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Sermon - Evensong - 27th August 2006
St Alban's Evensong
Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 22:1-22; 1 Peter 4
I feel a bit shot in the foot by Fr Ben Edwards who began his outstanding sermon for last month’s evensong by saying that the service is spoilt by having a sermon! To those of you who were convinced by that, I apologise.
The compilers of our lectionary present us with a selection of readings that cohere in one way or another and all serve to give a perspective on a theme as they instruct us and build us up in the faith. Tonight, I would rather refer to them as crafters rather than compilers, as we have a trio of readings that weave harmoniously around a message of pardon and grace, that bring a sense of moving forward to the very gates of the kingdom of God and an encouragement in God’s trustworthiness and presence in times of persecution and affliction.
A couple of things need to be said at the outset:
- Especially tonight’s psalm, 22, we traditionally associate with Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion. It is always important in interpreting the scripture, and the prophets in particular, to seek the primary meaning in the time of its writing and not in some future event. The Biblical writers constantly bring the eternal God into the here and now. The prophets addressed immediate historical circumstances. If the future is addressed, it is in terms of the consequences of people’s present behaviour being foreshadowed. Time is referred to in terms of God’s unfolding activity rather than by the tyranny that we allow to clock and calendar. And then as well, we may see a foreshadowing of a later event and generally too, a principle to be applied in our own day.
- We often forget that in our day and culture, we have developed perhaps to an extreme the notion of individualism. In the times when our Scriptures were recorded, this did not exist. The emphasis was on the community rather than on the individual. Sometimes, when the scripture narrative appears to be speaking about an individual, it is doing so in a representative way and is in fact telling the story of the whole community. It may puzzle us by moving comfortably between singular and plural, when we would stick to one or the other to make the meaning clear. It will often mean that we need to be heeding the Word as applicable to us as a community, as well as to us as individuals.
Tonight’s Old Testament reading is designated as Isaiah 50, but scholars agree that from chapter 40 onwards, perhaps till chapter 55 or even till the end of the book, the writer is a different person. Historically, the events come from about 150 years later, a time when the cities of Judah lay desolate, the Temple lay in ruins and the people of Babylon were in exile. First Isaiah, as he is sometimes called, spoke in terms of warnings to repent. Second Isaiah speaks with a different voice, with great power and beauty, with prophecy and poetry merging. The author may be of the school of Isaiah, one of a number of apprentices who came down through several generations. Whoever he was, he did not limit himself to simply reinterpreting Isaiah of Jerusalem, but was fresh and original in his prophetic insight. Second Isaiah strikes a different note: his commission was to “speak tenderly” to Jerusalem, proclaiming to despairing people that Yahweh was coming to bring pardon, deliverance, restoration and grace. His is a message of comfort and of hope, a message for its time, but thankfully, a message for the 21st century as well.
Second Isaiah is an exultant proclamation of good news – excitement and expectancy of great events about to come to pass: those who dwell in darkness hear that a new day is dawning; captives learn that deliverance is at hand; the broken hearted are comforted. The message is proclaimed by Mark in his gospel, as the Good News and summed up in terms of the Kingdom of God being at hand.
Second Isaiah grasps the connection between God’s activity in creation and his redeeming work in history. History is viewed in the light of divine purpose, moving towards the day of the coming of the kingdom, where the creator is the redeemer and the redeemer is creator. As a disciple schooled in suffering, he is enabled by his close fellowship with God to bear affliction submissively. At the end of the suffering there will be vindication and exaltation, and through the servant’s suffering, God inaugurates his kingdom.
The psalm that bridges our two readings tonight is very familiar, traditionally used in the Good Friday liturgy as it seems to describe exactly the situation of Jesus on the cross. But as well as seeing that allusion, remember that these are the words of the psalmist reflecting before God, crying out about his plight and suffering and then pausing from this lament, to plead for God’s presence and defence or to rehearse the stories of those ancestors who had not been let down by God. In the 22 verses that we sang, this is a clear, alternating pattern: 1-2 laments, 3-5 focuses on God, 6-8 laments, 9-11 focuses on God, 12-18 laments, 19-22 focuses on God. It’s a pattern we could well keep in mind. How often do we push ourselves further into despondency by rehearsing our woes for our friends, or indeed, anyone who will listen, rather than before God? And then we fail to recall the goodness and faithfulness of God or to ask for his presence in the situation.
The passage from 1 Peter also addresses the hardship and persecution that the early Christians faced. This epistle has been described as “affectionate, loving, lowly, humble”. Surely, tenderness again. Scholars think the letter is a little handbook of baptismal preparation for converts, but nevertheless, it is a moving piece of what might be called “persecution literature”, with steady encouragement to endurance in conduct and innocence of character. It was written from Rome in about the year 67 after Nero’s savage persecution of the Christians. The second coming was at the forefront of Peter’s mind in what he set out to teach his hearers. If it seems to you out of keeping that the rather impetuous, blunt fisherman of the gospel could write like this, scholars believe that the actual writing was done for Peter by his companion and leader of the early church, the well-educated Sylvanus. The apparently stylish Greek with its stately rhythm would hardly have been Peter’s thing. The recipients of the letter were scattered and were almost certainly mainly Gentiles. There is no quibbling in the letter about interpretations of the law that you always get when a letter is to the Jews! The wild life they had led in their pre Christian days fits Gentiles rather than Jews and the fact that Peter uses the Greek form of his name would all attest to this. Nero had scapegoated the Christians over the fire that caused massive destruction in Rome in 64. There followed appalling persecution, not of the ilk of keeping them out of better jobs, or shunning them socially, but having them stitched into wild animal skins and then setting his hunting dogs onto them, or covering them in pitch, nailing them to crosses and setting them alight at night to be flares in his palace garden which was then opened for the public to come and see the spectacle. Thus Christians widely became ready victims for the mob. Roman law had protected the early Christians from synagogue anger, but now, Roman imperial wickedness allowed lynch law to threaten them.
Peter is written not as a treatise on orthodoxy or against heresy, but is written from the depths of a pastoral heart to strengthen believers whose lives were in jeopardy. I find the way that God’s hand had been on Peter preparing him to have such a pastoral heart quite moving in its tenderness. You will remember how Jesus said to Peter to feed his sheep and his lambs. Could Peter ever forget that, the way it was impressed upon him three times, that he was trusted to do that, even after denying Jesus three times. Here now, Peter is encouraging those whose faith is under severe persecution: Peter has been there himself. He understands. And here is Peter reaching out probably mainly to Greeks, but to other Christians of non Jewish background…you remember those he regarded as unclean? Since the time when he had the dream up on the roof of the house, where God had impressed upon him that the Gentiles too came within the ambit of his kingdom, Peter’s heart has been transformed in his tenderness towards these members of the household of faith. I wonder if God’s lessons to us are as demonstrably well integrated into our lives in the way we embrace and nurture those new to our country or our faith.
The early verses of our reading tonight speak about the way of God taking over the heart and pushing out pleasure, pride and passion. We, as well as the early recipients of the letter, are urged to be clear-minded, to see in the context of the eternal, which gives a different perspective and sense of proportion to life. We are bidden to do this sowe can pray. I have mentioned before the friend whose outlook taught me so much about a way of being prayerful. As a poor gardener, she come in once from her overgrown, untidy garden bearing a single beautiful rose bloom from an old bush planted by a former owner of the house. With a big smile, she said “Look what God grew in my garden”. I know that I would have said proudly “Look what I have grown”. We worked together and were neighbours in the same suburb 20 minutes away and I asked her one evening as we both left work, which way she drove home. She said it varied, as she said when she got into the car “Lord, which way do you want to go home tonight?” She fostered her sense of companionship with God and developed habits of thought that meant she was more likely to be prayerful and be open to having her tongue instructed by God. It is a simple way to be more open more constantly to God.
And then we are bidden to love each other deeply, or as another translation puts it, maintain a constant love for one another. The word used to describe the love we are commanded to show has a twofold meaning: It means in the first instance “consistent”, but is also used for the way an athlete strains or a horse goes at full gallop. This is not an inert or inactive love, but is vigorous, reaches out and is expressed in action.
Praying and loving seem to be given as the priorities for these Christians, even, or perhaps specially, under persecution. Hospitality flows from having that love for the members of the family of faith. Welcoming, sharing, being generous are hallmarks of Christian interaction. Some of you will have read my reflections in this month’s parish magazine where I spoke of the generous hospitality I received from a family in Bethlehem to whose home I went for lunch. The leader of my retreat tour group was an old friend of theirs, but they invited her to bring three others of us for lunch. It was only after my return home, when someone mentioned how thin and undernourished children were on the streets in Bethlehem, that I actually stopped to appreciate that providing the generous hospitality this family did for us, may have left them short of food in the coming week.
We would never have known, but I should have been more aware and sensitive to the possibility. I am grateful for their warmth and generosity of hospitality even under the persecution they suffer.
In verse 11 Peter refers to speaking the words of God. Did you notice a similar idea in the Old Testament reading where the prophet spoke about the Sovereign Lord having given him an “instructed tongue”? Do we wait on God to be given the words to say or the prayers to pray? We are so prone to independence, that we need to keep reminding ourselves of this constant referring to God for his words and ways. Some of my best appointments of staff at the school where I was principal were made when I prayed in the vein…”God, this is your place where you are the head. I am your steward and deputy. Please show me the person after your own heart that you want to be a part of your people here and I will do the mechanical bit of organising the appointment.” It is not always so easy to keep on thinking in those terms.
The passage from Peter does not minimise the fact that members of the Christian faith can expect persecution. Perceived as sharing Jesus’ suffering, persecution becomes more manageable. Like the Greeks and others addressed in this letter, we to may well face persecution for our faith. Let us be encouraged to continue to do good and to entrust daily life to our creator and redeemer and the redeemer, the creator, living a life that openly gives lie to any slander and accusations levelled against us. Being then mindful that it is the Sovereign Lord that helps us, who indeed will condemn us?