Sunday 16 January 2022, Epiphany 2
During this season of Epiphany, we’ve had the outsiders, the Magi, visiting and presenting gifts to the Christ child; last week we had the baptism of Jesus; and this week we have Jesus’ first ‘sign’ – turning water into wine. I take this as strong affirmation that Jesus enjoyed a good party…. And decent wine!
This week is the annual week of prayer for Christian Unity, so I’d like to reflect a little on the church and about the importance of unity. There’s often a tendency to romanticise about the early church – we forget that conflict was there at the very beginning of the church. Fr Neil last week talked about his guilty pleasure – watching superhero-type films – Spiderman, Batman, Superman. In the Corinthian reading we learn that there were some in the early church who considered themselves to be Christian superheros. They thought they were SAS-type Christians. They had the flashier, louder, more “ecstatic” abilities (ie, the ability to speak in tongues) and considered themselves superior to those whose gifts are quieter, less visible, or more mundane. And St Paul writes the letter to confront this spiritual elitism and to plead for unity.
So, conflict in the church isn’t a new thing. And this week is a chance to celebrate the way in which churches have set aside minor differences and come together, particularly over the last 100 years. It’s also a chance to reflect on the quiet and steady work of the church throughout this country.
It’s important to do this because it seems de rigueur to sneer at religion and the church.
In movies like Babette's Feast and Chocolat, the church is portrayed as a place of moralistic, repressed people who never have any fun and who don't really believe or live out what they say they do. And there’s a lot of truth in that.
And on every university campus or dinner party there are acolytes of Richard Dawkins. They think they’re rendered interesting by the opinion that religion is the root of all evil. The German theologian, Schleiermacher, in the c.18 called them the ‘cultured despisers of religion’. In their view, religion is for the uneducated masses.
Whilst acknowledging that the church has had, and still does, plenty of problems, perhaps we can pause to honour and give thanks for the Church and for faithful Christians living out their faith.
For drop-in centres, after school homework clubs, hospices and care homes where thousands of Christians do good work every day. If you seek out the grittiest edges of British life, Christians will be there. They’re helping addicts limp to liberty from drugs with infinite patience. Two of these support groups meet here at St George’s. Two churches in this area run foodbanks. Other churches support families who are mired in debt. Fr Gareth from St Clements and St James, where Neil is covering today, has helped settled 28 newly arrived Afghan refugees into school. He has sourced second-hand scooters to help them get to school. And having lived in Afghanistan, he speaks Farsi – just amazing!
Christians are caring for those in prison cells whom no one else cares about any more. Someone from this church set up a charity to help ex-offenders get jobs upon released. It reduced re-offending by up to 23 percent, one of the highest scores recorded.
Then there are Christian charities like Glass Door, who we support as a church. They give shelter and warm meals to the homeless, as well as helping with jobs and longer term, more stable accommodation.
The point is that week by week, there are the thousands of small acts of kindness that stitch communities together. Those parish activities of coffee mornings, fêtes and Bible study groups may easily be mocked, but they punctuate the day for the elderly and isolated, as well as for people wanting to engage with the big questions of life. It’s where people bring their own small faith and discover that when they get together with others to worship, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.’ (N. T. Wright)
If a dying person wishes a vicar to be there to hold their hand, the hand will be held. If the lonely desperately need a warm welcome, the welcome can be found in a church.
One challenge for us at St George’s is our monthly lunch club which is in danger of stopping. We have a number of volunteers but we need someone to help lead this – do let me know if you can help.
These are all practical reasons to appreciate the church, but its value goes deeper. There is something in its spirit it reflects an ethos that is quite profound and sorely missing in contemporary life. Here at St George’s/ St John’s, we stand for an open, generous, enquiring, unafraid, gentle sort of faith. We, along with churches throughout the land, stand as an important counterpoint to the gaudiness, loudness and commercialism of modern life.
My prayer for the church is that we stand for that which is better, to insist passionately on the very best of Christian Values, the very best that human beings can aspire to. We need to say loudly that there is a better way, a more inclusive way, a way that doesn’t lead to fear or violence, war and conflict. A way that sees every human being as precious, as made in the image and likeness of God, even when they behave in ways we mistrust, or even despise. This is the theological underpinning of such a faith.
Desmond Tutu knew all about a divided apartheid church. Yet he recognised that God called it to unity: ‘Jesus was quite serious when he said that God was our father, that we belonged all to one family, because in this family all, not some, are insiders…. all belong, gay, lesbian, so-called straight - all belong and are loved, are precious.’