With the death of Queen Elizabeth, feelings of great sadness and grief can emerge as well as a sense of uncertainty and concern as we enter into an unfamiliar new era. How can we respond? The book of Lamentations was written at a time of extreme grief and insecurity for God’s people. Yet, it’s central verses hold out a sense of hope in such circumstances.

How do you feel about the Queen’s death?

How do you feel about the Queen’s death. At the start of his speech on Friday, Charles her son said he had “Feelings of profound sorrow.”

Although, she was not our mother, it may be that for you as well, the loss of the queen as a person brings a deep sense of sorrow and grief.

At the same time, her death brings to the end an era for our nation. For most of us she has been queen for the whole of our lives. 70 years is a very long time and through all the many changes, she has been a great constant. As one columnist wrote: “The one element in our collective life that stayed reliably the same has gone. We enter a new future now.” (Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian)

Such a change of era can leave us with feelings of uncertainty and unease, especially at a time like ours, when our lives are facing so much turmoil: coming out of a pandemic, the cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine.

So, how should we deal with these feelings?

Lamentations

One way is to turn to the Bible and in particular to the book of Lamentation. It is not a ‘How to guide’ of how to live, but a poem, which was written at a time of total and utter catastrophe and despair for the people of God around 2,500 years ago.

They had not just lost a monarch, their whole city had been destroyed, including the temple which stood at the centre of their identity and national life and expressed God’s support and presence for them. Not only that much of the population had been forced to move to a foreign land. This was an unimaginably bad catastrophe and the book of Lamentations expresses the deep sorrow they experienced in profound and moving ways.

Yet in the centre of the book are these verses of hope. As we face a difficult period in our national life, that comes nowhere near the struggles they were facing, let’s see what we can learn about seeking hope in the midst of sorrow and uncertainty.

Acrostic / Mnemonic

The poem is an acrostic, in the original language, each set of three verses starts with the same letter, then in the next three verses it moves on to the next letter.

To help, I am going to use a similar device as we explore what this poem is saying – a mnemonic, where the first letter of each point spells out a word. The word I am going to use is the word, ‘Queen.’

Quest

“The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.” (3:25)

We all need a ‘quest’ or to seek something in life. It gives direction and purpose and if it is the right quest, it can help us and others in life.

On the queen’s 21st birthday, before she became Queen, she said what her quest was for life:

“I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service… God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.” (Princess Elizabeth, 21st April 1947)

It was a commitment rooted in faith and seeking after God.

And it was tested powerfully while she was still young. She became queen at only 25 years old, much sooner than she had hoped and facing the death of her father at only 56. At a moment of deep sadness, she was thrust into a life of demanding service. Yet, she could do it because she also sought God, his help and blessings.

If we are going to cope with the sorrows and challenges of life in ways that are good and flourishing, then the first thing we need to do is to seek God, because only in him do we find our ultimate comfort and security.

Unfailing

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;” (3:22; NRSV)

The word for ‘steadfast love’ is sometimes translated, ‘loyalty’ or ‘devotion’. The queen exhibited this in her role over 70 long years, never failing in her service, even doing her duty to welcome the new Prime Minister a couple of days before she died.

King Charles III:

‘Her dedication and devotion as Sovereign never waivered, through times of change and progress, through times of joy and celebration, and through times of sadness and loss.’

Yet, unfailing as the queen was, no person can be totally unfailing in their love and concern, because we all one day will die. That’s why we need to seek God as our ultimate source of comfort and security. Only he is truly unfailing, he will never let us down, not even by dying.

Eternal

“For the Lord does not reject forever.” (3:31)

God’s love is unfailing, yet at times we may feel that he has rejected us. That was certainly true for the people of God when Jerusalem was destroyed. Yet, the poet sees beyond the temporary to the eternal. The Lord does not reject for ever.

So, we need to take the long view. After all, that is what Jesus did. Even though he faced God’s rejection and judgement on the cross, he knew that in the end the rejection would not last, that God would not reject him forever. God proved the point by raising Jesus from the dead.

When the queen died, many people noticed the rainbows that appeared in our rather stormy weather at the time. In the Bible the rainbow is a reminder that God’s love will always be there. He will not reject forever. He can see us through even the storms of death, if we are willing to seek him.

Emotional

“Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.” (3:32)

The queen in many ways was a distant figure, not showing many signs of emotion, but those who were close to her would have seen the more emotional side:

King Charles III: ‘And, as every member of my family can testify, she combined these qualities with warmth, humour and an unerring ability always to see the best in people.”

Yet, the queen’s presence and sympathy at moments of great tragedy were an important help to those suffering great loss. The people of Aberfan in particular remember her sympathy and support when she visited them after the landslide that killed so many including many children.

We can often think of God as a distant figure. Yet, this poem portrays him as  a God of compassion, someone who is emotionally moved to act when he sees the suffering of his people.

As Christians we believe Jesus came and lived among us. In Jesus Christ he came and the emotion, most associated with Jesus was compassion, as is the emotion described of God here. When Jesus saw the needs of people he was moved emotionally and acted miraculously. This is what our God is like. This is the God we need to seek, the God who feels our pain with us.

New

“They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (3:23)

And actually, when we seek God, his compassion is experienced every day. Just as the sun rises to bring us a new day, so God’s emotional and loving commitment to us is renewed each and every day – even when we face moments of great sadness, grief or uncertainty.

There is a freshness about God’s support and help, his love for us never grows stale, it is always fresh, whatever we are going through in life.

Queen

We’ve spelt out Queen and we are reminded again of the sadness of losing a much-loved monarch and the uncertainty of a new era without her.

Yet, as we’ve focussed on this poem that looks for hope in the midst of deep despair, we’ve been reminded that in God we have hope. Let’s seek him in all our lives, that like the queen we may have the strength to serve through all the ups and downs of our lives.

When we realise the extent of Jesus’ forgiveness it transforms our lives, for we have been forgiven much.

In our readings this morning God led Jeremiah to a potter where he saw him remould ruined clay and God told him that for those who repent who seek God’s forgiveness they can be remoulded, reshaped too (Jeremiah 18:1-11). Paul in his letter to Philemon gives thanks for the church where Philemon serves because of their love for the Lord and for each other. He desires for them to do their duty, living in obedience in service of God because of Jesus’ love (Philemon 1-21). And in our gospel reading we see an extraordinary offering to Jesus showing acknowledgement of His love and forgiveness. This woman knew the weight of her sin and seemed to know what Jesus would do for her. She knew the seriousness of her sin. And showed her gratitude (Luke 7:36-50).

How do we view sin? 

I have two stories of events in my childhood that might help us think about that. Because how we view sin affects how we view Jesus’ forgiveness – his love for us. 

I came home from school once, I think I was 5 or 6 and said ‘Mummy I’m so ashamed’ …….I don’t remember this, this is one of the stories told round the dinner table at family occasions. But I said – ‘Mummy I’m so ashamed.’ So Mum with her serious and listening face asked me, ‘darling why do you say that?’ – As it turned out I had been playing at school with a friend called Simeon and we’d been pretending to make dinner and we were making grass soup, picking the grass from the bank. A teacher had seen us do this, told us off and probably said words like – you should be ashamed of yourself – this encounter had left me ashamed! Should it?

Another time we were queuing to go out for break a long line of us, people were shoving back and forwards – I gave as good as I was given, except that when I shoved, the girl at the front of the queue had opened the door and fell out. I remember being made to stand in the corner of the cloak room, crying because I hadn’t been the only one shoving, it felt so unfair? Was it unfair? Should I have accepted what I did wasn’t right?

Sometimes we mess up in life and feel sorry for what we’ve done. Sometimes we feel more sorry than we should, other times we might not feel sorry enough. We might not think it was truly our fault and think punishment isn’t fair.

God dislikes sin, but the joy of the Christian faith is that he has provided a way for our sins to be forgiven.

The joy of forgiveness sometimes makes us forget about the seriousness of sin. There are other times when we become obsessed with all the things we do wrong and can feel a sense of hopelessness not fully realising the joy of Jesus’ forgiveness.

God dislikes all sin. Even the small sins come from a place that is not pleasing to God that can be self-seeking. The important thing is that when we do mess up we admit that we messed up and then try and make it right. Whether we think – its not that bad a sin, or whether its something that will drastically affect our lives.

The important thing to note is that there is no sin too big that it can’t be forgiven by our loving God

Today the lady in our gospel reading had sinned. They call her a sinner. It doesn’t say what they were—it’s not important—but we know from her actions that she was very, very sorry. She felt so bad in fact, that she went to see Jesus in someone’s house–when she wasn’t even invited!

Imagine you were in that house. The events unfold. What would have been your feelings and reactions to what happened?

This sinner approaches Jesus – and washes his feet with her tears, wipes them with her hair and pours over oil – what made her do this?

In this story we have Jesus, the woman and the pharisee

I wonder What was the woman feeling that made her approach Jesus, anoint his feet with perfumed oil, weep and wipe tears away with her hair?

This was a big social no no – the oil would be an expense, Jewish ladies wouldn’t unbind their hair in public.

One commentator writes: She was completely oblivious of public opinion in the grip of her deep emotion.

The woman reacted to Jesus’ presence in this way because this woman knew who Jesus was – knew what she had done and she understood Jesus love and forgiveness

How about the Pharisee?

Why did he react with grumbling – questioning Jesus for allowing such a thing?

He hadn’t really understood who Jesus was and what he had come to do. 

How about Jesus?

He takes her actions and the Pharisees grumbling and uses the opportunity to teach once more about what he was on earth to do.

He uses this parable…..

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

A denarii was a days pay – so one owed 500 days worth of wages and the other 50 – both unable to repay.

Jesus wanted those present to connect this story of debt with the knowledge of individuals’ sins and the forgiveness he had come to offer through his future death and resurrection. 

He compared the actions of the woman with that of his host. It was usual practise to offer water to honoured guests to wash ones feet – this had not been done. A kiss of welcome might be offered – this was not provided by the host either.

Jesus finishes his teaching moment with this verse:

‘Her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little’

The woman who the world viewed as having great sin was like the person that owed 500 denarii and maybe the pharisee was like the man that owed 50. The woman showed her love in the way she did because she understood how much she had been forgiven, whereas the Pharisee appeared to love Jesus less in comparison because maybe as his sin was less in the world’s eyes he hadn’t fully understood the significance of forgiveness that Jesus was proclaiming he could offer.

What does that mean for us?

It means that we acknowledge the times when we don’t live God’s way – understanding that there is no sin too great that Jesus would not forgive it. So if we need to say sorry to someone, if we need to do something we haven’t done, if we need to say sorry to God – let’s do that

It means living lives of joy and thankfulness because of everything Jesus has done on the cross – the knowledge of our forgiveness through Jesus should be turned into gratitude, love of Jesus, making us people of real joy. Offering our lives, our worship to God – knowing how great God is!

It changes the way we live. Impacts our lives, in how we view Jesus, how we see others through his eyes and with his love and how we care for each other and our friends and neighbours.

Because all of us have been forgiven much we give thanks to Jesus for his love and so live our lives for him.

Hebrews 13:1-16 paints a picture of the ‘sacrifices’ of living a Christian life motored by Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice of love for us.

Does the last verse of our reading this morning get your vote for the most underwhelming verse in the entire Bible? ‘Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.’ It sounds a bit like something you might say to a child as you pack them off on a school trip. Do good and share with others. Is that it? If that is it, we might be forgiven for thinking that here we have an ethic that lacks a certain ambition. ‘Do good and share with others’ sounds a bit weak as a message, doesn’t it? – and not as if it’s going to set the world on fire. If the world hears the church saying no more than ‘do good and share with others’, maybe the world can be forgiven for switching channels.

And how about this: “do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased”. If that is true, then wouldn’t you say that God is easily pleased, with fairly small sacrifices on our part? I have titled this morning’s sermon ‘Small sacrifices’, even though I do think there is more to Christianity than doing good and sharing with others, just as there was more to that reading from the letter to the Hebrews than the last verse that was read.

When we look at the passage in its entirety, as I encourage you to do now, by turning back to page – in the pew bibles, when we look at the passage in its entirety, from the start of Hebrews chapter 13 onwards, we will find a set of small sacrifices that are part and parcel of the Christian life being set out one by one, before we come to one big sacrifice that makes all the small ones possible.

So let’s start by looking at these small sacrifices one by one. The first is there in verse 1 of chapter 13: Keep on loving one another as brothers. In other words, Christians ought to love other Christians. Some people might say that this sounds a bit exclusive, and not a very ambitious ethic. I did warn you, we’re talking about small sacrifices, and apart from anything else, we’ve all got to start somewhere. Keep on loving one another as brothers. But what does this even mean? Well, the addition of these words ‘as brothers’ in our English language Bibles helps us to understand what is meant by the Greek term, you might have heard it, philadelphia.

It’s easy for anyone to say that they love humanity in principle, in the abstract, in general terms. Very few would say that they did not, or did not at least think they should try to, love humankind in general. But brotherly love doesn’t work like that. In the context of family relationships, love is never in principle or abstract. Love in the context of family relationships is fierce and it is practical, or it is nothing at all. It is sustained on the basis of close and unsentimental knowledge of another person, with all their faults. Our brothers and our sisters may possibly have seen us at our best, and they are likely to have seen us at our worst. They know all sorts of things about us that we would rather not have broadcast. We trust them because they have our backs, and they love us regardless. When they do not love us like this, we rightly regard it as a kind of betrayal. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 1 tells us to love fellow believers like that, to love them despite all we have gotten to know about them by living with them in Christian community, to love them not sentimentally and in the abstract, but with determination and practicality. It’s not rocket science to do this, it’s not an earth-shattering new teaching we have here in verse 1, it’s just a small sacrifice on our part to keep on loving one another as brothers. Anything less you could say would be a kind of betrayal.

Moving on to verse 2 of chapter 13, we have the second of what will turn out to be six small sacrifices in this passage, over and above doing good and sharing with others. ‘Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it’. So here we see the exclusivity of Christians loving one another as brothers opening up to welcome potentially anyone from outside the tribe. The Old Testament uses the word ‘strangers’ to denote foreigners, immigrants, non-Jewish people living in the land of Israel without much by way of support networks or social capital. This is what the Levitical law told the Israelites about how to treat such a person: “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself , for you were strangers in Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34).

Perhaps here in the letter to the Hebrews, the Jewish Christian community to whom the author is writing takes the place of the nation of Israel in forming the circle of insiders, but the biblical imperative to love the outsider is essentially unchanged. When we put verse 2 together with verse 1, we can see that Christians have to give up any idea of relating to each other within a cosy inner circle. The Christian community must always remain open to outsiders. Those without social capital and support networks must be able to find community within the church. We must welcome newcomers as warmly as we do old-timers.

It may be that doing this goes against the grain, and requires a conscious effort, for many of us. But it’s not too much to ask of non-Jewish Christians like us, who were once ourselves strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. It’s really a small sacrifice on our part. The door was held open for us, and if we have any communion with Christ, we must hold it open for others. When we do, we will find that the sacrifice was worth it. When in the book of Genesis, Abraham extended hospitality to passing strangers in the desert, it turned out that, unknown to him, he had angels for guests. When we extend a genuine welcome to outsiders, we too will be rewarded for this small sacrifice in all manner of unexpected ways. The inner circles of which we are a part will lose their inward focus and be opened up and transformed. We too may encounter God at the margins of our community.

The third small sacrifice may be found in verse 3 of Hebrews chapter 13. “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” We can start to see a progression here: love one another in Christian community in verse 1; love those on the margins of, or actually outside, Christian community in verse 2; and now love those who are suffering in prison, who are not just social outsiders but actually outcasts.

“Remember” them, we are told in verse 3, which means acting according to their needs, rather than simply recalling their situation. Conditions in the prisons of the first century were appalling. Prisoners were supplied with food, clothing and emotional support only by visiting friends and family. If friends and family did not visit, not only would prisoners be lonely, they would also starve or freeze to death. The love for outcasts that is called for here is not theoretical. If “a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food”, “what good is it”, asks the apostle James in his letter, if someone says to him or her, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed”? In the face of avoidable human suffering, it’s not much to ask, it’s really only a small sacrifice on our part, to remember those who have been left behind and forgotten by society, to offer more than words, and to actually do something practical to relieve their suffering.

The fourth small sacrifice in this passage is found in verse 4. “Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral.” Love each other, love the stranger, love the prisoner and outcast, and now love your spouse. Is it really such a big ask of those who are married, to love their spouses? Is it such a big ask for them to remain true to their vows, to forsake all others, and to keep themselves only unto each other, for as long as they both shall live? Everyone will have noticed the a-word that features here in verse 4, which is not much talked about in polite society, even though it drives the plots of many written and broadcast dramas, as do many of the other things forbidden by the Ten Commandments. It is worth remembering that the opposite of adultery is faithfulness, the courage to carry through on a commitment. This will involve the sacrifice of other paths not taken in life, but it’s a small price to pay, don’t you think, for keeping open the path we have taken, for remaining true to our word and for protecting ourselves and our families from unnecessary harm? Marital faithfulness may sound boring, and it may not be the stuff of TV drama, but it is a demonstration of love in action, just as much as is brotherly love, love of outsiders and love of outcasts.

The fifth small sacrifice does not concern what to love as much as it concerns what not to love, and it’s there in verse 5 of the chapter. “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you’.” All of us need some money to get by and live on, but we are warned here to be careful not to love money. Anyone who loves money is a vulnerable position, because we can be sure of this: money does not love us. It is a false mistress; it is fickle, not faithful. It can be gained and it can be lost, and if it hasn’t already deserted us before we die, it will do so completely at that time.

In addition to this, money is a rival to God in the promises it holds out of safety, security, enjoyment and hope for the future. For depictions of the happy life enjoyed by people if only they will spend their money, we only have to look at advertisements on TV, and think about its messaging. But if we turn our attention to the news, and think about the messages it carries, we will learn that money can’t buy us happiness, and that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. So choose this day whom you will serve. “No-one can serve two masters”, warns the Lord Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. “Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Safety, security, enjoyment and hope for the future are promises that money is in no position to make, so it is in truth a small sacrifice to stay away from, or give up, the love of money. We may make responsible and generous use of whatever money we have, while at the same time despising its false promises, and instead being devoted to and trusting God for our safety, security and future.

It’s a small sacrifice, because he has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you’, and consequently we may say ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ In the words of Jim Elliot, the famous twentieth-century missionary, ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose’.

However, I’ve got to be honest and say, the more I think about what is involved in loving one another, loving outsiders and outcasts, and retaining the love of spouses but avoiding the love of money, the more I wonder whether it’s accurate to say that the sacrifices involved are as small as I have been making out. If all of those imperatives are part and parcel of “doing good and sharing with others”, as we can now see that the letter to the Hebrews appears to say, perhaps this ethic of “doing good and sharing with others” is more demanding than it seemed to be at first. Perhaps it now seems so ambitious as to be actually quite difficult if not impossible to attain.

Yet the author of the letter believes that these sacrifices are achievable, on the strength of two considerations, both of which are set out in verses 7 and 8: the example of life set by the Christian leaders known to his readers, and their teaching of the word of God. “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The power of the example of leaders who are known to us is of some value to inspire us, provided they are good examples, of course, to make the sacrifices we have been thinking about. But there is a far greater power in this respect in the word of God that has been taught to us, and by the word of God the author of Hebrews principally means the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 12 reminds us what is at the heart of that message: “Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood”.

This is the reason I have been describing the efforts we make to live the Christian life as “small sacrifices”. They are small when compared to the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, which I described earlier as the one big sacrifice that makes all the small ones possible. The small sacrifices of the Christian life are not made possible merely by the power of example – as if the life and death of Jesus were sufficient to inspire our own efforts to live a good and self-sacrificial life. That way of thinking does not do justice to the words of verse 12: “Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood”.

His is not an exemplary but an enabling power, a power that makes stuff happen, that brings about what it sets out to accomplish: the forgiveness of sins, and the renewal of life. On the cross, the Prayer Book reminds us, Jesus made a “full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world”. In the light of that big sacrifice, we are told in Hebrews chapter 13, “let us go to him, outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore”. His cross and resurrection are the motor of our Christian lives, and they enable whatever small sacrifices we are able to make in his service, and in the light of his love. If in any respect or to any degree we may be considered holy, it is because he has made us holy through his own blood.

At the end of our lives, we won’t be crowing about our own modest achievements: we will simply say that we are unworthy servants, and we have only done that which it was our duty to do. But there is one thing we will be crowing about, this we can start doing now, and that is this: “Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood”.

This brings us nicely on to the last of the six small sacrifices I said earlier I was going to talk about – I have talked about five up to now, which are in verses 1 to 5 of Hebrews chapter 13, and now I will talk about the sixth, which is in verse 15. “Through Jesus, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Confess the name of Jesus in singing – yes. Confess the name of Jesus in prayer – yes. Confess the name of Jesus in the creed – yes. Confess his name to one another here in church – yes. Confess his name also in the home and among family and friends, and to strangers and outcasts as well. Confess the name of Jesus in conversation.

In offering to God this sacrifice of praise, it may be that we will have bear just the tiniest postage-stamp sized corner of the kind of disgrace that he bore. If so, it’s a small sacrifice by comparison, don’t you think? “Offer to God a sacrifice of praise … and do not forget to do good and share with others”. And here’s the really amazing part, when you think about it: with such small sacrifices, God – who gave his only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death on the cross for our redemption – with such small sacrifices, as we are able to offer……God is pleased.