3rd Sunday after Epiphany 2010                Christ Church , York

The newsmagazines and television commentators seem to make their living at the turn of each year by looking back into the past or predicting the future. And it seems that many authors are either historians who look back in time or science fiction writers who look forward. Meanwhile many of us are confronted by our own desires to look back over the past through rose tinted glasses giving it a romantic hue that it may not have had in reality; or looking forward to a future which we hope will be filled with excitement and possibilities without limits, a future which will be just a little bit better than the present. Meanwhile it is hard for us to live in the present, in the moment, in this day.

Frog and Toad had that problem. Some of you who have children will perhaps know the Frog and Toad stories, those companions who go on all sorts of adventures together. In one story Frog and Toad were bored with the dull old winter weather until Toad remembered that his mother always told him that on the coldest day he could take hope, for Spring was just around the corner. And so, rather than live in the present of the winter and enjoy it for what it was, Toad and his friend Frog go off walking and look around every corner to see if Spring is there. They never find it, of course, but this story speak to just how it is that we all live in such hope and that if we just look long enough, then something good, something wonderful, awaits us just around the corner.

But in the Gospel this morning, Jesus calls us to a different perspective. Here in the synagogue of His hometown, Jesus comes before His family and friends to speak His first recorded words in the Gospel of Luke, choosing as His text, these famous words from the prophet Isaiah. But at the end, Jesus doesn’t say that these words look good given the time in which they were spoken. Nor does He say that these are the hoped for promises of the future. Rather Jesus says, “Today” - today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. This is Jesus proclaiming for all to hear that the new kingdom has arrived and that the Good News is now.

Luke understood the importance of living in this immediate present and therefore “today” is one of the most important words he uses in his gospel, allowing him to stress the immediate action of the kingdom in the lives of his readers. In the birth narrative Luke says “on this day” the angels proclaim the Messiah. And after Jesus performs certain miracles, Luke tells us that the crowd is amazed that they have seen such strange things “today.” And when Jesus sees Zacchaeus in that tree, Jesus tells him to hurry down, for He must stay in his house “today.” And finally Jesus tells the thief at the crucifixion, that “today” he will be with Jesus in Paradise . Today. Today is the day in which we will hear the Good News, in which we will know of the kingdom, in which we will come again to live in the present reality of our God.

As Christians we are often accused of living only in that tomorrow, of living in that dream world called eternal life which is to come. But it is also said of us that we live only in the past, reflecting only upon that time when our churches were full, the youth were involved and the Church played a central role in the life of the community. Sometimes we even try to recapture that past which we perceived to be so wonderful, believing that it will be the answer to all our problems. It is often easier to see that past through those rose colored glasses, or it is easier to live in the expectation of the future, than to live in the present.

Yet as Christians we cannot choose to live either in the gloriously remembered past nor the dreamy future. Instead we are called to live only live in the present. It has been said of this God of ours that if He is not here and now, then there is no God. For eternity, that which is forever, has no future and no past. Eternity is now and it is endless. Eternity isn’t lots of time; it is no time and it starts now. Now is all we have; today is all we have. That is why we can rejoice - for today is the day when once again the Gospel is proclaimed for us to hear; today is the day in which the Good News of the life offered us in Christ Jesus is present for us and among us; and today is the day in which the life of this congregation is strengthened and renewed simply by our coming together to worship our God.

So it is that, as brothers and sisters in the faith, we find ourselves faced with a new reality which calls for us to live in the present and not in the past or the future. What better words to hear than on this day when we come together for the Annual meeting of our congregation. It is true that during our meeting we will look back over the past year and we will also look forward to what the New Year will bring. But today is the only day we have and if today is the day in which we have heard the Word of the Gospel then today is the day in which we are called to be re-energized to go out and live that Gospel by example in both word and deed. If today is the day when we are faced with the reality of the kingdom, then today is the day when we are called to recommit ourselves to making our congregation a place of love, reconciliation, concern and forgiveness. If today is the day in which we have heard the word of salvation, then this is also the day in which we are called to find new ways to spread that good news to all the world. Today is day in which we are challenged to find new ways to revitalize our Christian Education program; today is the day in which we are called to make our evangelism program more effective so that we might welcome the stranger among us; and today is the day in which we might find that we can no longer shy away from serious talk about stewardship, but rather begin to talk openly and honestly about what it means to return to God a full portion of the time, talents and resources that He has first given us. Above all, today is the day in which we can free ourselves from the old, tired images of the past, images which have the potential of preventing us from living as a vital and viable entity within our community. We cannot live in the past – as wonderful as it may seem. And we have no control over the future, much as we might like to dream about what it will be like. But we do have the present and therefore we are called to live in this present as fully as possible.

As Jesus read the words of Scripture, the people listened to Him announce forgiveness and freedom, not as an abstract principle but as a reality for them that day. The Kingdom of God had come among them and it lived in the here and now. Faced with this new reality, confronted by the immanence of the kingdom among us we, as the faithful people of God, can choose to continue living in the past, recalling those times when the church seemed to be so wonderful or we can dream of the future which seems to hold so many possibilities but which is so uncertain. Alternatively we can live in the present, which is the only reality we have, rejoicing in the kingdom which has come among us today.

For today, as Paul reminds us so eloquently, we are the body of Christ, and although diverse in many parts, we are still one. And as the Body of Christ gathered at this time and in this place, ours is the work of the Spirit which, while living in both past and future, is also a present reality for us now, so that we may be alive in the presence of the Spirit here among us today. For just as the message of the Gospel is not bound by the confines of the past or the future, but lives in the present, so we too ought not be bound by the stories and images of the past or by the beguiling dreams of the future. Rather we are called to live in the presence of God who comes alive in our midst today as we hear the Word of God proclaimed and as we share in this most holy sacrament.

So remember, if you must, the past with affection, but do not live in it. Dream about the future with all its wonderful possibilities if you will, but do not let it govern your every action or desire. Rather live in the present, comforted, strengthened, nourished and supported by the knowledge that today, God is among us and that by His grace and in His love, this Scripture has been fulfilled in our hearing, this day. Amen.