18.12.2015
Advent Series of Sermons at TCD Chapel
Over the last three Sunday mornings there has been a series of Advent reflections in the Chapel of Trinity College Dublin. The three part series of sermons were delivered by Dr Anne Lodge, Principal of the Church of Ireland College of Education; Philip McKinley, Church of Ireland Chaplain at Dublin City University; and Dr Michael Jackson, the Archbishop of Dublin. A similar series of sermons will take place in the TCD Chapel during Lent.
EXPECTANCY
Preaching on the first Sunday of Advent, Dr Lodge spoke on the theme of expectancy which abounds at this time of year. From the expectation of gifts to come at Christmas and the expectation of Advent to the expectation of fear as found in that morning’s Gospel [Luke 21: 25–36] “people will be faint with fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world”. She pointed out that that sense of foreboding resonated in Europe today in current times of uncertainty.
However, Dr Lodge said that the worries of the world could distract us from the presence of God in our lives and pull us away from the call to Christian discipleship. She suggested using the season of Advent to expect something of ourselves and for ourselves. “This is the season of expectation. Rather than focusing only on the presents we hope to give and to receive, let us focus also on nurturing our spiritual selves,” she said.
You can read the full text of Dr Lodge’s sermon by clicking here.
CONVICTION
Philip McKinley spoke on the theme of Conviction and looked at the fine line that lies between healthy religious conviction and unhealthy religious conviction. Drawing on the Gospel for the day [Luke 3: 1–6] he spoke of John the Baptist whose life of religious conviction could be seen as radical today and in his own time was deemed problematic by some.
Philip said that since the Paris attacks there had been many shocking stories of religious fanaticism and violent extremism and explored the idea that conviction could be a source of war and a source of peace. Referring to for the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams’ call for greater understanding of ISIS, challenging the presuppositions we make in relation to radical groups, Philip spoke of a recent visit to Jordan where he purchased a book entitled What is Wrong with the West which he described as a scathing critique of his own culture. “The civilisation I wish to promote and even protect, is in the eyes of others, so offensive and abhorrent, that for some, it merits destruction, simply to protect the wellbeing of the Earth and of humanity,” he commented.
You can read the full text of Philip McKinley’s sermon by clicking here.
RECONCILLIATION
In the final sermon of the series, Archbishop Jackson spoke on the theme of reconciliation. He said the word reconciliation today was associated with conflict resolution and in situations like Iraq and Syria it seemed inaccessible and impossible. He said that Advent and Christmas brought the word reconciliation back within our grasp because they brought together heaven and earth, divinity and humanity, darkness and light.
Travelling through the Sundays of Advent he said that the First Sunday drew together humility and glory, the quick and the dead, life as we know it and immortal life, darkness and light. The Second Sunday drew together creation and judgement, accountability, humility and faith. The Third Sunday brought us to the turning of the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. Mary on the Fourth Sunday offered a combination of glory and obedience, service and justice, he stated. “The Song of Mary offers us something glorious in the Season of Advent as Christmas approaches because it does what each one of us must do: it takes a personal experience and widens and deepens it in such a way as to make connections with the bigger and wider world. A teenage mother in Palestine sings of the challenge and the confrontation of unjust structures worldwide,” Archbishop Jackson suggested.
You can read the full text of the Archbishop’s sermon by clicking here.