Trinity 19
Sermon by Fr Peter Wolton on 11th October 2015
May
the words of my lips and the intentions of all our hearts be always acceptable
in your sight O God,
Today's
Gospel confronts us with two major questions about how we live our lives. What
must we do to inherit eternal life and how should we treat our worldly
possessions?
The
rich man is told that to inherit eternal life he must follow the commandments,
sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor and follow Christ. “He
went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
At
the time of Christ, Jews believed they were living on the edge of an "Age
to Come," when the "Present Age" would be transformed and God
would unite Heaven and Earth. The question on many people's lips, including the
disciples, was "Who can be saved?" And when you believe the world is
about to end, as many did in the time of Jesus, there is little point in
hoarding possessions.
There
is now a theological view espoused by leading theologian Tom Wright among
others, that what Jesus was referring to in his statements about the coming
judgement and the fires of Gehenna (the
municipal rubbish heap just outside the walls of Jerusalem), was not in fact the eschaton (what will happen at the end of
the world), or what could happen to us when we die, but rather his prophecy of
the coming destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in AD70, almost 40 years
after his death.
Jesus,
following in the tradition of Old Testament prophets, sought to warn the Jews
with a very political message that if they did not desist from establishing
God’s kingdom through armed rebellion, then eventually Rome’s patience would
snap and actions would occur that would turn the city of Jerusalem into an
extension of the smoking heap of rubbish at Gehenna.
As
Father James said in last week's sermon, belief in a "Hell" where
people live in eternal damnation is incompatible with a world created by a
loving God. We should put aside confused thinking about Hell.
How
then should we live?
We
should live our lives, not to prepare for the Coming Age, but for this life in
the Present Age so that “thy kingdom” does come, “on earth as it is in heaven.”
That
is, I believe, the answer to the first question raised by today’s Gospel.
That
is how we should live this life, doing all we can to unite the kingdoms of
Heaven and Earth.
Now
to the second question, how then are we to treat possessions? Let me tell you a
story.
A
few years ago I visited St. Lukes, Chelsea, and there in the forecourt I saw an
icon.
Icons
are as you know, “windows onto heaven.” But this was not an icon in that sense.
But to the eyes of Jeremy Clarkson and the late Top Gear team, it certainly
was, for what I saw was a gleaming new convertible Aston Martin. And recalling
that this parish is of course where Father James was based before coming here
to our United Benefice, you may think “Very St. Luke’s.” In fact he assures me the
Aston Martin was not his, but I have my doubts. For it seems to me that Father
James and an Aston Martin are a perfect match.
To
be serious. I did find myself thinking, should a Christian own an Aston Martin?
I
reflected on whether ownership of a beautiful, some would say extravagant car,
or other such possession can become between us and God.
I
considered the car, and my reaction to the car.
Aston Martin promotes themselves as makers
of “fine civilised high performance cars”. It’s passionate about the cars it
builds. The cars are built with love and cherished by their owners In 2007 it
had a record production of 7,000 cars and had recently invested in a new design
centre at its global headquarters in the village of Gaydon, Warwickshire- But
since the financial crash things have not been easy with redundancies.
For me
I had mixed emotions about the Aston
Martin.
There’s a side of me that covets the car.
Then there is the issue of priorities and
how we should use our money to live our faith.
But then I found myself considering the
employees, current and former of Aston Martin. What impact do the current
fortunes of the company have on Gaydon and on the ministry of the vicar there,
Michael Cadwallader? Without buyers of these beautiful cars, no one would have
a job.
I also recalled the words of St. Irenaeus
of Lyons:
“The
glory of God is the human person fully alive” and the opportunities that Aston Martin gives for this.
I thought about the owner of the car. They
may just enjoy driving a beautiful car, in the same way that an owner delights
in a beautiful painting. They may also give much time and money to others.
So how about looking at ourselves?
How do I, how do we use my or our
money to further God’s purpose in the world?
I found myself doing two things:
·
Thanking God for the web
of relationships and passion that had created this beautiful car
·
Praying that both Aston
Martin owners and I may prayerfully consider how we spend our money to further
God’s purpose.
Here
I believe the Rule of Benedict has much valuable guidance with its emphasis on
work (to which I would add family for those of us outside a monastic
community), prayer (of which giving is such an important action) and community.
To live life to the full for a Benedictine is about balancing work (to which I
add family), prayer and community.
Giving
is “prayer in action.” As
Christians, we are called to be generous to others in our community with our
disposable income. In fact the UK has one of the most generous tax regimes to
encourage giving to charitable causes, and if you don’t already know about the
ways the Charities Aid Foundation (www.cafonline.org) can assist personal
and corporate giving, please do find out more about them.
But as Christians in the 21st Century we
need to develop sustainable patterns of spending which support providers both
of our everyday needs and those who produce life enhancing things and moments
that delight.
So we give thanks for both philanthropists and
entrepreneurs.
Money is a great enabler which can transform lives
and grow the Kingdom of God. To name but two examples, the Ark Schools network
that is financed by proprietors of hedge funds and St. Mellitus, the
theological college where I studied, which receives generous donations from
committed Christians in the City.
But what about us? The need at this time is very
great. Could we tip the balance of our individual expenditure and possessions
more towards giving?
And how do we stop our possessions coming between
us and building the kingdom.
Here St Benedict offers helpful advice “All utensils of the monastery, in fact
everything that belongs to the monastery should be cared for as the sacred
vessels of the altar. Substitute “us” for “monastery” and we get:
“All our possessions, in fact everything that belongs
to us should be cared for as the sacred vessels of the altar.”
Perhaps if a possession is no longer valued, we should
sell it and use the proceeds to support those in need. Perhaps
we should sell some of them, even if they are valued.
I
pray that we never take our possessions for granted, that we treat them as
sacred vessels of the altar, and that we use and give our time, talents and
money to bring about that moment when heaven and earth will be united and thy
kingdom comes.
Father Peter Wolton