170101-fr-daniel-am

Page 1

SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE NAMING AND CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD preached at Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney, 1. i. 2017 Readings:

Numbers 6: 22–27;

Ps. 8; Galatians 4: 4–7;

Luke 2: 15–21

If you’re anything like me, this time on a New Year’s Day might normally find you quoting one of my favourite lines from the film Auntie Mame: “Oh, my, my, my: how can you see with all that light?” And, just as too much light can be problematic as one regains equilibrium after New Year’s Eve festivities, so also too much talk – especially loud talk – can be less than ideal! Sadly, our readings this morning provide no relief for NYE revellers; there is an awful lot of talking going on: The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall… say to the Israelites…’ Out of the mouths of babes and infants… (we all know what comes out of the mouths of babes and infants as they cry with their full might and energy!) God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hears, crying, “Abba! Father!” And, notwithstanding all the noise of the angelic chorus, which might reduce many of us to silent awe, the shepherds still want to be talking: ‘they said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem”’; and, once they get to Bethlehem, ‘they make known what had been told to them…’ such that ‘all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.’ Even as they head back to the quiet hills, they continue ‘glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.’ Our gospel reading seems to echo the insight from Numbers: God’s speaking begins a whole series, a whole economy (we might say), of ‘speaking’ that pronounces blessing and grace. ‘How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is giv’n’, we sing in the carol: not according to Luke’s gospel! Clearly, if one were looking for a nice, quiet start to the New Year, this morning’s mass was not the place to come! Even our Introit and Gospel sentences are full of God speaking. Those sentences show us, however, that when our God speaks, it need not always be in words: “God spoke of old by the prophets, but in these days God has spoken to us by a Son.” Words are not the only medium by which God communicates God’s saving design to the creation God loves. Indeed, as John’s gospel reminds us, what we chiefly commemorate in this Christmas season is the Word becoming Flesh: God’s great speech of blessing to us is made manifest in a person who was born, lived, died and rose again for us. And, indeed, the feast we celebrate today, the very Octave of Christmas, gives us much to reflect on that both inspires and transcends words. This morning’s gospel makes clear that Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus reaches a climax in his naming and


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.