The
readings on
which this
sermon is
based can be
found at:
http://frsparky.net/a/r163.htm
s163a16
Fifth Sunday
of
Easter
24/4/2016
'What God has
made clean,
you must not
call
profane.’
‘Ἃ ὁ θεὸς
ἐκαθάρισεν σὺ
μὴ
κοίνου.’
Acts 11:9 and
from
Revelation:
‘See, I am
making all
things
new.’
Rev 21:5
We make things
new by not
labelling
things
profane.
Let me repeat:
WE are called
to make all
things new,
and WE do this
by refusing to
call anything
or anyone
profane.
The word
κοίνου is well
known by Greek
scholars for
the whole of
the New
Testament is
written in
Koine Greek -
common Greek -
it is the
language, not
of Temple,
synagogue,
church or
mosque, but of
ordinary
people.
So I wonder if
this is not
better
translated:
‘what God has
called sacred
we must not
label
secular’.
There have
been lots of
attempts to
translate the
scriptures
into everyday
language.
Scholars like
William
Barclay and
the authors of
the Good News
Bible have
brought the
texts to life
in everyday
language,
speaking to
many
people.
Before we
pooh-pooh
these
attempts; of
course they
follow in the
footsteps of
Martin Luther
(1) and in
English,
William
Tyndale (2)
without whom
we would still
be having to
learn
Latin.
Unfortunately
this has
sometimes
meant the
beloved poetry
of the
familiar King
James Version
has been lost
but one
wonders if the
poetry
actually is in
the original
Greek text or
is the work of
Tyndale and
his
successors!
Unfortunately
so often the
church spends
her energy on
proclaiming
how special
she is, and
therefore how
desirable it
is for others
who are not so
special, to
join
us.
We strive to
communicate to
others the
beauty of the
building, of
the liturgy,
the elegant
completeness
of our
scriptural
interpretation,
the soundness
of our
theology.
Do we not see
the
implication
that when we
do this we
imply that
others are
less special,
and if not
unclean,
somewhat
common?
But this is
nothing
new.
Perhaps it is
St Paul who
writes: ’So
then, remember
that at one
time you
Gentiles by
birth, called
‘the
uncircumcision’
by those who
are called
‘the
circumcision‘
— a physical
circumcision
made in the
flesh by human
hands .. now
in Christ
Jesus you who
once were far
off have been
brought near
by the blood
of
Christ.
For he is our
peace; in his
flesh he has
made both
groups into
one and has
broken down
the dividing
wall, that is,
the hostility
between us.’
(3)
I point out
that this
injunction in
Acts, ‘you
must not call
(others)
profane’ isn’t
isolated, but
is in fact
another step
in Peter’s
spiritual
journey away
from
orthodoxy.
He is being
called out of
what is
familiar
territory to
go to the
house of the
gentile
Cornelius.
(4)
So as the
church we are
not just to
not label
others
secular, but
to actively go
and associate
with the
secular, and
to find the
sacred
there.
And Peter
finds a
welcome in
this
unfamiliar
gentile
territory; the
Holy Spirit is
poured out on
the household
when Peter
visits.
The novelty of
a religion
which leaves
her holy
huddles and is
found were
people are at,
physically and
spiritually,
is the impetus
for this
outpouring and
its divine
imprimatur.
And in fact
this is the
same for Paul
later in Acts
where he is
forbidden to
remain in
familiar
territory, in
technically
what is called
Asia, but to
cross the
rubicon, just
south of what
Australians
and New
Zealanders
know as the
Dardanelles
and Gallipoli,
into
Europe.
(5)
Again, it is
not what we
may or may not
believe that
is important,
but where we
are prepared
to go in
blessing.
Like Peter
before him,
Paul finds a
welcome in a
devout woman
who
immediately
asks for
baptism and
invites him to
stay in her
home. (6)
Indeed the
first
outpouring of
the Holy
Spirit comes
not when the
apostles speak
in the sacred
language of
the church,
but when they
speak the
language of
the hearers.
(7)
Many in the
church see the
real enemy
being secular
humanism, but
this profound
conversion
experience for
Peter as well
as later for
Paul, which
form the bulk
of the book of
the Acts of
the Apostles,
calls this
into question.
And our
reading from
Revelation and
the text:
‘See, I am
making all
things new’
implies that
there is
nowhere that
is less
sacred, that
the breadth of
God’s
sacredness is
limitless, all
of secular
society is
encompassed by
God’s love,
that the
sacred is to
be found in
every nook and
cranny of
society.
As I reflect
on our service
of ‘holy
communion’ I
have realised
that after the
dismissal we
are encouraged
to go to
morning tea
and make small
talk about
trivialities,
like what we
might have for
lunch, the
weather or the
football.
The time for
talking about
important
things,
spiritual
matters, is
over - all
completely
covered by the
words in the
service by the
ordained
minister.
And then we
lament that
people
actually find
spirituality
in the
preparation of
food, the
wonders of the
seasons, the
camaraderie of
the local
sporting match
..
Why should we
be surprised?
Or as I have
sometimes
found, and
found
extremely
tiresome, the
conversations
at morning tea
turns to
surreptitious
pooh-pooh-ing
a recent
innovation the
minister has
introduced!
Suddenly: ‘I
am making all
things new’ is
translated:
‘See I am
making
everything so
as to enable
the greatest
number of my
followers be
so comfortable
that it is
clear that
everyone else
has to do the
changing’!
1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tyndale
3.
Ephesians
2:11-12,14
4. Acts
10:34
5. Acts
16:6-10
6. Acts
16:13-15
7. Acts
2:4,6,8
&11