Spirit Values

This sermon is based on Acts 11:1-18 and John 13::31-35.

Introduction: The Story of Peter and Cornelius

The story that we heard this morning in our reading from Acts Chapter 11 is a story that actually begins in Chapter 10. It’s the story of Peter and of the Roman centurion, Cornelius - the story of the conversion and baptism of Cornelius and his household.

Who knows whether Peter would have even gone to the house of Cornelius if he had not had the vision that we hear about in this morning’s reading? But because of his obedience to God’s command, Peter visits Cornelius and, in the process, he comes to understand the gospel in a new light.

Peter articulates his new understanding when he says in Chapter 10: ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts people from every nation who fear him and do what is right.’ If Peter had any doubts about his new vision of the Gospel, they must have flown out of his mind when the Holy Spirit spontaneously descended upon the Gentiles – in exactly the same way that the Spirit had come upon Jesus’ close followers in the upper room.

And so we arrive at this morning’s reading at the beginning of Chapter 11. Peter has arrived back home in Jerusalem and the circumcised believers there want him to give an account of what he has done. They want an explanation. They are not simply upset that Peter ate with Cornelius; they are very likely more upset that Peter has baptised Cornelius’ household, thereby including Gentiles in the Church of Christ.

And so Peter explains the situation to them step-by-step until they too believe and proclaim that ‘God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life’.

Gentiles Shall be Included in the Kingdom

Let’s not underestimate the drama, the anguish and the outrage that including Gentiles in the church of Christ would have caused this new church of Jewish believers. The controversy over Gentiles in the church not only presents itself in Acts. It is an on-going issue throughout the letters of Paul, particularly of course, the letter to the Galatians – which is largely devoted to the question of the inclusion of Gentiles in the Church.

It’s my personal belief that Saul, the Pharisee and the persecutor of the Church, understood very well that the message of Jesus meant the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God. I think that this understanding was the reason for his zealous persecution of the Christian Church. And I think that it was also the reason for his equally zealous mission to the Gentiles after his conversion.

His conversion wasn’t so much about a sudden download of new information from God which he didn’t know about before. I think that his conversion was a turning around: from a fierce passion that Gentiles could not be included in the people of God to a fierce passion that they were already included in the people of God.

Like Paul, Peter also had to learn this lesson of inclusion, but for him, the lesson came through a vision and through personal experience. Already a disciple and apostle of Christ, Peter learned through his openness to the Spirit of God and from seeing with his own eyes the Spirit working in the lives of Gentiles. Although this remained an issue that Peter would apparently continue to wrestle with.

The Spirit's Working in the World

One thing that impresses me about the circumcised believers in Acts 11 is the way that they accepted the work of the Spirit of God with regard to Cornelius’ household. This particular working of the Spirit turned all their ideas about who is a child of God upside down, but they accepted this radical shift in the Church because they recognised the signs of the Spirit at work.

I wonder how willing any of us are to be so open to changes that the Spirit of God might be calling us to engage with?

In a fortnight, we’re going to celebrate the anniversary of this church and we’re going to spend some of our time together to think a bit about our congregation’s work and mission. Don’t worry, I don’t have any hidden agendas that I intend to spring on you about some great change that I think that God is calling us toward, but I do think that every Christian community could do well to ponder where the Spirit is at work.

How is the Spirit of God moving in our congregation? Where is the Spirit of God working in the community at large? Are we able to recognise the working of the Spirit if it doesn’t come with the usual labels that we would recognise as ‘Christian’ and if it doesn’t fit our usual categories?

But if we’re looking for a working of the Spirit of God that doesn’t fit our usual categories, how can we recognise it?

I want to briefly suggest three characteristics that might help us to recognise the working of the Spirit in our everyday lives. This is not an exhaustive list and neither am I saying that I have ‘the one right view’ on this matter. The following are simply my suggestions of ways that we might be able to recognise the work of the Spirit. Together, we might want to try to identify more ways in which we can recognise the fruit of the Spirit.

I think that, among other things, the Spirit of God brings
o inclusion
o restoration
o reconciliation

Inclusion

So, first of all: inclusion.

‘Inclusion’ is not only the main theme of this morning’s reading; I believe it’s also an essential ingredient of the Gospel.

The Gospel of Christ tells us that each and every human being has equal worth and equal dignity in the eyes of God. There is no individual who is beyond the pale in God’s eyes, no one who is outside the possibility of salvation; no matter what gender, race, colour, sexual orientation, nationality, ability, disability or status in life, each person is a beloved child of God.

So I would argue that activities which seek to include individuals who would otherwise be excluded from some aspect of society are under the influence of God’s Spirit even if those activities do not appear to be overtly ‘Christian’ or ‘religious’.

Activities such as human rights for asylum seekers, help for children with special educational needs, care which allows people to live in their own homes. Any activity which works to include individuals who might otherwise be excluded in full participation in society.

Restoration

A second Spirit value is restoration.

What I mean by the word ‘restoration’ is what the prophets call ‘justice’. But I’m using the word ‘restoration’ because I want to distinguish it from punitive justice. Exacting punitive or vengeful justice is not something for which we need the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; on the contrary, we are well able to take revenge without God’s help!

Restorative justice is a Spirit value because is the sort of justice that worries more about restoring well-being to the victim rather than punishment for the wrongdoer. It’s arguably mentioned in the 10th chapter of Acts when the angel says to Cornelius: ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.’

Within our own justice system in the UK, restorative justice is something that is increasingly being used with young people. This is a form of justice which requires juvenile offenders to listen to the effects that their crimes had on their victims. It also asks young offenders to perform a community service that is related to the crime that they committed.

Other examples of restorative justice would be activities such as Fair Trade and the campaign to reduce Third World debt. These are activities which seek to redress the imbalances that have been created by the exploitation of the powerful.

Reconciliation

A third Spirit value is reconciliation: another value that is absolutely at the heart of the gospel.

As Christians, we believe that because of God’s forgiveness of us, that we are able to come into a new relationship with him. A relationship of love and friendship. In today’s gospel reading, we heard Jesus asking us pass on the love of God and to love one another as God loved us. In other words, we are called to be reconciled with our fellow human beings because God has reconciled himself with us.

And so I believe that any group engaging in activities of reconciliation is engaging in the work of the Spirit, whether that group has a ‘Christian’ label on it or not.

Some organisations seek to mediate between neighbours in a community, other organisations seek peaceable and workable solutions to family break-ups. Still other groups are seeking peace at national or international level. I believe that any individual or group that is genuinely seeking reconciliation between formerly hostile parties is doing the work of God.

Conclusion

In this morning’s reading from Acts, Peter had a life-changing experience with God’s Holy Spirit.

This encounter with the Spirit turned his world and his values upside down.

Peter and the church came to understand that it’s God’s intention that every category of human being should be included in his Kingdom. They were able to respond faithfully to the fruits of the Holy Spirit, even though the Spirit moved in ways that they did not expect.

As we come up to our Church anniversary and we look for signs of the Spirit in our own congregational life, I hope that we can rejoice and be thankful for the grace that we have been given to affirm the Spirit values of inclusivity, restoration and reconciliation. But I also hope that we can keep our eyes open to ways that the Spirit may be working in unexpected ways in our congregation and in the wider community.

And I hope that we can identify and use Spirit values as touchstones to help us find God in unexpected places.

I pray, as we go forward in our journey as Christian disciples, that we put God in Christ in the centre of all that we are and all that we do. And I pray that we may be able to see the Spirit of God at work in our community in surprising and unexpected places. And I pray this in the name of the risen Christ, Amen

Sunday 22 April 2007 - Called by God

This sermon is based on Acts 9:1-6 and John 21:1-19

Introduction

‘It is the Lord!’ ‘Who are you Lord?’ The first statement is made by the disciple who Jesus loves. The second statement is made by Paul on the road to Damascus.

Each of these moments is a moment of revelation, a moment when Jesus breaks unexpectedly into the lives of human beings and changes them forever.

In the case of the disciples out fishing, this is only the third appearance of the risen Lord in John’s Gospel. The disciples have gone back to their everyday lives and the last person they expect to see is the risen Jesus. But because of this encounter with Jesus, their lives will not be as they once were. In this encounter, in this moment of revelation, there is a call: ‘feed my sheep’

And I think that it is the same thing with Paul. § Although this story is often entitled ‘the conversion of Paul’, I think that it can also be properly viewed as Paul’s calling to mission. This moment of very dramatic revelation is a life-changing experience for Paul

Called by God

I think that today’s readings are stories about ‘callings’, but in this third Sunday in the Easter season, I think that it’s good to remember that they are stories of callings set in the context of resurrection.

I wonder if any of us have ever been envious of people like Peter or Paul? In Peter’s case, he had the privilege of quite literally walking in the footsteps of Jesus for three years. Surely, for someone like Peter, faith in Jesus must have been easy? And although Paul was not a disciple of Jesus during his lifetime, he claims to have met the risen Jesus. And the Church has always supported this claim and called him an Apostle. Surely such a powerful encounter with the risen Lord must have made it easy for Paul to have faith in Jesus and to answer Jesus’ call?

In this season of Easter and of celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, I want to remind us that, as committed Christians, we have each received a call from God. Each of us will have experienced moments of revelation - resurrection moments, however fleeting - when we caught a brief glimpse of the love and the life of God in all its glory. Brief moments of really understanding in our gut that God is fully alive and without reference to death. Fleeting nanoseconds when we live fully in the resurrection. ‘Ah hah!’ moments, as some people call them.

Some people have dramatic and dazzling encounters with God, like St. Paul did. Sometimes Christians make the mistake of suggesting that such dramatic encounters are the norm - particularly with respect to conversion. I suspect that such experiences are not the norm at all, although I have spoken to people who have had some truly dramatic experiences of God in their lives.

For the vast majority of our Christian lives and for the vast majority of Christians, our encounters with God and our glimpses of the divine are a lot more like that of the fishing disciples. We are going through the daily business of our lives when somewhere, somehow we catch a glimpse of the risen Lord. This encounter with God may be unexpected and it may startle or confuse us.

Touchstone Moments

What are these experiences for? Why do we have them?

Well, you won’t be surprised to hear that I think that it is in such moments when we can hear calls to serve the risen Lord. But I also think that such moments are there to encourage us and to sustain us as well as to assure us of God’s love and forgiveness. They are touchstone moments when we catch a glimpse of God that we can use as a benchmark in times of doubt and darkness.

Peter is certainly being called into the service of God in today’s Gospel reading. At the end of today’s reading, we’re reminded that Peter will suffer martyrdom in his old age. Peter’s call to feed Jesus’ sheep is not going to prove to be an easy vocation. But it is going to be a vocation in which he is fed and sustained by the Spirit of Christ.

Jesus Feeds His Sheep

Because here at the close of John’s Gospel we have yet another story of Jesus feeding human beings with bread and fish. Imagine how incredibly special this encounter was - the disciples were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ death, yet here they are on a quiet shore early in the morning shortly after his death, eating an intimate breakfast with their friend.

I daresay that this is a touchstone event for the disciples - especially for Peter. Were Peter ever to doubt his call, he had only to look back to this morning when his risen friend commissioned him three times: ‘Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.’

But Jesus does not just call Peter. He doesn’t tell Peter, ‘I’m leaving you in charge of my flock and I expect you to prove that you’re up to the job.’ Jesus knows that, in his own strength, Peter isn’t up to the job - none of us are. Instead, Jesus partners with Peter and the other disciples. They obey his strange order to cast their net into the sea at dawn - not the best time to catch fish - and their net comes up full to overflowing, but miraculously doesn’t break. The disciples work with Jesus and their endeavour is a success.

Jesus also forgives and heals Peter even as he calls him into service. Echoing Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus in the courtyard over a coal fire, Jesus and Peter linger together over a coal fire as Peter has the opportunity to affirm his love of Jesus three times. I can imagine three open wounds with Jesus gently touching each one in turn and healing each wound with his forgiveness. Healed and forgiven, Peter is thus equipped and empowered to take the message of Jesus’ healing and forgiveness out into the world.

A Resurrection Call

I said earlier that this calling and commission is set in the context of the resurrection and I believe that it’s important that this scene takes place with the risen Jesus. Without the resurrection, the call to Peter, the disciples and to us would not be the call to live a New Life in a New Creation.

Following the resurrected Jesus means that the Old Order has been turned upside down. In the old order, death rips our loved ones from us, sin has the power to permanently sever our relationship with others, and evil has the power to destroy communities and entire nations. But here in the New Creation is the risen Christ, standing in loving relationship with us despite our imperfections, calling us to reconciliation with him, and entrusting to us his message of reconciliation.

Here in the New Creation, Christ is alive, hope is alive and God’s outrageous, generous love is alive. In light of this fantastic good news – news which many people still find unbelievable – we are commissioned along with the disciples to proclaim and to live the good news of God’s love to all the world.

Conclusion

As we come together in Holy Communion in a few minutes, I pray that each person here is fed and strengthened at the Lord’s table in the same way that the disciples were fed on that morning on the beach.

I pray that we each remember our touchstone moments when God broke into our lives and called us into his service.

I pray that we may be empowered to bring the love of the risen Christ into the world by our words and our deeds and our lives. Amen.

26 November - Christ King of Heaven and Earth

Sermon for the festival of Christ the King. Readings are: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 and John 18. 33 – 37

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Introduction

It seems to me that this morning’s Gospel reading could be potentially interpreted as a scene in a Greek tragedy. Here we have acted out in front of us the story of the greatest of all men whose apparent downfall is brought about by conflict with society.

In our reading, Jesus and Pilate are discussing matters of kingship, power and truth. At the surface level of this scene, Pilate is apparently the person with the power because he possesses the power of the Roman emperor

But it’s not just Pilate and Jesus in this particular Act of our Greek drama. Lurking offstage, in a scene that has just happened onstage although we did not read about it today, are the religious authorities Annas and Caiaphas. They too have just pronounced Jesus guilty before sending him off to Pilate.

And so we have an intriguing triangle: Jesus in the first corner, the religious authorities in another and the secular authority in a third.

As Christians, we are already anticipating the punch-line to this well-known story: For those familiar with John’s Gospel, it is of course Jesus who is the true King, and Jesus who is the Truth. John’s Jesus tells us quite clearly: “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

In the actual economy of God’s universe, the perceived power of Pilate, Annas and Caiaphas cannot compare to the authority of Jesus. Jesus is the true King.

As we celebrate the Festival of Christ the King this morning, I’d like to think a bit about whether these three sides of the triangle have anything to say to the world in its present situation and to us as the Church.

Annas & Caiaphas

I’m going to take the risky beginning and start with Annas & Caiaphas – representatives of the prevailing religious establishment - an establishment that Jesus spent his ministry opposing.

Now, there have been times in the history of the Christian church when the stories of Jesus’ opposition to the religious leaders have been used as a justification for engaging in the exact same behaviour that Jesus’ opposed during his lifetime. This is the behaviour that turns religion into a system of in-groups and out-groups.

Rather than seeing the religious authorities in the bible as examples of our universal human tendency to divide into groups of “them and us”, the Church herself has engaged in this sort of “them and us” behaviour.

The worst example of this has been the long history of Christian persecution of the Jewish people, sometimes using these very stories of Jesus’ trial as a justification for doing so.

But there are many bad examples of the Church creating these sorts of “them and us” situations – with particular Christians casting themselves in the role of righteous hero and those whom they oppose in the role of “deserving victim”.

*In the 16th century, so-called good Christians drowned the Anabaptist heretics.

*Catholics and Protestants have waged war on each other for centuries.

*In my own childhood, Protestants of different denominations were suspicious of each other, viewing Protestants of a different denomination as heretics.

*And today we have suspicion in the Church along party lines with different flavours of Christians suspicious that other flavours are not as pure, as faithful, as modern or as enlightened as “our group” is.

* And, finally, over the last several years, especially since “9/11”, sections of the wider Christian Church seem to be flirting dangerously with scape-goatting the Muslim community as God’s enemies.

Speaking Out

As disciples of Christ, we are called to speak out when we see Christian brothers and sisters expressing prejudice against other religious communities. We are called to speak out in the name of justice when we see any group expressing prejudice against another We speak out not just because Christian prejudice is bad for our witness, but because such behaviour is contrary to everything that Jesus taught.

At the heart of the Kingdom of God is the Great Commandment, a commandment that is also at the heart of Judaism: Love God with all your heart and soul and mind and love your neighbour as yourself.

Christian love is not defined by a feeling of warm affection (although we may have that in many instances); Christian love is based on doing the right thing; it is based on doing what Jesus commanded us to do. Jesus commanded us to leave the ultimate judgement of individuals to him and he commanded us to respect each other.

This doesn’t mean we can’t say that we believe that certain actions are wrong; it doesn’t mean that we can’t disagree with another’s opinions. But it most certainly does mean that we are not permitted to name other people or groups of people as “enemies of God” and use this as an excuse to shun them or do harm to them.

Pilate

But of course, the Church isn’t the only group who get things wrong from God’s perspective.

The next character in our play is Pilate. Pilate, the Roman functionary who recognised the truth of Jesus’ innocence under Roman law but who sentenced Jesus to death nonetheless because it was politically convenient.

There is a testimony that Jesus could have given to Pilate in order to walk free. Jesus could have stated clearly that he was a spiritual leader and that his only interest was in spiritual matters. He could have uttered the words that many secular leaders seem to want to hear: “I am a religious leader; I do not get involved in politics.”

But Jesus did not do that. He did not explain himself in such a way as to assure Pilate that he was not a threat. He made what could be seen as a grandiose claim: that he is the embodiment of truth and that everyone who belongs to the truth listens to his voice.

It seems that Jesus may very well be a “spiritual” King, but he is also a here-and-now King. As the old hymn lyrics state, he is Master of Everything: King of both heaven and earth.

The Kingdom of God is not just about pie in the sky by and by. It is also about the here and now. It is about truth. It is about loving our neighbour as ourselves. It is about justice: food for the hungry and freedom for the oppressed.

Those who utter the cliché: “Christians should not meddle in the affairs of the world” are taking the worldly view of Christianity. They are taking Pilate’s view, not Jesus’ view.

At her best, when the Church is listening clearly to the voice of her King, we can bring the standards of truth, justice and fairness to bear on matters of this world. Indeed, as disciples of Christ we are called to do so. This is part of the Church’s mission and vocation on earth.

Christ the King

Next Sunday, as you may remember, we begin a new church season, the season of Advent.

But today is the festival of Christ the King. And today, we end a long cycle of meditation on the theme of Christian discipleship that began on the 11th of June with Trinity Sunday – the Sunday when the church and the minister put on the colour green.

And it is fitting that we end the season dedicated to discipleship with the affirmation that for us as Christians, our first loyalties lie with Jesus Christ as our sovereign and Lord.

For Christians, Jesus is not simply a prophet who knew and taught the truth, Jesus embodies the truth. Jesus is truth. And, as Jesus’ disciples, we are followers of truth.

We are not to be misled by the universal human tendency to form in-groups and out-groups.

Where we hear calls to name as God’s enemies people of a different religion, a different race, a different flavour of Christianity, we are to name such behaviour as wrong and to resist these movements in word and deed.

Christians are called to stand up to anti-Semitism and we are called to stand up to the current cultural mood of scape-goatting Muslim people.

We are not be misled by claims that Christianity has nothing to do with the here and now and that being a Christian is only about our private spirituality. Having accepted God’s love and forgiveness into our own hearts, we are called to bring that love to others. This is not just a call to witness to the Gospel doctrines. It is also a call to demonstrate God’s unconditional grace and mercy in very practical ways.

The Kingdom is to come, but the Kingdom is also here. Christ will be our King in Eternity, but Christ is also our King in the here and now.

As we come to Christ’s table in a few minutes to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, I pray that we may all be fed with food for our journey. May we come to his table invited by our crucified, risen and ascended King and rise from his table to take his invitation of forgiveness and reconciliation to all the world. Amen