Sermon at Whaddon Roman Catholic
Chapel - Evening Prayer – Sunday 27 January 2013
Numbers
9:15-23; 1 Corinthians 7:17-24
May I speak in the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Today was one of those days when the set readings set out in
the Lectionary gave me a cornucopia of subjects to include in my sermon
tonight. Not only that, Friday marked the Conversion of Paul on the road to
Damascus, today is Education Sunday and Holocaust Memorial Day and tomorrow
marks the feast of Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Philosopher and Teacher. All worthy
subjects to speak on in some depth, and at great length. But one simple theme runs through all these commemorations
– that of learning and education. Not
necessarily in the pure academic sense of the word but learning about ourselves
and our relationship with God and what he calls us to do, as well as educating
others.
We heard in this morning’s gospel reading from Luke (Luke
5:16) how Jesus, attending the weekly
synagogue meeting and presumably being on the reading rota, read from
scripture, Isaiah, and told the congregation that the prophecy written in that
passage was being fulfilled in their presence.
They were part of the story and were being taught as they listened to
what he had to say.
But learning is not always about listening to formal
lectures, or speeches, or, dare I say it, sermons. Very often it is listening
for the voice of God in the stillness by asking questions or hearing the
questions of others, including God himself.
To discern what purpose he has for us.
As it is said in Jeremiah (29:11)
“I know what plans I have for
you”.
In the case of Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, he
heard the voice of Jesus loud and clear who asked him a very simple question –
“Saul why to you persecute you?” That
question required Saul to reflect very carefully upon the actions which he had
taken as a zealous Jew, who felt, inwardly, that he had been called to
persecute this new religious cult which seemed determined to flaunt the Jewish
law – a law he had himself observed with utmost diligence. A diligence which led him to act ruthlessly
against his fellow human beings.
In the same way, during the last World War, German officials
carried out, with the same zeal, countless atrocities against those in
concentration and extermination camps – all in the name of the laws promulgated
in Nuremberg and Berlin. They became
changed people overnight – because they followed a doctrine which was based on
laws unfounded on Christian principles.
A frightening thought that former schoolteachers, farmers, doctors,
engineers and so on could change the product of their education from doing good
to doing so much evil – and evil it certainly was. How easily it is, therefore, to hear a call
but for that call not to be from God - but from within ourselves or from
others.
Paul is a fascinating character. From zealous persecutor of Christians to
zealous apostle of Christ. Probably in
history, nobody has gone through such an immense sea change in his approach to
life. It is an interesting fact that of
the 27 books which make up the New Testament no less than 13, just under half,
are attributable to his writings. He has
certainly left his mark on Christian teaching and theology in a way he could
never have envisaged when he set off for Damascus that day. Most of the letters which are contained in
the New Testament are written in answer to questions and problems posed by the
leaders of the church to whom his letter is addressed. Unfortunately we do not have the letters TO
Paul, only the letters from him.
In our reading today from his first letter to the
Corinthians, his message is somewhat difficult to understand without the
context within which it is written. It
sits in the middle of a discourse on marriage and is clearly an answer to six
questions posed by the church leaders there in their letter to him, for at the
beginning of Chapter 7 he writes “Now
concerning the matter about which you wrote” and then proceeds to talk
about (and I use the word talk
because Paul would have dictated his letters - so we hear his voice when we
read them) sex, morality, marriage and divorce and the burning question of the
time – should a person who has converted
be married or remain married? From
the words that follow have derived many false perceptions of what Paul was
trying to say and led to many difficulties relating to divorce, separation and
the role of women in society and the church.
But the essence of his message is really quite simple – whatever
relationship you are in with your fellow human beings – you must lead the life
that God has called you to and has assigned for you. It does not matter, in his words, whether you
were born a Jew or a Christian, married or unmarried, slave or free (well
actually as we don’t have slaves any more we could say privileged or
unprivileged) the important thing is to obey God’s commandments and lead a
Christ-like life
Unfortunately many of us aspire to be what we are not meant
to be or can’t ever become. I once
wanted to be prime minister or if not that then a famous orchestral conductor –
in fact I did get to conduct on a bus once!
Many of us look on with envy or jealousy at what others have or what
they have achieved. We think that we
cannot fully achieve our potential without all the trappings of outward success
– cars, money, large houses, expensive exotic holidays. We see others “succeed” – be it our next door
neighbours when we try to “keep up with the Joneses” or that winner of the
X-Factor. But as theologian Steve Chalke
once commented – we often only see the peaks of a successful person’s life and
not the very deep troughs that also exist between those peaks – and they can be
very deep indeed.
Paul was all in favour of people using their current
situation to spread the gospel and we know from his letter to the church at
Philippi, written whilst in prison, that he used his imprisonment to preach the
gospel to his gaolers – saying that he felt blessed to be in a place where he
had effectively, a captured audience to convert.
In a recent sermon I gave here in Whaddon on the feast day of
St. Maximilian Kolbe in August, I narrated how this Franciscan Priest had
sacrificed himself in Auschwitz to save another, and how he had afterwards
prevented the spirit of himself and other inmates from being broken by using
the continual worship of God in the face of their Nazi oppressors. Here is an
example of a calling from God in the most unlikely of circumstances for Kolbe
himself had studied the martyrs of old and had wanted to join them. A poignant reminder on this anniversary of
the liberation of that dreadful camp.
There are umpteen examples of biblical characters being
called to serve God who on the face of it don’t appear to be successful or
competent or at all suitable. Moses was
in exile, a murderer and had a speech impediment, David was a small shepherd
boy and later an adulterer and murderer, Peter was a rough and ready fisherman,
Matthew was a collaborator with the Roman occupiers and Paul was a zealot and a
persecutor – yet God had a plan for them all.
We often use the term “calling” to denote a call to
authorised ministry within the church but the truth is that God calls each and
every one of us to play our part in the spreading of the gospel – the good
news. In our everyday life, in our daily
meetings and conversations with those around us we can spread the gospel. Often simply by the way we act. A friend who has been called to be a Street
Pastor has told me that there are often only fifteen words available in which
to share the gospel to a drunken reveller on the streets of Salisbury and these
are contained in the answers to these questions – Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you doing this?
How much do you get paid? The correct
answers will very simply and succinctly explain the Christian approach to life
and to fellow human beings.
We are instructed at the end of most of our services to go
out to love and serve the Lord.
Paul’s message, therefore, can be condensed into these few
words from The Message – “Stay where you are when God calls your
name. The really important thing is to obey that call and follow what he
commands you to do”.
We mustn’t be tempted to move away from that call, whatever it
is (and that’s another question entirely) – to do what others want us to do
which is against God’s wishes – as many have done.
We must stick with our Christian principles and show the way to others
using our own learning to educate others.
