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What are the fears which imprison you? Third Sunday of Advent Sermon preached on 16 December 2007 by Harry Williams was on of the Church of England’s leading teachers and preachers. He entitled his autobiography ‘Some day I’ll find you’. It is an extraordinarily honest offering of life especially in its openness about pain and vulnerability. Williams describes a very serious period in his life when he was incapacitated by phobic anxieties. He was afraid to go into open spaces with lots of people – eventually he became so overcome with fear and anxiety that he was physically partially paralysed. His journey back into recovery and life was a slow and painful one. It is no accident that these experiences inspired some of Williams’ most powerful insights into Christian living. Strength often emerges out of weakness. Fear is one of the most controlling emotions in life. I guess most of us here would not like to think about ourselves as fearful people. We prefer, perhaps, to think about ourselves as strong, energetic and independent. But, let’s stop there – when we reflect on our lives – surely what emerges is a richer, more complex picture than that. If we are honest don’t we all feel sometimes gripped by fear – and at times helpless in the face of fear? Sometimes we equate fear with things or people we don’t understand. Or perhaps we have played the ‘what if’ games with our emotional life. What happens if this person does this or thinks that? What happens if our health fails? Some people live in constant fear of losing their jobs or indeed, their marriage, or their health. Some people live in financial fear – what happens if the Stock Market crashes? And who amongst us doesn’t fear aspects of growing older? The world, our world, is full of fears and we have all at some point or another felt afraid, frozen, gripped by fear. John the Baptist was afraid and in a cold dark prison. He was alone and unaware of what might happen next. In the physical prison of his doubts and fear, John looks to Christ, he looks to the one who is free and asks “Who are you/” The reply from Jesus is significant – “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed….the poor have good news brought to them”. Jesus points beyond himself to God and proclaims this “Look at what God is doing through me. Look at the new life that God offers to us”. Jesus embodies the presence of God, in him a new reign and regime is ushered in, a world of healing and liberation which the company of those who believe in Christ can see – which they can share with others. I thank God today for people like Harry Williams who are honest about their weaknesses. Part of being a Christian is to be honest about our own, but in the honesty to acknowledge that very often strength can emerge out of weakness. Consider these questions:
So let us pray for the grace of God to ask for light to see that which imprisons us, and for grace to ask from our prisons, with John the Baptist, the same question that Jesus “Are you the one who is to come?” and, for grace to hear the answer and to acknowledge where Christ’s healing, liberating, visionary gospel is at work. And may our faith continue to work in our own lives, freeing us from our imprisonments and blindness and lameness and hopelessness. Let us pray that even in the fears which imprison us we may hear and see the goodness of Jesus present in the Eucharist. “O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto you”. Amen The Reverend Dr James Woodward |
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