Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany

Sunday 29nd January 2006

Preached by Rev Brian Parker

 

Integrity

A man was looking for a job and he noticed that there was an opening at the local zoo. He inquired about the job and discovered that the zoo had a very unusual position that they wanted to fill.

Apparently their gorilla had died, and until they could get a new one, they needed someone to dress up in a gorilla suit and act like a gorilla for a few days. He was to just sit, eat and sleep. His identity would be kept secret, of course. Thanks to a very fine gorilla suit, no one would be the wiser.

The zoo offered good pay for this job, so the man decided to do it. He tried on the suit and sure enough, he looked just like a gorilla. They led him to the cage; he took up position at the back of the cage and pretended to sleep.

But after a while, he got tired sitting, so he walked around a little bit, jumped up and down and tried a few gorilla noises.

The people watching him really liked that.  When he jumped they would clap and cheer and throw him peanuts.

And the man loved peanuts. So he jumped around some more and tried climbing a tree. That seemed to really get the crowd excited. They threw more peanuts. Playing to the crowd, he grabbed a vine and swung from one side of the cage to the other. The people loved it and threw more peanuts.

So he swung higher and the crowd grew bigger. He continued to swing on the vine, getting higher and higher – and then all of a sudden the vine broke! He swung up and out of the cage, landing in the lion’s cage that was next door.

He panicked. There was a huge lion just a few feet away and it looked very hungry. So the man in the gorilla suit started jumping up and down, screaming and yelling, “Help! help! Get me out of here! I’m not really a gorilla! I’m a man in a gorilla suit! Help!”

The lion quickly pounced on the man, held him down and said: “Will you shut up! You’re going to get us both sacked!”

 

Pretending to be something we’re not, manipulating things to deceive and living with many faces are human traits that the Bible says are “abhorrent to the Lord”.

These past few days we have seen the abhorrent private life of a politician exposed in the media. It seems he was paying only lip service to family values and high moral principles.

And in the fast moving, highly charged world of money markets there have been numerous revelations of very clever and sophisticated fraud.

The stereotype of the thuggish bank robber bears no resemblance to the smooth talking financier who puts on a caring persona to rob an elderly client.

CS Lewis once said: “The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of crime that Dickens loved to paint. It is conceived and moved, seconded, carried and minuted in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.”

There’s something to think about! Beware the smooth sales pitch it may not be all it seems!

And of course the preacher is easily put under scrutiny.

A few weeks ago Happy and I were discussing something. She has certain directness when it comes to responding to anything I may say, sermons included. Of course I value her insight in all matters and always pay attention!

Anyway on this occasion I held forth with a robust point of view.

“Well” she responded, “That’s not what you said in your sermon!”

So it’s back to the drawing board! Practising what you preach is indeed a difficult and very public test!

I was saddened last week to hear of Bishop Peter Barrett’s resignation. It seems his marriage has broken down and although there is no ecclesiastical law that says he must therefore resign – he did so on a point of principle. He felt that in the circumstances he could no longer serve with integrity as a Bishop.

Peter is a fine theologian and a wonderful pastor. His contribution to church life has been highly significant not only in Ireland but in the Anglican Family, notably in Eastern Europe. He is indeed a man of integrity and as a church we are weakened by his resignation.

It seems he felt that his personal life was not in line with his public role. He wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.

Archbishop William Temple was the leading Anglican thinker on social issues in the 20th century. In addressing the problems of poverty for example he stressed how important it was for Christians to work at alleviating distress and human suffering.

He said: “The Church lays down principles of care; the Christian citizen applies them. The Church can’t say how it is to be done, but it is called to say that it must be done.”

Of course once you start saying this or that “must be done” there is always someone who says, “I don’t agree!”

War, economics, divorce are but three areas in which Christians have always been divided. There have always been pacifists and non-pacifists, capitalists and socialists, lax and rigid attitudes to divorce.

It’s tempting to say there’s no such thing as a Christian view, there are a whole spectrum of Christian views. It’s tempting to assert that the Bible is set in an ancient cultural context and therefore does not speak to modern issues.

But such a lazy, throw away attitude denigrates God and denies the living reality of his revelation as “a lamp to our feet and a light for our path”.

By Word and the Spirit, in the tradition of worship and teaching, we may hope for Christian answers, for divine guidance and the strength to put our faith into practice.

I met a young family man the other day who had heard of the terrible living conditions of two girls in Uganda. He decided to help them and invited his friends to a New Year party.

It was a shambles in terms of organisation but his home was full to overflowing with people who took up his challenge to help the girls.

The result was spectacular. The donations from that one event will pay for the girls’ education over the next two years. At the end of that time he’ll have another party!

He is determined to see them through their education. It’s their chance of a decent life. It’s practising what you preach; it’s doing what must be done. It’s shining a light in a dark, depressing situation.

When Jesus began his ministry in Capernaum, St Mark tells us that on the first Sabbath he was in the town, he went straight to the synagogue and began teaching. His presence and authority amazed the congregation. One man exclaimed that he was “The Holy One of God”.

Jesus came to them like a beam of light showing them the truth of God’s love. He did not speak to them in a judgemental way. His purpose was revelation and reassurance.

So in Jesus we see the principles of love in practice. In Jesus we see the power of God stirring us to act with integrity and purpose. In Jesus there is no pretending.

And the wonderful mystery is that the light of the Lord is a light we can hold close to our hearts.

O light that followest all my way

I yield my flickering torch to thee

My heart restores its borrowed ray

That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

Amen.