What have you come here to see?
What have you come to church this Sunday to see? Will you go away having seen it? Or will more be hidden from your sight than is revealed? When we celebrate Jesus’ first coming as a human being, we often forget what a hidden drama the whole thing was. In fact, the most momentous occasion in each one of our lives is hidden and that is our conception! There has got to be a beginning... In our family we chuckle when we tell the story of our son Matthew, who once wrote in a general letter to his friends that he was going back to Peru, the country where he was conceived!
I’ve taken the title for this sermon from Jesus’ question to the crowds about John. He asked them, ‘What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet...I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.’ What does that mean? It certainly doesn’t mean that John the Baptist was not important. It does mean that we haven’t even begun to imagine what it will really mean that ‘Jesus rules!’ In the Kingdom where Jesus rules, each one of us, right down to the least will be incredibly important. Whatever is unfair or unjust in this life will be put right in the end. But in the meantime, there is much that is hidden, or so difficult to understand that it may as well be hidden. We have to take Jesus’ word that ‘the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist’ on trust.
What do you associate with hiding? Ask as a general question. Could be:
Hide and seek – a game!
Hiding from danger – the psalmist says (Psalm57.1), ‘I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.’
Hiding because of fear of something is an associated issue – though there may not be any real danger involved! e.g. when I hid in the closet because of bullying.
People often hide things that they are ashamed of by never speaking of them.
Before Christmas, special presents for special people may find a hidden place until the anticipated time to give and receive presents has arrived.
Nothing is hidden from God. The psalmist tells us in Psalm 139.15, 16a: ‘My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.’ It is useless to try to hide from him, but it is very useful (and comforting) to hide in Him!
I love the picture of wings that often crops up in scripture. The shadow of His wings is used of God’s protective covering. Let me read you just two examples from the Psalms: Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings (Psalm 63.7). He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91.4). And the conception of Jesus in Mary is described like this: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’ The Holy Spirit created somebody in Mary, as surely as the Holy Spirit ‘hovered’ over the waters at the beginning of all creation (Genesis 1.2).
Hidden and Humble
I wonder what God has hidden in you? What is He growing in you, as the Spirit hovers over you and lives in you? When Mary realises what God is beginning in her, she bursts into song. In what is commonly known as the Magnificat, Mary sings ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name.’ God does it! He does it, mindful of the humble state of his servant. God is much more able to work in us if we are truly humble. That does not mean going around in a Uriah Heepish way! It means having a right view of ourselves, blessing God because all we have and are comes from Him. It means being all too aware of our weaknesses, as Paul was when he said (2 Corinthians 12.7-9) ‘To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.’
All through the scriptures, the promise for the future salvation of God’s people is to a people who are weak – who cannot save themselves. We heard Isaiah 35 – Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Our strength is in our God.
In this period between the birth of Jesus that we are remembering - the blessing that brought both joy and pain to Mary – and the coming in glory that we are anticipating, James reminds us to be patient until Jesus comes again. He compares the wait to the farmer waiting for the seed hidden in the ground to grow. What is hidden will come to light, as a crop comes to light after the autumn and spring rains. And we are to be patient, because the Lord’s coming is near. James then becomes very practical. He says, ‘Don’t grumble against each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!’
Remembering that we do fall short, the church has wisely used the time set aside to ponder Jesus’ coming again, as a time of penance. That means a time when we face our shortcomings – including our hidden faults. Because when He comes, everything that is hidden will come to light – Jesus puts it this way (Luke 8.17): ‘For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.’
So...what have you come here to see today? I hope that God has revealed something of what is hidden in your heart. If He has, then you know that you can find refuge under His wings – you can hide in the shadow or His wings. AMEN.