Preacher: Revd Katie
Date: 05/04/2020
BCP Service
Readings:
Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11
Gospel: Matthew 27:1-54
Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ …. who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.
By the grace of the Holy Spirit, may I speak in the name of Father who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that we might have eternal life. Amen.
That opening quotation comes from our Epistle from Philippians. It speaks of the humility of our Saviour, who although he was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. In other words, as Christians have always affirmed, Jesus was not only in the form of God, but was God himself.
Sadly other faiths have not recognised our Saviour, and most sadly those of his own Jewish faith. As John says in his Prologue: He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11). Our Redeemer knew rejection from the start until the end of his life.
Many today, and not just our Jewish and Muslim brethren, do not accept Jesus as Lord and God. The rising tide of secularism means that many do not believe in the existence of any god, although we hear repeatedly of a hunger for ‘something more’, of a persistent interest in ‘spirituality’, which can take many forms.
For Christians things are different. We accept that Jesus is God in human form, come to live as one of us, to be with us through all the difficulties of this human life; to be with us, suffering with us in these very difficult times. He is a God who knows what it is to suffer. And that has been of enormous comfort to many in times of distress, and will be to those who will lose loved ones to the Corona Virus in the days and weeks to come.
Despite his divinity, his equality with God himself, Jesus deliberately pursued a path of humility. He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. He has struggled as we struggle with temptation, despite being without sin. Yet how few of us are truly willing to follow His example of humility! In our feeble humanity, We crave approval, sometimes at any cost. Jesus was different.
In his humanity his humility was genuine. But that humility was joined with divinity, divinity that was misinterpreted, at times wilfully so, leading him ultimately to death on a cross. He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, that is an ignominious Roman form of execution, which would have brought shame upon him in the eyes of his Jewish brethren, and, in their view, in the eyes of God.
But wonderfully, thankfully, God in his mercy does not view things as the world does. Having willingly submitted himself to death, but not without fear as the struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane tells us, God responds by highly exalting him, and gives him a name which is above very name.
The secret to our Saviour’s humility was servanthood and obedience to the will of his Father. In these distressing times as we battle with Covid 19, it has been wonderful to see a renewed community spirit, a renewed sense of service to others.
All sorts of support is being offered in service to others, from local Community Support Groups, to free streaming of Exhibitions by the Tate Gallery, to Plays from The National Theatre, to Opera and Ballet. There is a renewed sense of solidarity with our fellow human beings, a new sense of servanthood.
Despite his divinity, our Redeemer in great humility, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. He suffers with us through these distressing times, and will mourn with those families who will lose loved ones to this pernicious virus.
As a result of his willingness to die, we are offered the possibility of eternal life. Although many will die from this virus, I hope and pray that those who will die, and their families, will take comfort in the belief that their loved ones will live for ever, where sorrow and pain are no more. That is what our Redeemer has won for us by his death.
As Psalm 22 says, in the days to come many will cry out, as Jesus did on the cross, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; snd in the night season I am not silent.
In such times I pray that all who suffer will cling to the cross, to him who suffers with us, to him to whom every knee should bow, because the Father hath highly exalted him. If we can confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, then the Son who knows what it is to suffer will lead us through.
At times like these, music is a comfort for many. Our Gospel reading is Matthew’s account of the Passion. On Palm Sunday we are on the cusp of Holy Week, that most sacred time of the year for Christians. All through Lent we have been leading up to this moment. Let us resolve to walk the path of suffering in solidarity with our Redeemer, as he suffered for our sakes. You might like to do that by listening to a recording of the
Saint Matthew Passion. But just before you do, let us say the Collect for Palm Sunday:
Almighty and everlasting God, who of thy tender love towards mankind, has sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.