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Sermon preached
at Bradford Cathedral
Week of Unity Sunday 18th Jan 2009- 10:15 Holy Communion Revelations 5:1-10 & John 1:43 - end |
| I was wondering if I would hear a
few gasps of astonishment when Eveline read the end of our NT reading. But
either you’re too Anglican to gasp out loud, or more likely you’re
so familiar with the passage from Revelation 5 that it came as no surprise
at all! I suppose there is a third possibility, and that is, that none of
us have really grasped the significance of what Scripture is saying at this
point so that it didn’t jump out at us. So my aim now is to try and
draw out some of that significance.
It is the last five words which I want to focus on – do have the news sheet open. “They will reign on earth.” Who are ‘they’? Back to vs. 9: “Saints from every tribe and language and people on nation.” Who are the Saints? Those who are ransomed by the blood of the Lamb. Or ‘redeemed’. Those who benefit from the Cross of Christ. What are you and I doing this morning? Taking bread and wine, benefiting from the body and blood of Christ, giving thanks for his redemption. ‘But hold on a moment’ you might say. ‘Are you suggesting that this reference to Saints includes us?’ ‘Aren’t these the special Christians who are a bit higher up the spiritual ladder than us?’ Well no, that is not suggested here. Indeed, John wept because not one saint could be found worthy enough to open the scroll. Here is the company of people who have been redeemed by the Lamb, not by any worthiness of their own. Our Psalm this morning reminds us that God knows us from the inside out: ‘O Lord, you have searched me out and known me…you discern my thoughts from afar.’ God knows us through and through; He knows we have no power of ourselves to improve ourselves. Yet He calls us to share with Him the work of making the world more as He intends it to be: verse ten again, this time a little more direct: ‘He has made YOU to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and YOU will reign on earth.’ This teaching needs a bible study of its own. There are many places in Scripture which speak of God’s people reigning. In his book ‘Surprised by Hope’ Tom Wright says this: “Forget those images about lounging around playing harps. There will be work to do and we shall relish doing it. All the skills and talents which we have put to God’s service in this present life… will be enhanced and ennobled and given back to us to be exercised to this glory. There are several promises in the New Testament about God’s people ‘reigning’ and these cannot just be empty words. If the biblical view of God’s future is the renewal of the entire cosmos, there will be plenty to be done, entire new projects to undertake.” Of course, we cannot take this too far because we’re not told too much. Theologians tell us that the visions of Revelation speak of both present reality and future fulfilment. The reign of God’s people has begun but is yet to be completed. And if reigning means anything it involves leadership. This means taking the world more in the direction it should go, taking everyone with you. Leaders don’t have the luxury of clinging on to personal preferences or prejudices. If Rowan Williams was to have any hope as a leader in holding together the Anglican Communion he needed to put aside any strong views he held on issues which threatened to divide the church. And he has done a remarkable job in achieving that. It must be agony for him at times, not able to express freely what he really thinks for the sake of the greater unity. But that is leadership. On Tuesday Barak Obama begins his presidency of America. Why does he carry the hopes of millions? Partly, I think, because he has demonstrated a quality of leadership which America needs and the world needs – the ability to treat opposing views, not with contempt and condemnation but with respect and fair-mindedness. Here’s a story to illustrate that. After winning the Democratic nomination in the Senate Race, Obama received an email from a doctor in Chicago, a Christian firmly opposed to abortion and gay marriage. He had voted for Obama in the primaries but might not vote for him in the general election. In a speech in June 2006 Obama explained that the doctor had been offended by words on his website which appeared intolerant of the anti-abortion position. It wasn’t that the doctor was asking Obama to change his position on abortion, only that he was ‘fair-minded’ and represented fairly the views of those different from his own. In response, Obama felt shame, changed the offending words on his website and wrote to the doctor to thank him for his words. He then said that he offered a prayer that night, that he would always extend the same fairness to others that the doctor had shown to him. Here is leadership. Someone who has the generosity of spirit genuinely to seek to hold together beliefs and views different from his own, for the good of all. This is godly leadership this is reconciliation: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ In a world of suspicion and dogma and terror we need this kind of leadership. In a world where diverse beliefs and cultures often collide head on, we need leaders who demonstrate that we can live with difference – honestly and without compromising our own integrity. So it’s no wonder the people of God are called on to lead the world, to reign with Him. We have known the grace of God, we have been welcomed and accepted by Him. Now we are expected to live out that same love inclusive welcome to all. What is it the song says? ‘His love is wider than the widest ocean, deeper than the deepest sea, His love is higher than the highest mountain, His Love extends to even me.’ This is why Christian unity matters. Today marks the start of the Week of prayer for Christian unity. Unity is of course, not about persuading others to be a little bit more like us, it is about loving people who are not like us and don’t do things our way. A divided church has nothing to offer a divided world. But a diverse church which works together speaks of the possibility of living with difference, respecting difference and even celebrating difference. This has again been demonstrated by Barak Obama recently. He had already asked Rick Warren to give the invocation at the swearing in ceremony on Tuesday. Rick Warren heads up an Evangelical mega-church in California. Then, in a move apparently designed to balance that and to be inclusive, Obama’s team invited the openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson to give the invocation at today’s opening event in Washington today. The signs are that this is not a cynical political move, but a genuine concern on Obama’s part to include church leaders right across the spectrum. Let’s bring this closer to home as we wind up. Over the past year, 2008 something wonderful and encouraging has taken place regularly in this building. The cathedral has hosted gatherings of two, three, four hundred people at a time drawn from dozens of different churches across the city. Scripture speaks of God being blessed when His people come together in unity, and these ‘Prayer for Bradford’ events have been blessed with the presence of God. Alongside that, many different projects and events have taken place throughout the year under the Hope Bradford banner. This has led to many spin-offs, e.g. in November Abundant Life Church brought their young adults here for their regular Friday meeting. Two weeks later I attended a new Network of youth leaders from many different churches, including ALC. Small moves but barriers are being broken down. And even closer to home, tomorrow the Dean is presenting a paper to cathedral Chapter about possible ways to move forward ecumenically in the city. Do pray for that initiative. In our Gospel this morning we see Jesus choosing Nathaniel, a straight-talking Israelite, to be 1 of his close followers. Nathaniel accepts and joins a very mixed bunch of men, drawn from different levels of social standing and with different personalities. Deliberately. Jesus was teaching them to do what He does – extend the love of God to all without reserve, to live positively with difference. And presumably Nathaniel was there when Jesus says to the 12 (in Luke 22:30) at the Last Supper: “I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” “They sing a new song: Amen |