A kingdom without walls – being inclusive
Come Rain or Come Shine – Bill Evans and Monica Zetterlund (1964)
There’s an occasional Radio 4 series called ‘What’s the point of….?’ …a wee
play on words, of course – literarily ‘what is the function of..’ – and also
phrase used to dismiss something – as in ‘what’s the point of sanding the
floor when people walk all over it?’. (in-joke)
The programme has included an examination of institutions such as The
Monarchy, the NHS, the Methodists, The Privy Council, The Archbishop of
Canterbury. Someone from here was telling me during the week about
getting into a conversation with a neighbour, and being asked about church
and faith – and how this enforced Lenten thinking meant there was
something to talk about… Imagine you are, say, on the number 22 heading
for Ocean Terminal… and you get into conversation with an acquaintance
about faith and you are asked directly, ‘What’s the point of Christianity?’. It
would be, by no means straightforward to come up with a one line answer. …
-
Well, it’s about the love of God, shown in Jesus’ love and compassion
and courage – and his death and resurrection….
What’s his death and resurrection got to do with it?
Em… well it’s quite tricky… that was last week’s Lent subject and the
Rector was a bit hard to follow…and I can’t remember it now
One answer to ‘what’s the point of Christianity’ might be the message of
radical equality and radical grace. I think if we were to unpack those two
ideas, it would help us give a decent answer.
Without suggesting that this is the sole preserve of the Christian movement,
we might well decide that our life’s work, our life’s direction, our calling is to
follow our Lord in realising the Kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven, in
the outworking of radical equality and radical grace.
I’ve spoken from this ‘pulpit’ many a time about the inclusiveness of Jesus’
teaching and example – so this is hardly a new thought. I like to think of the
church as an Ark – whose purpose is to house a wild assortment of creatures.
In a society where cultural and racial diversity, and economic diversity are
becoming increasingly obvious and problematic – we warm to the great
themes of ‘welcome’ in the stories of God’s people….
We repeatedly hear in our readings about how strangers, widows and
orphans are held to be in need of special and particular importance. The Old
Testament is unique among the judicial systems of the Ancient Near East in
its legislative advocacy for the weakest, the least protected and most
disadvantaged members of society. The ‘progress’ of the story of the
Hebrews might be understood in terms of their struggle with that mandate.
The prophet Amos is perhaps the most obvious example of a sustained
critique of the domination system that emerged under the monarchy in
ancient Israel. (This was one of the first texts that Prof Stalker made us read
in my university days). Often using fierce language, Amos criticised the
wealthy and powerful, and spoke up for the poor in the name of God….’Thus
says the Lord’ and ‘Hear the word of the Lord’ he says over and over again.
He directly addresses what the elite have done to the poor:
…they sell the righteous (the innocent, those who have done no wrong) for
silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals – they trample the poor into the
dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way (2:6-7)
He even calls the wives of the wealthy and powerful in the capital city
Samaria sleek and fat ‘cows’.
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress
the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, ‘bring something
to drink..’ (4:1)
The oracles of Amos are a judgement on the system. And Jesus is an inheritor
of that prophetic tradition. I remember reading in Jim Wallis’ Call to
Conversion that he averaged out the verses in Luke’s gospel to find that every
7th verse is about economic injustice.
Week to week we hear how strangers and outcasts, the poorest and the
weakest are the mainstay of stories about Jesus – people who were alone –
who didn’t have any status of family connection that would protect and
support them… ‘the little ones’. … the neighbour, whom we should love as
much as ourself, might not be like us. He repeatedly ignored the rules of
ritual purity, and cultural expectations – that’s what the healing stories are
largely about – perhaps more important than the healing aspect. Taxcollectors (collaborators) – the bleeding woman, as societally bankrupt and
unacceptable as it was possible to be – prostitutes (that one hasn’t changed
much).... Such love of stranger or outcast, or neighbour will not cease to be
difficult, costly, risky and to make us vulnerable.
No matter how familiar a message this is, it never ceases to be a lifelong
challenge. That’s why we pray for radical grace. It is absolutely a radical
commitment…. And Jesus taught very plainly that along with loving God, love
of the other is the entire meaning of life – on these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets. We’ve solemnly said this already this morning as
part of our liturgy.
We’re called to a radical equality – which requires radical grace by the
endowment of the Spirit - and I stand here, lest there be even a flicker of
doubt, and reflect on these familiar things, speaking as a deeply
compromised and prejudiced person. Most of us are, and no matter how long
we’ve loved the Lord, there is no end to the journey towards embodying the
grace and love of God that know no boundaries.
Pinning our colours to the mast
If you’re thinking this is all a bit blindingly obvious, the thing I’d like us to
think about, and the groups to discuss this week, is that whilst we
Anglicans/Episcopalians are quite big on nailing down our worship in the
form of carefully chosen words – ie the liturgy – we’re hesitant, I think, to
name the commitment to radical equality that is so much at the heart of our
Christian calling. I’m not proposing right now that we, as a church
community, should come up with a statement of our values and belief. We all
know that this is a very difficult thing to do in a way that satisfies the range of
preferences and perspectives represented here. There’s an argument that
says – if we don’t define what we’re committed to as a Christian community,
then that allows for diversity of opinion and doesn’t put barriers in anyone’s
way… a form of Don’t ask, don’t tell. On the other hand, there’s an argument
that says we should be able to articulate, and should publicly articulate what
we think matters, inspired by what Jesus has taught and embodied.
I recently came across this little publication, which is called the Advices and
queries of the Quakers – a sort of Quaker manifesto that has been on the go,
and frequently updated, since the first version in 1682. There are 42 short
paragraphs of ‘tips’ about what matters to Quakers and how Quakers should
conduct themselves, and reading through it, I do find myself ticking them off
– yep, yep, yep.
So, for example, in the area of radical equality and radical grace – there’s
paragraph 16 - 18:
17 – 16 - Do you welcome the diversity of culture, language and expressions
of faith in our yearly meeting and in the world community of Friends? Seek to
increase your understanding and to gain from this. Do you respect that of God
in everyone though it may be expressed in unfamiliar ways or be difficult to
discern? Each of us has a particular experience of God and each must find the
way to be true to it
18 – How can we make the meeting a community in which each person is
accepted and nurtured, and strangers are welcome? Seek to know one
another in the things which are eternal, bear the burden of each other’s
failings and pray for one another. As we enter with tender sympathy into the
joys and sorrows of each other’s lives, ready to help and receive it, our
meeting can be a channel for God’s love and forgiveness.
Or, the Iona Community’s working principles: a divergent community that has
gathered around –not just a Christ-centred faith but a stated and regularly
revised set of principles. Mainly Justice, Peace and Ecological commitments..
We believe:
1
that the Gospel commands us to seek peace founded on justice and
that costly reconciliation is at the heart of the Gospel;
2
that work for justice, peace and an equitable society is a matter of
extreme urgency;
3
that God has given us partnership as stewards of creation and that
we have a responsibility to live in a right relationship with the whole of God’s
creation;
4
that, handled with integrity, creation can provide for the needs of all,
but not for the greed which leads to injustice and inequality, and endangers
life on earth;
5
that everyone should have the quality and dignity of a full life that
requires adequate physical, social and political opportunity, without the
oppression of poverty, injustice and fear;
6
that social and political action leading to justice for all people and
encouraged by prayer and discussion is a vital work of the Church at all levels;
7
that the use or threatened use of nuclear and other weapons of mass
destruction is theologically and morally indefensible and that opposition to
their existence is an imperative of the Christian faith.
As Members and Family Groups we will:
8
engage in forms of political witness and action, prayerfully and
thoughtfully, to promote just and peaceful social, political and economic
structures;
9
work for a policy of renunciation by our own nations of all weapons
of mass destruction and for the encouragement of other nations, individually
or collectively, to do the same;
10
celebrate human diversity and actively work to combat
discrimination on grounds of age, colour, disability, mental wellbeing,
differing ability, gender, race, ethnic and cultural background, sexual
orientation or religion;
11
work for the establishment of the United Nations Organisation as the
principal organ of international reconciliation and security, in place of military
alliances;
12
support and promote research and education into non-violent ways
of achieving justice, peace and a sustainable global society;
13
work for reconciliation within and among nations by international
sharing and exchange of experience and people, with particular concern for
politically and economically oppressed nations;
14
act in solidarity with the victims of environmental injustice
throughout the world, and support political and structural change in our own
countries to reduce our over-consumption of resources;
I fully concur with the thought that talking about such commitments or
pinning them to the noticeboard – is nothing like as important as living them
out. That goes without saying. The question I’m asking is whether you think,
or agree with me, that there’s potentially a disconnect between our identity
as a Christian community (both self-identity and how others identify us) –
and our calling to, for example - radical equality and radical grace – if we
don’t connect the two by articulating and owning what we think that actually
means.
When I joined the Christian church, I did so because I wanted to be part of a
movement – and I still do.