“EYELESS IN GAZA”
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St
Lucy’s Day Celebrations, Sweden |
A sermon preached at the
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“He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind…” (Luke 4:18)
Blindness can take many forms -
Some are physically blind.
Others have clear physical sight,
but lack the ability or the willingness to see, to recognize,
the needs of our neighbour or the demands of our God.
They are not physically but spiritually blind.
A man, dirty and smelling of
(among other things) alcohol,
gets on a crowded bus and sits down.
“This is hard for me to say” he says thickly
to no one in particular, “but I want to sing for you”
He sings in a wandering and disorganised way -
then stumbles round the bus asking for donations.
Everyone on looks everywhere but at the man.
Some study the ground, others look fixedly out the
window.
“I can’t blame you ignoring me” he slurs,
“I know I’m a terrible sight”
(adapted from Amy E Richter,
“Opening our Eyes” in Mark Barger Elliott, Creative Styles of Preaching”
Westminster 2000 p. 114)
Then here is Pablo Galdamez writing about the fascist attacks
on the Church and people of El Salvador in the 1970s:
Fr Octavio Ortiz was a simple peasant priest who on
the evening of
19 Jan 1979 lead a young people’s Bible Study
on the story of Jesus’ healing of the blind man.
Next morning at dawn, the Government Death Squad arrived
& killed Fr Ortiz & four of the young people
who had shared in the Bible Class.
Goldamez comments,
“Jesus came to give sight to the blind.
Who are the blind of El Salvador?”
(Galdamez,
Faith of a People, CIIR 1986 p86)
Lets come closer to home -
geographically if not historically -
Had you been at Livery
Dole in Heavitree on 10 Jan 1531
you would have witnessed the brutal burning at the stake
of Thomas Benet for heresy.
The people of Exeter rushed to add fuel to the fire -
even pushing burning faggots in the face of the dying man.
John Hooker writing of the event later, comments,
Such “was the devlish rage
of the blind people” of Exeter.
(Eamon
Duffy, The Voices of Morebath, Yale 2001, p. 87)
This week the Mint theatre group
went to see
the Northcott
production of “The Lord of the Flies” -
William Golding’s horror story of the savagery of children
left to fend for themselves on a deserted island.
One of the children, called Piggy, displays considerable insight,
but his physical sight is very poor - he is lost without his glasses.
As the children split into two rival warring factions,
the rival tribe steal Piggy’s glasses and later murder him.
So Eden is corrupted by the followers of
Satan, Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies -
Piggy can’t see without his glasses,
but the real blindness is that of the violent thugs who murder him.
So hear the words of Christ as he
stands in the Synagogue and says,
I have been sent to “proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind…”
(Luke 4:18)
Today is Prisons Sunday, and as we
read this verse,
we think not only of the physically and spiritually blind,
but also of those of those literally or figuratively in prison -
§
those
serving just sentences for wrong doing,
§
those
wrongfully imprisoned,
§
those
imprisoned for the beliefs,
§
the millions imprisoned by economic or social circumstance.
For so many, existence can seem
like a dark dungeon,
in which the prisoner can only dream of the day
when the light might stream through an open door.
John
McCarthy was imprisoned
as a hostage in Lebanon from 1986 to 1991.
Writing of his ordeal, he describes how one day
he sank to his knees in total despair.
Though not normally a religious man, he found himself crying out
“Help me please O God help me”
“The next instant I was standing up,
surrounded by a warm bright light.
I was dancing, surrounded by joy”
He says he did not quite know how to understand the experience,
but from then on he would take comfort from the experience,
as a point of hope when despair threatened to overwhelm him.
(McCarthy and Morrell, Some Other
Rainbow”, Bantam 1993)
And Christ says, I have been sent
to
“proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind…”
(Luke 4:18)
The title of the sermon today is
“Eyeless in Gaza” -
For those so minded, you can award yourself bonus points
if you can identify all three literary references in that phrase!
§
Eyeless in Gaza is the title of an Aldous Huxley novel
§
But
he is quoting John Milton in Samson Agonistes, which in turn
§
refers back the story of Samson in the Book of Judges.
Milton had been a Government
Minister under Cromwell -
He survived the Restoration, but under Charles II fell from favour.
He had become old and tired.
His sight was failing and he was under house arrest.
Going blind and powerless against
the monarchists,
it is perhaps not surprising that Milton turned to the story of Samson -
“eyeless in Gaza at the mill with
slaves,
Himself in bonds under Philistian yoke;" -
The story of Samson, which
resonated so much with Milton’s life,
dates back to the century immediately following
the Israelite settlement in Palestine.
The new arrivals are fighting the Philistines.
Samson, the Israelite superhero,
loses his strength when his hair is cut off.
He is captured, blinded and imprisoned in Gaza.
At the end of the story, Samson’s hair has grown again,
and his strength returns.
He is in the pagan temple, which is full of people.
He uses his power to push out the pillars of the temple,
bringing down the roof.
He thus kills more in death than he did in life (Judges 16:30)
There is always a tendency to
rejoice
in the exploits of the heroes of scripture -
but I wonder if some stories may tell us more
about the limited world view of early writers
than about the ways of God?
Samson is after all essentially a
former day suicide bomber -
sacrificing his life to bring down
not the twin towers of Western Imperialism
but the twin pillars of the Temple of Dagon.
We need to beware of double standards in religious history -
a suicide bomber is still a suicide bomber, whoever the God he worships.
Meanwhile Gaza remains in the news
this week,
with insufficient humanitarian supplies getting into the country.
We feel for the Palestinian people imprisoned in their homeland -
thinking especially of children and others
whose only political act has been to be born in the wrong place and time.
What then is our prayer for the
people of Gaza?
After 3000 years of military might and suicide attacks,
still there is vengeance bitterness and bloodshed,
Hear the Word of the Lord - do not
take an eye for an eye,
nor a hostage for a hostage, nor a life for a life.
Rather, break through the circle of violence
with the power and light of love.
“Proclaim freedom for the prisoners & recovery of sight for the blind”
Today we baptize Lucy - we have
given her a candle saying
“Receive this light, for you belong to Christ, the light of the world.”
Lucy shares a name with an early
Sicilian Saint, St Lucy.
Most of what we know of her holy namesake is legend.
But the stories all contain reference to Lucy’s blindness or poor sight -
she is the patron saint of those with sight problems.
However she may have been blinded, one thing is clear -
in every legend, God restores Lucy’s sight.
In Scandinavia today the Feast of
St Lucy
is celebrated in mid December.
Processions carry candles to mark Christ the light of the world
overcoming the gloom of winter and the darkness of sin.
So we ask God’s blessing on our
Lucy today -
that like her namesake she may be given eyes to see -
not just physical sight but
spiritual sight -
that, with clarity and compassion, she may see the world for what it is -
and see God’s will for the oppressed and those in need.
Wordsworth talks about freedom and
innocence of childhood -
“Heaven lies about us in our infancy!”. But, he says, later
“Shades of the prison-house begin to close upon the growing Boy”
(Intimations of Immortality
1803-6, stanza V)
We have given Lucy a symbol of the
Light of the World today -
that whatever her life may hold for her,
God may always be there as a light,
that she may see her way,
that darkness shall never defeat her.
We pray that her life may be a beacon of love and peace and justice
in an often dark and oppressive world.
And what we pray for Lucy we pray
for ourselves, and our Church.
Lord free us, enlighten us. Give us eyes to see.
And though we walk through the valley of the shadow of sin and death,
yet may your light go with us
and shine through us, now and always.
Amen.
Order of Service
Sunday 16th November 2008 Start of Prisons
Week
10.30 a.m. Morning Worship led by Rev Andrew Sails
with the Baptism of Lucy Elizabeth Kirkman
Welcome and
Notices
Hymn 457 “Christ whose glory fills the
skies”
Prayer
Baptism
of Lucy Elizabeth Kirkman
The
Declaration (Methodist
Worship Book p.88)
The
Request for Baptism (p.89)
Minister: Michael and Heather, having heard these things, how do you respond to the offer of
God's grace?
Parents: We thank God, and ask that our child be baptized.
Thanksgiving
over the water (p.90)
The
Affirmation of Faith
(p.91)
Minister: Do you
turn away from evil & all that denies God?
Parents: By the grace of God,
I do.
Minister: Do you turn to
God, trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and in the Holy Spirit as
Helper and Guide?
Parents: By the grace of God,
I do.
(The congregation stands)
Minister: We say together:
People: We believe in God the Father,
who made the world.
We believe in Jesus Christ, his Son,
who redeemed humankind.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
who gives life to the people of God.
(The congregation sits)
The
Baptism (p.92)
Minister: What
name have you given this child?
Parents: Lucy Elizabeth
Minister: Lucy Elizabeth, for you Jesus Christ came into the world;
for you he lived and showed God's love;
for you he suffered death on the Cross; for you he triumphed over death, rising
to newness of life;
for you he prays at God's right hand: all this for you, before you could know
anything of it.
In your Baptism, the word of Scripture is fulfilled:
‘We love, because God first loved us.’
Lucy Elizabeth, I baptize you
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
By Baptism, God has received you into the Church.
Lucy Elizabeth, I sign you with the cross,
the sign of Christ.
Sarah Gleave: Lucy Elizabeth, receive
this light,
for you belong to Christ, the Light of the world.
Christ is your Light and your Way.
People: May
you grow and live in the faith of Christ.
Amen
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord look on you with kindness
and give you peace. Amen.
The Baptismal promises (p.94)
Minister: Michael and Heather, I ask
you now to respond to God’s love and grace to your child by making these
promises:
Will you
love this your child committing
yourselves to care for her in body, mind and spirit?
Parents: With God's help we will.
Minister: Will you, therefore,
ensure that she is nurtured in
the faith and life of the Christian community?
Parents: With God's help we will.
Minister: Will you set before her a Christian example, that through
your prayers, words and deeds, she may learn the way of Christ?
Parents: With
God's help we will.
Minister: Will you help Michael and Heather
to nurture Lucy in
the Christian faith?
Godparents: With God's help we
will.
(Congregation stands)
Minister: Members of the
body of Christ, we rejoice that this our sister
has been baptized. Will you so
maintain the Church's life of worship and service that she may grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of God and of
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord?
People: With
God's help we will.
Minister: Let
us pray
People: Generous God, touch us
again
with the fire of your Spirit
and renew in us all
the grace of our Baptism;
that we may profess the one true faith
and live in love and unity
with all who are baptized into Christ.
Amen.
Hymn “Lord, look upon this little child”
Lord, look upon this little child
Before she knows you're there;
May Lucy know your loving touch,
Enfolded in your care.
Your church on earth, O Lord, affirms
By clear baptismal sign
What you from heaven made manifest
By merciful design.
By merciful design and love
Through Saviour Jesus' birth,
You succour every one that's born
To serve you here on earth.
Heather and Michael strengthen, Lord,
Together to provide
A Christian home, where faithfulness
And patient love abide.
Thus may all children brought to you
Be nurtured in your way,
And so in goodness and in truth
Your Spirit's fruit display.
[HAP
586 - Derek R Farrow, adapted]
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)
Reading: Psalm 142 (p.630)
Singers: “Love from Below”
A little child in a bed of night,
Long long ago,
Convinced the world of its need for light
And how to glow.
Oh child in a borrowed shed,
Clearly you show
How God in splendour reveals for earth
Love from below.
A little child in a random crowd
Tired and unfed,
Arrived to place in a stranger’s hands
Fishes and bread.
Oh, child by your selflessness,
Others you’ve led
To share with all what they called their own,
As Jesus said.
A little child to the font we bring
Here to entwine
Her life with that of the Lord of Love,
Jesus, the Vine.
Oh, child as you’re christened here
Through word and sign,
God’s finger writes in your hearts the words
“Now you are mine”
[John
L Bell and Graham Maule, © Iona Community 1989 CCLI Licence 58752]
Reading: Luke 4:14-21 (p.1031)
Hymn SOF 40 “Be still”
Sermon “Eyeless in Gaza”
Hymn 774
“Lord thy Church on earth is seeking”
Collection and Dedication of Offering
Prayers of Intercession and Lord’s Prayer
Hymn 216 “And can it be”
Blessing