Maybe you saw in the news during the week that China plans to spend over £2.2bn to flatten 700 mountains. The headline in the Guardian newspaper read: "China to flatten 700 mountains for new metropolis in the desert". (Click Here to read about it in the Guardian newspaper)
Reading that for the first time, I was quite astonished. The Lanzhou area, where the mountains currently are, will be the location of a brand new city, with a possible development area of 500 square miles.
Our gospel reading, and the first reading from the prophet Baruch, both promise the same thing. In the gospel: "Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled in, every mountain will be laid low, winding ways will be straightened and rough roads made smooth." In the first reading from Baruch: "For God has decreed the flattening of each high mountain, of the everlasting hills, the filling in of the valleys to make the ground level so that Israel can walk in safety under the glory of God."
The line from the prophet Baruch that we have just heard again highlights what this Sunday is all about. It is about the flattening of mountains, the straightening of paths; in the gospel it is to prepare a way for the Lord – in the first reading it is to prepare a way for Israel to 'walk in safety under the glory of God.'
So, our readings this morning are pointing at the Church. What is the Church? What is the Church's mission? And why am I here? Why are you here? Some of the answers to these questions are quite interesting. Theologians say that there are four aspects of the Church – or, rather that throughout history there have been four developments of the Church: there is the Church that all of creation is, not just the earth of course, but of the whole universe. And there is a strange harmony to the universe that science speaks about – a kind of song that the universe is singing all the time. For us, that song used to appear on our television screens as 'snow', as a kind of interference. But, so they say, that snow was actually sound of the echo of the big bang down through the universe.
The second phase of the Church is the People of God, Israel, the chosen people. And this new people comes about because of God's choice to reveal himself to them – and God's revealing himself is what gathers them together; twelve tribes of Israel, one People of God.
The third phase of the Church is the Church of Christ, which we are members of. This is the Church, the gathering that occurs around Jesus Christ because of his passion, death and resurrection. That is us, that is what we are doing. We are gathering around the Lord today, and each day we come to Church.
The fourth dimension of the Church is the Kingdom to come. The heavenly Jerusalem. When we shall see God face to face.
So, when we ask ourselves why do we go to Church on Sunday, very often we will come up with answers from our own point of view. 'I go because I get something out of it.' 'I need my faith', 'I like to pray', 'God is important in my life', 'My parents gave me the gift of faith.' All of these answers are from our own point of view. But maybe a better or more profound answer is that the Lord calls us to gather as one People of God, as one Gathering unto the Lord, so that we may prepare for the Day of Christ and the heavenly city of Jerusalem.
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