Being woke - in Christ's name

 

This is an extract from a sermon preached on 20th November 2022 - Christ the King Sunday

For all who follow Jesus, for all who accept Jesus as King, our duty is to accept and seek to implement the values of Christ’s kingdom. The values of Christ’s kingdom could be summed up by those words from Micah 6:8

“To do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God”

How do we as citizens of Christ’s kingdom seek to make these values part of our daily lives? How do we try to influence the wider world to no longer live by the kind of decisions that lead to injustice and unkindness? How do we seek to bring about change?

We might think it is beyond us. And clearly, we can’t solve everything. But there are things we can do. On the face of it small things but things which nonetheless lead to change.

You may have heard the term “Woke” bandied about recently. It has become a term of abuse. It’s been used for example by the Home Secretary Sue Ella Braverman in her attacks on those protesting about climate change. According to Miss Braverman such people are "Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati"

But it might be helpful to understand what “woke” means. It is American slang originally. And Merriam Webster’s American dictionary defines woke as

“Aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),”

I don’t know whether were he alive today Jesus would read the Guardian or whether he’d be a vegan who ate Tofu. But by the dictionary definition, he’d be “woke”. A major part of Christ the King’s ministry was concerned with social justice. The poor, the sick, the disabled, the marginalised. You don’t get much more “woke” than Jesus.

If we seek to follow the teachings of Jesus, then we are by definition “woke”. Dr Martin Luther King was “woke” for leading the civil rights movement. William Wilberforce was “woke” for campaigning to abolish slavery. Dietrich Bonhoeffer the German Lutheran pastor who was murdered by the Nazis for opposing Hitler was “woke”. Mother Teresa was “woke” for helping the destitute and hungry in Calcutta.

In fact, I’d go so far as saying that if someone seeks to insult us by calling us “woke” we should in fact be proud for trying to follow and implement the values of Christ.

Living under Christ’s reign means we are called to stand with those who model Christ’s example to love God and neighbour. Living under Christ’s reign means that at times we have to model Christ’s example. Living under Christ’s reign means we are called to see the value God has placed on every human being which may mean we have to work towards justice and the bringing in of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. To act and to speak out.

I mentioned Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who opposed Hitler, a moment ago. He once said: 

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

As followers of Christ the King we must not remain silent in the face of injustice. We must not cross over to the other side when confronted by injustice, like the priest and the lawyer in the story of the Good Samaritan. As citizens of Christ’s kingdom, we must try

“To do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with God”

It is what Jesus expects us to do. It’s the “woke” thing to do.

"I cannot hate"

 

This is the text of a sermon preached at Bath Road Methodist Church Swindon on Remembrance Sunday 13th November 2022

Last year I was introduced to the writings of a Dutch woman called Etty Hillesum

Esther (Etty) Hillesum was born on 15 January 1914 in the town of Middelburg, the oldest of the three children. After completing school in 1932, she moved to Amsterdam to study law and Slavic languages at university.

Etty Hillesum began writing her diary in March 1941, possibly at the suggestion of her analyst Julius Spier. Although his patient, Etty also became his secretary, friend, and, eventually, his lover. His influence on her spiritual development is apparent in her diaries; as well as teaching her how to deal with her depressive episodes Spier introduced her to the Bible and the writings of St. Augustine 

When roundups of Jews intensified in July 1942, she took on administrative duties for the Jewish Council, voluntarily transferring to a department of "Social Welfare for People in Transit" at Westerbork transit camp. Westerbork was a holding camp for Dutch Jews prior to their transportation to the death camps. By June 1943, Ettie had refused offers to go into hiding in the belief that her duty was to support others scheduled to be transported from Westerbork to the concentration camps. On 5 July 1943, her personal status was suddenly revoked, and she became a camp internee along with her father, mother, and brother Mischa.

On 7 September 1943, the family were deported from Westerbork to Auschwitz.

Etty Hillesum’ s parents are recorded as having died on 10 September 1943, suggesting they died in transit or were murdered immediately upon their arrival. Her two brothers also died in the camps. Etty was murdered in Auschwitz on 30 November 1943.

Her diaries record the increasing anti-Jewish measures imposed by the occupying German army, and the growing uncertainty about the fate of fellow Jews who had been deported by them. But as well as forming a record of oppression, her diaries describe her spiritual development and deepening faith in God.

It was quite an unconventional faith. It is a faith clearly based on Christian influences and values but whether Christian in the conventional sense is debatable. Nonetheless in the 18-month year period covered by the diaries we see a quite remarkable conversion from agnostic Jew through to deeply spiritual, questioning Christian who came to faith by kneeling on the floor of the bathroom in her flat and praying.

The reason I am speaking of Ettie today is because of a thread that runs throughout her diary. And that thread is her refusal to hate.

Ettie’s diary starts with everyday accounts of friendships and life under occupation. But within a few entries she tackles the issue of hatred.

It is the problem of our age: hatred against the Germans poisons everyone's mind.

In a diary entry of September 1942, she indicates just how ingrained hatred had become in the mind of the Jewish population. Ettie recounts a conversation with a student acquaintance. Ettie relates how the acquaintance thought

“… that all 80 million Germans must be exterminated. Not a single one must be kept alive. … I could not live with the kind of hatred so many people nowadays force upon themselves against their better nature.”

That’s not to say that Ettie was a saint. She admits that from time to time when she hears of something the Nazis have done, she does feel hatred. But a few weeks later her diary records how she rejects the sickness of hatred.

Nazi barbarism evokes the same kind of barbarism in ourselves. We have to reject that barbarism within us, we must not fan the hatred within us, because if we do, the world will not be able to pull itself one inch further out of the mire.

While at the beginning she merely says hatred does not lie in my nature and we have to reject the barbarism within us, later she goes further saying hatred is something which for her is simply impossible. I cannot hate. It's no longer that she just thinks that hatred is wrong and degrading. She feels hatred cannot be part of her nature.

This deeper conviction dawns on her after a particular incident one morning when Jews have been gathered together in a hall, in order to be registered. During this process she was shouted at and threatened by an aggressive young Gestapo officer. After describing this incident, she writes:

 “something else about this morning happened. Despite all the suffering and injustice, I cannot hate others.”

It is a conviction which she holds right it to the end when she is put on the train to Auschwitz.

It is a quite remarkable story.

From what we know of Ettie’s life in that 18-month period she clearly was introduced to the New Testament by Julius Spier and the Gospels in particular. And I think we can assume that at some point she would have read the passage of Matthew we heard earlier.

We are all familiar with it. We all know Jesus’ teaching I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:44

When we study this passage, we have to try and discover what Jesus was saying. And our understanding hinges on a single word – Love.

Matthew was writing in Greek. And as the great New Testament scholar William Barclay put it “Greek often has shades of meaning that English does not possess”. The word “Love” is a prime example. In Greek there are four different words for love. And depending on which Greek word is used “Love” can mean different things.

Here Matthew wrote “Agape”. Agape is love which we could think of as benevolence or goodwill. William Barclay goes on to say that if we regard someone with agape love then it means

“that no matter what that person does to us, no matter how they treat us, no matter if they insult us or injure us or grieve us, we will never allow any bitterness against them to invade our hearts. We will regard them with that unconquerable benevolence and goodwill which will seek nothing but their highest good.”

This is a great undertaking. How can it be possible to love our enemies in this way?

Very often our notions of love can be associated with the heart. With romantic love. Or great affection. It is almost a natural thing. But to love our enemy is different. In order to love our enemy is an act of will. It is something we have to work at.

Agape is a determination of the mind. Agape is consciously working at unconquerable goodwill even to those who hate and hurt us.

Agape is the power to love those we do not like including those who don’t like us. And I suggest it is only by completely surrendering to Jesus that such Agape can come about.

Whilst Ettie Hillesum might not have expressed it that way, that is what she was doing. She completely surrendered to Jesus and in so doing made herself avoid hatred. From what I’ve read she doesn’t specifically talk of loving her enemies. But the absence of hatred amounts to the same thing.

We have to reject that barbarism within us, we must not fan the hatred within us,

Despite all the suffering and injustice, I cannot hate others.

Practising Agape is a big ask. But practising Agape is a way of hatred growing.

Thank goodness most of us I hope will never be in a position like Ettie Hillesum. We will never be confronted by such evil. And hopefully none of us will never be in a position where we hate someone. Nevertheless, from time to time all of us may encounter a person who we really dislike. Perhaps in the workplace. Perhaps in your street. Perhaps those who hold a different political view to us. These are our “enemies”. How do we react to them? How do we work on that change of mind to enable us to show them Agape love instead of dislike turning into hate?

The American Trappist monk Thomas Merton said this:

“Do not be too quick,” he wrote, “to assume that your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you were capable of loving him, he would no longer be your enemy.

He went on

"Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is an enemy of God just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy precisely because he can find nothing in you that gives glory to God. Perhaps he fears you because he can find nothing in you of God's love and God's kindness and God's patience and mercy and understanding of the weakness of men.

In other words, who I label as enemy may say more about me than about them. Thinking of someone as an enemy is down to our mindset.

 

Finally, and most importantly, Jesus said we are to pray for our enemies. As difficult as it may seem, if we pray for another then it makes it far more difficult to hate them. When we take ourselves, and the person whom we are tempted to hate, to God, something happens. We cannot go on hating another person in the presence of God. The surest way of killing hatred is to pray for the person we are tempted to hate.

I have drawn heavily from Patrick Woodhouse's book "Etty Hillesum a life transformed" 2009 Continuum London. I recommend it.

 

Being under authority.

This is the text of a sermon preached at Central Methodist Chippenham on 15th September 2022. The Church requested that we hold a memorial / thanksgiving service for the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 

 

When it was suggested that we postpone our harvest festival and instead have a service to remember and pay tribute to her majesty the Queen the Bible passage from Luke’s gospel we’ve heard came to mind. (Luke 7: 1 – 10)

It is a fascinating story.

Jesus was returning to Capernaum after preaching and ministering elsewhere. Capernaum was a minor trade centre and toll station where roads crossed the Galilee. Jesus enters Capernaum where we must assume the centurion, this Roman officer, was based. He was clearly quite well off as he had servants or slaves – depending on which translation of the Bible we read. One of his servants was seriously ill and close to death. The centurion had heard about Jesus and therefore when he heard Jesus was back in town, the centurion sent a deputation to Jesus:

³ When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.

Note that. He sent Jewish elders. Which shows he must have been well regarded by the Jewish community. Luke then tells us:

⁴ When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’

The Centurion mentioned in the passage, must have been something of an exception, as he clearly has close ties with the Jewish community in Capernaum. Remember the Jewish elders say to Jesus about the Centurion:

‘This man deserves to have you do this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.’ Luke 7: 4 – 5

This doesn’t mean that the Centurion was a practising Jew. I suspect that would not have been permissible to a Roman officer. But clearly the centurion felt able to assist the Jewish community in Capernaum.

As is often the way with the Gospels, Luke doesn’t give us much information about the Centurion. There are several unanswered questions. As I’ve said we may wonder about whether he was a practising Jew or not. And then we might wonder why he was in Capernaum?

According to J L Reed in his book “Archaeology and the Galilean Jesus: A Re-examination of the Evidence”, at the time of Jesus Capernaum had a population of around 1,500. It was a fishing village on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Given this would a Roman legion have been stationed there? Perhaps our Centurion had his home there and was based elsewhere? Or perhaps he was retired?

Another question. How could a Centurion afford to build a synagogue?

As you may know centurions were officers of the regular Roman army. They had worked their way up through the ranks and were promoted for their dedication and courage. These veterans commanded 100 men each within a legion of 6,000. Therefore, there were 60 centuries in a legion, each century under the command of a centurion.

A centurion received pay that amounted to more than 20 times the pay of an ordinary solider. A centurion received around 5,000 denarii a year whereas a common soldier received around 200 – 300 denarii a year. Within a legion there were five senior centurions who received 10,000 denarii a year and the chief centurion received 20,000 denarii a year.

My point is, centurions were comparatively wealthy. Our Centurion could well have been able to afford to build a synagogue in place like Capernaum for in a small town like Capernaum the synagogue would not have been much more than a large house.

We can only speculate why the Centurion was living in Capernaum and we can have an informed guess about how he managed to pay for the synagogue. But one further question must be Why did he do what he did?

As I said earlier, it is unlikely that he was Jewish. In fact, careful reading of the passage seems to confirm this. If he was Jewish, he would have felt able to welcome Jesus into his home. But given that he sends people to Jesus with a message, suggests that the Centurion was sufficiently sensitive to Jewish purity laws that forbade a Jew entering the home of a Gentile. He wanted the help of a Jew (Jesus), but he knew that a Jew could not enter a Gentile home. Though as we know, Jesus was not concerned about such things.

Again, why did the centurion do what he did? Why did he send for Jesus?

A soldier is always aware of the chain of command. And although a centurion was a relatively senior officer in the Roman army he was himself

“a man under authority with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ Luke 7:8

The Centurion had his own authority but he was under the authority of seniors. No doubt he recognised authority when he saw it. And in Jesus he saw someone who was under authority – God’s authority. 

⁹ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’

Jesus is astonished at the second message. And we are astonished at his astonishment! Normally in the gospels Jesus says things that surprise people. This is one of the few places where Jesus himself is surprised. And the reason is the sheer quality of the Centurion's faith. It is the simple clear belief that when Jesus commands that something be done, it will be done. The Centurion regards Jesus like a military officer, with authority over sickness. If Jesus says that someone is to get well, they will get well. What could be simpler?

Where the centurion got his faith we do not know. If he had lived in Capernaum for a while, he had no doubt heard of Jesus and even perhaps seen him perform remarkable cures already. Whatever the reason, the Centurion recognised that in Jesus there was a power at work that could carry all before it.

This story isn’t about the healing of the slave – though of course that is miraculous. This story is about the nature of faith. And how a powerful person such as the Centurion has faith and recognises the authority of Jesus.

Which of course brings me to Her Majesty the Queen. It has been well documented, and we have seen it more and more in her Christmas Day broadcasts, that Her Majesty had a deep Christian faith. This woman, probably the most well known woman in the world, was Sovereign of 14 Commonwealth realms in addition to the UK. She was Head of the Commonwealth itself, which comprises 54 countries with a combined population of 2.5 billion.

Whilst compared to monarchs of old her authority might be described as “gentle” she still had authority. And yet even this powerful, wealthy, woman recognised that she too was under authority. By faith in Jesus Christ, she was under his authority.

In 2000 she said: 'To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.' [1]

“My own personal accountability before God” is the recognition that she was under God’s authority.

And in 2002 she said:

'I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God!'[2]

I was aware that at her Coronation she had sworn an oath before God to serve her people. But it wasn’t until her death that I became aware of what she said in her Christmas broadcast in December 1952. She said

'Pray for me … that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life.’

Throughout her long life, Christ’s example and teaching were acted out in the dutiful and faithful life of the Queen. 

May she rest in peace and rise in glory

---

[1] https://www.premierchristianity.com/obituaries/10-brilliant-things-the-queen-has-said-about-god/146.article

[2] https://www.premierchristianity.com/obituaries/10-brilliant-things-the-queen-has-said-about-god/146.article

Wishing you a Super New Year

 

It is the 1^{st of} September 2022 and the start of a new Methodist year. (Our church year in terms of administration and taking up appointments as ministers runs 1^st September to 31^st August.) And as from today I become the Superintendent Minister for the North Wiltshire Circuit.

If you’re not a Methodist (or even if you are and don’t think about such things) what is a Superintendent Minister? Our Standing Orders say:

It is the duty of the Superintendent appointed to each circuit to enable the relevant courts, officers and ministers to fulfil their specific responsibilities under standing orders and to ensure that they do so. SO520(2)

That doesn’t say much. And it makes the role sound very dry. In reality the Superintendent (invariably referred to as “the Super”) is ultimately responsible for ensuring the local collection of Methodist Churches in an area (“the Circuit”) operate in accordance with our Methodist rules, as well as working with the other ministers in the Circuit.  And when I say the Churches, I mean the people who make up the churches. They are the most important thing.

But this blog isn’t about the whys and wherefores of Methodism. I just wanted to give a bit of an insight into the role.

Tomorrow evening, I will attend a service where I am officially welcomed by the churches in the Circuit as Superintendent. At the same service a new minister, in their first appointment, will also be welcomed in. For me the welcome service will of course mark a significant moment. But it will be relatively low key as I am in the slightly unusual position of taking over as Superintendent in a Circuit where I’ve served now since 2014. It doesn’t often happen that way.

For the last few months other ministers, and other Methodists, have been saying things along the lines of “Commiserations” “Rather you than me” “Don’t think I’d want to be Super” or “Do you think you’ll enjoy it?” There seems to be an expectation that I’ll see superintendency as some kind of hair shirt or punishment whereas from my perspective yes, I am looking forward to it and I hope I will enjoy it. I feel I have the gifts and skills to fulfill the role. 

The date of the service was fixed months ago and I just thought it would be helpful to have the service on a Friday evening. It’s only in the last few weeks that I’ve realised the significance of the date for me.

On 2^nd September 2016 (as I've written about elsewhere in this blog) I collapsed with an undiagnosed abdominal aortic aneurysm. This resulted in emergency surgery, three months in hospital and being off work for 18 months. At 7.30pm on 2^nd September 2016 I was in surgery. (2nd September 2016 was also a Friday.)

For many months after coming from hospital I doubted I’d get back to active ministry let alone be asked to become Superintendent. I suppose prior to 2016 I was always ready to offer to be a Superintendent somewhere in the country. But the illness made me take stock and think I’d never be Super. However, I’m pleased that God has brought me through and clearly feels that I can serve him in this way.

Time will tell. Prayers appreciated.

In the name of Jesus - please don't be a hypocrite

The text of a sermon preached at Central Methodist Church Chippenham on 21st August 2022

Sometimes people make Religion horribly repressive. And our passage from Luke today (Luke 13: 10 – 17) certainly reflects it. The story opens with Jesus teaching in a synagogue.

Jesus noticed a woman, identified in scripture as only "crippled" and "bent over" — some disease that deteriorated the spine, maybe osteoporosis or scoliosis — a condition she had suffered for eighteen years. Jesus called to her to come forward. "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity" (Luke 13:12). Jesus touched her and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Of course, we know there is more to the story. Enter the rabbi in charge. He thundered to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” (Luke 13:14).

Truth be told, what Jesus did was bound to cause a stir. He had healed this woman on the sabbath. That was a clear violation of God's commandment.

"Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy ... Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work...." — Deuteronomy 5:12-14

Healing is work; ask any doctor or nurse. Therefore in the eyes of the rabbi Jesus had broken the law.

Good Jews to this day are scrupulous about what may and may not be done on the sabbath. Some of the rules may sound nit-picky, but the tradition goes back to the days when the nation was in exile. Sabbath-keeping was the way Jews then, and Jews now assured themselves a unique identity. Through the centuries, the rabbis had set up all sorts of "fences" around the sabbath to assure its special place. By the time of Christ, there were 1,521 things one could not do on the sabbath.

And to this day, Orthodox Jews conform to many strict do’s and don’ts for the sabbath. The Jewish website Chabad.org for example says this:

Let's start with some basic activities from which we Jews refrain on Shabbat:

• writing, erasing, and tearing;
• business transactions;
• driving or riding in cars or other vehicles;
• shopping;
• using the telephone;
• turning on or off anything which uses electricity, including lights, radios, television, computer, air-conditioners and alarm clocks;
• cooking, baking or kindling a fire;
• gardening and grass-mowing;
• doing laundry;

The web site goes on:

Does all this mean that Shabbat is somewhat of a miserable affair, where we sit hungry in the dark? Not at all. It simply means that we have to prepare for Shabbat in advance, so that, on the contrary, we celebrate in luxury, without doing any of the actual work, on Shabbat.

The website explains:

For example: Lights which will be needed on Shabbat are turned on before Shabbat. Automatic timers may be used for lights and some appliances as long as they have been set before Shabbat. The refrigerator may be used, but again, we have to ensure that it's use does not engender any of the forbidden Shabbat activities. Thus, the fridge light should be disconnected before Shabbat by unscrewing the bulb slightly and a freezer whose fan is activated when the door is opened may not be used.

Christians may find this strange. But following these rules helps Jewish people keep their identity.

Obviously, some of these rules have been introduced since Jesus’ time. And these rules are followed mainly by Orthodox Jews. Not all Jews would follow them. But the basic principles remain the same.

When Jesus did this healing, in the eyes of the rabbi present, in the strict eyes of Jewish law, he was working on the sabbath. Work, including healing was not permitted. Not even an emergency healing. In fact, the woman had not even asked to be healed. But Jesus did it anyway. It is not much of a stretch to conclude that Jesus did it on purpose. He knew the rules.

It is not that the rules were designed to be repressive. On the contrary, it was this commitment to the Sabbath that reminded the Jewish people who they were and whose they were. Why would Jesus deliberately provoke the Jewish authorities?

And while he was at it, he called them a nasty name

"You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the sabbath day from what bound her?" — Luke 13:15-16

There was not much the local synagogue leaders could say to this. In fact, Luke sums the story up with,

"... all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing" (Luke 13:17).

Generally, when people are stuck in a system or a particular way of understanding, they need to be shocked out of the old and into the new. Logic and reason usually do not work. Jesus could have spent all day arguing with the synagogue leader about whether or not it was legal to heal this woman on the sabbath while she remained ill. In this instance Jesus didn’t bother discussing the finer points of Jewish law. The healing took place before the discussion about whether or not it was the right thing to do.

(By the way How many church meetings are discussions about what should be done, rather than actually getting things done?)

I’ve long learned as a Methodist minister that sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness later than seek permission first. I’m not particularly a rule breaker but sometimes “A little rebellion is a good thing” as the American President Thomas Jefferson put it. Our Methodist Constitutional Practice and Discipline, the rules governing our church, runs to over 850 pages and has 1150 standing orders. Every now and again I have found that something I’ve done, or someone in one of the churches has done, doesn’t really comply. Sometimes rules have to be slightly bent! Don’t tell the Superintendent!

Don’t get me wrong, CPD is important. And there are some things such as safeguarding that are not open to interpretation. Likewise rules on trusteeship. Just sometimes it is more about the spirit than the letter of the law.

We all know that at times Christians can become very dogmatic. “That’s what the Bible says”. Yes of course there are things that are key to our beliefs. But at times some people who claim to be followers of Jesus have a very funny way of showing it! It is such a shame that something that can do so much good — our Christian faith — can be made to do so much that is so bad due to people’s dogma.

Mahatma Gandhi once said:

“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

I do not know what caused him to say such a thing but what he said is so often true.

People outside our churches learn something of Jesus’ teachings of loving our neighbour for example and think “Yes that is a message I can relate to.” But then they see how people calling themselves Christians behave.

When I did my pulpit exchange to North Carolina in 2013, I was told of a church in the town – a Presbyterian church I think – that was for the USA very old. Close to 250 years old. There on the floor of the gallery are iron rings. Slaves would be shackled to these rings. Think about that for a moment. Slaves would be brought to church to hear the Gospel proclaimed but the slaves would be shackled. Imagine a preacher in the early 19^th century in that church preaching how Jesus set people free of the shackles of sin and meanwhile as a slave you’re shackled to an iron ring in the gallery of the church.

That is Christian hypocrisy in action right there.

And again, looking across the pond to the USA. In recent weeks the Supreme Court there has made it much more difficult to have an abortion. We can debate the rights and wrongs of abortion on another occasion. But the behaviour of the so called “Pro Life” lobby, made up often of fundamentalist, evangelical Christians, isn’t exactly Christlike. And I find it strange that many of those who are “Pro Life” are also in favour of the death penalty and opposed to any kind of gun control.

More hypocrisy in my opinion.

But who am I to judge?

Those of us who are part of the Church know we are not what Jesus called us to be. We spend too much and share too little; we judge too many and love too few; we wait too long and act too late.

Perhaps you are saying, "Show me a church where hypocrisy has been purged away; where church members don't waste time and energy squabbling over petty details; where love is genuine, and I'll become a member."

Well good luck in finding that church. Even when we look fondly at the early church as depicted in Acts of the Apostles say, we must remember that that Church was far from perfect too. Which is why for example, Paul spent time writing many of his letters to address a lack of love between church members let alone love for those outside church.

Jesus always met men and women on the level of their need, regardless of who they were or what they had done. He met everyone as human beings, never as stereotypes.  Stereotypes were as powerful then as they are now. Once a label is placed on a person the human being vanishes. Many labels were given to people in the New Testament such labels as tax collector, Samaritan, Roman soldier, prostitute, rich young man, Pharisee, sinner, publican, leper. They all appear in the gospel narrative, and every time Jesus completely ignores the label and deals with the person. Jesus didn’t care that the rules said he shouldn’t deal with sinners.

Writer David H.C. Read points out that "Jesus knew the ugly side of society: the brutality of the occupation, the corruption of the tax system, the racial prejudices, the economic injustice, the religious hypocrisy, and the sexual degradation. But never once did these factors blind him to the reality of the human being, the unique son or daughter of God he saw before him."

Our story this morning is about seeing the reality of the human being before us. Of forgetting what the rule book says. Of trying to see everyone with Christlike eyes.

As St Theresa of Avila is believed to have said:

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

 

Let it be so. Amen

Acknowledgement www.Sermons.com for ideas and illustrations.

#RwandaNotInMyName

Last Sunday morning (12^th June 2022) I listened as usual to the “Sunday” programme on BBC Radio 4. It is a programme that “looks at the ethical and religious issues of the week”.

This edition featured a report on the Government’s plan to deport refugees / asylum seekers to Rwanda. There were two speakers. One a Jewish woman who was opposed to the idea. (I can’t think why a Jewish person would be opposed to the forced deportation of people. It’s not as if it’s ever happened before.) And former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe who is a Roman Catholic.

I was appalled at what Ann Widdecombe had to say. She fiercely defended the government’s policy. On the grounds that it was morally right to stop refugees coming across the English Channel in small boats for their safety. Also, that it would send a strong message to the people traffickers and would ensure they stopped people smuggling.

On Sunday I sent a Tweet to this effect. At the time of writing, it’s been liked by over 9,000 and retweeted by 1,750 people. (See picture above)

The issue of refugees / asylum seekers is hugely complex. I freely admit that I don’t understand all the international law requirements. And yes, I do see the argument that if refuges are in a safe country (usually France) why would they want to come on to this country?

As I understand it though this country has a legal obligation to accept a number of asylum seekers. An obligation under international law.

I fail to see how this measure would stop ruthless criminal gangs. “Sorry mate. We can’t get you to the UK after all as much as we’d like to. They’ll send you on to Rwanda now. That’s not right is it? I can do you France or Germany instead. How’s that suit you?”

There is also the fact that a proportion of those seeking safety here are fleeing countries where the UK has had involvement in war such as Afghanistan.

But what really riled me was Miss Widecombe’s riding rough shod over any morality founded on the Christian faith. It’s a bit of a cliché to say, “What Would Jesus Do?” Nevertheless, there are plenty of Jesus’ teachings that suggest that he would oppose this horrid treatment of asylum seekers.

Matthew 25: 31 – 46 in which Jesus makes clear that when we are caring for the most vulnerable it is as if we are doing it for him.

Luke 10: 25 – 37 – the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

In the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible) there are also examples of caring for the stranger and foreigner. They included provisions for them to be treated equally under the law and to be included in festivals and celebrations of the community.

• Cities of refuge were available to Israelites and foreigners in cases of accidental murder (Numbers 35:15).
• Foreigners were to be included in festivals and celebrations mandated in the Law (Deuteronomy 16:14; 26:11).
• Some of the tithe collected by the priests was to be used to not only feed them and their families, but also to help provide food for foreigners, widows, and orphans (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).
• Also, farmers were instructed to leave the gleanings of their fields for the poor and the foreigner (Leviticus 23:22). And to treat the stranger as they would the poor among the Israelites (Leviticus 25:35)

See the World Vision web site “What does the Bible say about refugees?”

https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/what-does-bible-say-about-refugees#:~:text=Foreigners%20were%20to%20be%20included,14%3A28%2D29

And for me one Bible text above other demonstrates how all believers are to show hospitality to strangers.

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1-2

The enforced deportation of vulnerable people to Rwanda is immoral. It must be opposed. Something the President of the Methodist Conference Revd Sonia Hicks called for back in April

https://www.methodist.org.uk/about-us/news/latest-news/all-news/response-to-the-government-s-plans-to-offshore-asylum-seekers-in-rwanda/

And I am pleased that in a letter to The Times, today (14^th June 2022) the archbishops of Canterbury and York, plus the other 23 bishops in the House of Lords, said the controversial move “should shame us as a nation”.

Albert Einstein, slowly watched his homeland give in to Adolf Hitler's fascist dictatorship. Einstein wondered if any were going to stand up and oppose Hitler. He said, and I quote, "When Hitlerism came to Germany I expected the Universities to oppose it. Instead they embraced it. I hoped for the press to denounce it, but instead they propagated its teachings. One by one the leaders and institutions which should have opposed the Nazi philosophy bowed meekly to its authority. Only one institution met it with vigorous opposition and that was the Christian Church."

(In actual fact not all the Christian Church in Nazi Germany did stand up to Hitler. It was only part of the church - that came to be known as "the Confessing Church" that had the courage to do so.)

Einstein confessed, "That which I once despised, I now love with a passion I cannot describe." The commitment of the Confessing Church in standing against evil made a profound impression upon Albert Einstein. Those individuals in the 1930s understood the cost associated with their actions, and they did not back down. The Church today can do no less.

#RwandaNotInMyName