The
readings on
which this
sermon is
based can be
found at:
http://frsparky.net/a/r154.htm
s154g13
Second Sunday
in Lent
24/2/2013
'unless you
repent, you
will all
perish as they
did'
Luke 13.3
We will all
die; we will
all
perish.
There is no
one who has
escaped this
fate, and
nothing we can
do here in
Church or in
the world will
change
this.
Some of us
will die
suddenly and
unexpectedly,
and some will
linger on for
far longer
than we would
ever
want.
It is hard to
know what is a
'good' death
these
days.
For us in
first world
countries the
chief cause of
death is old
age except if
you do
something
silly.
I confess that
riding my
250cc
motorcycle
1155kms (720
miles) across
the Hay plains
in Australia
some years
ago;
travelling at
110 kph (70
mph) in 40+
deg C (104 deg
F) heat - when
some of the
tar on the
road looked
distinctly
tacky - was
probably not
my wisest of
ideas.
Mind you, I
was dressed
appropriately,
I had lots of
water and the
highway is
well
frequented.
I rode during
the day when
kangaroos
wisely are
lounging in
whatever shade
they can
find.
I would
definitely
come off
'second best'
if I'd hit one
of them.
Suddenly or
lingeringly is
not what Jesus
is actually
talking about
when he says
we will 'all
perish as they
did'.
The key for me
is Jesus'
redefinition
of repentance
given in his
15th chapter
of Luke's
gospel, in the
parables of
the lost
sheep, the
lost coin and
the lost
son.
The essence
here of
repentance is
'rejoice with
me' for
something or
someone else
has been
found.
It is not a
turning to
religion
for this
may or may not
connect us
with other
people.
It is a
turning, a
diligent
searching and
connecting
with other
people
that they too
are
found.
Of course
others are
never
'lost'.
If we
have separated
ourselves off
in a holy
huddle, it is
us who are
lost, not
others.
So Luke 15
repentance has
nothing to do
with earning a
future place
in heaven, it
is about
rejoicing here
and now, wiht
those around
us.
Without
repenting,
without
'getting the
message' that
God wants us
to be
connected with
our brothers
and sisters,
without
glimpsing the
peace that
this offers to
all the world,
we will die,
suddenly or
lingeringly,
unaware of the
true nature of
God and the
love God has
for all
people.
And, as ever,
it is far more
important that
the church
gets this
message.
For all you
and I might
try to follow
this
commandment,
if the church
doesn't 'get
the message'
that God wants
the church to
find common
ground with
people of
other faiths
and people of
no faith, our
personal
efforts will
be entirely in
vain.
Recently the
retiring pope
spoke about
the sin of
disunity - '"I
am thinking
particularly
about sins
against the
unity of the
Church, about
divisions in
the body of
the Church,"
he
said.
"Overcoming
individualism
and rivalry is
a humble
sign," he
added during
his last
public Mass in
St. Peter's
Basilica.'
(1) But
the Church is
inherently
individualistic
when it offers
salvation to
her members
and
condemnation
to others, and
whose basic
raison
d'être
is to rival
secular
humanism and
all other
creeds.
It is not as
if God is
going to have
Jesus standing
at the
heavenly gates
as the
heavenly
bouncer -
telling us
that others
have got it
all wrong and
are unworthy
and can't come
in.
God's whole
purpose is for
us to live
peaceably and
charitably in
this
life.
If we haven't
got this
message now,
then our
relationships
with others in
the here and
now are
affected.
In his
'Virtual
Church of the
Blind
Chihuahua' on
the internet
J. A. H.
Futterman has
this as his
third bylaw:
'Every once in
a while, when
you assert, "I
believe ..."
ask yourself
just exactly
who is it that
is
believing.
After all, if
you don't even
know who you
are, you
should be very
cautious in
making
assertions
about who God
is.
This exercise
may help you
refrain from
projecting
your inner
demons onto
God when you
are witnessing
to others.'
(2)
If you believe
that God is
going to
condemn
everyone else
who isn't a
straight
Anglican of
'my' sort to
eternal
damnation then
your inner
demon is that
you have an
obligation to
spend your
life trying to
rescue others
from their
recalcitrance.
This doesn't
do anything
for us
and
neither does
it do anything
for other
people's self
esteem.
And if we have
a belief that
we have to
change
everyone else
- what makes
us any
different from
the
gate-keepers
who infect the
church as much
as the
world?
It is only the
fact that God
loves each and
every person
indiscriminately
that makes us
any different
and frees us
from this.
As I say, what
gate-keepers
want is to
only love
those who
worship like
them, think
like them,
live their
lives like
them - in
other words
they only want
to love those
who make no
mark on the
Church or on
individuals.
This is hardly
love - it is
really only
self love -
only loving
others for
what support
they give them
and their
coterie.
This is
not so very
different from
what many
congregations
believe
evangelism is
about.
Jesus was
criticised and
eventually
crucified for
consorting
with 'tax
collectors and
sinners' -
people whom
the religious
establishment
of his day
didn't want to
be called to
love.
They didn't
want any
contribution
from
them.
Similarly the
'love' of a
child molester
is not true
love because
it is only out
for the
molester's own
self
gratification.
Some people
consider the
victory of the
Church as
victory over
other people
and other's
defective
theologies -
that they in
the end will
be proven
right.
For me, and
many others,
the victory of
the Church is
the victory of
that love that
includes all
people and
takes into
account their
perceptions.
The prospect
for peace in
our time while
we strive for
victory over
others remains
minuscule
indeed.
The prospect
for peace in
our time when
we seek to
love and
include others
is hopefully
greater.
The trilogy of
the parables
of the lost
conclude with
the cameo of
the prodigal
father going
to his elder
son to bid him
join in the
festivities
for his
younger
brother's
return, and
the elder
brother's
refusal.
I have heard
it suggested
that the issue
of gay and
lesbian people
is the final
one for the
biblical
literalists.
If they lose
this battle it
means that
their faith in
biblical
literacy would
be fatally
compromised.
The real issue
is that these
people's
spiritual
imperialism
will be
exposed for
what it really
is.
The issue now
is no
different from
the issue in
Jesus' day.
I often
re-read the
'Chronicles of
Narnia' and
the opening of
the final
one: 'The
Last
Battle'.
It speaks of
the
relationship
between Shift
the Ape and
Puzzle the
Donkey. Shift
was always
telling Puzzle
what to do and
on the odd
occasion when
Puzzle
questioned; he
was told that
he was being
inconsiderate
and of course
Shift was much
cleverer than
Puzzle.
He was often
reminded: 'You
know you're
not clever,
Puzzle'.
And my mind
goes to the
Church that
frequently
rewards
compliance and
has often made
the clergy so
much more
spiritually
adept than lay
people.
There are, of
course, those
lay people who
are so much
more
spiritually
adept than
their clergy
too!
:-)
How frequently
has the Church
wanted lay
people to do
this or that
education
program - as
if this will
save the
Church.
The story of
the Last
Battle ends
(as far as the
animals are
concerned)
with Aslan
meeting
Puzzle.
'The very
first person
whom Aslan
called to him
was Puzzle the
Donkey .. (and
he) ..
whispered
something to
Puzzle .. at
which his ears
perked
up'.
(4) The
creature who
was ever at
the mercy of
the whims of
the Ape and as
a consequence
the instrument
that caused
the end of
that world -
was the first
to be
included.
So, the choice
is up to
us.
Do we want
this world
with all it's
strife and
fighting to
continue, and
when we
exclude others
to be forgiven
because we are
Christians and
therefore
justified; or
do we want to
be open to all
and happy with
ourselves and
others.
We are all
going to die
anyway, so we
might as well
make the best
of it in the
here and now.
Finally I want
to quote Henry
David Thoreau.
'I went to the
woods because
I wished to
live
deliberately,
to front only
the essential
facts of life,
and see if I
could not
learn what it
had to teach,
and not, when
I came to die,
discover that
I had not
lived.'
(5) and:
'The finest
qualities of
our nature,
like the bloom
on fruits, can
be preserved
only by the
most delicate
handling. Yet
we do not
treat
ourselves nor
one another
thus
tenderly.'
(1)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/14/us-pope-resignation-rivalry-idUSBRE91D0XP20130214
(2)
©
Copyright J.
A. H.
Futterman,
1996. All
rights
reserved.
http://www.dogchurch.org/narthex/bylaws.html
(3) The
Last
Battle
page 2
(4) The
Last Battle
page 227
(5)
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Henry_David_Thoreau/61
Walden (1854)
(6)
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Henry_David_Thoreau/61
Walden,
Chapter 1:
Economy