In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I had a new and quite testing experience yesterday afternoon. I was in the Caird Hall in Dundee taking part in singing workshop that was led by the UK's leading female a capella quintet 'Black Voices'. This was one of the sessions in the cities Festival of Roots and Traditional Music - Fest 'n' Furious that has been running this weekend. During the two hour workshop that I attended the five ladies that make up 'Black Voices' engaged us in singing in four part harmonies for five different short pieces - all without written music or words and with no accompaniment. For me this was way out of my comfort zone; only the evening before I had been singing with St Andrews Chorus complete with music, an accomplished accompanist and a trained conductor, where I felt semi 'in control', I knew what I was doing. Dundee was a very different kettle of fish - I had to work very differently - very much listening to and engaging with my fellow singers in a new way and it was great. We learned to sing simple negro spirituals which when sung there yesterday as one body of sound relying on each other and it was very spiritual indeed. As I made my way home I reflected on how they would have been sung originally - not by choirs with music in hand, as I have been used to, they were sung as plaintive cries for help from God and coded messages of plans for escape from slavery.
This experience set me thinking about our readings today - 'long ago' and 'in these last days'.
Scripture is a vehicle by which God has spoken and continues to speak to God's people, as I heard and sang yesterday and in the readings of the bible that we read day by day.
This morning in Genesis we hear of God creating a partner for man - woman and destined that they be one forever. This was God's plan. And this is what we hear Jesus referring to in our Gospel reading when the Pharisees try to test him by asking if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Not only does Jesus not fall into their trap - he turns the question back to them. He asks them "what did Moses command you?" Putting them on the spot as he has done previously when they tried to trick him over the question of paying taxes that we read of in the Gospel of Matthew. When the Pharisees quote from Deuteronomy that "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her" Jesus reminds them that it was their ancestors hardness of heart, their failure to respond to God's call for them to be faithful to Him that Moses had, under God's instructions given that concession - allowing divorce as a concession to human weakness - human weakness brought about by not being in relationship with God.
And in private we hear that Jesus also takes this opportunity to restate God's creation plan to his chosen circle of disciples. This is a common theme of Mark, privately teaching them, sharing with them, and responding to their questions. Equipping them, while he is still with them, for the work that lies ahead.
The work that lies ahead that we hear of in the Letter to the Hebrews where we hear of the writer urging most strongly the Jewish Christian community to remain faithful Christians, to keep to the word of God through Jesus. We hear of them being reminded that long ago God spoke to their ancestors through prophets but 'in these last days' he spoke to them through Jesus who, in human form may have been slightly lower than the angels but through his death and resurrection, his dying for the sins of mankind, is now more highly exalted than the angel mediators of the Mosaic law. Jesus now sits at God's right hand on high.
In the second part of the gospel reading we hear Jesus explaining to the disciples of the credentials necessary for entry into the Kingdom of God and once again Jesus corrects them and teaches them about the new way - the welcoming of children, not turning them away - welcoming children, who at that time were the symbol of people without status, thus helpless and powerless. Children who have no demands to make - who embrace the rule of God as pure unadulterated grace, who are eager to be taken up by Jesus and blessed.
St Francis of Assisi whose life and work we would have celebrated today had it not been a Sunday devoted his life to living in obedience, in chastity and without worldly goods; he embraced the rule of God following the teachings and ways of Jesus. Francis saw poverty as being close to Christ - Christ born in a stable in poverty and dying naked on a cross. He was convinced that, for him, coming closer to God meant more than praying; it was tied up in his whole being - his way of life and he embraced this by turning his back on his privileged life style. Francis saw Christ in all of nature, he said that he could see the fingerprint of Christ in every leaf and encouraged the birds to praise God in their singing and flying.
And his legacy lives on today both in those who live in community and those who are part of the 3rd order and in the Order of St Claire. He urges us all to let go of anything that makes us less than fully human and to find our strength in God.
This last week we celebrated the life and work of a number of saints including Therese of Lisieus on 1st October. St Thrse has been in the news in recent weeks - a casket containing her bones is currently in the UK, 'on tour'. This 19th century Carmelite nun pioneered her 'little way' - fidelity in small things. She had simple trust in God and lived her life demonstrating that everyone can, in their everyday lives, faithfully carry out their tasks with God in their heart. In her autobiography she wrote:
"You know, I always have the feeling that our Lord doesn't supply me with provisions for my journey, he just gives me food unexpectedly when and as I need it.
So devoted to God was Thrse that she spoke of the wedding of her soul to Him as being heralded by the 'whisper of a gentle breeze' which Elijah had heard and she offered herself to God asking him to accomplish his will in her and never let any creature come between them. What God intended from the beginning.
We are all called into that kind of relationship, as we said together this morning in the verses of the psalm we human beings have been made a little lower than God and have been crowned with glory and honour.
Through our saviour Jesus Christ we too can receive the Kingdom of God if we do so like a child, eager to be received. Whether we are successful or unsuccessful in our marriages and in all our other relationships we will receive the blessings that sustain us. Our trust in God and in God's enduring love can build our faith and in this relationship we can be guided through life's ups and downs.
Archbishop Desmond Tuto suggests that we, who are in relationship with God, should "learn to see with the eyes of God, to see with the eyes of the heart and not just with the eyes of the head".
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Sermon by: Christine Barclay