In the name of the Father and
of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Chapter 11 of the letter to
the Hebrews begins with that well known definition of ‘faith’.
“Faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
This definition of faith is a
definition that reminds that having faith does not mean that we have arrived
but I think unfortunately, especially in Churches like ours in the West, we
have fallen into the trap of thinking exactly just that.
Our lives are very comfortable,
we have great freedom in our culture, we can come to this property that we own
and sit in our regular pews week by week to worship God. All of these things point to the idea that we
have settled down, we have made our home.
And to be frank the sentimentalism and over attachment that we have to
our properties and bank balances is a sign of exactly this problem.
But when the author of the
letter invites the Hebrews to reflect on Abraham he reminds them that these
early proponents of faith “confessed they were strangers and foreigners on the
earth” who were “seeking a homeland” and desired “a better country”. These people were on a journey and so are we
are. As faith takes hold of us we are
not being encouraged to settle down but to join the pilgrimage!
The question is then ‘what
does it mean to be on this pilgrimage of faith?’ I want to address three aspects of this
question for us to consider as a congregation that arise from the readings this
morning. The first is to do with the
timing of our arrival. The second and
third are to do with what we are to be doing on the way.
In the readings that we heard
from Luke’s gospel this morning spoke to us about our destination which is less
about our destination and more about God’s will. Jesus reminded his listeners that ‘the Son of
Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’
Our destination as Christians
is not so much a place that we reach but the timing of the fulfilment of God’s
coming kingdom and we won’t know when that is going to occur.
It’s like we are a bunch of
kids whose parents have gone out. Left
with the responsibility of looking after the house while mum and dad are out we
have choices to make.
Will we order pizzas and get
a video; will we break into the drinks cupboard and invite some friends around
for a party; will we do the chores we were asked to do? What are we going to get up to and what will
happen when we hear the crunch of our parent’s tyres in the driveway?
Jesus’ challenge is there for
people to contemplate because he is inviting people to be prepared for his
return. We don’t know when we will
arrive at our destination so the imperative is to live as people who do what we
were asked to do while we wait for Jesus return, for our waiting is an active
waiting not a passive thing.
The brings me to speak about
the second point I wanted to raise from the readings and it has to do with the
church in the Western world in general and so specifically our congregation as
well.
Between the Psalm and Isaiah
there was some tension about the life and worship practices of the
Israelites. In the Psalm God declares
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,” but then in Isaiah the Lord declares
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?... I have had enough of burnt
offerings of rams… I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of
goats… bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination.”
There is no doubt that we are
called as God’s people to gather and offer worship to God, to offer our
sacrifice of praise. So why does God
mount this tirade against the cultic practices of the Israelites. The answer is that despite the worship
practices there seems to be a disconnection between the worship and the daily
life of the people.
Now I would point out that
Christian worship is distinct in a number of ways to the worship that we find
in the Old Testament. Primarily in as
much as we are now participants in God’s coming kingdom achieved in Jesus
Christ. Despite this it is no less important that there is a connection between
what we express in our gathered worship and our lived faith journey day by day.
So how the connection is
going? A few years ago I was at a
breakfast with Tim Costello and Steve Chalke an English Baptist Pastor. One of the things that Chalke said has stuck
with me.
He told the gathered group
that around 60 to 70 years ago in England the Church was very much
the centre of the community. The Church
ran hospitals and schools and orphanages and helped the poor and basically
provided much of the social infrastructure of the society. Things changed though and the government started
to develop welfare systems and provide the social infrastructure that had once
been provided by the Church. The
consequence of which was that this task of the church in the community became
either regulated or lost completely. Many Christians became detached from their
sense of service.
The end result in Chalke’s
opinion has been that Church people have become a bit like shut-ins who get
together and sing songs that are largely irrelevant to most of the culture
around them (modern ones or ancient ones!) and argue among themselves about
things that no one else cares about. Why?
Because, he says, they have become bored.
Now whilst I think Chalke is probably overly harsh I believe he does
have a bit of a point.
When we lose the other out
workings of our faith and disconnect the relationship with God that we
celebrate on Sunday with our day to day life and the problems of the world we
are missing the point. What Chalke
describes is not simply the problem that as congregations we have settled down
but that in settling down we have ceased being interested in going out.
As congregations like ours
struggle harder and harder to transform our worshipping life and make it more
relevant, it has to be said that unless this is accompanied by a closer
engagement with the world around us then I suspect we won’t get very far at
all. When we think about following Jesus
and being the church and serving I believe we are called to think of our Christian
service as far broader than greeting at the door or doing the readings or even
leading a prayer. Our pilgrimage of
faith is a day by day thing and we are called to live our faith in every
setting we find ourselves.
This brings me to make a
third point about how we are to live on this pilgrimage of faith. I want to raise for us a couple of issues
here.
Firstly to say that at the
beginning of Isaiah we hear that Isaiah saw the vision in the days of the kings
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. Isaiah
then speaks the word of the Lord to the rulers.
In other words religion and politics do mix.
Going back to the reading
from Hebrews if we are seeking a better country or if we are seeking to bring
signs of the coming kingdom into reality in the world this means engaging
seriously with the social and political issues.
This is particularly pertinent as we weigh up how to vote. Whilst different church groups and
individuals may have different agendas in their engagement with politicians the
idea that our faith is lived politically is an important one.
Now as we are aware we have just had a federal election and I am aware that many of you have particular
political allegiances. I do not believe
it is the place of the church to support a particular party, despite some
comments to the contrary, I do not believe that the Uniting Church has a
particular political allegiance. What we
are called to do though is to weigh up what we are being told by any party with
the good news of our faith. This means
remembering that our first allegiance as Christians is to Jesus Christ not the
political party to which we may belong.
More than that as we listen for the prophets in our midst we should
listen for what they might be saying to those in power. Just as Isaiah spoke to the kings long ago so
too there are people who bring the Christian message in confronting ways before
our political leaders.
The second issue I want to
raise here is that our pilgrimage of faith calls us to do what the Lord
challenges the people with in Isaiah. In
the prophecy God is less concerned about sacrifices and more concerned that the
people “learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the
orphan, and plead for the widow.” These
groupings come up often in the scripture and they represent to us all those in
society who are disadvantaged and ostracised.
This is where the rubber hits the road – being the people of God means
helping these people and this as Jesus points out is a personal thing. Jesus said to his audience “See your
possessions and give alms.” The call to
serve those who have less than us is a gospel imperative and just as much an
expression of our faith as coming to worship on a Sunday.
As a congregation we do this
in small ways and I am aware that many of you as individuals also engage in
issues of social justice and serving others.
The question remains before us constantly as to how we might continually
connect in relevant and real ways with the community around us and the world at
large in our faith journey.
Ultimately we cannot see the
fullness of God’s kingdom yet, we hope for something that is yet to come, this
is what drives and inspires us. As you
consider God’s goodness in giving you a foretaste and share in the coming
kingdom I want to invite you to think about your own faith and our faith as a
congregation. Are you feeling that you
have arrived? Have you settled in and
become too comfortable in this building and in your favourite pew? How is God calling us to be his people here
and now and how will respond?
I think that there are
exciting signs of God’s faithfulness in our midst and that rather than slowing
down we are being challenged and called to do more.
In the silence I want to
invite you to listen for Gods challenging Word to you on this day.
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