less respectable. It makes no sense for the ear to try to be an eye or to worry that it is less than the eye, or for the head to reject the feet. As part of this body the poor are uplifted, the captives freed, the blind receive their sight. The churches social revolution is realised when we fully live out this reality of all being part of the body of Christ.
So it is a question of living this better, in a more complete way, and this is the road to fulfilment both for individuals and communities. So I would like to offer a few tips on living better as one body; the body of Christ.
First of all, we need to be mindful that the human body is conscious that it is one body because there is sharing and circulation. Blood flows round to all the cells, bringing oxygen and removing waste. Nerves transmit commands around the whole body and ensure that the whole body is aware of what is being sensed in one part. Well we too as church need sharing and circulation. News, good and bad, must be shared and rejoiced in or wept over together. Hopes and fears, needs and resources must all be shared and owned by all. Sharing is a key skill. It is through sharing that Christ gives to us his eternal life.
Secondly, to bring about this sharing we need to grow in the virtues. We need to be generous in giving to others. We need to be humble and simple enough to receive from others. Certainly we need patience because sharing never works out quite as we first hope. And the way to grow in the virtues is to practise, especially to practice sharing effectively.
Thirdly we need love. Immediately after this teaching Paul spends the whole of 1 Corinthians 13 talking about love. Love is patient, love is kind… the famous passage that is often read at weddings. And just as a couple need love if they are to be one family, so the church needs love if it is to be the body of Christ and to share effectively.
So these are my tips for realising the Church as the body of Christ, and realising the social revolution of the gospel. We need lots of sharing and circulation. We need to grow in the virtues. Above all we need to grow in Love. Amen.
Sunday 24th January 2010, Epiphany 3
Readings: Nehemiah 8: 2-3,5-6,8-10 1Corinthians 12: 12-31a Luke 4: 14-21
The story we heard in our gospel reading today comes right from the very start of Jesus’ public ministry. It is the first public teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke’s gospel. And Jesus uses this occasion to announce his manifesto, to declare publicly what he is all about, what he is going to do. He says he has come, “…to declare good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free…” Jesus is reading from Isaiah 61, but it is interesting that Jesus chooses to define his ministry in this way. We might perhaps expect him to say he has come to reconcile humanity to God, or to teach us to walk the road to heaven, or to bring about the kingdom of God. But no, Jesus chooses to emphasise the social revolution which is implicit in the gospel message. The gospel is good news for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.
But it is not immediately clear how this social revolution comes about. How is the gospel good news for the poor, how are the captives released? Well one suggestion has been “Liberation Theology”. This was an attempt to import some socialist and communist ideas into the gospel so as to bring about this revolution. The trouble was Liberation Theology was not always true to the whole gospel, which also urges us to respect legitimate worldly authority and demands that we love the rich as well as the poor. Liberation Theology has now mainly passed away.
It seems to me that a much more realistic, more demanding and ultimately more complete model for the Christian social revolution arises from the teaching that we heard from St Paul in our epistle reading today. The Church is the body of Christ. We are all members of this same body. When one is honoured, all are honoured. When one is hurt, all are hurt. All have different roles and purposes in the service of the whole body. Some might be thought of as higher or greater, so lower and less respectable, but we cloth with greater honour the less honourable members and afford greater respect to the less respectable. It makes no sense for the ear to try to be an eye or to worry that it is less than the eye, or for the head to reject the feet. As part of this body the poor are uplifted, the captives freed, the blind receive their sight. The churches social revolution is realised when we fully live out this reality of all being part of the body of Christ.
So it is a question of living this better, in a more complete way, and this is the road to fulfilment both for individuals and communities. So I would like to offer a few tips on living better as one body; the body of Christ.
First of all, we need to be mindful that the human body is conscious that it is one body because there is sharing and circulation. Blood flows round to all the cells, bringing oxygen and removing waste. Nerves transmit commands around the whole body and ensure that the whole body is aware of what is being sensed in one part. Well we too as church need sharing and circulation. News, good and bad, must be shared and rejoiced in or wept over together. Hopes and fears, needs and resources must all be shared and owned by all. Sharing is a key skill. It is through sharing that Christ gives to us his eternal life.
Secondly, to bring about this sharing we need to grow in the virtues. We need to be generous in giving to others. We need to be humble and simple enough to receive from others. Certainly we need patience because sharing never works out quite as we first hope. And the way to grow in the virtues is to practise, especially to practice sharing effectively.
Thirdly we need love. Immediately after this teaching Paul spends the whole of 1 Corinthians 13 talking about love. Love is patient, love is kind… the famous passage that is often read at weddings. And just as a couple need love if they are to be one family, so the church needs love if it is to be the body of Christ and to share effectively.
So these are my tips for realising the Church as the body of Christ, and realising the social revolution of the gospel. We need lots of sharing and circulation. We need to grow in the virtues. Above all we need to grow in Love. Amen.
13 December 2009
This is the record of John
Sermon preached at Choral Evensong at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 13th December – Advent 3
Readings: Isaiah 35: 1-10 Matthew 11: 2-11
Choir Anthem: This is the Record of John by Orlando Gibbons
Before I arrived at St Alphege Church, three and half years ago, I had had very little exposure to serious church music. Well, over the last three and half years, I have had quite a lot of exposure and I am very grateful for it, and I have enjoyed it far more than I expected. And now that I have been here some time I have started to notice how certain pieces of music come round and different times of the year the Churches calendar and I start to look out for them and to enjoy them all the more.
Our anthem today is just one such example. This is the record of John by Orlando Gibbons. I find it a particularly distinctive anthem because of the very demanding countertenor solo, and we are very fortunate to be able to sing it. The composer is Orlando Gibbons, who lived from 1583-1625 and was one of the outstanding Anglican musicians of his period. Apparently his is particular known as a master of counterpoint, which is where more than one tune is being sung simultaneously by different parts. Nigel was explaining to me earlier that This is the record of John is written for five parts. There are places they are all singing different tunes, and then there are sudden contrasts when all the voices come together, as though to emphasise certain lines.
This is the record of John is a perfect anthem for the third Sunday in Advent when we think particularly about the John the Baptist and the preparations her urged for the coming of Jesus. Gibbon chose English over Latin and the words come from King James’ Authorised Version of the bible, John chapter 1, verses 19-23. These words come up in the gospel reading for Advent 3 in year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. John explains to the priests and Levites that he is not the Christ, nor even a prophet. When John is pressed to explain who he is he says, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.” Here John the Baptist is quoting from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40. In Advent we always read a great deal from the prophet Isaiah. At present the OT readings set for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer are both ploughing their way through different sections of the prophet Isaiah. At Morning Prayer in Advent we say a canticle every day based on the words that we have already heard in this service from Isaiah 35.
The reason that we read so much Isaiah in Advent is that the book of Isaiah, especially that part of it which the scholars attribute to second Isaiah, is full of promises about the coming Messiah; God’s anointed one. Second Isaiah was writing in the sixth century BC when the Jews were in exile in Babylon. They were in a very bad way, utterly oppressed, unable to help themselves and a long way from their home in Jerusalem and the Promised Land. Into this experience of desolation God speaks a message of hope. God pours out this message through the prophet Second Isaiah, but he also pours it out through other prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel. Even the prophet Jeremiah, who is all doom and gloom in the build up to the exile, starts to preach a message of consolation and hope once the worst has occurred.
When we read these prophets from the exile period, and their great message of hope, it always a little bit difficult to pin down exactly what the hope is. There is lots of promises about joy and celebration. There is a great deal about the restoration of the Jews in Jerusalem. There are lots of promises about the strengthening of the weak, the healing of the deaf the blind and the lame, the uplifting of the oppressed. The Isaiah 35 that we read today also talks of environmental miracles; the wilderness blossoming with flowers, dry deserts being filled with water so that they can grow with beautiful trees and gardens that we might normally associate with Lebanon or Carmel. Although the hopes are not always clear, it is clear that many of them revolve around this Messiah, the anointed one of God.
It is also very difficult, reading these prophets’ messages of hope during the exile, to pin down exactly when these hopes and blessings might be realised, when they might come about. Some of hopes were spectacularly realised in 539 BC when Cyrus, the king of the Medes and Persians mounted a surprise attack on Babylon. He conquered the Babylonians and promptly announces that he wants the Jews to go back to Jerusalem. This was undoubtedly an extraordinary moment, but other promises remained unfilled and the Messiah figure was still awaited.
Then, eventually, John the Baptist bursts onto the scene, preparing the way of the Lord. His ministry is a great success, with many people coming for baptism and great expectations about the Messiah. When Jesus comes to him for baptism and John recognises him as the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the one on whom the spirit of God descended (John 1: 29-36) and from this point Jesus’ ministry grows, and John’s starts to shrink. Eventually John is put in prison, and it would seem that while in prison he starts to have doubts about whether Jesus really was the Messiah. In the reading we heard today John sends his disciples to Jesus to check if he is the Messiah. Jesus doesn’t give a simple “Yes” answer, but he does point to the evidence. The after John’s disciples are gone, we hear Jesus’ testimony about who John is. Jesus describes him as the greatest of all born of women. Meanwhile John is languishing in jail, full of doubts, and is eventually beheaded. The price of being a top-dog in the kingdom of heaven is very high.
As we leave here, let’s take with us those words of John’s which we heard in the Anthem, “Make straight the way of the Lord”. Jesus is coming. We need to get ready. We need to make straight his way, so that we can enter into our hearts. Are there crooked aspects of our lives that we need to straighten out? Are their relationships where healing and reconciliation is needed? Are there hurts or disappointments that we need deliverance from, which we need to move beyond? Advent is the time for this. Advent is the time to humbly lay these things before God, to offer the pain to God, to seek his healing. We can do this in prayer. Often it becomes more real if we talk about it with someone we trust. We can do this before a priest in confession; I’m going to confession next week. Above all we need to do it before God so that we can be filled with the promise Advent and of all God’s good gifts to us in the coming of Jesus.
Readings: Isaiah 35: 1-10 Matthew 11: 2-11
Choir Anthem: This is the Record of John by Orlando Gibbons
Before I arrived at St Alphege Church, three and half years ago, I had had very little exposure to serious church music. Well, over the last three and half years, I have had quite a lot of exposure and I am very grateful for it, and I have enjoyed it far more than I expected. And now that I have been here some time I have started to notice how certain pieces of music come round and different times of the year the Churches calendar and I start to look out for them and to enjoy them all the more.
Our anthem today is just one such example. This is the record of John by Orlando Gibbons. I find it a particularly distinctive anthem because of the very demanding countertenor solo, and we are very fortunate to be able to sing it. The composer is Orlando Gibbons, who lived from 1583-1625 and was one of the outstanding Anglican musicians of his period. Apparently his is particular known as a master of counterpoint, which is where more than one tune is being sung simultaneously by different parts. Nigel was explaining to me earlier that This is the record of John is written for five parts. There are places they are all singing different tunes, and then there are sudden contrasts when all the voices come together, as though to emphasise certain lines.
This is the record of John is a perfect anthem for the third Sunday in Advent when we think particularly about the John the Baptist and the preparations her urged for the coming of Jesus. Gibbon chose English over Latin and the words come from King James’ Authorised Version of the bible, John chapter 1, verses 19-23. These words come up in the gospel reading for Advent 3 in year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. John explains to the priests and Levites that he is not the Christ, nor even a prophet. When John is pressed to explain who he is he says, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.” Here John the Baptist is quoting from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40. In Advent we always read a great deal from the prophet Isaiah. At present the OT readings set for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer are both ploughing their way through different sections of the prophet Isaiah. At Morning Prayer in Advent we say a canticle every day based on the words that we have already heard in this service from Isaiah 35.
The reason that we read so much Isaiah in Advent is that the book of Isaiah, especially that part of it which the scholars attribute to second Isaiah, is full of promises about the coming Messiah; God’s anointed one. Second Isaiah was writing in the sixth century BC when the Jews were in exile in Babylon. They were in a very bad way, utterly oppressed, unable to help themselves and a long way from their home in Jerusalem and the Promised Land. Into this experience of desolation God speaks a message of hope. God pours out this message through the prophet Second Isaiah, but he also pours it out through other prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel. Even the prophet Jeremiah, who is all doom and gloom in the build up to the exile, starts to preach a message of consolation and hope once the worst has occurred.
When we read these prophets from the exile period, and their great message of hope, it always a little bit difficult to pin down exactly what the hope is. There is lots of promises about joy and celebration. There is a great deal about the restoration of the Jews in Jerusalem. There are lots of promises about the strengthening of the weak, the healing of the deaf the blind and the lame, the uplifting of the oppressed. The Isaiah 35 that we read today also talks of environmental miracles; the wilderness blossoming with flowers, dry deserts being filled with water so that they can grow with beautiful trees and gardens that we might normally associate with Lebanon or Carmel. Although the hopes are not always clear, it is clear that many of them revolve around this Messiah, the anointed one of God.
It is also very difficult, reading these prophets’ messages of hope during the exile, to pin down exactly when these hopes and blessings might be realised, when they might come about. Some of hopes were spectacularly realised in 539 BC when Cyrus, the king of the Medes and Persians mounted a surprise attack on Babylon. He conquered the Babylonians and promptly announces that he wants the Jews to go back to Jerusalem. This was undoubtedly an extraordinary moment, but other promises remained unfilled and the Messiah figure was still awaited.
Then, eventually, John the Baptist bursts onto the scene, preparing the way of the Lord. His ministry is a great success, with many people coming for baptism and great expectations about the Messiah. When Jesus comes to him for baptism and John recognises him as the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the one on whom the spirit of God descended (John 1: 29-36) and from this point Jesus’ ministry grows, and John’s starts to shrink. Eventually John is put in prison, and it would seem that while in prison he starts to have doubts about whether Jesus really was the Messiah. In the reading we heard today John sends his disciples to Jesus to check if he is the Messiah. Jesus doesn’t give a simple “Yes” answer, but he does point to the evidence. The after John’s disciples are gone, we hear Jesus’ testimony about who John is. Jesus describes him as the greatest of all born of women. Meanwhile John is languishing in jail, full of doubts, and is eventually beheaded. The price of being a top-dog in the kingdom of heaven is very high.
As we leave here, let’s take with us those words of John’s which we heard in the Anthem, “Make straight the way of the Lord”. Jesus is coming. We need to get ready. We need to make straight his way, so that we can enter into our hearts. Are there crooked aspects of our lives that we need to straighten out? Are their relationships where healing and reconciliation is needed? Are there hurts or disappointments that we need deliverance from, which we need to move beyond? Advent is the time for this. Advent is the time to humbly lay these things before God, to offer the pain to God, to seek his healing. We can do this in prayer. Often it becomes more real if we talk about it with someone we trust. We can do this before a priest in confession; I’m going to confession next week. Above all we need to do it before God so that we can be filled with the promise Advent and of all God’s good gifts to us in the coming of Jesus.
27 September 2009
Going to Church
Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Alphege Church, Parish of Solihull
Sunday 27th September 2009, Back to Church Sunday
Readings for Back to Church Sunday, taken from Year C, Proper 26.
Isaiah 1: 10-18 2 Thessalonians 1: 1-4 & 11-12 Luke 19: 1-10
Quite often, when I meet people from the fringes of our church community I get the comment, “Of course you don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian!” Well, you won’t be surprised to know that vicar/curate types like me don’t particularly like this kind of comment; it reveals very restricted form of Christian life in which the worship and community life of the church are marginalised.
But if you wanted to try and prove from scripture that, “You don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian,” one of the texts that you might well go for is the reading from Isaiah that we heard this morning. The reading is from the eighth century BC. In it, God, through the prophet Isaiah, complains bitterly against his chosen people, the nation of Israel. And God’s particular complaint appears to be their worship. He says, “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? …Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. … I can’t endure your solemn assemblies with iniquity.” On the face of it God is complaining about their worship. He hates their worship. So there you have it; it is better not to worship. It is better to be a Christian who never comes to church! QED!
Well, no! To understand the passage in this way is to misunderstand it completely. If we read the passage carefully we will see that the real problem is the iniquity of the people, the evil of their doings. The real problem is their bad behaviour. If people behave badly then their worship becomes hypocrisy. It’s becomes like a child telling you that you are a wonderful Dad, while steeling your money. It becomes like a neighbour praising your good nature, while bringing a lawsuit against you. It becomes like a work colleague who is all sweetness and light, but who is quietly stabbing you in the back.
So the message of the passage is not, “Don’t Worship!” On the contrary, the message of the passage is, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; …cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice … then your worship will be acceptable to God. Then God will listen to your prayers. Then God will not hide himself from you.”
And this might feel like a challenge too far. You try and do a favour for God by coming to church, and then God turns round and tells you that you need to get you whole life in order first. He tells us that we need to live a good life before we can worship. Well, we might as all well go home right now!
But no! This isn’t the message either, and we can see this in the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a public sinner of the first order. He conspired with the Romans to take taxes off the Jews. His work strengthened the occupying Roman army and weakened the Jewish people. To the Jews he was the lowest of the low; a betrayer of God’s people, a traitor. And Jesus knew all this. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus’ whole lifestyle was embroiled in sin. And yet Jesus called to him. Jesus came to visit him. People criticised Jesus for visiting a sinner, but Jesus went all the same and stayed at Zacchaeus’ house.
And when Zacchaeus realised he was loved by Jesus, suddenly he found the capacity to change. Suddenly he could throw off his sin, he could give generously to the poor, he could make good fourfold the loses of anyone he had cheated. He remained a tax collector, but now a just one, and Jesus confirmed that salvation had come to his house.
When we come to church, we come to meet Jesus. It can be a bit awkward and uncomfortable, a bit like climbing a tree. But let’s listen to Jesus calling to us. Let’s listen to Jesus wanting to stay with us. Let’s know that Jesus loves us, and calls us to walk the path to heaven. And with our fixed on Jesus, we will find the grace to put aside our sinful ways. We will start to live lives worthy of our calling. Our worship will become pleasing to God. We will find ourselves able to walk the journey to heaven and to dwell always in the presence of God. Amen.
Sunday 27th September 2009, Back to Church Sunday
Readings for Back to Church Sunday, taken from Year C, Proper 26.
Isaiah 1: 10-18 2 Thessalonians 1: 1-4 & 11-12 Luke 19: 1-10
Quite often, when I meet people from the fringes of our church community I get the comment, “Of course you don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian!” Well, you won’t be surprised to know that vicar/curate types like me don’t particularly like this kind of comment; it reveals very restricted form of Christian life in which the worship and community life of the church are marginalised.
But if you wanted to try and prove from scripture that, “You don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian,” one of the texts that you might well go for is the reading from Isaiah that we heard this morning. The reading is from the eighth century BC. In it, God, through the prophet Isaiah, complains bitterly against his chosen people, the nation of Israel. And God’s particular complaint appears to be their worship. He says, “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? …Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. … I can’t endure your solemn assemblies with iniquity.” On the face of it God is complaining about their worship. He hates their worship. So there you have it; it is better not to worship. It is better to be a Christian who never comes to church! QED!
Well, no! To understand the passage in this way is to misunderstand it completely. If we read the passage carefully we will see that the real problem is the iniquity of the people, the evil of their doings. The real problem is their bad behaviour. If people behave badly then their worship becomes hypocrisy. It’s becomes like a child telling you that you are a wonderful Dad, while steeling your money. It becomes like a neighbour praising your good nature, while bringing a lawsuit against you. It becomes like a work colleague who is all sweetness and light, but who is quietly stabbing you in the back.
So the message of the passage is not, “Don’t Worship!” On the contrary, the message of the passage is, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; …cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice … then your worship will be acceptable to God. Then God will listen to your prayers. Then God will not hide himself from you.”
And this might feel like a challenge too far. You try and do a favour for God by coming to church, and then God turns round and tells you that you need to get you whole life in order first. He tells us that we need to live a good life before we can worship. Well, we might as all well go home right now!
But no! This isn’t the message either, and we can see this in the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a public sinner of the first order. He conspired with the Romans to take taxes off the Jews. His work strengthened the occupying Roman army and weakened the Jewish people. To the Jews he was the lowest of the low; a betrayer of God’s people, a traitor. And Jesus knew all this. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus’ whole lifestyle was embroiled in sin. And yet Jesus called to him. Jesus came to visit him. People criticised Jesus for visiting a sinner, but Jesus went all the same and stayed at Zacchaeus’ house.
And when Zacchaeus realised he was loved by Jesus, suddenly he found the capacity to change. Suddenly he could throw off his sin, he could give generously to the poor, he could make good fourfold the loses of anyone he had cheated. He remained a tax collector, but now a just one, and Jesus confirmed that salvation had come to his house.
When we come to church, we come to meet Jesus. It can be a bit awkward and uncomfortable, a bit like climbing a tree. But let’s listen to Jesus calling to us. Let’s listen to Jesus wanting to stay with us. Let’s know that Jesus loves us, and calls us to walk the path to heaven. And with our fixed on Jesus, we will find the grace to put aside our sinful ways. We will start to live lives worthy of our calling. Our worship will become pleasing to God. We will find ourselves able to walk the journey to heaven and to dwell always in the presence of God. Amen.
11 July 2008
Funeral readings
This brief introduction to the readings at a funeral was given at St Alphege Church at the 1.30pm Funeral Eucharist on 11th July 2008.
Readings: Isaiah 43:1-7 2 Corithians 5:1-8 John 14: 1-6
Our readings today show great trust in God; complete confidence that Christ has conquered sin and death. They show a profound faith that death is now the gateway to eternal life.
In our first reading we hear from the so called “Second Isaiah”, one of the greatest prophets and poets of all time. Second Isaiah speaks the word of the Lord to the people of Israel at one of their lowest moments, when they are in exile in Babylon. Through second Isaiah God assures them that he has redeemed them. He will gather them together and restore them. They are precious in his sight. He created them for his glory.
Our second reading comes from 2 Corinthians. St Paul has been talking about our outer nature wasting away, while our inner nature is being renewed in Christ and prepared for glory. He compares our body to a tent (Paul was of course a tent maker) and he says that when we put aside our mortal body we take on an eternal building from God in heaven. Our mortal body might die, but we are swallowed up by life in God.
In our gospel reading, Jesus assures us that he goes to prepare a place for us in heaven where we shall be together with him. To get there Jesus himself is the way that we must follow, the life in which we must share, and the truth in which we must rejoice.
Readings: Isaiah 43:1-7 2 Corithians 5:1-8 John 14: 1-6
Our readings today show great trust in God; complete confidence that Christ has conquered sin and death. They show a profound faith that death is now the gateway to eternal life.
In our first reading we hear from the so called “Second Isaiah”, one of the greatest prophets and poets of all time. Second Isaiah speaks the word of the Lord to the people of Israel at one of their lowest moments, when they are in exile in Babylon. Through second Isaiah God assures them that he has redeemed them. He will gather them together and restore them. They are precious in his sight. He created them for his glory.
Our second reading comes from 2 Corinthians. St Paul has been talking about our outer nature wasting away, while our inner nature is being renewed in Christ and prepared for glory. He compares our body to a tent (Paul was of course a tent maker) and he says that when we put aside our mortal body we take on an eternal building from God in heaven. Our mortal body might die, but we are swallowed up by life in God.
In our gospel reading, Jesus assures us that he goes to prepare a place for us in heaven where we shall be together with him. To get there Jesus himself is the way that we must follow, the life in which we must share, and the truth in which we must rejoice.
18 May 2008
Waiting on God
Thought for parish pewslip
Sunday 18th May 2008 – Trinity Sunday (Year A)
Readings: Isaiah 40: 12-17, 27-31 2 Cor 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20
On Trinity Sunday we reflect on the great mystery of God, who we say has three “persons”, perfectly united in the one essence of God. It was around 200 AD before the Church started to use the term “Trinity”, and the Church’s understanding of the Holy Trinity continued to develop over the next centuries. However, both of our New Testament readings today clearly show us that the understanding of God as three Persons was present right at the beginning of the Church.
Our reading from Isaiah is a reflection on the great majesty of God who is beyond all understanding and who displays such great power in creation. All nations, all peoples are as nothing when compared to God. The passage is written during the period when the Judeans were in exile in Babylon (6th Century BC). The Judeans had been calling on God to deliver them from exile, and the prophet assures them that God has not forgotten them and he will renew the strength of those who wait on him. God will do something new and they will rise up with wing like eagles.
Sometimes we can feel that God has forgotten us, or forgotten the society that we live in. Isaiah reminds us to renew our trust in the almighty, unknowable God, and to wait on him. The deliverance that we pray for will come. – Fr Gerard
Sunday 18th May 2008 – Trinity Sunday (Year A)
Readings: Isaiah 40: 12-17, 27-31 2 Cor 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20
On Trinity Sunday we reflect on the great mystery of God, who we say has three “persons”, perfectly united in the one essence of God. It was around 200 AD before the Church started to use the term “Trinity”, and the Church’s understanding of the Holy Trinity continued to develop over the next centuries. However, both of our New Testament readings today clearly show us that the understanding of God as three Persons was present right at the beginning of the Church.
Our reading from Isaiah is a reflection on the great majesty of God who is beyond all understanding and who displays such great power in creation. All nations, all peoples are as nothing when compared to God. The passage is written during the period when the Judeans were in exile in Babylon (6th Century BC). The Judeans had been calling on God to deliver them from exile, and the prophet assures them that God has not forgotten them and he will renew the strength of those who wait on him. God will do something new and they will rise up with wing like eagles.
Sometimes we can feel that God has forgotten us, or forgotten the society that we live in. Isaiah reminds us to renew our trust in the almighty, unknowable God, and to wait on him. The deliverance that we pray for will come. – Fr Gerard
16 December 2007
Doubt and John the Baptist
Sermon preached at SS Mary and Bartholomew, Hampton-in-Arden, West Midlands at the 10.30am Eucharist, 16/12/07 Advent 3, Year A
(A shorter version of this sermon was also preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull, also on 16/12/07)
Readings: Isaiah 35:1-10 (James 5:7-10) Matthew 11:2-11
As we travel along on our Christian journey towards heaven we pass through many different stages and many different experiences. There are happy times and sad times; times when we experience great understanding and clarity, and times when all is confusion and doubt. We know that God, in his great love, can and does use all of these many different experiences to help us to draw nearer to him. But we are only human, and we tend to be much more comfortable when it is all about happiness and clarity, and we are far less comfortable when it is all about sadness and doubt.
In our gospel reading today we hear about John the Baptist, and it would seem that while he is locked up in prison he is experiencing a very painful period of darkness and doubt.
Let’s just remember that a few months earlier John the Baptist had really taken the people of Israel by storm. As we heard in last week’s gospel reading, John’s ministry had been very high profile. He had gone into the wilderness of Judea preaching all the prophecies from Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”. (Matt 3:3, Is 40:3) John’s key message was “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near”. And people had flocked to John in great numbers and many received from him the baptism of water for repentance.
So John had developed a huge following, but he had also witnessed wonderful moments of revelation about Jesus. On the second Sunday of epiphany will hear in our gospel reading Matthew’s account of the Baptism of Christ. We will hear how at that moment John recognises Jesus for who he is. John is initially reluctant to baptise Jesus, but when he final does baptise him he sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove onto Jesus and he hears a great voice saying, “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). At this point John is very sure about who Jesus. In chapter one of John’s gospel we hear John testifying about Jesus. John twice calls Jesus the Lamb of God. He explains that the decent of the Holy Spirit as a dove was for him a direct confirmation from God that Jesus was son of God. John had the clearest and most wonderful understanding of Jesus, and he shared this freely with the people around him, just as God had intended.
So we know that John was a very great man. And yet John’s great following soon started to fade. People began going to Jesus for baptism rather than to John. John’s comment on this, recorded in John's gospel, was that, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). And indeed it seems that John’s fortunes did start to dip quite dramatically. We know that Herod put John in prison, and it seems that while he is in prison and he starts to suffer all kinds of doubts and fears about who Jesus really was. Eventually he becomes so unsure that he sends his own disciples to ask Jesus if Jesus is the one who is to come, or if they should look for another.
To me it seems extraordinary that John the Baptist, the man above all others who bore witness to Christ, should himself start to suffer doubts like these while he his locked away in prison. And off course we know that it does not get any better for John. He never gets out of prison. Eventually, because of the king’s frivolous promise at a drunken party, John is beheaded.
[And the answer that Jesus gives to the disciples of John the Baptist seems not quite as clear as it might be. He says, “Go and tell John what you hear and see; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news brought to them.” (Matt 11:5). This is a reference to prophesies about the messiah like the one that we read today in Isaiah. Isaiah said, “For then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (Is 35:3-4).
All these things were already very manifest, and were probably already known to John, so it is not clear that this would have helped him very much. I wonder if perhaps John was passing through a very dark moment in his own spiritual journey. We know that God often allows such moments, especially in the lives of his saints, so that the saints can lose their own ego completely and learn to trust entirely in God.]
It is interesting that Jesus waits for John’s disciples to go away before he makes his big speech of affirmation about John. In the big speech Jesus confirms that John is the one of whom it was written “I am sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you”. Jesus affirms that “among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matt 11:11). If we had read further in our gospel reading we would have heard Jesus say that John is the Elijah who, in the very last sentences of the Old Testament, is promised to come before the messiah. John the Baptist’s disciples had already left when Jesus said all this, but it might have been very comforting to John if he had heard it.
So when we suffer doubts and uncertainties we can take heart that we are in very good company. Even John the Baptist, the very person who announced the coming of Jesus, had these problems. We might wonder why God seems to allow such experiences. These are deep mysteries, but perhaps one reason is to teach us always to be ready to lose our own understanding of things and to trust completely in God. These moments of losing can be very painful and difficult, but we must never lose heart. John the Baptist became a very great saint. At the very moment that he was suffering from doubt, Jesus was teaching the world how great he was.
(A shorter version of this sermon was also preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull, also on 16/12/07)
Readings: Isaiah 35:1-10 (James 5:7-10) Matthew 11:2-11
As we travel along on our Christian journey towards heaven we pass through many different stages and many different experiences. There are happy times and sad times; times when we experience great understanding and clarity, and times when all is confusion and doubt. We know that God, in his great love, can and does use all of these many different experiences to help us to draw nearer to him. But we are only human, and we tend to be much more comfortable when it is all about happiness and clarity, and we are far less comfortable when it is all about sadness and doubt.
In our gospel reading today we hear about John the Baptist, and it would seem that while he is locked up in prison he is experiencing a very painful period of darkness and doubt.
Let’s just remember that a few months earlier John the Baptist had really taken the people of Israel by storm. As we heard in last week’s gospel reading, John’s ministry had been very high profile. He had gone into the wilderness of Judea preaching all the prophecies from Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”. (Matt 3:3, Is 40:3) John’s key message was “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near”. And people had flocked to John in great numbers and many received from him the baptism of water for repentance.
So John had developed a huge following, but he had also witnessed wonderful moments of revelation about Jesus. On the second Sunday of epiphany will hear in our gospel reading Matthew’s account of the Baptism of Christ. We will hear how at that moment John recognises Jesus for who he is. John is initially reluctant to baptise Jesus, but when he final does baptise him he sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove onto Jesus and he hears a great voice saying, “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). At this point John is very sure about who Jesus. In chapter one of John’s gospel we hear John testifying about Jesus. John twice calls Jesus the Lamb of God. He explains that the decent of the Holy Spirit as a dove was for him a direct confirmation from God that Jesus was son of God. John had the clearest and most wonderful understanding of Jesus, and he shared this freely with the people around him, just as God had intended.
So we know that John was a very great man. And yet John’s great following soon started to fade. People began going to Jesus for baptism rather than to John. John’s comment on this, recorded in John's gospel, was that, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). And indeed it seems that John’s fortunes did start to dip quite dramatically. We know that Herod put John in prison, and it seems that while he is in prison and he starts to suffer all kinds of doubts and fears about who Jesus really was. Eventually he becomes so unsure that he sends his own disciples to ask Jesus if Jesus is the one who is to come, or if they should look for another.
To me it seems extraordinary that John the Baptist, the man above all others who bore witness to Christ, should himself start to suffer doubts like these while he his locked away in prison. And off course we know that it does not get any better for John. He never gets out of prison. Eventually, because of the king’s frivolous promise at a drunken party, John is beheaded.
[And the answer that Jesus gives to the disciples of John the Baptist seems not quite as clear as it might be. He says, “Go and tell John what you hear and see; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news brought to them.” (Matt 11:5). This is a reference to prophesies about the messiah like the one that we read today in Isaiah. Isaiah said, “For then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (Is 35:3-4).
All these things were already very manifest, and were probably already known to John, so it is not clear that this would have helped him very much. I wonder if perhaps John was passing through a very dark moment in his own spiritual journey. We know that God often allows such moments, especially in the lives of his saints, so that the saints can lose their own ego completely and learn to trust entirely in God.]
It is interesting that Jesus waits for John’s disciples to go away before he makes his big speech of affirmation about John. In the big speech Jesus confirms that John is the one of whom it was written “I am sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you”. Jesus affirms that “among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matt 11:11). If we had read further in our gospel reading we would have heard Jesus say that John is the Elijah who, in the very last sentences of the Old Testament, is promised to come before the messiah. John the Baptist’s disciples had already left when Jesus said all this, but it might have been very comforting to John if he had heard it.
So when we suffer doubts and uncertainties we can take heart that we are in very good company. Even John the Baptist, the very person who announced the coming of Jesus, had these problems. We might wonder why God seems to allow such experiences. These are deep mysteries, but perhaps one reason is to teach us always to be ready to lose our own understanding of things and to trust completely in God. These moments of losing can be very painful and difficult, but we must never lose heart. John the Baptist became a very great saint. At the very moment that he was suffering from doubt, Jesus was teaching the world how great he was.
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