Sermon - Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

I had a good break really, although six days holiday is never enough when you have been working seven days a week. Here is the sermon for this week. Please feel free to leave comments.

Oh yes, and by the way, the picture - It is the martyrdom of St James, by some old Dutch artist I think.

I started to think that I should be at least trying to explain the choice of art.

'Til next week!

Readings

Song of Solomon 2.8-13

Psalm 45.1,2,6-9

James 1.17-27

Mark 7.1-8,14-15,21-23

One of my greatest assets is my nosiness – there is usually nothing that I am disinterested in, if it involves intrigue, disagreement and curious behaviour. This probably stems from the fact that as a child I was not told many of the lovely juicy bits of gossip and scandal that makes up all families.

This is why I probably went off the rails a bit – from nosey child to annoying teenager, then social services, then the church! It is a natural progression in my own mind. But don’t take that to be a good indicator.

I still love to find out what is happening, and I love to find out what drives people to do what they do. Sometimes, people might find me obtrusive, I know this. My defence is that human nature is such that a lifetimes study will not get you far beyond the basics. I am always willing to share my story with people too, it is not a one way deal.

Whilst on holiday, I thought a lot about faith and I remembered conversations I had with others. I would like to share two of them with you. They all revolve around faith and works.

The first person, in his thirties, told me that he went to church for a sort of insurance policy. “If God exists, then it’s all fine. If he doesn’t, I’ve only wasted Sunday mornings every few weeks.”. He was quite happy to turn up and join the worship, sing the songs and drink the tea and eat the biscuits provided after. Although he would argue that he had a faith, he would admit to being uncertain about betting too much on the whole race. I suppose that we can all understand where he was coming from, although we might wish he had a bit more courage. My flippant response was that he should perhaps join the children of Islam next week, and if he had Saturday mornings free, the synagogue did good cakes after their Shabbat worship. The journey of faith for this person had no other implications than attendance at church.

The second person, who will have to remain anonymous, is a vicar from another diocese. On a night out he asked me whether I believed everything I read in the Bible. Expecting an ambush from a fundamentalist, I talked at length about God’s purpose for His people in the Old Testament, and then I talked about parables. He interrupted and said “Yeah! I know all about that stuff, but you don’t really believe in God do you”. Not to be outdone, I talked about a universalist view of ONE GOD, and the positive aspects and difficulties. “Not that either” he said, “when you are dead that’s it, gone. We are just spiritual social workers if you like. We just provide people with what they want”.

I was in my second year of training at the time, sorting out the mess I had left when I dropped my nets and followed my vocation. My response was less than jovial.

I wish I hadn’t been so nosey, because these people might not have told me what they think – but there you have it!

This is nothing new though, people lose direction, or even don’t find a map in the first place. When we are called to deal with issues of faith, some people can see the picture, and some people can’t. People are more likely to come to faith through watching OUR ACTIONS as a church or as individuals, rather than any clever THEOLOGY, that might help us to understand more.

James is writing to a Christian Church, just like ours. He has hit a problem and is having some trouble getting across the point of the life changing, cosmic importance of a living faith. He suspects that the Christians there like rich people better than poor people, healthy people better than the sick, and the unlovely people are ignored in favour of the lovely people. They must have said to him, “Don’t be daft, it is part of human nature to be like that”. Yes, he says, but GOD is not like that.

I like this passage from James, it is great – “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change”.

“no variation or shadow due to change”.

In a black and white way with no hint of grey, James says that rules are simple – if we REALLY believe WE ACT for fairness, justice and truth – and all our actions are precious in the sight of GOD.

I love the book of JAMES, and our reading today gives us a good introduction into the supreme logic and sense of the book. Straight after the reading we had today, it continues with a passage that tells us…

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?…Faith by itself, if it has no works is dead”

And this is the tone of the whole book…Faith changes the way you live. It is a commitment to try to see things through the eyes of God. It is a vision of justice, peace and equality that is to be LIVED OUT.

I spent last week thinking about this – because as I prepare to move and endure that searching for books, socks, and documents that comes with a move. That worrying about the children settling in, and that mild confusion that comes with every big move, I need to remember why I am doing this.

Hubert Von Zeller in his book we work while the light lasts, describes faith in a very honest and moving way, he says;

Faith convinces us of the reality of not only the things we cannot see, but also the things we cannot feel.

Faith tells us that God is with us, even though we do not see Him. Faith also tells us that we need to extend our emotional vocabulary, by being with those who suffer, and those who have lost their way.

Faith convinces us that there is much work to be done out there, in a world that doesn’t care about so many people.

The revolutionary nature of the Gospel of Jesus is here before us, and the other books of the Bible help us answer all those difficult questions we have. We will only find the real meaning for ourselves when we cast off into unchartered waters, with GOD as our guide.

Faith and works together makes us experience a whole new life, a whole new world that might have been hidden from us previously.

Next time you talk to a stranger, and express a concern for their situation, they might say “what business is it of yours”. Please tell them you are being “nosey for the sake of your faith in God”.

It gets strange responses, but trust me it works.