This Palm Sunday I revisited in a fresh way an old theme. Whilst many greeted Jesus coming into Jerusalem there were many who did not or could not. Which leads to asking the question did Jesus enter Jerusalem for them as well? Whilst I refreshed the message here is one with a similar theme from a few years ago. A different heresy: The cloaks that didn't make the road.
Monday, 14 April 2025
Friday, 11 April 2025
God is no-thing?
Induction of HA to Hospital Chaplaincy
Isaiah 43:1-3a, 16-21
“I am about to do a new thing. Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”
So writes the prophet Isaiah over two and a half thousand years ago. How do we understand his prophetic words on this day?
It would be the easy option for me this morning to sentimentalise the words of the prophet Isaiah into this moment in HA’s life.
“God is about to do a new thing in HA’s life.”
“God is about to do a new thing in St Andrews.”
“God is about to do a new thing in UnitingCare.”
Such sentimentalising of the reading would feel nice and recognise a simple truth that is occurring – HA is about to start work in a new placement. I think that the poem that HA has chosen for us to listen to as part of this liturgy taps into the human everyday fear and excitement of starting something new. But such a focus would reflect the domestication of the scriptures to the individualism of our era and pull our human activity to the centre of the sermon rather than who God is and what God has done.
Such sentimentalising also helps us to step around the complexity of the context of Isaiah’s prophecy as we think about his broader message. Whilst the words we read from the prophet today have an uptick of hopefulness they are set against a much bigger picture. The ancient geopolitical implications of the prophet’s words have an undertone of violence and war between Israel and its neighbours, particularly the Babylonian Empire. The vision of God’s involvement in setting aside patches of land for chosen people are still being played out in our contemporary world. Not simply for Israel but for those who see such visions might justify the concept of a Christian nation. Stepping into this complex space feels inappropriate for today’s sermon but needs to be acknowledged.
As Christians hearing this text I wonder if it might be helpful to dwell on the following phrase a bit more deeply:
Do not remember the former things
or consider the things of old.
As I contemplated this question, I began to wonder how God even perceives doing something new. In his book The Afternoon of Christianity Tomáš Halík reminds us of this confronting insight from the mystical traditions into the mystery of God. God is nothing. Let me say that a little differently.
God is no-thing. In other words, the concept of substance or matter is irrelevant to God’s existence. God is utterly transcendent and beyond our human comprehension.
To push this mystery a little further of God is no-thing then we should also then contemplate the possibility that God is also no-where. Prior to the creation, if prior is even a relevant category, there was nothing and nowhere and maybe even more baffling is the idea God is no-when. The physicist who later became a theologian Victor Pannenberg explores in depth the complex relationship of linear historical time with the eternity of God.
So how do we make any sense of God who is no-thing, no-where, and no-when doing something new within created reality. How can there be new or old if space and time are irrelevant.
At the beginning of John’s gospel, we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being … and the Word became flesh.”
In Christ, God who is a mystery utterly beyond us and transcendent, becomes entirely immanent. In Jesus we discover this utterly perplexing and amazing revelation:
God is some-thing (or some-one). God is some-where. And God is some-when.
Pannenberg wrote, “Only in the history of Jesus of Nazareth did the eschatological future, and with it the eternity of God, really enter the historical present.”[1] This event of God doing something new within the creation has an effect that ripples back and forth through time and space and touches the whole cosmos. As Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “In Christ God was reconciling the whole world to himself.” (2 Cor 5:19)
The incarnation has cosmic implications as the transcendence of God intersect with created reality and invites all things to find their home with God as God finds a home with us. The breaking down of the barrier between the creator and the creation is symbolised as Jesus dies. Mark tells us that “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom,” (Mark 15:38)
This tearing of the temple curtain as a sign of God’s presence in the world is made clearer as the resurrected Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on the disciples and later, on the day of Pentecost. The particularity of the incarnation as the meeting place between the divine and human finds its universal expression through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit God is in everything. God is everywhere. And God is everywhen.
Paul theologises Jesus’ presence in the world when he writes to the people at Ephesus. “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)
In the book of Lamentations we hear those well-worn words, “God’s mercies … are new every morning.” God who relates to us from beyond time now comes to us within time, in all things and in all people. Each and every moment a moment in which the eternal life of God the resurrection hope is present. This is the good news which we carry and offer to others, and which takes me back to where I started.
“I am about to do a new thing.
Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”
The new thing that God is doing is being in the world and in our lives through the eternal Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pastoral Crae takes on fresh meaning for us when we embrace this truth. In pastoral care our sentimentalising and our practical responses to people’s pain and suffering is done in the context of knowing that God is already there. We are there to point beyond ourselves and whatever is occurring to this presence of God which is the hope by which we live.
There is an image from the Easter stories which I think might be a helpful story as we contemplate our place in all of this. Maybe the best that we can say as people who seek to do pastoral care is that we wait alongside those who are suffering, sick, or sorrowing outside an empty tomb. We stand with them longing to hear Jesus’ reassuring voice speak our name just as he spoke Mary’s. For it is in this moment of hearing his voice that we truly know that we are not alone. We know that God is with us. Sometimes it is through our voice as carers that God’s presence becomes known. And sometimes it is through the voice of those we care from that we come to know God’s presence as we hear our name spoken.
HA. May the mystery of the transcendent and immanent God found in Jesus be with you in your personal pastoral encounters as you share in the hope of a God’s whose love knows no bounds and touches all things.
Amen
Tuesday, 1 April 2025
Reconciling the whole world to himself!
“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ.”
Paul’s claim that the reconciling work of God occurs in and through the whole life of Jesus Christ is astounding. His claim takes us beyond the cross and into the mystery of the incarnation. It centres our faith squarely in the person of Jesus and pushes us beyond our contemporary individualism.
For we who belong to the Uniting Church in Australia the significance of this passage from Paul is heightened. In the Basis of Union, which was the founding document that brought the three churches together, there is only one direct Biblical quote. It is from this passage by Paul and is in the third paragraph of the Basis which bears the title ‘Built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ’. It begins with these words:
Paragraph 3 Built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ
The Uniting Church acknowledges that the faith and unity of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church are built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ. The Church preaches Christ the risen crucified One and confesses him as Lord to the glory of God the Father. In Jesus Christ "God was reconciling the world to himself" (2 Corinthians 5:18 NRSV). In love for the world, God gave the Son to take away the world's sin. (Basis of Union)
In his commentary on the Basis J. Davis McCaughey, who was one of the chief architects of the document, explained that this Paragraph was the most fundamental Paragraph in the whole Basis.
In the opinion of the framers of the Basis this is the heart of the Christian faith: that in Jesus Christ "God was reconciling the world to himself". There is a universalism to God’s work in Christ. Furthermore, the line following the quote echoes this universality as it connects to John 3:16 and John 1:29, “In love for the world, God gave the Son to take away the world's sin.”
This wide-sweeping claim of God’s gracious action reconciling the world to himself challenges any form of exclusivist or exclusionary behaviour by Christians. God's reconciling work is for the whole cosmos from the big bang to whatever ending there might be for the universe. This claim invites us to share in witnessing to this reconciling work of God as good news.
McCaughey in his commentary goes on to say this. We are simply people who name and articulate what God has already done for the whole world in Jesus Christ.
This kind of universal view of God’s work in Christ is not simply the province of the Uniting Church. The Orthodox theologian Kharalambos Anstall reminds us of this in his reflections about the concept of atonement.
He says: “Despite the presence of ethnic, creedal and "colour" variances that may often give rise to widely diversified cultural expressions, Holy Scripture informs us that all of humanity is created uniquely in the likeness and image of God, whose universal love knows no discrimination.” (Stricken by God?: Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ Kindle Locations 6104-6106. Kindle Edition)
This week we invited the S. family to choose a song for worship today and explain its meaning for them. Mum chose ‘Come as you are’ and in doing so unknowingly chose a song intimately tied to the theme of this sermon. The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways. If we mean the words that we sing ‘come as you are’ then we are offering a universal invitation for all people to come into this place as already accepted and loved by God. This song reflects how God’s reconciliation of the world might be played out in our midst. As Paul puts it “we regard no one from a human point of view” but through the eyes of God’s reconciling and unconditional love.
This means that when a person walks into this congregation or someone you know understands that you are a person of the Christian faith you automatically become an ambassador for Christ. What you say and what you do represents to that person who Jesus Christ is. It is little wonder that Paul goes on to say to the people in Corinth “since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” However, the reality is that we are flawed and fallible humans and we struggle in our role as ambassadors.
As I contemplated this difficult role that we play representing Christ I was drawn back to the artwork on the cover of John Carroll’s book Humanism: The Wreck of Western Culture. The artwork often goes by the title ‘The Ambassadors’ and was painted in 1533 by Hans Holbein. The reason I was drawn back to this image is that depicts these two scholarly men at the height of their intellect but when we look closely beset by issues. The painting is laden with meaning.
Between the two men the shelves contain items of science and culture representing the heavenly sphere and the earthly realm. According to experts the latest scientific instruments are set incorrectly, the mathematics text is open on a page about division, the lute string is broken and there is a Lutheran hymn book. The distorted image that floats between them is a human skull painted in a style that means you must stand at the correct angle to see it clearly. Finally, hidden in the top left corner partially hidden by the curtain is a crucifix.
There is a great deal of speculation about the meaning that Holbein was trying to convey in this painting. But, for us today, it serves as a simple reminder that having glimpsed Jesus in our own lives whilst we might try to do our best to be ambassadors, but our task is fraught with difficulties. Nonetheless as followers of Christ we try and consider what it means to be ambassadors of God’s reconciling work in Christ. I want to share a few glimpses of the work of reconciliation that we are called to.
In Australia the word reconciliation is laden with political meaning related to our relationship with First Nations people. In 2024 the National Assembly recognised the 30th anniversary of the Covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Congress. Rev Mark Kickett, a Noongar man, and the National Chair of the UAICC, reminds us that
"The Covenant helps to express the relationship we have as one church. (It) expresses a determination and a desire for the people of God, both black and white, and everyone else that comes in thereafter, to be committed to one journey and it's a journey of justice, and a journey of oneness, with a common goal."
As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek deeper reconciliation with First People.
Working in an all-girls school for the last seven years I have become much more acutely aware of the ongoing issues around discrimination and the treatment of women. This afternoon a vigil will be held for a local woman who was murdered last week in our own area. She was killed by her son. Our culture continues to grapple with violence against women, as well as the fair treatment of women and people of different genders generally. As people of faith our reconciling work involves us in this struggle. In 2018 the National Assembly of the Uniting Church out a Statement on Domestic and Family Violence. The Statement reminded us that
“Every person is of infinite worth and entitled to live with dignity and each person's life and humanity needs to be protected or the human community and its reflection of God are diminished.” It goes on to recognise that “Some violent men who are members and adherents of Christian churches have used phrases in the Bible to reinforce their power in intimate relationships.” This second part is difficult for us to grapple with but also vital for us to deal with.
As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek to name issues of discrimination and violence against women in our society.
The issue of how we include people of different genders and sexuality has been a pivotal point of discussion for the Uniting Church. Again, at last year’s Assembly, the Assembly resolved to
“invite congregations and councils of the Church to welcome and honour transgender, gender diverse, and intersex people, and the gifts and skills they bring to all aspects of the Church’s life, including worship, leadership, and social justice advocacy.”
At the Assembly I spoke in favour of this motion. In every congregation that I have worked in there have been members of the congregation, or members of the congregation with family members, who would identify their gender or sexuality in different ways. At the school I worked with students who were trans, and I had a member of my Chapel team who was transitioning to being a male in an all girls school.
As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek to include and welcome people of diverse backgrounds of gender and sexuality.
In our personal relationships and approaches as a congregation we always have our own work to do in reconciliation. I recall my father telling a story of two sisters in one congregation who had a disagreement in their teens. One sat at the front of the church, and one sat the back. The barely spoke to one another. They were in their 70s. As individuals in our relationships, we can hold grudges for not just months, but years and even decades. In every congregation and community in which I have ministered I have heard about divisions and disagreements on a range of issues. The work of personal reconciliation is hard work. At Moreton Bay College they had adopted an approach to Pastoral Care and discipline called Restorative Practice.
Restorative Practice in schools is based in the principles of Restorative Justice which in its contemporary form largely grew out of the Mennonite community in the 1970s. It is ironic that when I searched for churches of any denomination in Brisbane who were using restorative practice, I could not find any. Church communities often leave conflicts unresolved and speak of forgiving one another but often the hurt and harm is not dealt with.
As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek ways to resolve our own conflicts in healthy and gracious ways.
We are ambassadors for Christ.
We are ambassadors of the good news that God was reconciling the world to himself.
The formation of the Uniting Church was an act reconciliation. This reconciling action also involved repentance. The three churches who came into union recognized their unfaithfulness and that the fragmentation of the church into denominations was a sign of unfaithfulness. We are meant to be the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. As the church we are meant to be witnesses to what God has already done for the whole creation.
“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ.”
Take a moment to contemplate these questions.
Who is God calling you to be reconciled with?
How are you being an ambassador of the idea that in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.”