|
Available Now |
 |
|
Organ music from Holy Trinity Cathedral,
played by
Eugene Lavery,
Assistant Organist |
|
Click here |
|
Don’t Teach Me How to be Religious.
Cathedral Eucharist, 18th February 2007
Archdeacon Michael Smart, Priest Associate
Readings: Genesis 45:3-11,15 ; Luke 6: 27-38
Don’t teach me how to be religious, teach me how to live with openness to Jesus in my daily life and discern his presence in all things.
The call of Jesus to follow him, should be experienced in the specifics of making choices…..for example, can I respond positively to my enemy….not my enemy in some vague generalized sense, but that enemy next to me at work who is bad mouthing me. It is easy to speak of loving our enemy in an undefined context, but can I love my wife or husband or children whose selfishness and neglect are at that moment causing me great pain.
Conversion to Christ is not a once only choice, but an on going daily process.
St Paul spoke of this in very dramatic terms saying… “ I die daily”.
Church is first an foremost not a place to teach religious practices, though that is often what people want to argue about. Church is the opportunity for us as followers of Jesus to offer each other support and encouragement as we go to make decisions, big and small in everyday life. Our worship and study and fellowship together is not an end in itself, but has as its purpose making us more loving and effective human beings in our home, in the office, in the making of ethically just economic and business decisions.
So church life should not become all demanding, and our friendships must not only be with fellow Christians. To say “ Jesus is Lord” commits us to much more than fostering our inner life in isolation from the cut and thrust of daily living. Over the years I tried to make a protest about the value of statistical returns to the Diocesan Office…..how many communicants, how many weddings etc….such figures tell us very little about the effectiveness of church life…..the vital questions are to do with “ how effective are members of your parish in demonstrating the life of the kingdom in their homes, places of work, in their sports club, within Rotary, on the city Council”. That is much harder to measure, and often the left hand wont know what the right hand is doing. If we ask “ what does the cathedral do?” the answer is much more than what happens here on site. To understand the major part of what our cathedral community contributes you would have to go with each person into their various weekly situations. The ripples do reach near and far.
It is when someone I don’t like asks something of me, that I find out if I can wash feet or only stand on my own dignity. I can pray within these walls with great enthusiasm for God to bless the poor and needy, but it is when the appeal envelope arrives in my box that I find out if I am generous and open to the heart of Christ.
We are not called to wear a cross, but to live the way of the cross, spending ourselves in service to others. The life of the kingdom of God is not primarily religious but human. The placing of the staff offices within the same walls as this place of worship is a silent reminder to us as staff and to all who come here, that worship and the daily meeting with people are inextricably linked. Thank you to those who have made this possible. Though not so easy to see in physical terms, it is equally true that this place of worship is also inextricably linked with our homes and clubs and places of work.
Whether I am for or against Christ will most often be decided in secular terms, not so much in religious debates. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, so when he meets them again then comes the test of his relationship with God. The thief on the cross could see the injustice of crucifying Jesus; it was the thief’s response to injustice that showed he had responded to Christ. In this regard, we will find people of other religions and of no religion making the same response to injustice as we do and when this happens let us be glad to join with them and be thankful that a common vision is shared……such a vision can only have one Source. When we accept that the Spirit of Jesus is at work more widely than just in Christians, that he is indeed the only Spirit that works for good, then we can be open to others in a way that wont happen if we think Jesus is limited to Christians, or perhaps only to certain types of Christians.
The test of our conversion to Christ is earthed in the context of daily living. For this reason when helping others respond to Jesus we must not avoid making the appeal of Christ specific. To one, Jesus said, “Go sell all that you have”….to another he said “ return the money you have taken”….to another he said… “stop committing adultery” ….to another he said, “ lend to those who need a loan and don’t cripple them with interest” ….to another he said, “ help the enemy soldier carry his gear”, to another he said, “ forgive that person who has wronged you”. Conversion to Christ is not some inner feel good that has no consequences for our choices.
Jesus did not teach us to suspend all moral discernment. When he said, “ judge not least you be judged” he was, I think, referring, to making the final judgement. Only God can make the final judgement. With regards to that final judgement, we are not to judge, which is why we do and should take funerals for anyone. But confronting evil, naming things for what they are, is necessary, else we become without any morals at all. If our church community is true to its calling, you will confront me when my behaviour or values seem far from the way of Christ, but I would expect you to do that lovingly, if firmly and I would not expect to be expelled from the party. We must be kind enough to ourselves and others, not to expect anything approaching perfection, we know we get it wrong, sometimes badly wrong, thank God he is able to forgive us and most times his followers do too.
This interacting with Jesus, this discerning of his presence in others and in various situations is not only about the hard stuff of life, we need a heart to sense his company in our feasting and eyes to see him in our fun times. I played cricket, before and after becoming a Christian; the difference after I became a Christian was not seen so much in how many runs I scored, but internally I shared the game with Christ and so the sport felt richer and perhaps my team mates and the opposition might have noted my sportsmanship improved. At the movies when I laugh or cry at how foolish we humans can be, or in the characters prejudice I feel confronted by my own prejudice, then I know Jesus is as able to speak in the movies, as speak in this Cathedral. And when a friend or family member buys me lunch, offers me a drink, invites me to a meal, it is a kind of sacrament, in which Christ shows me what happens when people extend the hand of friendship.
Don’t teach me to be religious, teach me how to live with openness to Jesus in my daily life and discern his presence in all things. |