Sermon for the 2nd of June - First Sunday after Trinity
Lectionary Readings for the First Sunday after Trinity
II Corinthians 4:5–12
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Mark 2:23 - 3:6
One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’ Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Sermon for the First Sunday after Trinity
When the news reports too much in the world today that seems to be all sadness and loss, I try to name some of the good things that are also a cause for hope:
Historically, almost half of children in our world died before they reached the age of
15. That figure has declined steadily since the 19th century; the United Nations Population Division projects that in 2023 a record low will have been reached in global child mortality, with only 3.6 percent of newborns dying by the age of 5, a million less than died as recently as 2016.Two terrible diseases have now almost been wiped out: polio and Guinea worm disease, this second one thanks to the untiring efforts of former U. S. president Jimmy Carter. New gene-editing techniques have been developed to treat sickle cell disease — and there is hope that similar developments can transform the treatment of cancer and other diseases. New vaccines have been approved for malaria that are expected to save many thousands of children’s lives.
Extreme poverty has reached a record low, now affecting a little more than 8 percent of humans worldwide, according to United Nations projections. It seems that about 100,000 people are now emerging from extreme poverty each day.
And the literacy rate across the globe has increased in a major way in the last fifty years, with more than 86% of the world's population able to read and write in 2024, compared to 68% in 1979. This is especially true for women. The gap between the literacy rates of men and women has also decreased, from over 17% in 1976 to just 7% in 2020.
And the Christian organisations to which this congregation faithfully contributes money each year have contributed to the hope that our world can be changed for the better:
Christian Aid, began in 1945, founded by British and Irish churches to help refugees following the Second World War, has worked in over fifty developing countries to prevent famine and provide aid to those suffering from war and natural disasters, as in the Turkey-Syria earthquake, Ukraine, Sudan. It has raised over £19 million pounds for the humanitarian crisis now in Gaza.
Future Hope has provided, for thirty-five years, house parents, teachers and staff who have cared for and educated thousands of vulnerable children who would otherwise live on the streets of Calcutta, India.
Glass Door helped 1787 homeless persons living on the streets of London last year, 294 of whom were moved into permanent housing.
City Harvest rescues more than 120 tonnes of food every week, equivalent to the weight of fifteen London buses. They redeliver to hungry people food left unsold from supermarkets, restaurants and markets.
So this is a lot of good news! It is important to take note of it all.
But life continues to be a struggle for most of our fellow human beings, and we as Christians are called to continue to help those who through no fault of their own undergo great hardship.
At the risk of flooding you with statistics this morning, I was astounded to read that according to Open Doors' 2024 World Watch List, around 365 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith around the world. Almost 5,000 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons in 2023, although a significant number of deaths are unreported. On average, 13 Christians are killed every day for their faith, and 12 churches or Christian buildings are attacked.
But as Christians, we are called to respond in faith, with love, and not to lose hope. As Paul encouraged the Corinthians two thousand years ago:
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.
In Paul's own day the darkness threatened to black out all hope:
The destruction of the Temple by Titus and the triumphant display in Rome of its most precious holy vessels had wrought destruction for Israel that was far more than a single edifice. The Romans would not cease to be an empire of oppression for more than 400 more years. The nation of Israel was in shock, and it would be some long years before it would come to redefine its sense of nationhood and its own spiritual destiny.
But what gave hope to that emerging group of followers of Jesus was the fact of the Resurrection. A shocking death gave way to an equally shocking Resurrection. And this would prove to be the one unshakable, lasting foundation for hope for those first followers of Jesus---those who felt leaderless, lost, uncertain, and at odds even with one another. Because in the aftermath of the humiliating spectacle of a presumed Messiah suffering and dying on a cross, this shocking death was followed by the witness of His even more shocking Resurrection and the dawning realisation of all it meant. All that it meant for them, and for the world: Death had been overcome by one who suffered with us, for us. Out of unending love. If Jesus the Christ was resurrected by God, then so shall we be also.
So if the question for you is, how is Christian hope different from just ordinary hope?
Paul gives us the answer, in this passage from his letter to the Corinthians, as in the great book of Romans. The answer is: Christian hope looks death in the eye and has no fear. Christian hope transcends a vague desire that things will get better, somehow, some way, because they can't really, really? get much worse. Christian hope is far more than a sense that because things aren't so bad for me they can't be so bad for others, as well. Christian hope is broader, deeper---it is infinite, because you would be surprised, in the end, at how many people die fearing death.
If the one who has gone before us has faced the worst that human life could possibly bring, vanquishing the power that death held, then we are truly freed to live and love in endless hope. And that is the distinctive quality of hope that Christians carry with them, day by day, in all times and places.
In this past week only in our daily prayer together we have commemorated the contributions to the faith of
Bede the historian, Augustine of Canterbury, John Calvin, Lanfranc, Josephine Butler, and Apolo Kivebulaya of Uganda. And this is just some of them.
It is an immense treasury of hope.
We embrace and carry on a tradition that lifts us up out of the darkness of our all-too- human world into the light of Christ. It is a cause for gladness and of great celebration!
As the stirring 1824 hymn proclaims:
My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
… On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand.
Amen.