164 wonder awe & expectancy f164

Wonder Awe & Expectancy Canon Graeme Winterton at Holy Trinity Kew - Fourth Sunday of Advent - 8:00 am 18th.Dec. 2016 GOSPEL - Matthew 1:18-25

Wonder & Awe

1. I have seen it most frequently in the eyes and faces of children when candles are lit, when a magician make something disappear and return again, when gifts are exchanged, when a story is told in an enchanted atmosphere and grips the imagination. I have sometimes seen it transform the life of an adult when they have been told the old old story of Jesus and his love, and heard it, as if for the very first time, as the Holy Spirit bears witness to its truth and bears its wonder in upon their heart. It is the expression of captivation, wonder and expectancy.

2. I remember such a moment as I sat by fire beside the Murray River with a young alcoholic soldier and talked with him about Jesus. There was no doubt, God was present. It was a moment of eternity, a divine moment and we both knew it to be so.

3. I have no doubt either that this too was Mary’s experience when the Archangel materialised before her at the Annunciation and told her of God’s intention for the birth of his Son. It is a thing too wonderful, too marvellous, beyond comprehension and beyond understanding — but God is present.

4. Such has been the experience of multitudes who have known the divine presence to break in upon them. History is replete with a record of accounts which defy explanation and confound the theories and understanding of the humanist and scientific mind by their undeniable reality and veracity.

The Biblical & Secular Record

5. The biblical record is remarkably consistent. The people who were touched by God in this way all describe the awesome nature of the experience. Certainly the manifestations varied, but none of them ever doubted the divine nature of the encounter.

6. The line is unbroken; from Abraham walking between the sacrifice on the desert sand in the dead of night at the appearance of the censor and flaming torch; Moses beside the burning bush; Jacob watching the angels descend and ascend heaven’s ladder; Joshua meeting with the supernatural man with a drawn sword, David, Solomon, and Isaiah overcome in the temple and Ezekiel terrified by visions of glory and the future.

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7. We dare not fail to mention the moments of awe insight and wonder which overcame the apostles when Jesus turned water into wine, walked on water, stilled a storm,multiplied bread and fish, raised the dead and said “Touch me and see,a ghost does not have a body or bones. But I do.” Do not for a moment seek to say we live in a post biblical age and these descriptions ceased with the account of the death and resurrection of Jesus. I could go to the secular record and tell of Augustine, Teresa, Hilda, Luther, Wesley, Hudson-Taylor, Hyde, and the martyrs of Japan, the Christians of modern China and others who lead us right to our own time and place in history; and I do intend to show the relevancy of experience for each of us today. However it would be dodging the issue if I failed to comment upon the prevailing heresy of our generation Spiritual Bankruptcy

8. The destructive and negative suffering endured by the Western world is a direct consequence of the wholesale denial and rejection of the spiritual and the presence of God in human life. Granted, advances in human understanding and the medical and social sciences provide a depth of freedom from the of fear and superstition which have held the human race in bondage throughout most of history. Nevertheless, modern society has exchanged one bondage for another and by eliminating the possibility of the spiritual dimension has deprived the people of our time from the balancing factor which provides us with meaning and stability.

9. A fundamental change has taken place in the assumptions of our nation about the meaning of life. There has been a massive shift away from a universal belief in right and wrong to a general belief that the individual sets their own standard of right and wrong according to personal preference. God is dead for most contemporary people. The prevailing mood of the general population is one of scepticism and wariness of political and religious rhetoric. Love, compassion truth, trust, faith and hope are meaningless in a mechanical world of cause and effect.

10. Most have abandoned the practice of faith, and without realising it are responsible for creating the environment of change in thought and belief which has generated a spiritual vacuum in our country today. And yet, despite the prevailing environment of change in thought and belief which has generated the spiritual vacuum, a deep hunger for a reality beyond the material has given rise to a search for purpose and meaning. The quest for meaning is a significant contributor to changes in Australian attitudes and behaviour.

It underlies the explosion of anti-social behaviour drug abuse, the rise of criminal activity Without the spiritual we are less than human. How ironic that one of the most popular songs of our time is “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.”

Spiritual Validity

11. Christmas underlines the existence of the physical and the spiritual; they coexist, they are not mutually exclusive, they are interdependent and the two worlds cross over and fuse with each other in ways that people of faith have experienced and which many have found intersect with their own physical lives.

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12. The people and events of which we have been speaking today are grounded firmly in human history and physical experience and yet they are simultaneously and inexplicably and firmly fixed in the spiritual world. I don’t believe we will ever explain it, but we can not deny it and we can enter into it and experience the wonder of living within the harmony and balance of both worlds for ourselves.

Wonder & Awe

13. Wonder and awe is the common reaction of anyone who enters experiences of this nature. They are so far beyond common human experience that people are usually loathe to share them with even their dearest and nearest. Most prefer never to speak of them for fear of misunderstanding and the possibility that their sanity may be questioned.

14 Clergy are among the few who are trusted with the privilege of hearing the story of spiritual experience from people who are often, for reasons already mentioned, unprepared to tell of events they know are really true. I can say this for two reasons. First because many have shared their truth with me during a ministry of over fifty years, and secondly, my own personal call to ministry and the spiritual way involve an encounter and assurance of the presence of the Living God in the Lord Jesus.

Wonder & Expectancy

15. I have no doubt this was Mary’s experience at the annunciation, the experience of the men of God through the ages, of the young soldier I sat with by the river, of the many I have listened to through the years, and of my personal call to trust Jesus as my Lord.

16. St. John declared that ‘the Word( spiritual) became flesh ( physical ) and lived among us.John 1:14’ Scripture also reminds us that ‘flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God”.1 Cor 15:50 ‘The God who is there’ reveals the desire to change and transform people and guarantee a living vital connection which answers the questions, satisfies the spiritual hunger and fulfills the quest for meaning. The Word of God clearly states “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 It is probably the best known and most loved statement in the bible for it succinctly sums up the essential Christmas message.

17. God loves you, God wants you to know him and God desires to live within the core of your life. The challenge is always inescapably personal. Make this Christmas personal, ask God to enter the centre of your being as Lord. Look to God in expectancy, trust his promise and the Holy Spirit will bear witness to its truth and bear its wonder in upon your heart.

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