“DRESSING UP”
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“Take off
the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God.
2Put on the robe of the righteousness … “(Baruch 5:1-2)
This is from the Book of Baruch - one of today’s
lectionary readings.
Baruch comes from the Apocrypha, the books which missed the cut
when the contents of the Old Testament as we normally use it were being
agreed.
Composed largely of books dating from the centuries
immediately before the birth of Christ and written in Greek (as opposed to
Hebrew),
the Apocryphal writings appear in only some versions of the Bible -
not as it happens the one we have her at the Mint -
hence the words printed in the service order.
Does God speak through words outside the accepted
canon?
Of course, God can speak through every part of this world.
Do the apocryphal books have the same authority
as signposts to God’s Word which the OT and NT have?
Maybe not - but valuable they can still be.
Baruch was the secretary of Jeremiah.
The Book of Baruch was written many years later,
but it purports to contain the words or the message of Baruch.
It is set in the latter part of Jeremiah’s life,
by which time Jerusalem has been destroyed
and both Jeremiah and Baruch have been exiled to Babylon.
For the Israelites, the exile was a time of sorrow and
anguish -
the whole of their life had been destroyed -
they hang up their harps by the streams of Babylon saying
“How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”
When they think of Jerusalem they can only mourn the destruction of the city.
Baruch is one of the prophets -
along with Ezekiel and 2nd Isaiah and Jeremiah and others -
who bring God’s word of hope in the form of a message to Jerusalem -
Take off your mourning clothes and dress for a celebration
-
with the robes of righteousness and the headdress of glory.
The story of God’s dealings with his people
is ultimately not the story of a funeral but a party!
God says: Live a life of hope and celebration amidst the ruins.
In other words Baruch (along with the other post exilic
prophets) says:
Don’t despair! Live lives that affirm
your hope and trust in God
Proclaim that hope to others through your life and how you live it.
So, some thoughts on the passage.
1. You are what you wear: physical and
spiritual clothes
They say that clothes can tell you a lot about someone,
their personality and how they perceive themselves -
as the saying goes “You are what you wear”.
I wonder - when you look in the mirror -
what do you learn about yourself from your choice of clothes?
What are you trying to say to the world or yourself about who you are?
You might like to reflect on that during the week.
Still the
arguments go on about whether Christians and Muslims
should be allowed to wear symbols of their faith -
the answer I guess depends on the situation -
though I hope Christian would not expect more privileges
than those given to other groups in society.
What matters is not just the outer adornment -
what matters is “Am I clothed in the glory of God?”
In the
Dark Ages, during the conversion of the tribes
inhabiting Northern Europe,
there were often huge baptismal services,
during which a whole tribe or village might be baptised
and then, as they emerged from the water,
be given a brand new set of clothes, symbolising their new life in Christ.
It is said that some tribes would come for baptism regularly,
some every year for 20 years -
it was a way of getting new clothes.
And if this year’s baptismal robes were not up to the usual standard,
they would not beyond complaining
to the Church authorities about the workmanship.
Ultimately my outer garments - however worthy they might
be -
·
whether
the tee-shirt with a slogan about love and justice,
·
a
World Aids Day ribbon,
·
a
cross around my neck,
· or a baptismal robe -
are worth nothing unless they truly
reflect the person I really am.
But God doesn’t just give us physical clothes -
that would be no more use than giving Superman
the fancy tights without the superpowers.
No
God gives us the power and grace - clothes us in glory & righteousness.
2. Funeral Clothes or Party Clothes?
So back to the mournful inhabitants of destroyed Jerusalem
-
they are told to pack away their funeral clothes
and dress up- dress for a party.
Their lives are to proclaim the hope and trust we have in
God.
There are those of you here - you know who you are -
for whom the world seems to have fallen apart.
Jerusalem has been destroyed -
your life, all that is precious to you, torn apart -
your memories are raw and your expectations bleak -
you are driven to despair.
Spiritually you want to wear mourning clothes.
So - how can you cope with this stuff -
the preacher telling you to
“Take off the garment of your sorrow and
affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God”
How can you do that?
With difficulty.
But note, the Bible never says that there will be no more
trial and tribulation -
that everything will be sweetness and light -
No - life can be tough, Jerusalem does get destroyed,
my life can fall apart - God never denies this -
But - and this is a huge but -
Jerusalem is rebuilt, the exiles return, Christ rises from the dead -
it is not that we don’t go through the valley-of the shadow of death,
but it is that the dawn still comes and the night is gone.
Ultimately God’s light shines in the darkness - and
nothing -
neither life nor death, nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in the
whole of creation
can separate us form the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom 8)
So yes, we do at times in our life cry tears of sorrow, -
But even as we do so, we are called to put on
not the garment of sorrow but the robes of glory - Why?
Because the Lord is with us in our need, and he will never desert us.
3. Clothes of righteousness & justice
Imelda
Marcos apparently owned 34,000 pairs of shoes -
but on the eve of the Global Warming Summit,
we should remember that even our modest amount of footwear
still has a carbon as well as an ordinary footprint.
Nothing we wear, nothing we do, is value free.
Our clothing - physical & spiritual -
needs to address the needs of the poor & needy.
In 1843
the poet Thomas Hood wrote a poem
about the slop houses of London.
These were foul insanitary terraces
in which the working class seamstresses on starvation wages
made clothes for the middle classes.
Hood’s poem said that these starving seamstresses
were sewing with a double thread -
both the shirt for the rich and
(because of the atrocious conditions and poverty)
they were also sewing their own shrouds -
the work was killing them:
The poem
challenges the comfortable middle class men
who bought clothes for their womenfolk made in the slop houses:
"Oh,
Men, with Sisters dear!
Oh, men, with Mothers and Wives!
It is not linen you're wearing out,
But human creatures' lives!
Stitch--stitch--stitch,
In
poverty, hunger and dirt,
Sewing at once, with a double
thread,
A Shroud as well as a Shirt.”
Something to reflect on when we rejoice in a bargain price
for a pair of jeans sewn in a far eastern sweat shop…
If we wear the genuine garments of righteousness
then we cannot at the same time forget the poor and the needy
and the marginalised in the clothing or any other industry.
So in conclusion
Maybe we are what we wear - and what
clothes God gives us!
·
Clothes
of sure & certain hope in the midst of disaster and despair
·
Clothes
of power and glory in the midst of weakness and failure
·
Clothes
of righteous and justice in the midst of darkness and evil
So, let’s
look in the mirror - It is time to get dressed!
Order of Service
10.30 a.m. Holy Communion for the 2nd Sunday
of Advent,
led by Rev Andrew Sails
Welcome and notices
Hymn 457 “Christ whose glory fills the skies” (Tune: Heathlands)
(During
this hymn the first two Advent Candles are lit)
Prayers
[Methodist Worship Book pp.117-8 and 524]
Reading: Baruch
5:1-9 (from the Apocrypha)
Reading: Luke 3:1-6 (p.1029)
Hymn 273 “Rock of Ages”
Sermon: “Dressing Up”
Hymn 216 “And can it be” (Tune: Sagina)
Prayers and Lord’s Prayer [Methodist Worship Book p.214]
Leader: ….Your Kingdom come
People; Your will be done
The Peace
Leader: The
peace of the Lord be with you
People: And also with you
[The
peace is shared amongst the congregation with a handshake.
Members of the Korean congregation and of Young Church enter during the Peace
and Offertory]
Offertory
Hymn
608 “Here O my
Lord” (Tune: St Agnes)
Holy Communion
[The congregation remains
standing.]
Leader: May the Lord of Advent be with
you
People: And also with you
Leader: People of God, lift up your
waiting hearts
People: We lift them to the One whose
heart longs for us
Leader: People of God,
give thanks to the One who draws near to us
People: Let us come to God's Table to
offer our thanks & praise
Leader: We give you thanks and praise, O God, for the
night is nearly gone, and your light is dawning in the darkness.
Through your prophets, you have given us visions of our approaching
salvation. In Jesus you have called
all peoples to yourself, raising him from the dead, and promising a day when he
will come to gather up your children and bring them home – a day when the
weapons and works of darkness may be no more, and all
may be securely clothed in Christ Jesus himself. So with all your people, on earth and in
heaven, we sing your praise:
People: 거룩 거룩 거룩하신 주 전능하신 하나님
(sing
in 거룩 거룩 거룩하신 주 전능하신 하나님
English
or 어제도 계셨고 오늘도 계시며
Korean) 이제 곧 오실 거룩하신 주
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord;
holy is the Lord God almighty!
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord;
holy is the Lord God almighty!
Who was, and is, and is to come!
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!
Minister: Our Lord Jesus Christ,
on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and
gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take this and eat it. This is my body given for you. Do this in
remembrance of me.'
In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to
them, saying, 'Drink from it all of you.
This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for the forgiveness of
sins. Do this in remembrance of me.’
People: Christ has died. Christ is risen.
Christ will come in glory.
He is Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end;
the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Minister: Like those that look for the
morning,
so our souls wait for the Lord.
People: Be
known to us in breaking bread.
[The congregation sits to sing (Tune HAP 295):]
People Spirit
of the living God, fall afresh on us
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.
Melt us, mould us, fill us, use us,
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.
Spirit
of the living God, move among us now,
Make us one in heart and mind through our bread and wine:
Taking, breaking, blessing, sharing,
Spirit of the Living God, bless our bread and wine.
The
Distribution of Bread and Wine
[all who
seek to love the Lord Jesus are invited to share in bread
and wine - please come forward when the steward
beckons your row]
Final
Prayers
All: We
thank you, Lord,
for feeding us with the bread of heaven
and the cup of salvation.
Keep us in your grace
and at the coming of Christ in glory
bring us with your saints
into the life of your kingdom. Amen.
Hymn 255 (verses 1, 4 and 5) “Crown him with many crowns”
1. 면류관 가지고 주 앞에 드리세
저 천사 기쁜 노래가 온 땅에 퍼지네
내 혼아 깨어서 주 찬송하여라
온 백성 죄를 속하신 만왕의 왕일세
4. 면류관 가지고 주 앞에 드리세
온 세상 전쟁 그치고 참 평화 오겠네
주 보좌 앞에서 온 백성 엎드려
그 한량없는 영광을 늘 찬송하겠네
5. 면류관 가지고 주 앞에 드리세
그 손과 몸의 상처가 영광중 빛나네
하늘의 천사도 그 영광 보고서
고난의 신비 알고자 늘 흠모하도다
Korean and English Blessing
· “Spirit of the Living God” – v.1 HAP, v.2 Advent
Liturgy by Richard Becher © Virginia Becher
in “Shine On Star of Bethlehem” Canterbury 2001
· Prayers are adapted from the Methodist Worship Book;
Advent Liturgy by Nathan Nettleton, South Yarra
Community Baptist Church, Melbourne, ©2004 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net;
and Advent Liturgy by Thom M. Shuman Greenhills Community Church, Presbyterian, Cincinnati, Ohio © 2007 Thom M. Shuman
CCLI Licence
58752.