Sermon for the third Sunday after Trinity

Sunday 12th June 2005

Preached by Rev Brian Parker

Getting in line

When greyhounds race they do so because they are trained to chase a mechanical hare that zips along the track in front of them.

The hare’s speed is controlled so that it stays just in front of the dogs.

Now the story goes that at one greyhound racetrack the mechanical hare was released and made off down the straight. The dogs were in hot pursuit.

But as the hare came to the first turn an electrical short in the system caused it to come to a complete stop. And it got worse. The hare exploded, went on fire and all that was left was a bit of fur hanging on a wire.

The dogs were bewildered. They didn’t know how to act. Several dogs stopped running and lay down on the track. Some dogs ran into a wall.

Another dog began chasing its tail and the rest howled and made a lot of noise. Not one dog finished the race.

Last week a circular arrived in the post promising ‘fresh expressions’ of the church’s mission. The jargon described – ‘a mission shaped church’ expressed in ‘ alternative worship communities’, ‘café churches’, ‘cell churches’, ‘multiple and midweek churches’, ‘network focused churches’, ‘seeker churches’ and even ‘traditional forms of church’.

It came across like a product pamphlet marketing a range of new brands.

So is this the way forward? Or are we chasing our tails?

Colin Morris, Methodist theologian and broadcaster, said: “Christian hope can only be so much beating of the air unless we are sustained by some vision which can alight our minds, excite our imagination and nerve our faith.”

He added: “ This vision is the Church for which I often weep and at which I sometimes rage and am often tempted to quit. But it is still the guardian of a Gospel without which Mankind will be robbed of hope.”

Bob Geldof is chasing after world leaders and calling for a million people to make their voices heard when the G8 summit meets next month.

Geldof has been described as a ‘pop music poverty messiah’ and a ‘dangerous bore’. The problems of poverty it is suggested can’t be solved merely by exhortation or by howling at the problem.

In reality the obscenities of corruption in Africa have to be rooted out. As one commentator said: “Attempts to improve matters – however well-intentioned and sincere – will amount to little more than a publicity stunt involving very rich people temporarily parading their consciences.”

Hard stuff. But to his credit Geldof did say on TV last Friday night that if corrupt regimes and officials were discovered siphoning off money he would stop the cheques. And he did accept that establishing good government is central to the process of delivering real relief in Africa.

Nearer home, even last night in Crawfordsburn Park where I was walking the dog, civilised society is under attack from the yob culture. In the Park hundreds of young people littered the area stoned out of their minds. In such lifestyles morality is mocked as outdated. And week in, week out, values of respectability and decency sink in the mire of inane reality TV.

In his book, The Great Abdication, Alexander Deane laments the decline in social responsibility in modern society. He says: “People should know right from wrong and understand basic human virtues. Individuals must take on responsibility for a moral agenda.”

So what hope have we got?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is in Dublin this weekend. He was speaking on radio the other day about his race for justice in South Africa.

He said he often felt over the years that he was running in vicious circles of corruption and deceit, being manipulated and sidetracked from his goal. He said it was a roller-coaster experience.

Some days it seemed progress was being made and he was on a high. Other days he was down in the dumps as yet another disappointment exploded in his face.

Archbishop Tutu in many ways personifies the dauntless spirit of the early Christians. In his pursuit of justice there is neither shallow optimism nor undue pessimism.

There is commitment and much compassion. And in everything he projects that dynamic quality – the spirit of hope forged in pain and suffering. His motives are transparent and uncluttered by sub-agendas and empire building. In such a witness for the Gospel there is indeed hope for us all.

When St Paul meditated on the nature and significance of Christian existence in this world he said God in Christ had ‘justified’ us. It’s a term that means being ‘set into a proper line’, like a printed text.

We could say ‘lined up’ to do a job of work in partnership with the Holy Spirit. Paul is not in the business of ‘possibility thinking’ but rather he is about ‘reality living’.

In his letters there is encouragement and the injunction that under Our Lord’s command we need to get in line.

Christian mission is ‘reality living’ that doesn’t deny the pain and suffering in the world. It’s ‘reality living’ that doesn’t glorify suffering but responds to it in a spirit of compassion and hope. In such a response Paul sees the making of Christian character.

Archbishop Michael Ramsey described the Kingdom of God on earth in terms of people free from injustice, nations using the earth’s resources so that all may have enough to eat, war banished, family life secure, happy and unselfish, honesty and compassion prevailing in society.

That’s all very hard work. It’s demanding work and it’s the work of Christ in the world. The challenge to make such vision reality is daunting. It’s surely beyond our human capabilities. Perhaps it is - but it’s not pie in the sky.

When Abraham and Sarah welcomed the three visitors into their home they showed them great kindness and hospitality. And when the visitors said Sarah would have a son, she overheard them and laughed at the idea. It was the laughter of unbelief.

But the Lord asked why she was laughing.

She did have a son. He was called Isaac, which in Hebrew means ‘laughter’. The name ‘Isaac’ would always remind her of her unbelief, of the time when she laughed at God’s hope for her. But that changed to the laughter of joy. Her son was born – there was new life, new hope. God’s promise was fulfilled.

What had seemed impossible in human terms had become a reality.

So when we think of the state of the world, of the scale of social decline on our own doorsteps, of the crookedness in our personal response, of the bewilderment and pain in so many communities, we may well laugh at the suggestion that things can be changed for the better.

What chance indeed of eradicating corruption and poverty in Africa? What chance of finding reconciliation in the Church never mind in local communities? What hope for family values?

It all adds up to a massive agenda. A moral and spiritual agenda, an agenda for Christian work and commitment that is extensive, complex and demanding.

Nevertheless the call of Christ is clear and straightforward. The Ministry of Jesus and His Church remains motivated by compassion:

“He had compassion on the crowds’ – people harassed and helpless, people who were sick and afflicted with disease, people bewildered and confused, people chasing their tails.

Jesus responded by commissioning workers to line up and help.

Commissioned now, immediately. Not ‘one of these days’ when I have more time.

Commissioned and given direction, purpose and strength as a member of the Church.

Commissioned as instruments of encouragement and hope.

Commissioned to work out salvation rather than relax in some kind of self indulgent, privileged relationship.

It’s not a laughing matter – it’s ‘reality living’ by the grace of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

As the hymn writer says: “Christ doth call one and all’ and the promise of Jesus is our encouragement, “ ye who follow shall not fall.”

Amen.