The
readings on
which this
sermon is
based can be
found at:
http://frsparky.net/a/r168.htm
s168g16
Baptism of Jesus
Epiphany 1 10/1/2016
‘the people were filled with
expectation ..’ Luke
3:15
People, ordinary people, yearn
for the kingdom of God.
It seems some ‘christians’
seem to spend their lives
endlessly working and
worshipping to earn their way
into heaven, and/or spending
their lives worrying if their
sins have actually been
forgiven and/or that in the
end they will have enough
faith ..
Despite what the Alpha course
and conservative evangelicals
might think, few ordinary
people actually aspire to a
life of earning their way into
heaven, worrying about their
sins, or the content of their
faith - for the majority this
doesn’t seem good news to them
personally, or for society in
general.
What most ordinary people
actually do yearn for is
acceptance and inclusion, not
just for themselves, but for
all. And ordinary
people know that if there is a
God, this would be God’s main
aim. And ordinary
people recognise that any god
worth worshipping would have
this aim, and the fact that
they are not worshipping means
that they do not see the
church proclaiming a god like
this.
So the Dalai Lama wrote on
September 4th 2015: ‘When we
say "I love the members of my
own family, the people of my
own religion or country or
colour" bias limits our
affection. But
with proper practice, from an
ordinary level of affection we
can develop an unbiased
universal love, in which we
don't care what other people's
faith is, their nationality,
or social status - so long as
they are human beings, they
are our brothers and
sisters.’
(1) Of course, His
Holiness the Dalai Lama is
hardly an ordinary person, but
he articulates what ordinary
people think.
On the 18th of May 2015 he
wrote: ‘We need to employ a
secular approach to ethics,
secular in the Indian sense of
respecting all religious
traditions and even the views
of non-believers in an
unbiased way.
Secular ethics rooted in
scientific findings, common
experience and common sense
can easily be introduced into
the secular education
system. If we can
do that there is a real
prospect of making this 21st
century an era of peace and
compassion.’ (2) It is
significant that he sees
secularism as the way to
peace, not
religion. He sees
secularism as essentially
democratic and inclusive as
opposed to religion which is
essentially hierarchical and
divisive.
Earlier, on the 10th of
September 2012 he wrote: ‘All
the world’s major religions,
with their emphasis on love,
compassion, patience,
tolerance, and forgiveness can
and do promote inner
values. But the
reality of the world today is
that grounding ethics in
religion is no longer
adequate. This is
why I am increasingly
convinced that the time has
come to find a way of thinking
about spirituality and ethics
beyond religion
altogether.’ (3)
In commenting on Romans 1:20:
‘Ever since the creation of
the world his eternal power
and divine nature, invisible
though they are, have been
understood and seen through
the things he has made’, C. K.
Barrett says that: ‘It is not
St Paul’s intention in this or
the following verses to
establish a natural theology;
nor does he create one
unintentionally.’
(4) But Paul later
writes: ‘When Gentiles, who do
not possess the law, do
instinctively what the law
requires, these, though not
having the law, are a law to
themselves. They
show that what the law
requires is written on their
hearts’ (5) and later: ‘So, if
those who are uncircumcised
keep the requirements of the
law, will not their
uncircumcision be regarded as
circumcision? Then
those who are physically
uncircumcised but keep the law
will condemn you that have the
written code and circumcision
but break the law.’
(6) I believe the seeds
of the Dalai Lama’s
conclusions can be found
clearly in St Paul’s most
considered theological
reflection.
Of course, the same sentiments
are found in John Lennon’s
song ‘Imagine’: ‘Imagine
there's no heaven / It’s easy
if you try / No hell below us
/ Above us only sky / Imagine
all the people / Living for
today…
Imagine there's no countries /
It isn't hard to do / Nothing
to kill or die for / And no
religion too / Imagine all the
people / Living life in
peace… You may say
I'm a dreamer / But I'm not
the only one / I hope someday
you'll join us / And the world
will be as one’. (7)
Sometimes I hear people say
things which suggest that
because the world-view of
those of biblical times were
so limited and the peasants
mostly illiterate, we can
dismiss their
perceptions. Yet
illiterate people with a
limited world view know only
too well the vagaries of the
ruling classes - both secular
and sacred - and yearn for
something better, something
liberating, something which
feeds their souls and the
souls of all people.
A modern way of putting the
younger generation down is
that regular gripe the older
generation have; that they are
addicted to their smartphones
and tablets - often those of
the older generation being
church-goers. But
if what I have been saying
about church being a one-sided
‘conversation’ is it any
wonder that young people are
looking for a conversation
which is at least not forever
one-sided and prescriptive,
albeit virtual.
The virtual person on their
smartphone is a lot more real
than the god to whom some
people pray! This
ease of communication presents
a real and ever present
challenge to the church, to
examine what we do and say:
does it feed others by making
them feel included and
affirmed, or do we offer just
another piece of advise about
how others might live better
lives or be a better
church-person? One-sided
and prescriptive!
To make the point more
concretely, I came across
those quotations of the Dalai
Lama above from looking at the
Internet and
Facebook! How
would I and the church ever be
aware of what other ordinary
people are yearning for if I
am only relating to others who
are dutifully listening to my
endless streams of pearls of
wisdom? How will
the church ever be aware of
what real people yearn for, if
their conversation is always
and only about one’s
conversion event and one’s
personal relationship with
Jesus?
And ordinary people have
expectation - which those
words of the author to the
letter to the Hebrews: ‘Now
faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen’
(8) identify with
faith. And I have
to ask if the exclusive church
is an agent to deliver on this
expectation of an inclusive
and egalitarian society or to
eternally filibuster and
obfuscate? Or
perhaps even more damning, not
yet realising the blessing we
are withholding from
others? Again those
words from the first chapter
of Paul’s letter to the Romans
seem especially appropriate:
‘For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and wickedness
of those who by their
wickedness suppress the
truth. For what
can be known about God is
plain to them, because God has
shown it to them.’
(9) Do we hide from the
faith - just as Jonah tried to
flee to Tarshish (10) - that
expectation that both ancient
and modern societies have had
and continue to yearn for, for
a more egalitarian and
inclusive world?
Which leads me to ask what
expectation does the church
have? Is it ‘pie
in the sky when you die’.
(11) Is it
something completely
unverifiable, otherworldly and
essentially unrelated to the
welfare of anyone
else? And if so,
how does this escape the
charge of being selfish?
And if we worship a god who
commends selfishness, how is
this related to Jesus - the
one who was put to death
because he included others?
From the 11-16th of January
the Archbishop of Canterbury
will be meeting with the
Primates from the rest of the
Anglican Communion to try to
resolve the impasse over human
sexuality bedevilling not just
Anglicans but every
church. (12) It is
not just the members of the
Anglican Communion who wait
and wonder what will the
outcome be. The
world waits expectantly to see
the God of affirmation and
inclusion speak and the church
finally join with the world in
working for an inclusive and
egalitarian society that 2000
years of exclusivism and
division has manifestly (but
hardly unsurprisingly) failed
to deliver.
1.
https://www.facebook.com/DalaiLama/posts/10153134600867616?fref=nf
2.
https://www.facebook.com/DalaiLama/posts/10152874236297616
3.
https://www.facebook.com/DalaiLama/posts/10151052842097616
4. ‘The Epistle to the
Romans’ Black p35.
5. Romans 2:14-15
6. Romans 2:26,27
7.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johnlennon/imagine.html
8. Hebrews 11:1
9. Romans 1:18-19
10. Jonah 4:2
11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Preacher_and_the_Slave
12.
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5613/archbishop-of-canterbury-calls-for-primates-gathering