Everything Changes
Sermon
In the film, "Man Dancin'", one of the conditions of Jimmy's parole from prison is that he attends anger management classes. Brought up in the slums of Glasgow, Jimmy is a very angry person whose response to any problem is violence. As it happens, the anger management classes are run by the local priest, who does a deal with Jimmy. Instead of attending anger management classes, Jimmy can help the church out by taking part in the local passion play which they are preparing.
Since there is no-one to play the lead character of Jesus, inevitably Jimmy gets the part. He finds the play culturally so far from him that it's incomprehensible to him, so sets about writing his own version of the passion story. This infuriates the church members who wrote the original churchy script and who form the cast. So most of the original cast walk out, leaving Jimmy and his own friends -- prostitutes, thieves, drunkards -- to put on the play.
The experience changes Jimmy's life, the lives of all those taking part and many of those who watch the play. Jimmy's presentation is earthy and real and Christ-like, grounded in the life and language of the Glasgow slums. They present it out on the streets and it speaks to the hearts of all those who gather to watch. Jimmy becomes the Christ-like figure which he is portraying and eventually dies very violently like Christ before him. But resurrection comes to the area in the form of changes in attitude and the realisation of a new beginning.
Today is Easter Day, the most important day in the Church calendar, for it signifies a new beginning. On the first Easter Day everything changed. On Easter Day, God proved that he will bring life out of death and will bring new hope to hopeless situations. On Easter Day, Jesus rose from death to a new and amazing and vibrant life.
The seeds of this new growth were planted centuries earlier. Around six hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Jeremiah in what has been termed his "Book of Consolation", revealed the beginnings of the process of change which God had started.
In earlier centuries God had made covenants with his people which were dependant on the people obeying God's will. If the people obeyed, God would be their God and they would be God's people. But now a process of change was beginning, in which God made promises which were not dependant on the people obeying him but in which God would put his new covenant within their hearts (31:33-34).
In the passage read for us today, God affirms his unwavering love for Israel. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit." And God adds that the day is coming when everyone will be called home to God.
Jeremiah was writing at a time of hopelessness for Israel. The exile had begun, when the cream of Israel society was captured and taken away from their own land by the mighty army of Babylon, and as far as they knew, taken away from their God. God was thought to dwell in the temple in Jerusalem, so it was thought that God was left behind when the exile started. When the temple was destroyed in 597 BC, matters were even worse, for there was nowhere for God to live.
Much of Jeremiah's writing is concerned with God's message of warning the people of the terrors to come, but now that the terrors have actually arrived, God's message becomes one of consolation and hope.
God's message is probably still the same today. There are plenty of warnings about our Western lifestyles, warnings which tell us that we are putting our planet at risk. Most scientists now seem to agree that our planet is warming up much more rapidly than anyone anticipated and most seem to agree that one of the causes is our flagrant disregard of the damage we cause our environment.
Perhaps these scientists are bringing us God's message today, just as Jeremiah brought God's message to the people around two and a half thousand years ago. And like the people of those days, we happily disregard the message as we continue to use up fossil fuels and to pollute our environment.
We're warned in other ways, too. Doctors warn us that the vast quantities of processed food which we consume are detrimental to our health and the health of our children. We see the results in the increased incidence of heart attacks and other illnesses. And the number of deaths on our roads is terrifyingly high. But we go on putting ourselves and our children at risk as we happily eat too much of the wrong type of food and drive our cars too fast.
There are warnings all around us which we fail to heed. But is there any consolation? Is there any answer to our ills and our problems?
The answer still lies in the saving event of 2000 years ago, when Jesus conquered death and destruction by rising to new life. On that first Easter Day it became clear that whatever happens, death is not the final outcome. We may indeed face destruction of our planet on an unprecedented scale, but it won't be the end of all life on earth. We will rise again, just as the people of South East Asia are rising again after that terrible tsunami back on Boxing Day 2004.
We may suffer death in our families from coronary disease or other terrible illnesses or road accidents, but it won't be the last word. We will rise again from that trauma and begin life over again. And in our final deaths when we too reach the end of our lives, we will rise again into a new sort of life in a different dimension, a life which Jesus won for and which he promises us.
After crucifixion comes resurrection and that holds true both in this life, in the life of our planet and in the life to come. Today is Easter Day and it signifies a new beginning. On Easter Day, God proved that he will bring life out of death and will bring new hope to hopeless situations. On Easter Day, Jesus rose from death to a new and amazing and vibrant life. That eternal life is ours, too. All we need to do is to take it.
Since there is no-one to play the lead character of Jesus, inevitably Jimmy gets the part. He finds the play culturally so far from him that it's incomprehensible to him, so sets about writing his own version of the passion story. This infuriates the church members who wrote the original churchy script and who form the cast. So most of the original cast walk out, leaving Jimmy and his own friends -- prostitutes, thieves, drunkards -- to put on the play.
The experience changes Jimmy's life, the lives of all those taking part and many of those who watch the play. Jimmy's presentation is earthy and real and Christ-like, grounded in the life and language of the Glasgow slums. They present it out on the streets and it speaks to the hearts of all those who gather to watch. Jimmy becomes the Christ-like figure which he is portraying and eventually dies very violently like Christ before him. But resurrection comes to the area in the form of changes in attitude and the realisation of a new beginning.
Today is Easter Day, the most important day in the Church calendar, for it signifies a new beginning. On the first Easter Day everything changed. On Easter Day, God proved that he will bring life out of death and will bring new hope to hopeless situations. On Easter Day, Jesus rose from death to a new and amazing and vibrant life.
The seeds of this new growth were planted centuries earlier. Around six hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Jeremiah in what has been termed his "Book of Consolation", revealed the beginnings of the process of change which God had started.
In earlier centuries God had made covenants with his people which were dependant on the people obeying God's will. If the people obeyed, God would be their God and they would be God's people. But now a process of change was beginning, in which God made promises which were not dependant on the people obeying him but in which God would put his new covenant within their hearts (31:33-34).
In the passage read for us today, God affirms his unwavering love for Israel. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit." And God adds that the day is coming when everyone will be called home to God.
Jeremiah was writing at a time of hopelessness for Israel. The exile had begun, when the cream of Israel society was captured and taken away from their own land by the mighty army of Babylon, and as far as they knew, taken away from their God. God was thought to dwell in the temple in Jerusalem, so it was thought that God was left behind when the exile started. When the temple was destroyed in 597 BC, matters were even worse, for there was nowhere for God to live.
Much of Jeremiah's writing is concerned with God's message of warning the people of the terrors to come, but now that the terrors have actually arrived, God's message becomes one of consolation and hope.
God's message is probably still the same today. There are plenty of warnings about our Western lifestyles, warnings which tell us that we are putting our planet at risk. Most scientists now seem to agree that our planet is warming up much more rapidly than anyone anticipated and most seem to agree that one of the causes is our flagrant disregard of the damage we cause our environment.
Perhaps these scientists are bringing us God's message today, just as Jeremiah brought God's message to the people around two and a half thousand years ago. And like the people of those days, we happily disregard the message as we continue to use up fossil fuels and to pollute our environment.
We're warned in other ways, too. Doctors warn us that the vast quantities of processed food which we consume are detrimental to our health and the health of our children. We see the results in the increased incidence of heart attacks and other illnesses. And the number of deaths on our roads is terrifyingly high. But we go on putting ourselves and our children at risk as we happily eat too much of the wrong type of food and drive our cars too fast.
There are warnings all around us which we fail to heed. But is there any consolation? Is there any answer to our ills and our problems?
The answer still lies in the saving event of 2000 years ago, when Jesus conquered death and destruction by rising to new life. On that first Easter Day it became clear that whatever happens, death is not the final outcome. We may indeed face destruction of our planet on an unprecedented scale, but it won't be the end of all life on earth. We will rise again, just as the people of South East Asia are rising again after that terrible tsunami back on Boxing Day 2004.
We may suffer death in our families from coronary disease or other terrible illnesses or road accidents, but it won't be the last word. We will rise again from that trauma and begin life over again. And in our final deaths when we too reach the end of our lives, we will rise again into a new sort of life in a different dimension, a life which Jesus won for and which he promises us.
After crucifixion comes resurrection and that holds true both in this life, in the life of our planet and in the life to come. Today is Easter Day and it signifies a new beginning. On Easter Day, God proved that he will bring life out of death and will bring new hope to hopeless situations. On Easter Day, Jesus rose from death to a new and amazing and vibrant life. That eternal life is ours, too. All we need to do is to take it.
