“BEFORE WINTER” –
a sermon for PRISONS SUNDAY
& THE REDEDICATION OF Pastoral Visitors
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Readings: |
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Top Left:
Wakefield Gaol |
Bottom Right: Sheep in Winter |
“Do your
best to come before winter” (2 Timothy 4:21)
Words written by the apostle Paul
to his friend and one time companion Timothy.
Their ways have parted and Paul is now in prison in Rome –
getting old and tired.
Winter is also approaching,
and he has an old man’s feeling for cold.
So he
writes to his friend Timothy -
“When you come, bring the cloak I left in
Troas”
And then
“Do your best to come before winter”
Today is
Prisons Sunday
And we in
our turn are asked to remember the needs of all those in prison –
·
Those
like Paul in prison for the religious views
·
Those
in Pakistan and elsewhere who are political prisoners
·
Those
who are criminals and law breakers
·
The
innocent and the guilty
·
The
petty thief & the man who buries victims in his back garden
·
The
penitent, the defiant and the confused
·
Those
who are tortured and those who are well cared for
·
Those
who cling to their faith as a light in the dark, and
those who feel themselves simply overwhelmed by darkness and despair
Every one a child of God.
Every one in need of our love & prayers,
and a cloak before winter.
There are
of course many kinds of prison.
We
remember the millions - maybe some here this morning -
who may not be in a literal prison - who are “free” -
but who feel nonetheless imprisoned and stifled and cornered
by their place in life - those imprisoned by
social
prejudice or economic injustice, by ignorance,
by
unmanageable responsibilities, crushing relationships,
by
grief or loss, by physical or emotional injury,
by
physical or spiritual poverty …
Every one a child of God.
Every one in need of our love & prayers,
and a cloak before winter.
It was
good to hear the extract from “Rock Nativity” earlier –
because of our Rock Nativity presentation
we are thinking of Christmas themes sooner than usual this year –
but of course the Christmas theme is always relevant at every season –
reminding us that Christ does not stay safe
in a sanitised shiny heaven,
but comes to share our suffering, our stable, our prison cell.
In the
chapel at Wakefield Prison
there is a stained glass window of
Christ the Good Shepherd –
with a prisoner amongst the sheep at his feet.
As the chaplain at Wakefield says -
“It serves to remind us that no prison wall
can ever come between us and God”.
Harold
Shipman hanged himself in Wakefield gaol –
Christ went from a Roman cell to an imperial gallows -
It matters not how dire our sins, how deep our sorrow,
nor how dark our prison house -
from stable to cross Christ is there with us -
the Good Shepherd gathering his flock on moor and fen,
in back alley and prison cell, in life and in death
There, in
our sin and sorrow, is the good news of the Gospel.
And here
is the challenge of the Gospel -
We are
all called to share in Christ’s shepherding role -
all called to be shepherds or pastors –
the words have the same meaning -
like Christ we are called to heed to cry of those
in sickness, sorrow or slavery.
“When you come, bring the cloak I left in
Troas”
“Do your best to come before winter”
The cry
of the persecuted and imprisoned,
of the hungry and cold, comes not only to Timothy but to us all.
I don’t
know if anyone has seen the film “Click”.
It’s just a light comedy – but still provides food for
thought.
Adam Sandler plays Michael,
a man who acquires a TV remote control –
only to find that it not only controls the TV,
but the real worlds as well.
·
So
if the dog barks too loudly,
he simply points the remote control at the dog,
presses the mute button,
and the dog barks silently.
·
If
he doesn’t want to entertain the in laws for dinner –
he simply fast-forwards to the point
where he is waving them goodbye.
and they are thanking him for a lovely evening.
And so on.
Just a fantasy–
though of course in real life
we all have quite a choice of buttons to press -
When faced with a demanding problem or a needy person,
·
do we pause and zoom in –
or even rewind a little
to give the moment our full and careful attention?
·
or do we turn on the mute, present a deaf ear,
and fast forward to the next chapter?
To begin with, Michael loves his remote–
but gradually he discovers that the remote control cuts him off
and starts to destroy any real meaning or joy in life.
So, what
about you and me?
When
faced by the cry of the poor, the imprisoned and the needy:
Do we disengage, turn off the listening ear and fast forward -
Or like
Christ, do we take the path
of the shepherd, the stable and the cross,
getting alongside those in need?
In 1939
war loomed, and the great German Theologian
Dietrich Bonheoffer was lecturing in the USA.
He was passionately opposed to Hitler’s Nazi regime,
but safely 3000 miles away from his
homeland.
In his journal he writes thus:
“Today by chance I
read 2 Tim 4.21
‘Do your best to come before winter’ -
Paul’s request to Timothy.
Timothy is to share the suffering of the apostle and not be ashamed.
Do your best to come before winter
- otherwise it might be too late.
That has been in my ears all day.
Do your best to come before winter
-
It is not a misuse of Scripture if I take that to be said to me.
If God gives me grace to do it.”
So Bonheoffer took ship back to Germany
and thence to a Nazi prison cell and a martyr’s death.
“Bring my
cloak”. “Come before winter.”
The
Scriptures are there for us all to read.
The
nights are drawing in and it’s getting colder.
There has been frost this week,
and the wind has taken most of the remaining leaves from the trees.
Autumn will soon be gone.
Hear the
words of the sick, the needy, the sorrowing and the prisoner:
“Do your
best to come before winter!”
And then
- when this life is finally over,
and we are gathered into our Father’s loving arms
(as surely we shall be)
then perhaps we shall look into the
smiling, shining eyes of the Good Shepherd
and sense a familiar face – and then perhaps he will say -
“Yes my child, you have seen my face before-
or at least a dim reflection -
for I too was naked and hungry and in prison -
and insomuch as you cared for one of these my sisters and brothers,
you cared for me”
ORDER OF SERVICE
Organ: Prelude, Fugue & Chaconne in C Major -
Buxtehude
Hymn SOF 40 “Be Still”/ 주의 임재 앞에 잠잠해 주 여기 계시네
Prayers
“We will watch you grow” (from “Rock
Nativity”)
- Penny Smith & John Wiseman
The Peace
Leader: Let us share the peace
Adults: The peace of the Lord be with you
Children: And also with you
Leader: Go in peace
[Young people leave for
their own sessions]
Readings: 2
Timothy 4:9-22 (p.1197) (Paul writes to Timothy
from his prison cell in Rome)
Matthew
25:31-40 (p. 995)
Hymn 473 “Heavenly Father, may your blessing”
Sermon: “Before Winter” (2 Timothy 4: 21)
Hymn SOF
120 “The Servant King”
Annual Rededication of Pastoral Visitors
(Methodist Worship Book pp. 344-346)
Prayer
Preface, including responses by the whole congregation:
Minister: …We are the Body of Christ:
People: Each of us is a member of
it.
Minister There
is one ministry of Christ:
People: In this ministry we all
share.
Minister: There
are different ways of serving God:
People: It is the same Lord whom
we serve.
Commissioning: Pastoral Visitors move to the front of the
Church
as
their names are read
Prayer
Pastoral Visitors’ Promise
Congregational Promise (All stand):
Minister: Members of the Body of Christ, will you encourage these Pastoral Visitors
in their ministry and
support them with your prayers?
People: With God's help, we will.
The minister gives the
hand of fellowship to each visitor
Offertory
“Now give me this hill country” – sung by members of the Korean Congregation