|
|
SERMONS Sean Gilbert – 2/11/09 It is all a question of identity. In the context of the longer story, the unfolding drama, only one player, one character, is able to stand honestly and freely in their God-given identity. “I am he.” “I have spoken openly, not in secret.” “My kingdom is not of this world. I have spoken the truth.” Contrast this with the betrayal/complicity of Judas, the sheer panic of Peter, the hypocrisy and cowardice of Annas & Caiaphas, & finally the sheer pragmatism and cruelty of Pilate. It is a question of identity and how freely, how truly one stands within it. So that rather, today, we envisage kingship of Christ, Reign of Christ, or I think more accurately, Reign of God, as something out there beyond the blue – well & truly beyond our limited grasp – it strikes me that it is far closer to home than that. For how does this kingdom come, how does this healing presence of Christ work its reconciling and stately way, but by you and me? It is a question of identity, and in this context, the level of our willingness to identify with this way of life, this way of being that cares little for status or safety, but gives everything for the sake of truth and freedom and Shalom. It is a question of identity. In John’s Gospel, in particular, so secure or at home (rest) is Jesus in his person, that in the face of misinterpretation, torture, betrayal, and the imminence of brutal execution, here is expressed a curious mixture of silence, intriguing, non-defensive responses, and seemingly outrageous claims to a peaceable kingdom not of this violent and cruel world. The Jesuit Peace activist, John Dean
who was in Adelaide recently, writes about this saying:
The point being for me, that noisy self-justifications, well-argued self-defence, the compromising of values, the selling out of others for the sake of our own fragile standing in community, is not the way of Christ nor of his vision of a renewed humanity.
What he models for us, like all the great religious teachers It is no small thing, if not a miracle at times, for Christians to believe the depth and power of such grace to transform not only ourselves, but the world. “The glory of God,” wrote St Iraneus, (and as Rod reminded us two weeks ago) “is most clearly seen in a human being who is most fully alive.” And fully alive, not to anxiety, competiveness, self-justification or criticism of others - these are deathly, as we know – but alive to hope, generosity, mercy, compassion, joy, wonder, justice, goodness. Those are the pillars of God’s Reign in our midst, the very foundation of Christ’s ministry on earth. And naturally they are the life-blood of vital, caring and daring Christian community. They are what we sign up for, are they not, and give our lives for, for nothing else comes close, to their power and their majesty to help heal ourselves and the world. In summary, the Reign of Christ, the kingdom of God, is the ever possible presence of Divine Love to have its goodly way with us, so that we become that presence, we become that Reign. And whilst at this point the Institution becomes very nervous about right behaviour and right beliefs and maintaining a God in the distant heavens, what is more pressing, I believe, is a community of Spirit and Soul, Vision and sure, grateful identity in Christ. “We are who we are. We can be no other.”
To conclude, a prayerful piece from Mechtild, a celebrated Christian
mystic. Thus we move in
God’s world
|
|||||||||||||