Turn around- sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent 2022

Scripture Readings:

Isaiah 11:1-10

Matthew 3:1-12

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

There was once a man who became convinced that God wanted him to preach to the people of this area. He left his home and went to live in a tent in some woods in the hills above Cambuslang. He dressed in old, second-hand clothes, and lived off the berries and any wee animal he could trap. He would go down to Clydeford, just where Morrisons is now (it was all farms back then), and shout at people that they were sinners who need to repent and turn to God.

Yet lots of the local people thought that the wild man was a great character and became convinced by his message. They flocked to the wild man in the river, confessed their sins, and he ducked them in the murky waters of the Clyde to signify that God had taken away their sins. The minister of Cambuslang parish tried to tell him off, but the wild man called the distinguished clergyman “a snake and a hypocrite”.

Those of you who know your local history may well be wondering when this happened. Was it during the great Cambuslang Revival of the 1740s? Was the wild man in the woods a 19th century evangelist? Was he a 1960’s hippy, or a 1970s Jesus Freak[1]? Or did you guess- correctly- that I have just made all this up. I’ve made it up to try to imagine what it would be like for us if John the Baptist turned up here in Cambuslang.

Every year, just as we are getting into the Christmas holiday mode, the strange figure of John the Baptist bursts into upset us. A man living in the desert, in odd clothes- a camel skin with a leather belt. He eats locusts and wild honey. He preaches about sins, and calls the official religious leaders ‘snakes’. He symbolises washing of sins by ducking people in a dirty river. He almost seems out of his mind. What is he up to?

His name is John the Baptizer. He has had a strange career. He’s the son of Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, a priest of the great Temple in Jerusalem. They were very surprised to be given a son when they were quite far on in years. They must have found it odd when, one day, John literally ‘desert-ed’ them- he went off to live in the desert. But perhaps old Zechariah and Elizabeth knew that John was fated to do something like this.

Now he’s standing in the River Jordan, getting ready to baptise another repentant sinner. Wild and unkempt, he’s like an Old Testament prophet born 200 years too late. And his preaching draws many people down into the hot, stuffy river valley.

Why do they come? What’s the attraction of John? You’d think is Old Testament fire and brimstone preaching would put them off! For his cry is ‘Repent! Turn your life around. The life you are leading now is all wrong. God hates the way you make yourself comfortable with your sins. You need to repent!’

John wants them to turn their backs on their old lives, to turn around, from concentrating on themselves to concentration on God. He wants radical obedience. And when people confess that they need God’s help to do that, he baptises them- he washes them clean, signifying that God has cleaned them up, and now they are ready to start anew. And the ordinary folk love this, and many of them make up their mind to change their ways, and he baptizes them to symbolise that they have wiped the slate clean.

But all the fuss also brings along the traditional religious leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They want to find out what’s going on, who it is that’s leading their flock astray, what new heresy is this that they have to deal with. Yet even some seem to have been moved by what John has to say. Look- here they come, down to the water’s edge, asking if they can be baptised! But John is sceptical of them. He has a sermon for them especially:

What are you all here for? Do you want to be baptised, just to be on the safe side? Do you think you can avoid God’s punishment, just by dipping in the water? But I only baptise those who really repent, who turn away from their own selfish desires and turn to God. But you’re all so smug, with your Law and your Prophets, your secure position in society, judging what’s right and what’s wrong, pronouncing on who’s in and who’s out, who’s righteous and who’s a sinner ‘God’s on our side’, you say, ‘because we’re children of Abraham’.

Well, you can’t rely on your religious status, says John. It’s not enough being descendants of Abraham. God could turn these riverbank stones into children of Abraham if he wanted. God wants a clean soul, a good heart, a person to obey him. Otherwise, one day God will cut you down like trees.

John urges the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the ordinary folk of the day, to take their faith seriously, personally. It doesn’t matter that they were all born Jews- what matters is their sincerity. He calls on them turn to God, and change their lives for the better. And he has another message:

But be warned, this isn’t the end of it. There’s another coming after me, better than me, greater than me. He’ll sort out the wheat from the chaff. He’s on his way! Get ready for him!

*                           *                           *

Let’s leave the wilderness, that fiery preacher up to his knees in water, and return to the familiar, to Cambuslang in 2022. It’s Advent again, and we hear once more John’s message of repentance. Just before we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, here comes that strange figure in his camel coat with his unsettling message.

And John’s message is an unsettling message. ‘Turn away from your sins’ it says in our Good News Bibles, but the phrase is often translated as one word: ‘Repent!’ The Greek word is metanoein, and it means much more than simply turning away from a few bad habits. It’s about not just turning from our sins, but a sincere turning to God. I once saw the word described as meaning, ‘a whole reorientation of personality’. To repent is certainly to turn away from whatever keeps us from God, and a turning to God. Reversing our lives, and turning to God in faith.

‘Turn from your sins. Turn to God. Repent!’ This is a message at the heart of the Christian faith: Jesus invites us to turn our lives around. It’s an invitation we try to make to those who haven’t committed to follow Jesus. Maybe we would frame it in a different way from John the Baptist, but effectively our invitation to people is ‘we want you to discover the love of God. Turn your life around, and come and follow Jesus!’ That’s the heart of the church’s message to people in our messed-up world.

Yet we in the church need to hear the message, too (otherwise John the Baptist might call us snakes and hypocrites!). Even if we have been baptised in Christ’s name, even if we are in families that have been part of the church for generations- it’s not enough. We also need to hear anew the invitation to turn away from our sins, and to follow Jesus more closely than we have been doing. Christians should repent, not just at Advent, but every day. Our prayer should be ‘O for a closer walk with God’, as the old hymn[2] puts it.

For Christ always has more to teach us about our loving God, more grace to share with us, more love from God to share with us. He just needs us to turn around, and let him wash us clean! Amen.

Biblical references from the Good News Bible, unless otherwise stated

© 2022 Peter W Nimmo

Notes

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_freak

[2] William Cowper (1731-1800): CH4 553

Hopeless? Sermon for 15 January 2023:  Epiphany 2 (Year RCL)

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 49:1-7 and John 1:29-50

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

When I looked at the texts for today, I was struck by these words from book of Isaiah:

I have worked, but how hopeless it is!

I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing.[1]

Who among us has not felt like that sometimes? For we all have days when we work and strive, but it all seems hopeless. We use up all our strength, but seem to accomplish nothing. How can it be that we are tired at the end of a long, busy day, but seem to have nothing to show for it?

Maybe because it is the middle of the winter that these words from the prophet seemed an appropriate place to start this morning. Because those words describe an experience which we hear a lot about. In a time of war, spending cuts, lots of illness in the community, when we worry about out families (whether the elderly or the young), many of us feel that we are using up our strength, but accomplishing little.

Long ago, a Hebrew teacher looked at life, and his words are preserved for us in what is perhaps the most downbeat of all Biblical books the Book of Ecclesiastes. Despite its English name, the book of Ecclesiastes is not about the church- it is about the puzzles of life. The teacher, or philosopher, is named in Hebrew Koheleth. His book suggests that he had gloomy outlook on life, for he writes,

It is useless, useless, said [Koheleth]. Life is useless, all useless. You spend your life working, labouring, and what do you have to show for it?[2].

Sometimes churches put up posters with inspiring Bible verses on them. What would you think of a church that put up a poster reading, ‘Life is useless’?

There’s no doubt in my mind that the overall Biblical message is above all a message of hope. But our Scriptures also find a place for Koholeth’s gloom (or realism). And for that prophet, whose words Colin read for us a few minutes ago from the Book of Isaiah, who complains that is work seems hopeless.

But who is this preacher who is saying these things? Begin from the beginning of today’s reading, and you find out something about the person whose cry of despair this is:

Listen to me, distant nations,

you people who live far away!

Before I was born, the Lord chose me

and appointed me to be his servant.

He made my words as sharp as a sword.

With his own hand he protected me.

He made me like an arrow,

sharp and ready for use.

He said to me, “Israel, you are my servant;

because of you, people will praise me.”

I said, “I have worked, but how hopeless it is!

I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing.”

These are the words of a preacher with a really hard job. He is preaching to a community who have seen their nation- and apparently also their religion- destroyed. For the Babylonians had attacked Israel, destroyed Jerusalem- including its Temple- and taken the Israelites into exile a long way from home. With no more Temple ceremonies, the people only have prophets. And the prophets whose words we heard wants to assure them that their exile will be over eventually.

The prophet claims that the Lord chose him before he was born. He preaches in words that will be like arrows- sharp, to the point. If only all we preachers could be so confident in our gifts! But as the years of exile drag on, he must have found it hard to convince the Israelites to keep the faith. And so sometimes he despairs. This God-commissioned, gifted preacher finds himself saying,

I have worked, but how hopeless it is! I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing’.

This is no comfort to any of you, but- if you identify with those words sometimes, if you sometimes feel that your work is hopeless, that your strength is expended and that you have achieved nothing… know that this preacher, and every preacher I have ever met, we have days like that too. We do our best, but then we begin to think about that parable of Jesus about the farmer sowing seed. We all of us sometimes feel that, despite our best efforts, the seeds we have tried to sow seem to have been sown in stony ground, or in  too-shallow earth, or have been choked by weeds. I wonder why Jesus told that story? He was a great preacher- but it was his experience, too, that few really listened, and understood, and responded to him. Indeed, he was finally nailed to a cross for his troubles.

And yet, in today’s Gospel reading, John the Baptist points to Jesus as the source of all our hope. John has been preaching to tell people to turn from their sins, and baptising those who say they will change their ways. But one day he sees Jesus coming to him- and he points him out to the crowds-

“There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

On a Sunday when we celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism, John the Baptist reminds us that this sacrament ought to point us to Jesus Christ. For our baptism isn’t an end to itself. We can’t save young Ewan from despair by baptising him. But we can all find hope if we let the sacrament of baptism point us to Christ.

Our Gospel reading carries on to show us Jesus beginning to gather a band of followers, beginning with some of John the Baptist’s disciples. One of them is Andrew, who then goes and finds his brother, Simon Peter, and says, ‘We have found the Messiah’. The Messiah was the great hope of the people of Israel. For Andrew to find the Messiah was to for him to find the answer to everything. No wonder he goes off and finds his brother, Simon, and brings him to Jesus. Jesus takes one look at him and thinks, ‘Here’s the rock on which I will build my Church’. Friends tell friends, and the Jesus movement begins to grow.

For those who can catch a glimpse of it, God has a story. It is a human story. Andrew and Philip find their answer when they get to know a man. He is so compelling that they bring their brothers and friends along. Soon they will be bringing other people, whom Jesus will also welcome. It’s all about people, relationships, friendships.

God’s answer to our despair is not a holy book, a mystical doctrine, a set of ethics- or even a fairy story. It has something to do with the possibilities of relationships, about, if you like, the healing power of friendship. Whatever else the Church is about, it should be a place where relationships are foremost. Here we get to know Jesus- and we get to know each other- and we are strengthened and given hope by those friendships.

John says to his friends, ‘Jesus is the Lamb of God’, and his friends follow Jesus. Andrew tells his brother, Simon Peter, all about Jesus, and he comes to meet Jesus. And so it went on- people introducing their friends and relatives to Christ, discovering the Christ is the hope of the world. That is how the church grew, and how it always grows- friends of friends of friends!

For when you are down, when you feel worn out, at the end of your capacity, when despair dogs you, there is nothing like a friend. And there is nothing like reaching out to someone else, being a friend to someone else. You see, when you make time for another person, it takes you out of yourself. Loneliness is said to be one of the major problems in our communities today. But Jesus invites us to be his friends, and then sends his friends out to befriend other people. His church should always be a place where people can find friends, and a solution to their loneliness.

For friendships, especially in tough times, give us hope. Just before he died, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You are my friends’[3]. Today, Ewan, in his baptism, has been promised that Jesus will always be his friend. Can we all also be friends for Ewan, friends to another, and friends to everyone who is look for hope in our difficult world? The old prophet worried that his work was hopeless. But friends offer us hope, and Jesus has invited us all to be his friends.

Ascription of Praise

To God be honour and eternal dominion! Amen.

Biblical references from the Good News Bible, unless otherwise stated

© 2023 Peter W Nimmo

Notes

[1] Isaiah 49.4

[2] Ecclesiastes 1.2-3 (alt)

[3] John 15.14

Featured image: detail from the Isenheim Altarpiece (1512–1516) by Matthias Grünewald. On the right, John the Baptist points to the crucified Christ. Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, France.

A faith for fools. Sermon for 29 January 2023:  Epiphany 4 (Year RCL)

Texts: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 and Matthew 5:1-12 (NRSV)

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

One of the joys and privileges of ministry is being involved with local schools. Here in Cambuslang, Karen and I are members of chaplaincy teams in the three local nondenominational primary schools, and I have just joined the chaplaincy at Cathkin High School. We are really lucky to do all this work in association Ross Murray and the Cambuslang and Rutherglen Outreach Trust.

One of the aspects of that work are assemblies, when the whole school, or part of it, comes together to share news and a reflection. Not all school assemblies have a religious element- most of them are led by the teachers. However, the law in Scotland expects that there will often be a faith element in the programme of school assemblies. Chaplains are appointed by the head teacher, to work not just on assemblies, but often also in classrooms and in other ways. We are often asked to do assemblies to mark important times and seasons, or at difficult times, for example if there is a bereavement in the school. My experience has been that the contribution of chaplains is warmly welcomed by school staff.

I have learned to make sure I know a bit of what is going on in the school so that I can do something which is appropriate. And to always make sure that I’m on last, after the head teacher has made the announcement. Many years ago, I was chaplain to a primary school in Currie, a suburb of Edinburgh. It was situated in the same street as one of the other schools, separated only by a games field which they used for sports at different times. I went in one morning with a really very good retelling of the story of David and Goliath, and spoke about how God helped the small boy David to slay the frightening giant Goliath with simply a sling and a stone. Then the head teacher got up, and the first item on her agenda was to tell the children not to throw stones at the children in the other playground! It’s important for the chaplain to be relevant, and to know what’s going on in the school!

The religious aspect of school assemblies has to be thought through carefully nowadays, because many children come from families which have no connection to Christianity. Their parents may be indifferent, or even hostile, to the church. And there are also children whose families are of other faiths, such as Islam or Hinduism. Yet it is possible to respect people’s different beliefs, and also to speak of our own beliefs. My assemblies always refer to the Bible and the Christian tradition, and I often invite the children to join me in a prayer. But I cannot and do not assume that many of them will consider themselves Christian, or, indeed, that they will know much about the Christian tradition. Yet it is a privilege to offer the children a reflection on faith, and to speak of why my Christian faith seems important to me.

I expect that a school assembly in our multicultural age is quite different from what some of you will remember in your school days. I just used the word ‘multicultural’- a word which reflects the reality that Scotland is home to people of many different faiths and belief systems. Some people think multiculturalism is a new phenomenon. But the Corinthians- the people to whom St. Paul wrote his two famous letters- would have understood the concept.

2,000 years ago, Corinth was a multicultural city. It had been founded as a Roman colony in Greece. It was a port on the Mediterranean, so it was a city of many languages, nationalities, and religions. It was home to, and constantly visited by sailors, merchants, slaves, soldiers, government officials and many others, from Europe, Asia and Africa. It was a long way from home for Paul, who was a Jew from Syria, but he had travelled there and founded the church in the city. And the new church reflected the diversity of local population- rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles, people from many different cultures and religious background, who had found a unity in Christ.

Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians, not because they were diverse, but because were divided. Different factions had appeared in the church, often named after different church leaders (including Paul). To which his ironic reply was ‘Was it Paul who died on the cross for you?’ Paul’s answer to the divided Corinthians is to make them look beyond their divisions, beyond the human leaders they so respect, and to point towards Christ. And especially, as he does in the passage today, to Christ’s crucifixion. When he wants to point beyond the factions in the church, or even beyond the diversities of religion, nationality, faith or race, Paul points to Christ on the cross.

Paul will not bend his message so that it supports one or other of the factions in the Corinthian church. He writes:

As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles.

It was very strange to preach about a condemned criminal as the messenger of God in the ancient world. A criminal put to death like Jesus was believed by Jews to be cursed. And a teacher whose life ended so ignominiously and obscurely had little attraction for Gentiles, especially upper-class educated and sophisticated Greeks or Romans. Yet, as Paul goes on to say,

…for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For what seems to be God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

There is nothing more helpless and weak than a man nailed to a cross. It is foolish to expect people to be attracted by such a sight, to pay attention to a teacher whose life ends in such a way. But in this passage, Paul makes great play of concept of strength and weakness, foolishness and wisdom. The crucified Christ seems a foolish figure to many, but when you believe it somehow makes sense- it’s God’s wisdom. The crucified Christ seems weak, but it turns out that the cross is God’s power at work. For Paul, the weakness of Christ crucified shows the strength of God; and the folly of Christ’s dying on the cross points to wisdom of God, deeper than any human wisdom.

In his lifetime, Christ had also pointed out how God contradicts human expectations. Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven belongs not to those who are confident in their faith, but who know that they are poor in spirit. Jesus promises God’s comfort for those who mourn. The humble will receive everything. The merciful will themselves receive mercy. And those whom God calls his children are not the ones who will ride off to war for him, but those who work for peace.

As we try to be Christians in this multicultural landscape, I really do think we can learn from the struggles of those Christians Paul wrote to in the multicultural city of Corinth. For Paul reminds the Corinthians,

From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing.

Well, that just about fits most Scottish Christians today. We don’t have a special place in society. We are one faith among many.

And yet St Paul reminds us of what Christ means for us. Through the crucified Christ,

we are put right with God; we become God’s holy people and are set free.

When I go into schools, I don’t try to teach children Victorian hymns, or middle-class morality. I tell them about Jesus of Nazareth, who must seem a strange figure to them- born in a stable, telling ordinary people that God loves them, executed like a criminal. Yet the tales and sayings of Jesus are all I have for them. And if that doesn’t seem like much, well, says Paul,

God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful.

Children nowadays are being brought up in a culture in which faith in the Christ crucified really does seems like a faith for fools. But maybe it’s okay for Christians to seem like fools. I certainly felt a fool after that day I had told the story of David and Goliath when the kids had been throwing stone at one another. But school had given me the privilege of speaking about faith, and I can never turn that opportunity down- even if it does make me seem a bit foolish. For after the cross of Christ came his resurrection. Jesus wasn’t so foolish and weak after all. He’s a fool worth following!

Ascription of Praise

To God be honour and eternal dominion! Amen.

Biblical references from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible

© 2023 Peter W Nimmo

Featured image:

Lamp of Wisdom. Metal sculpture, Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire
From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54977 [retrieved January 28, 2023]

Today's pick: St John the Baptist (c. 1604) - Caravaggio. #art #Caravaggio #JohnTheBaptist

https://www.artbible.info/art/large/430.html

Druze

The Druze, who call themselves al-Muwahhidun, are an Arab esoteric religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith. This is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, & syncretic religion whose main tenets assert the unity of God, reincarnation, & the eternity of the soul.

Although the Druze faith developed from Isma’ilism, the Druze don’t identify as Muslim. Isma’ilism is a sect of Shia Islam. They use the Arabic language & culture as integral parts of their identity, with Arabic being their primary language.

Most Druze religious practices are kept secret. Conversion to their religion isn’t permitted for outsiders. Interfaith marriages are rare & strongly discouraged. They make a difference between spiritual individuals, known as “uqqal,” who hold the faiths secrets, & secular ones, known as “juhhal,” who focus on worldly matters.

Druze believes that, after completing the cycle of rebirth through successive reincarnations, the soul reunites with the Cosmic Mind (al-‘aql al-kulli).

The Epistles of Wisdom is the central text of the Druze faith. The Druze faith came out of Isma’ilism & has been influenced by a diverse range of traditions (Christianity, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, & Pythagoreanism).

Druze holds Shuaib in high regard. They believe him to be the same person as the biblical Jethro. Shuaib is an ancient Midianite prophet in Islam. Jethro is Moses’ father-in-law. Shuaib is mentioned 11x in the Quran.

They regard Adam (of Adam & Eve fame), Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad (PBUH), & the Isma’ili Imam Muhammad ibn Isma’il as prophets. Also the Druze tradition honor figures such as Salman the Persian, al-Khidr (who they identify with Elijah, John the Baptist, & St. George), Job, Luke the Evangelist, & others as mentors & prophets.

The Druze faith is 1 of the major religious groups in the Levant with between 800,000 & 1 million followers. They’re mainly located in Lebanon, Syria, & Israel. They make up 5.5% of Lebanon’s population, 3% of Syria’s, & 1.6% of Israel’s.

The oldest, & most densely populated, Druze communities exist in Mount Lebanon & in the south of Syria around Jabal al-Druze (literally the “Mountain of the Druze”). The name “Druze” is likely derived from the name of: Muhammad bin Ismail Nashtakin ad-Darazi (from the Persian darzi, “seamster”) who was an early preacher.

The Druze consider ad-Darazi a heretic, the name has been used to identify them. This is possibly because their historical opponents have a way to attack their community with ad-Darazi’s poor reputation.

Before becoming public, the movement was secretive & held closed meetings in what was known as Sessions of Wisdom. During this period, a dispute occurred between ad-Darazi & Hamza bin Ali mainly concerned ad-Darazi’s ghuluww (“exaggeration”), which refers to the belief that God was incarnated in human beings to ad-Darazi naming himself “The Sword of the Faith,” which led Hamza to write an Epistle refuting the need for the sword to spread the faith & several epistles refuting the beliefs of the ghulat.

In 1061, ad-Darazi, & his followers, openly proclaimed their beliefs & put out the call for people to join them. This caused riots in Cairo against the Unitarian movement, including Hamza bin Ali & his followers. This led to the suspension of the movement for 1 year & the expulsion of ad-Darazi & his supporters.

In 1081, ad-Darazi was assassinated for his teachings. Some claim that he was executed by Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

The number of the Druze people worldwide is between 800,000 & 1 million. The vast majority reside in the Levant. The main countries with Druze communities are Syria, Lebanon, Israel, & Jordan. Outside the Middle East, significant Druze communities exist in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America (mainly Venezuela, Colombia, & Brazil), the US, & West Africa. They are Arabs who speak Levantine Arabic.

The story of the creation of the Druze faith between 1017 & 1018 is dominated by 3 men & their struggle for influence. Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad was an Ismaili mystic & scholar from Khorasan, who arrived in Fatimid Egypt in 1014 or 1016, & began to teach a Muwahhidun (“Unitarian”) doctrine.

al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the 6th Fatimid caliph, became a central figure in the faith being preached by Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad. Muhammad bin Ismail Nashtakin ad-Darazi arrived in Cairo in 1015 or 1017, possibly from Bukhara, joined the movement & became an important preacher.

Hama ibn Ali ibn Ahmad, an Ismaili mystic & scholar from Zozan, Khorasan, in the Samanid Empire, arrived in Fatimid Egypt in 1014 or 1016. He assembled a group of scholars that met regularly in the Raydan Mosque, near the Al-Hakim Mosque. In 1017, Hamza began to preach a Muwahhidun (Unitarian) doctrine.

Hamza got the support of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who gave a decree promoting religious freedom & eventually became a central figure in the Druze faith.

Little is known about the early life of al-Darazi. He is believed to have been of Persian origins & his title al-Darazi is Persian in origin, meaning “the tailor.” He got to Cairo in 1015 or 1017, after which he joined the newly emerged Druze movement. al-Darazi converted early to the Unitarian faith & became 1 of its early preachers.

At that time, the movement enlisted a large number of followers. As the number of his followers grew, he became obsessed with his leadership & gave himself the title “The Sword of the Faith.” al-Darazi argued that he should be the leader of the da’wah rather than Hamza ibn Ali & gave himself the title: “Lord of the Guides” because Caliph al-Hakim referred to Hamza as “Guide of the Consented.” It’s said that al-Darazi allowed wine, forbidden marriages, & taught metempsychosis. Metempsychosis is the belief that after death, a soul leaves its body & enters a new one, either human, animal, or even plant, in a continuous cycle of rebirth (reincarnation). This is also known as the transmigration of souls.

The divine call, or Unitarian call, is the Druze period of time that was opened at sunset on May 30, 1017 by ad-Darazi. The call summoned people to a true Unitarian belief that removed all attributes from God.

It promoted absolute monotheism & the concepts of supporting your fellow man, true speech & pursuit of doneness with God. These concepts superseded all ritual, law & dogma & requirements for pilgrimage, fasting, holy days, prayer, charity, devotion, Creed, & particular worship of any prophet, or person, was downplayed.

Sharia was opposed & Druze traditions started during the call continue today, such as meeting for reading, prayer, & social gathering on a Thursday instead of a Friday at Khalwats instead of mosques. Such gatherings & traditions weren’t mandatory. People were encouraged to pursue a state of compliance with the real law of nature governing the universe.

By 1018, al-Darazi had gathered around him that partisans who believed that universal reason became incarnated in Adam at the beginning of the world, were then passed to the prophets. Then into Ali, & then into his descendants, the Fatimid Caliphs. al-Darazi wrote a book laying out his doctrine. But when he read from his book in the principal mosque in Cairo. It caused riots, & protests against his claims & many of his followers were killed.

Hamza ibn Ali rejected al-Darazi’s ideology, calling him “the insolent one & Satan.” The controversy led Caliph al-Hakim to suspend the Druze da’wah in 1018.

In an attempt to gain the support of al-Hakim, al-Darazi started preaching that al-Hakim didn’t believe that he was God, & felt al-Darazi was trying to show himself as a new prophet. In 1018, al-Hakim had al-Darazi executed, leaving Hamza the sole leader of the new faith & al-Darazi considered to be a renegade.

Al-Hakim disappeared 1 night while on his evening ride. Druze believes he went into Occultation with Hamza ibn Ali & 3 other prominent preachers. He left the “Unitarian missionary movement” to a new leader, al-Muqtana Baha’uddin.

The call was suspended briefly between May 19, 1018 & May 9, 1019 during the apostasy of al-Darazi & again between 1021 & 1026 during a period of persecution by the Fatimid caliph al-Zahir li-I’zaz Din Allah for those who had sworn the oath, to accept the call.

Persecutions started 40 days after the disappearance into Occultation of al-Hakim, who was thought to have been converting people to the Unitarian faith for over 20 years prior. Al-Hakim convinced some heretical followers such as al-Darazi of his soteriological divinity & officially declared the Divine call after issuing a decree promoting religious freedom. This eventually became a central figure in the Druze faith.

Little is known about the early life of al-Darazi. According to most sources, he was born in Bukhara (located in Uzbekistan). He got to Cairo in 1015 (or 1017), after he joined the newly formed Druze movement.

Al-Darazi was an early convert to the Unitarian faith. He became 1 of its early preachers. At that time, the movement enlisted a large number of followers. As the number of his followers grew, he got obsessed with his leadership. He gave himself the title: “The Sword of the Faith.”

Al-Darazi argued that he should be the leader of the da’wah rather than Hamza ibn Ali & gave himself the title: “Lord of the Guides.” Because Caliph al-Hakim referred to Hamza as: “Guide of the Consented.” It’s said that al-Darazi allowed wine, forbidden marriages, & taught metempsychosis.

This led to conflicts between Ad-Darazi & Hamza ibn Ali, who disliked his behavior & arrogance. In the Epistles of Wisdom, Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad warns al-Darazi: “Faith doesn’t need a sword to aid it.” But al-Darazi ignored Hamza’s warnings & continued to challenge the Imam.

The unitarian call, or divine call, is the Druze period of time that was opened at sunset on May 30, 1017 by Ad-Darazi. The call summoned people to a true unitarian belief that removed all attributes (wise, just, outside, inside, etc.) from God.

It promoted absolute monotheism & the concepts of supporting your fellow man, true speech & pursuit of oneness with God. These concepts superseded all ritual, law & dogma, & the requirement for pilgrimage (like the Hajj), fasting, holy days, prayer, charity, devotion, Creed & particular worship of any prophet or person was downplayed.

Sharia was opposed. Druze traditions during the call continued today, such as meeting for reading, prayer, & social gathering on a Thursday instead of Friday at Khalwats instead of mosques. Khalwats are sanctuaries & theological schools of the Druze.

Such gatherings & traditions weren’t mandatory & people were encouraged to pursue a state of compliance with the real law of nature governing the universe. Epistle 13 of the Epistles of Wisdom called it “A spiritual doctrine without any ritualistic imposition.”

The time of the call was seen as a revolution of truth, with missionaries preaching its message all around the Middle East. These messages were sent out with the believers, whose souls are thought to still exist in the Druze of today.

The souls of those who took the vows during the call are believed to be continuously reincarnating in successive generations of Druze until the return of al-Hakim to proclaim a 2nd Divine call & establish a Golden Age of justice & peace of all.

By 1018, al-Darazi had gathered around him partisans (“Darazites”) who believed that universal reason became incarnated in Adam at the beginning of the world, was then passed to the prophets, then into Ali, & then into his descendants, the Fatimid Caliphs.

In an attempt to gain the support of al-Hakim, al-Darazi started preaching that al-Hakim & his ancestors were the incarnation of God. A modest man, al-Hakim didn’t believe that he was God, & felt al-Darazi was trying to depict himself as a new prophet. In 1018, al-Hakim had al-Darazi executed, leaving Hamza the sole leader of the new faith & al-Darazi considered to be renegade.

Al-Hakim disappeared 1 night whilst on his nightly ride. He was presumed assassinated. His “assassination” was allegedly at his elder sister Sitt al-Mulk.

Druze believe he went into Occultation with Hamza ibn Ali & 3 other prominent preachers, leaving the care of the “Unitarian missionary movement” to a new leader, al-Muqtana Baha’uddin.

In 1043, Baha al-Din al-Muqtana said that the sect would no longer take new “pledges.” Since that time, proselytism has been banned awaiting al-Hakim’s return at the Last Judgment to usher in a new Golden Age.

In Lebanon, Syria, Israel, & Jordan, the Druzites have official recognition as a separate religious community with its own religious court system.

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Opening Prayers for the Baptism of the Lord Year A

Part of a series of opening prayers for Sundays in the Revised Common Lectionary. They take their inspiration from the Scripture readings in the Lectionary. Worship leaders are welcome to use them for worship, but if you print or display any part of them, please credit the author. Comments welcome.

The following prayers are for based on the readings for the Baptism of the Lord, and this week is mostly based on the Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12.

Prayer of Approach, Confession and Supplication

Almighty, eternal and loving God,
this universe you have created
is wonderful proof of your concern
for we mortals.
In Jesus Christ, you have come among us,
his baptism sealing his solidarity
with the whole human race.

Yet confess we must,
that we have failed to acknowledge your love.
We have used the gifts of your creation
as though they belonged only to us,
as if we had an absolute claim to your creation.

We have been selfish,
failing to share your good gifts with others,
failing to remember that you are the source
of all our material and spiritual riches.

In our concern for the everyday,
we have failed to see your love for us in creation,
and we have obscured for others
the signs of the eternal.

But Lord, to whom shall we go?
Yours are the words of eternal life.

Silence

Your Word became flesh and lived among us.
You have taught us that it is the Spirit
which gives us life,
compared to which the mundane things
of this world which we normally worship
are as nothing.
You understand our faults, our failings,
our weaknesses,
and have made it possible to come to you
through Jesus Christ.
 
For your grace,
for your promise of forgiveness,
and for the power of your Spirit to renew our lives
we give you thanks, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Featured image: “John baptizes Jesus” from JESUS MAFA (1973). JESUS MAFA is a response to the New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48290 [retrieved January 2, 2023]. Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr (contact page: https://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr/contact).

#bible #Christ #faith #god #Jesus #JohnTheBaptist #Lectionary #Prayer

😩 Waiting is HARD—especially during Advent! From rushing through songs to stressing over Christmas, Pastor Justin Wixon reminds us why God calls us to patient waiting for Jesus' return. 🌟

Watch now: 👉 https://zurl.co/F0GpV

#AdventWaiting #PatientlyWaiting #TrustInGod #JohnTheBaptist #James5 #Isaiah35 #ChristmasSermon #FaithOverAnxiety #PastorJustinWixon #AliveInChristChurch #MaranaAZ #LutheranSermon #ChristianHope #BibleTeaching #SpiritualGrowth

"Truly I tell you, 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."

Matthew 11:11 #Bible #JesusChrist #JohnTheBaptist

"I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Matthew 3:11 #Bible #JohnTheBaptist #JesusChrist