{"id":3714,"date":"2020-02-02T21:48:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-02T21:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3714"},"modified":"2020-02-02T21:48:18","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T21:48:18","slug":"sermon-2nd-february-2020","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-2nd-february-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 2nd February 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candlemas – evening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 2nd February 2020<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Candlemas – evening
\nHaggai 2. 1-9
\nJohn 2. 18 -22<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hiding in plain sight.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThat is kind of what this\nfestival in the church is all about. The presentation of Christ at\nthe temple is the occasion when his parents bring him for the first\ntime to the Temple. It would have been a very busy place and one more\nyoung couple with a baby would not have excited much notice. And yet,\nwhen you come to think about it, it was amazing. They were carrying\nGod into his own Temple! And no one \u2013 or almost no-one knows!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBecause so often we fail to\nnotice what is right in front of our noses!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSome years ago an experiment\nwas made. The world-famous violinist, Joshua Bell took his\nStradivarius into the subway of New York and began to play some Bach\npieces. Most of the commuters hurried past. Occasionally one would\nstop to listen for a short while. Even more occasionally, the\npassers-by would throw a few coins into his hat \u2013 lying on the\npavement. The children were the ones who seemed to realise more than\nthe adults that here was something extra-ordinary. They were the ones\nwho stood transfixed, watching the maestro\u2019s fingers producing this\noutstanding sound. Listening to the wonder of Bach\u2019s music. But\nbefore long the grown-ups who were with them would drag them away \u2013\nlittle realising that they were missing the opportunity to listen for\nfree to a musician who a few hours later would be commanding hundreds\nof dollars per ticket for his concert in the Carnegie Hall or other\nconcert venues. He was there, right in front of them. And they never\nknew….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo let\u2019s think again of Mary\nand Joseph and the baby Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThey come in, exchange a few\ncoins for the statutory turtle doves for a sacrifice to be made \u2013\ngiving thanks to God for the safe delivery of their new son and the\nsurvival of Mary \u2013 not an inconsiderable achievement. We hear much\nabout infant mortality and lack of care in maternity wards in our own\nday \u2013 and Mary had benefit of none of that! So the little family\ncome \u2013 one among many no doubt. Nothing of special interest,\nnothing to note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nUntil that is, Simeon and Anna\nare drawn to notice them. And amid all the hustle and bustle. Amid\nall the splendour of the great columns and door ways, the carvings\nand the decorated stones adorning the great doorways. Amid all that\ntwo elderly people suddenly stop and realise that here is something \u2013\nsomeone \u2013 quite extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe Temple in Jesus\u2019 time\nwas newly rebuilt by Herod \u2013 seeking to establish his right to rule\nand popularity by emulating the great building project of Solomon\nfrom previous centuries and the rebuilding that had occurred after\nthe Exiles returned from Babylon in the time of Haggai. That second\nTemple was considered to be a pale imitation of Solomon\u2019s one \u2013\nand the chronicles of Ezra in the Bible record that it was a\ndisappointment to many. But we all know what we feel when something\nnew is built to replace a much loved building that we have known \u2013\neven if it has been destroyed by war. But the promise that God made\nthrough his prophet Haggai was not just about the splendour of the\nbuilding. It was a promise, ultimately of prosperity and well-being.\nHaggai believed that the ancient covenant with God was still in force\n\u2013 even if the people had been disobedient. The Temple was proof\nthat the old order still remained, and God still had a claim upon his\npeople. The rebuilding of the Temple was the first step in a struggle\nthat would continue over 100 years or more, in which Judea would gain\nsome autonomy and independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThen twenty years before the\nbirth of Christ, King Herod began to rebuild the Temple associated\nwith Haggai. No doubt it was glorious and lavish, but it only served\nto show up how far Herod fell short of God\u2019s promise. Herod\u2019s\nTemple may have been on a grand scale, but it was a self-glorifying,\nself-serving vanity project, whose imminent destruction would be\neventually foretold by Jesus when the baby grew to be a man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cDestroy\nthis temple, and in three days I will raise it up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nJesus would, in his own body,\nreplace the temple built by human hands, and his Spirit would create\na living temple in the people of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWith God the latter splendour\nwill always be greater than the former \u2013 not because of human\ndevelopment, but because God\u2019s glorious future, invades our\npresent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo sitting here this evening,\nyou are God\u2019s Temple \u2013 more glorious than anything built on the\nhill in Jerusalem, hiding in plain sight in front of us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The season of Epiphany which ends with our worship this evening is all about God showing himself to human beings. He does it all the time \u2013 his kingdom is all around us. But most of the time our eyes and ears remain closed. We do not see what or who is hiding in plain sight. We do not spot the glory of God, which is a human being, fully alive!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Candlemas – evening Sunday 2nd February 2020 Candlemas – evening Haggai 2. 1-9 John 2. 18 -22 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs Hiding in plain sight. That is kind of what this festival in the church is all about. The presentation of Christ at the temple is the occasion when his parents bring him for the … <\/p>\n

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