Sermon for the 25th of August - Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Lectionary Readings for the Thirteenth Sunday of Trinity

John 6: 56-69

‘Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’

But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you?

Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’

Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’

Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’

Ephesians 6: 10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday of Trinity

Onward, Christian Soldiers is one of the still-resonant hymns of my childhood--- written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, as he reported, in about fifteen minutes, Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert & Sullivan fame, set it to music in 1871. It remains Sullivan's most popular hymn. It has been sung on many notable occasions, including a church service during the meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt in 1941 to fashion the the Atlantic Charter, setting out goals for the world at the end of that war. Churchill chose it specifically.

 Military language has been used by the church and incorporated into its hymns and liturgy throughout history, beginning with our passage from Ephesians. But this fact gives rise to some further consideration....

 On the 24th of February, 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine. In support of this order by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, gave his solemn blessing to Russian soldiers about to be sent there, promising them forgiveness of sins if they were to be killed in this righteous cause. Kirill lauded the Russian invasion of Ukraine and justified the war as a struggle against 'forces of evil.'

 That next month, on March 27th-28th, at the Congress of the World Russian People’s Council which he heads, Kirill called the invasion of Ukraine a “Holy War.” This is a quotation from the document published by the Congress: From the spiritual and moral point of view, the Special Military Operation is a Holy War....

 Many leaders of churches around the world, and people of all kinds, were shocked at this language, used to justify an invasion of one sovereign nation by another.

 The same language has also been used in a very different fashion--- this is a chapter of the church's history from a hundred and fifty-some years ago.

 Here is that story, taken from Kathleen Jones's excellent book, The Saints of the Anglican Calendar:

 "William Booth's father died when he was in his early teens, and he was apprenticed to a local pawnbroker. He learned about violence and drunkenness and shame and misery from the lives of the poor, and had a religious experience which led him to give his life to preaching repentance and salvation. He moved from Nottingham to London when he was twenty, and joined the Methodist New Connexion at Camberwell, as a lay evangelist. He studied the Bible and became a powerful preacher. In 1855, he married Catherine Mumford, who was to be his partner in the foundation and building up of the Salvation Army.

William embarked on preaching tours in the cities of the north and east of England. He took seriously Wesley's injunction that 'You have nothing to do but save souls,' and he went into the poorest areas, the 'dark ocean of human wrecks,' to find his converts. His methods were unorthodox,: he gave out handbills for his meetings, inviting people to 'Come, drunk or sober.' he took crowds of poor, ill-dressed and often unwashed converts into the Methodist chapels, where they were not always welcome. When the New Connexion tried to restrain his zeal by confining him to a particular circuit, he resigned, and set up his own Christian Mission in the East End of London. Catherine insisted that women could preach as well as men, and women always played a full part in the Mission's work, the lady preachers being popularly known as 'Hallelujah Lasses.' Some of them, like 'Happy Liza' and 'Hallelujah Abbie,' became popular figures with the East Enders. Seventy years before the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous, the Booths organized their 'shock troops' to combat alcoholism. The mission became the Salvation Army---'an Army terrible with banners'--with William Booth as its General.

 Members of this new army adopted military terminology: their mission halls were 'citadels' or 'forts.' They practised 'knee-drill' when they knelt in prayer. 'Fix bayonets!' was a request for hands to be raised in assent and acclamation. Their brass bands attracted the crowds and drowned the jeers and cat-calls of their opponents.

They adapted the popular songs of the day to new words: 'Here's to good old whisky' became 'Storm the forts of darkness, bring them down.' Their motto, shown on the flag, was 'Blood and Fire'---the Blood of the Lamb and the Fire of the Holy Ghost.

These words are still engraved above the lintels of many Salvation Army citadels; the flag has never flown at half-mast.

 A uniform was devised for the 'shock troops,' and William Booth wrote Orders and Regulations for the Salvation Army on the lines of a well-known manual for the Armed Forces. His troops needed both faith and stamina: they were often pelted with rotten eggs or fish refuse, and sometimes with stones. The women's hats had 'broad missile-resistant brims.' In 1879, the War Cry began publication--four pages, weekly, a ha'penny a copy---and they sold it on street corners and in the public houses.

 There was active opposition--often inspired by brewers or publicans---and the police frequently turned a blind eye to attacks. In 1882 alone, 669 of these Christian soldiers were assaulted, and sixty buildings wrecked, but the movement prospered, and spread with remarkable speed: to the United States, to Canada, Australia, India and other countries. The local mission had become an international movement.

 Catherine Booth died in 1890, having reared seven children with William---they all played a major part in the Salvation Army's work. William carried on for another twenty-two years.

 The Salvation Army was pioneering in many fields of social reform--child prostitution, legal aid for poor clients, a missing persons' bureau. Though the Charity

Organisation Society insisted that 'the hunger of the mass can only be met by their own exertions' and Punch satirized 'Field Marshal von Booth,' William and Catherine Booth's efforts were unsparing. By the time William died at the age of eighty-three, he had travelled five million miles, preached nearly 60,000 sermons, and seen the Salvation Army established in fifty-eight different countries. As he said of himself, he was a fighter to the very end."

 So, what about this language, taken from the letter to the Ephesians?

 The followers of Jesus protested that his teaching about the Bread of Life was too difficult. "Many of them turned back and no longer went about with him."

 But the writer of Ephesians gave us stirring images of how to engage in the fight against evil, in that day and in ours. Take up the whole armour of God; stand firm. Armed with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shield of faith, proclaim the gospel of peace. Put on the helmet of salvation; wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 With these, we are able to quench all the flaming arrows of the Evil One.

 The forces of evil are still active in our world today--at least, this is how I would characterise our world today. Many brave young men and women have died in this recent invasion by Russia of Ukraine, called a Holy War. Many civilians have lost their lives in this invasion of the Gaza strip by the army of Israel, the people of the Book. Terrorism in far-flung parts of the world continues to claim innocent lives. In the Sudan, the lust for power and the loss of hope in the institutions of government have placed millions on the brink of starvation. The casualties of war are countless, in all the countries where war is waged.

 What are we to do?

 I think that we can still use the language of Ephesians, this patently military language, but only after we carefully consider how. Like William and Catherine Booth, we can think of ourselves as equipping our spirits and bodies against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil, through our Christian faith. We can practice our faith as fervently as if we were in a regular army. As if we were, indeed, going into battle.

 I believe that every small act of faith we perform tips the balance of good and evil in our world. That every prayer we voice for every person in need is heard by the God who has, indeed, equipped us.

I want to be very clear that I am speaking of, as Ephesians puts it, proclaiming the Gospel of Peace. I think the test of whether or not our zeal is informed by God's leading is whether that end conforms to Christ's own teaching: blessed are the poor in spirit, the merciful, the peacemakers/blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. All of Jesus's actions were prompted by love---healing those broken by the world's evil, gathering a community inspired by compassion, proclaiming a gospel of God's Kingdom that freed people from all that bound them.

 Jesus gives us a model of how to act. And of how to oppose evil, in all the many forms that it takes in our world today.

 As we come together here, so many centuries after Easter, we continue to ponder this model of love together. We read, reflect, sing and pray, partake of His own sacrament of a broken body given for all the broken bodies and spirits of our all-too-human world.

 Language matters. It is important to understand the words of sacred Scripture according to the purpose for which they were written. Ephesians exhorts us to stand firm against evil, firm in the faith of Christ. With discipline and courage we can, together, go forth into battle against the evil that threatens the goodness of God's own creation. With Christ as our model, let us never fear the outcome of the battle!