Monday, 3 October 2016

SERMON 85 - SUNDAY 2 OCTOBER 2016

Sermon at All Saints’ Parish Church, Whiteparish – Sunday 2 October 2016

Habakkuk 1:1-4/2:1-4; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen

One of my greatest heroes of all time is the Antarctic Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton – the man whom, before the expeditions of Scott and Amundsen in 1911/1912, had gone further south than any person before.

The pole having been conquered in 1911 by Amundsen, there only remained one thing left to do to better that – and that was to cross the whole of the Antarctic Continent from one side to the other – from sea to sea - from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the Weddell Sea south of the Falklands across the icy wastes to emerge at the Ross Sea at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean beneath New Zealand.  Shackleton set out to do this in 1914 just before the beginning of the First World War.  To this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–17

Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed and sank before the shore parties could be landed. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island and ultimately the inhabited island of South Georgia, a stormy ocean voyage of 720 nautical miles and Shackleton's most famous exploit. Shackleton later died on a further expedition and at his widow’s request was buried on South Georgia.  It remains my ambition to one day visit his grave there and pay my respects to “the Boss” as he was affectionately called.

The one thing which impresses me above everything else is that although Shackleton was largely responsible for the loss of Endurance, because he insisted that the ship be sailed much further south than recommended by the skipper, and the subsequent hardship which his whole team had to endure (the ship was appropriately named) his crew never lost faith in him.  He promised the crew that not one single one of them would be lost and he succeeded in bringing every last member of his team safely home to England in 1917.  The saddest thing of all is that having done so, many were to later lose their lives on the killing fields of Flanders in that senseless war.

Have you ever lost faith in anything?  A person, a project, a promise?  When I think of the hardship suffered by Shackleton’s men I can imagine that there must have been times, on the ice floes, in the little lifeboats and finally waiting for the Boss’s return, to resign themselves to the thought of dying in that cold wasteland.

Shackleton was a great Christian and he believed fully that God would see him through. One of the things which he saved from the Endurance were important passages of scripture which he tore out of a bible given to him by the then Queen Dowager, Queen Alexandra before he left England.  He needed to carry as little weight as possible so had to tear out passages and abandon the bible on the ice (where it was later picked up by another expedition). Amongst them were Luke’s Gospel and Psalm 107.  Later, when he wrote his account of the ill-fated expedition in his book “South”  he penned these words:

“When I look back at those days I have no doubt that Providence guided us, not only across those snowfields, but across the storm-white sea that separated Elephant Island from our landing-place on South Georgia. I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia it seemed to me often that we were four, not three. I said nothing to my companions on the point, but afterwards Worsley said to me, “Boss, I had a curious feeling on the march that there was another person with us.” Crean confessed to the same idea. One feels “the dearth of human words, the roughness of mortal speech” in trying to describe things intangible, but a record of our journeys would be incomplete without a reference to a subject very near to our hearts.’

Shackleton, in particular, reflected on Luke 24 and the road to Emmaus.

Each of today’s readings emphasises these thoughts though and got me to thinking about how we can develop our own faith.  The prophet Habakkuk in the first section of this morning’s reading cries out in despair – asking how long does he have to wait for help?  Echoes of those same thoughts of the men left on Elephant Island. To the prophet, it seems that only the wicked prevail and justice does not seem to come forward; but in the second part he answers his own questions of despair following a vision he has of God.  The answer being that in due time, in God’s time, it will all come right – just as it did for the men on Elephant Island. They had to wait over a year for the Boss’s return but God will answer their prayers just as he will answer ours.

Paul reminds his young protégé, in our second reading, not to shy away from God’s call to ministry – that in evangelising the gospel suffering may very well be a part of the whole thing.  Paul is writing this in prison imploring the young Timothy to place all his trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour.  The young protégé must have seen how his mentor, Paul, had been persecuted and imprisoned for his strong Christian beliefs and at times wondered whether it was all worth it.  Paul says – “Do not be ashamed, God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” I cannot but think that these would all be incredibly wonderful gifts for the men of Elephant Island to have had.  They had to survive in a small community, in adverse weather conditions – but a belief that God was with them, that they could help and protect each other with the power of love and self-discipline just as Paul had told Timothy. Above all, Paul reminds Timothy, in the very last sentence that he must “guard the good treasure entrusted [to him], with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.”
These are both good readings and reasons for having faith but there will always be times when our faith gets tested to such a limit, hopefully not having to live on an island for a year with only seals and penguins to eat, when we really do struggle.  These are often things which each and every one of us has to deal with at some time in our lives – illness, bereavement, redundancy, finances, joblessness.  There are often natural disasters and wars creating death and poverty which will make us ask “Where is God in all this?” Why is there so much suffering?

There are no easy answers.  Being a Christian won’t supply them easily either.  The apostles in our gospel reading themselves needed to know how they could increase their faith.  Obviously they struggled with this question too.  But Jesus answered that even the smallest amount of faith will result in great things. Having faith (however small) is what is needed because it grows itself within us if we allow it.

Jesus’s further explanation might at first appear strange and difficult.  Here he is saying is that it must be taken as read that if we have faith and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour then we have done what is expected of us.  There is no magical formula in which we are any better than the next Christian.  We are equal in the sight of God as members of his wider church – and here I mean the worldwide community of Christian believers of whatever nationality and denomination.

In other words, as Jesus’s disciples in this modern world, we should do only what is expected of us – to keep faith and love our fellow humans.  Then our own spirituality will grow within us with which we can continue to proclaim the gospel and bring others to faith.  That is the duty of all Christians and something which Jesus himself is telling us should not surprise us.

Shackleton, with the guidance of “Providence”, as he puts it in his book “South”, had a job to do.  He was “the Boss”, he was responsible for the lives of his team. He messed up and lost his ship but for him it was his duty to see them through safely.  He believed that Jesus was with them across the icy wastes and that kept him and his companions going. That was all the faith he needed – to know the love and care of Jesus Christ.  To put everything in his care.

The message is clear.  Have faith, keep your faith and it will grow itself within you as you continue to live out your life in accordance with God’s own plans for you.  To surrender to his will, read his word and let the Holy Spirit do his work.

Amen


 85/29.09.2016

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