Sermon for the 4th Sunday after the Epiphany

Sunday 28th January 2007

Preached by Rev Paul Hewitt

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates.

You may visit the store ONLY ONCE! You may choose a man from any floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband.

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 – These men have jobs and love the Lord.

The second floor sign reads;

Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord and love kids.

The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids and are extremely good looking.

“Wow,” she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 4 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework.

“Oh, mercy, me!” she exclaims, “I can hardly stand it!” Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 5 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 6 – You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this level. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.

Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the store, and have a nice day!

I know I’m going to be in trouble for that one, but may I very quickly add that it works just as well the other way around!

Are any of us ever really satisfied?

The traditional Holy Communion Prayer of Consecration begins with these words, “Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world”

Satisfaction – literally, ‘enough done’!

Can this person from this small town of Nazareth do all of this? “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” How can someone like that achieve the ‘satisfaction’ for the sins of the whole world?

You know the parable about Dives and Lazarus, the rich man who sat at table and lived in luxury every day and the poor beggar full of sores who was laid at his gate. And they both died, and Lazarus was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side, but the rich man went into torment and from there he pleaded with Father Abraham to have pity on him and even to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue. But Abraham explained that between them a great chasm has been fixed. Then the rich man pleaded to have Lazarus sent to his father’s house and warn his family! “They have Moses and the Prophets,” Abraham said, “No, he replied, “but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”

But, Abraham replied, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

What more can God do?

You know well that Christianity is first and foremost about relationships rather than rules. It is about a person rather than a philosophy. You and I were created primarily to live in a relationship with God. Until we find that relationship there will always be something missing. We may think we have filled the gap, that void, or even ‘emptiness’ some have called it, but nothing else ultimately satisfies. We sometimes mix up instant gratification with satisfaction, and they are two entirely different things. We constantly hunger for meaning and purpose and even forgiveness, which, indeed, is our greatest need.

The extraordinary Good News is that this person, brought up in a backwater town called Nazareth, satisfies these needs. Why bother with this person called Jesus? The simple answer is because it is true. If Christianity is not true, we are wasting our time. If it is true, then it must be of vital importance to every human being.

Through his Son, God has ‘enough done’, for through Him he has made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world. Get that, and you have everything.