In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I am not a fan of reality TV, in fact I watch very little television at all. But, I have to confess that for 10 weeks I was a great fan of the recent Dancing on Ice competition on ITV each Sunday evening. For those who have haven't followed it, this competition was along the same lines as Celebrity Come Dancing. Male and female celebrities were paired with professional ice dancers, spending all of their waking hours practicing with Torvil and Dean, performing different routines each Sunday evening. Week by week one couple were voted off - voted off by a professional panel and voters at home. I was hooked on following their journey, their determination to reach the final - the opportunity to perform in the dance off between the last two couples who performed Torvil and Dean's 'Bolero'.
From the first there was one celebrity, Ray Quinn, who stood out from the rest - natural talent and a passion to win. Well, last Sunday his hour came - all that he had worked for came to fruition and he and his partner danced in the final and won. Following his triumphal win Philip Schofield, one of the presenters, commended him saying 'you are the person we have been waiting for' - pretty powerful stuff. His hour had well and truly come.
The earlier chapters of the Gospel of John point forward to 'the hour' for Jesus, just as all of the weeks leading up to the grand final for Ray had done.
In the Gospel of John we read of these pointings forward - the encounter between Jesus and his mother at the wedding at Cana when she informs him that the wine has run out and his response "woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come" (2:4) and again when he is teaching in the temple and the authorities attempt to arrest him but they don't lay hands on him because "his hour has not yet come".
In fact, even from Bethlehem the shadow of the cross has been there; in our last season of preparation - Advent, we were watching and waiting for the arrival of God's Son, Jesus, a baby who was to grow up to become the suffering servant for each one of us.
Here in this mornings Gospel passage though, the situation changes from pointing forward to - the 'hour' has come. Jesus' ministry has made him well know, people flocked to see him for positive and negative reasons:
The raising of Lazarus resulted in new believers, including the Greeks who came looking for him. New believers who will turn out to be rather fickle believers in the days to come, whose adulation will turn to hostility as we approach Good Friday. The raising of Lazarus also brought about the opposition of the Pharisees and leaders of the Jewish community and from that day they planned to put Jesus to death.
The 'hour had come' - even though Jesus knew what lay ahead - facing his own mortality we hear him say "And what should I say 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour". This was Jesus' raison deter, his obedience to what had to be - his dying and exultation that would "draw all people" to himself - for the salvation of God's people,
Throughout the gospels we hear of Jesus' ministry of obedience to His Father. From the gospel of Luke, as a 12 year old boy in the temple staying behind - busy with my Fathers business, to the end of the gospel 'Father into your hand's I commend my spirit' - always concern to do the will of his Father, unconditional and unlimited love.
Obedience, unquestioning submission is not a practice that we, in human terms, are comfortable with, as those of us who have had anything to do with raising children or looking after them will know. From an early age most children try to push back the boundaries, exert their will to have their way. As those who have the responsibility for caring for children the task is not easy and unfortunately, in some cases results in very bad and fearful, negative relationships.
For the majority, thankfully, this is not the case and as children grow the obedience that was necessary to protect them and give them boundaries enables them to grow and develop into mature and confident adults.
But the relationship that we experience in the gospels between Jesus and His Father is one that that transcends anything we can ever contemplate in our human terms and lives.
Jesus calls his Father Abba, beloved Father and he shows us the way to the Father, through himself. Jesus gives us a glimpse of how that relationship is maintained - the times when He takes himself off to pray to his Father. He even teaches the disciples the prayer that we shall shortly pray together.
In these ways, and in others, Jesus leads us to the Father in order that we can enjoy the intimacy with Him that Jesus has and we are invited to be no less compassionate than Jesus was. Doesn't Jesus describe to the disciples the kind of life God wants them to live - "truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it for me". Obedience through love and compassion.
Henri Nouwen suggests that "fellowship with Christ is not a commitment to suffer as much as possible...rather it is a commitment to listen with him to God's love without fear. It is to 'obedience' understood as an intimate, fearless listening to God's continuing love - that we are called".
We are only called to, invited to say 'yes' to make our commitment - we are not called to make the sacrifice that Jesus made - that has been done once and for all.
Paul sees Jesus' obedience as the source of our salvation - the unique high priest - God's own choice who by taking on human form learned obedience through his sufferings and he did this for us.
He took on human form as a baby born of Mary and on Wednesday we celebrated the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Gospel says that God sent his angel, Gabriel, to Mary to announce that she had been chosen to be the Mother of His Son. Initially she was deeply disturbed but told not to be afraid as she had God's favour, she trusted God and overcame her fear - "perfect love casts out fear". I find the Fourth Station of the Cross, (here), - Jesus meets his mother - a very powerful symbol of Mary's obedience to God.
As we continue our journey with Jesus through these final days of Lent in Passiontide, we feel the change of the mood, the darkening of the mood - 'the hour is coming'.
Unlike the disciples we know the outcome, the lifting up of Jesus at the crucifixion, drawing all people to Himself.
We have walked this way before, but our journey has moved on. Can we be obedient disciples who watch and pray through these coming days, walking the way of the cross afresh with Jesus and not being tempted to skip the pain of 'the hour' to the joy of the resurrection and the Alleluia's we will sing?
Can we stand at the foot of the 5th Station of the Cross when The Cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene and follow in Jesus' steps obediently bearing his cross as Simon did.
The words of Thomas Ken the 17th Century Bishop may sustain us on the journey:
"O my God, though I cannot love and obey thee as much as I desire, I will do it as much as I am able; I will, to the utmost of my power, keep all thy commandments with my whole heart and to the end. O accept my imperfect duty, and supply all the defects of it by the merits and love and obedience of Jesus, thy beloved".
We cannot ever hope to achieve the perfection of Ray Quinn ice dancing and his straight 6's but we can pursue our goal of an ever deeper relationship with God in faith and hope and love.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Sermon by: Christine Barclay