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SERMONS Phillip Carter Sixty years ago a white priest in Johannesburg doffed his hat to a black woman who was walking down the street with her 9 year old son. Socially and politically it was an unthinkable act. The white priest was Fr Trevor Huddleston and the little black boy was Desmond Tutu. Such an action made a decisive impact on Desmond Tutu’s life. Trevor Huddleston, according to Desmond Tutu, was one of the chief architects behind the eventual overthrow of apartheid. And in his book, Naught for Your Comfort, published in 1956, which launched him on to the international stage, he said, “You cannot love an abstraction”. And he could say that because of his theology – and such a theology made it both natural and unavoidable that he should be so vehemently against the evils of Apartheid. And his theology we might say was both incarnational and sacramental. Incarnational – focused around the fact of the Word made flesh – the Jesus event where God takes human form – what the great feast of Christmas celebrates – and what we prepare for in Advent – and sacramental – discovering and celebrating that this whole world – and everything in it – is charged with the grandeur of God. You cannot love an abstraction begins where we are – with what all of us have, or at least are: viz bodies! Our bodies – and I need to say this – in a Church which is often tempted to spiritualize everything – our bodies are important. They provide for us a place of recognition – as well as for encounter and engagement – and meeting place – between persons. Just as language and words provide us with a place where meaning and understanding can occur. If we didn’t have bodies, we wouldn’t have a place to meet! I only know you, and you me – through our bodies. Our bodies provide us a place of meeting so we can experience our personalities. Bodies are a medium through which something else can happen. In this sense we can call our bodies, symbols. As symbols they carry what they point to. Our bodies in this sense provide us with opportunities for relationship, for friendship, for depth. A symbol is a sensible reality – it is accessible to our senses. We touch, taste, smell, see or hear symbols. And what a symbol does is make present something else – not something absent but something present and real that we couldn’t experience or express in any other way. In this sense a symbol is different from a sign – which simply points to something absent (cf signpost to Sydney). A symbol renders present something transcendent or other. A symbol invites and includes us – we participate in it as I with you in the experience of human relating... and friendship. A symbol reveals – but it also conceals. There is always the possibility of missing or misinterpreting a symbol. For example – we can miss each other – or we can fail to appreciate what is really being offered... at the heart of abuse is a deeply flawed understanding of what bodies are really for. Symbols don’t give us information so much as invite us into an experience that is open ended. Symbols offer us a way forward, of learning and growing. Symbols actually make a difference; they have the capacity to change us. They don’t leave us the same. So when I encounter someone – the more open I am, respectful of the other I am – the more possibility there is of deeper engagement, deeper response, deeper friendship. All relationships call out for such openness. This disposition or attitude is crucial to all my relationships. And the more closed I am – fearful – or anxious – the more shut in – the more I shut you out – and the less there is that happens. If this is true of bodies and persons – then it’s also true of words and other symbols – words (for example) of the text of Scripture and symbols of bread and wine. One of the things people sometimes feel at a disadvantage about is (we say) if only we’d been there when Jesus walked this earth – we’d have seen, really seen – and we’d have really heard – but the gospels are full of stories of people – just like us – who didn’t see – and didn’t hear – in fact full of people who misinterpreted the symbolic presence of the body and the words of Jesus – for them he was not a symbol of something else – namely the power and aliveness of God – but to those who were open – they saw him for what he was – and they were opened to a deeper engagement – a deeper experience and relationship with God. For them Jesus became the place of meeting... So we haven’t got Jesus in the same way – but what we do have is words and stories – bread and wine – and each other – and these can become the symbolic or sacramental place of meeting between God and us. What is asked of us is this: simply to be as open as we can – to respect or reverence the text – or the meal we share – or each other – as potential places of meeting – places of revelation. Just as friendships only grow with openness and respect and befriending – so we are asked to befriend the text of Scripture – to be as open as we possibly can – to wait, letting go of our fears and anxieties and preoccupations – and let these places – of text – of bread and wine – of each other – become the place for real encounter – real engagement – of revelation and communion – and discover the transformation God has in store for each of us. So as we prepare for Christmas – letting the stories surrounding the birth of Jesus (especially) become our focus – befriend them – be open to them – learn Jesus by description and just as a friend might tell you about a friend of theirs – you’ve never met – but over the years stories get told... you’d love Jack if only you could meet him – you’d really enjoy Jack – you two have so much in common – and one magical day you meet Jack... So having learned to appreciate and learn Jesus by description, under the befriending Spirit of God – you wake up to learning Jesus by acquaintance. These stories are written by trustworthy people. Jesus calls us into a disposition of openness and respect – he calls this disposition faith – and if we approach the text of Scripture – the bread and wine of Eucharist – and each other – and this whole created world of ours – with this openness and respect – if we learn to befriend these places of meeting then they become the places of revelation and encounter, of communion and transformation – the places where God meets us, and we meet God. Christ Church Uniting Church
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