Sermon at St. Mary the Virgin Parish
Church, Stapleford - Fourth
Sunday in Easter Holy Communion –
Sunday 21 April 2013
Acts
9:36-43, Psalm 23 and John 10:22-30
May the words of my
mouth and the mediation of all our hearts be always acceptable to you, O
Lord. Amen
Today’s readings, from Acts and John, both deal strongly with
the testing of Faith. If there was ever
a week to test our Faith, this last one must be in strong contention as the
events in Boston and Texas unfolded.
For me the week started with a nice quiet day off – Monday
(the 15th) April which is my wife’s birthday - and we decided that
we would take some time out that day going around those parts of Hampshire
where she used to live in the early part of her life and see how the areas and
houses in which she lived had changed.
Her birthday is also the anniversary of many tragic events in history –
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the sinking of the Titanic, the terrible loss of life at Hillsborough Football Stadium
and as we saw, the Boston Marathon Bombing.
I am a fan of American baseball and on returning home from
our trip to Hampshire, I sat and watched the ball game from Fenway Park where
the Tampa Bay Rays were taking on the Boston Red Sox. The weather was bright and sunny and the
stadium was full of cheerful fans, of all ages and backgrounds, enjoying the
game in the sun and cheering on the Red Sox on to a narrow victory. I remarked to my wife how was it that there
were so many families watching the game of baseball on a Monday lunchtime? The
commentator explained as the game ended that it was Patriots Day and shortly
the Boston Marathon would begin. The
day had started well and the good weather was such a bonus.
When in the early evening I heard the news and saw the
pictures of the devastation and injuries suffered in downtown Boston, not all
that far away from Fenway Park, I felt a sort of personal grief from having
been with the Red Sox fans in spirit only a matter of hours earlier and
wondering about how many people I had seen on my TV screen at that game had
been caught up in the mayhem of the bombings.
Later in the week also, I heard that a good Christian friend
of mine had received news that he had been diagnosed with a potentially
life-threatening illness and that this revelation had shook his Faith quite
badly – not quite understanding why God had chosen him to suffer this problem
when he had been such a loyal and faithful follower of Christ. At times like these, Christians often ask
that difficult question – why has God seemed to allow such suffering to happen?
As the events in Boston unfolded further, and the public came
forward with eye-witness accounts and cell-phone photographs of the suspects, the
Secretary of State, John Kerry, came on to the TV and said something which I
found extremely profound, and I have to paraphrase this as I did not write it
down at the time, “Amongst this most evil
act, and it is indeed an act of extreme Evil, acts of goodness have occurred.
Going forward we must focus on those and reject the evil”. He was, of course, referring to the
amazing acts of kindness and assistance which many citizens had provided during
those awful moments and, afterwards, in apprehending the suspects as well as
the feeling of empathy and community which had formed. We can also apply the same philosophy to all
those other tragic events I mentioned earlier – Lincoln’s death helped in
reconciling the Union and Confederate States and the final abolition of slavery
after such a terrible bloody conflict; Titanic’s
sinking led to far reaching regulations for the safety of life at sea and
the incorporation of an ice patrol; Hillsborough led to all-seater stands at
football grounds and thereby a revival of football as a family spectator sport.
I believe that our Faith is strongest when it is tested. My friend with the illness asked me if I
could give him an answer. I cannot – God
alone knows why he does certain things at certain times – and often not the
times which feel to be the most appropriate.
God frequently has a completely different timetable to that which we
make for ourselves. When these tragedies
occur the immediate reaction is often to blame God or at least get angry with
him. In our Acts reading, I have no
doubt that the friends and family of Tabitha felt a great loss at her
death. Tabitha, like my friend, had
dedicated her life to following Christ and doing good works – it seems that she
had been making clothes for the widows of the town. We read that all the widows were standing by
her bed and weeping when the Apostle Peter went into the room. Peter had been sent by two men, we do not
know who they were but they are described in our scripture passage as
disciples, who clearly believed that Peter could do something. We can imagine that Peter was present when
Jesus had raised Lazarus and Jairus’s daughter and that he felt that the Holy
Spirit had been given to him to perform similar miracles. But as is the case with so many of the miracles
of Jesus in the gospels, it was Faith that led to the healing – Faith that
Peter, as a close apostle of Jesus, had within him this power to raise Tabitha
through the Holy Spirit.
Time and time again I hear of charismatic Christians who say
that people suffer because their faith is not strong enough – or that if they
are Christians they’ll never be ill or have problems. I believe that the stronger our Faith is the
stronger it is likely to be tested, but that ultimately, God will never ask us
to bear anything which he does not believe we actually can bear. I liken this to when you first teach your
child to ride a bicycle. You hold on to
the back of the bike and give reassurance to your child that you will hang on –
then the moment comes when you let go, without them knowing, and they pedal
away for several yards on their own.
They may look back, wobble and end up with a grazed knee – but they have
done it – they’ve ridden the bicycle themselves over those few yards - and you
have helped them grow. I firmly believe
God does just that. We look back on what
we have achieved, we look back at the difficulties we have gone through – and
the Faith we have has been the force which has kept us peddling, got us through
those bad times and helped us with those achievements.
In our Gospel Reading, Jesus is being quizzed by the Jews as
to his identity. Clearly they know he is a remarkable man - but they need to
know whether he is the long-awaited Messiah.
His answer is simple, if you believe in me, if you are one of my sheep
as he puts it, you will know who I am.
In effect, he is stating that he is Human yet he is also God and those
who follow him will have eternal life. Jesus liked using the analogy of the
shepherd – one who tends to his sheep but who also gives them freedom to
roam. Freedom of will is always there –
and that is why often bad things happen. We can still fall off our bicycles.
The Lectionary for today also includes the 23rd
Psalm – perhaps the most well-known psalm to Christians and non-Christians
alike. It is well worth remembering
these following lines from it –
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death;
I shall fear no evil;
For you are with me,
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Whatever trials and problems come our way, by a firm belief
in the goodness of God and by faithful membership of his flock, supported by
leading a prayerful and Christ-centred life we can be sustained and grow until
we too are called to a Higher Service.
Amen
