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Sermon - The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (A) - 10th August 2008
Lawson Catholic Church
Readings: Matthew 14:22-36
There are two Chaplains at Concord Hospital where I work. I serve as the Anglican Chaplain, and there is also a Roman Catholic Chaplain. About a third of the patients are Catholic, and about 20% are Anglican or Church of England. We obviously have a major responsibility to the patients from our own traditions, but we are ready and available to provide ministry to all patients, whatever their background. Where people want ministry from their own particular faith tradition, part of our responsibility is to set this up.
From time to time I will find myself in conversation with patients who are Catholics, or Fr Artur will talk to Anglicans. That may happen by coincidence, or because we have got to know particular patients. We may just spend informal time with them, but sometimes we will share in prayer or other more formal ministry. There are boundaries which we respect, but we trust each other, and will talk over any matters where we are not sure what would the other would see as appropriate.
That is not rocket science, but it is a reminder that Christians already relate to each other, serve together, seek to understand each other, and co-operate with each other across denominational boundaries in a variety of settings, without feeling it is front page news. There is much already happening which reflects an acknowledgement that Christians of different backgrounds belong to the one family, despite the differences of understanding and tradition which keep them apart.
Right now it seems to me that we are at a strange stage in the ecumenical story. Informally, there are some very positive things going on; institutionally, progress is very slow indeed.
I say this as representative of a church and diocese which mirrors this in many ways. It is not hard to be aware that there are ructions in the Anglican Church. Divisions between the theological conservatives and progressives. Leaders on both sides disbarring those who strongly disagree with them. Condemnation of those who don’t fit in with the theology or practice of the dominant parties. Here too we see the problem of Christians who have different understandings of God’s truth and God’s will. How do we speak the truth, and speak that truth in love?
We saw some Anglican leaders in Sydney expressing their answers to those questions in relation to the Pope’s visit to Sydney for World Youth Day. Phillip Jensen, Dean at St.Andrew’s Cathedral, had two articles published in the Herald in which there was a strong distancing from the Roam Catholic Church. He described Anglicans in Sydney as definitely “Protestant”: protesting at those things in Roman Catholicism which were to be rejected if one was to be faithful to God’s truth. He pointed out that a number of Catholic teachings had only been formally promulgated in years since the Protestant reformation, and many of these exacerbated the problematic differences between the Catholic church and other churches, and seemed to make reconciliation harder. He questioned whether the Catholic Church has actually gone forward in truth since the Reformation. Phillip is always a man of strong views strongly expressed!
Bishop Robert Forsyth, Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, speaking at an ecumenical welcome to the Pope indicated his readiness to welcome the Pope as leader of a great church, but pointed out that the actual claims of authority made by the Papacy were problematic for many Christians. What looked like a wry smile from His Holiness, suggested that he was aware of the issue!
All my ordained ministry has been in Sydney Diocese, where my faith has been nurtured, and where I was trained at Moore College. And as I thought through what I wanted to share this afternoon, I asked myself who do I represent? I am a Sydney Anglican, sharing the basic theological approach as the diocesan leaders, but not always coming up with the same answers and attitudes. Nowadays I choose to belong to a parish which would see itself on the outer with the diocese: not extremely radical, but welcoming of a variety of viewpoints, and suspicious of the diocesan leadership. Over the years, I have come to see that I need to listen and understand, before I even consider condemning anyone. I need to understand where people are coming from, to accept that there may be valid reasons for them to come to particular conclusions with which I disagree, to look for what is good before condemning what I feel is wrong. Yes, I do have some major issues with particular teachings of the Catholic Church, but unlike Phillip Jensen, I find enough in common at a fundamental level for me to want to first of all acknowledge Catholics as my brothers and sisters in Christ, as fellow members of that great family of Christ’s followers. Of course they have their blind spots, but then again, so do I. There are things to learn on both sides as we make the journey of faith.
One of the really helpful things about the booklet “Why the Church?” is that it brings out the point that community is at the heart of God’s purposes. Personal commitment to Christ is vital, but God is not just saving a lot of individuals: he is gathering a people. To be made in the image of God is to be in relationship. Hence the idea of church is fundamental to the Gospel.
And here I believe is the most significant way forward at this tricky time. If our primary idea of church is institutional, the progress will be slow. Church leaders must keep talking and listening. But institutional change is difficult, and for a church to redefine itself takes great courage and a sure conviction.
But if we see the church as primarily about community, about relationship - and that is the way I see it in the scriptures - then what really matters, and what is actually possible, is that there is purposeful crossing of the boundaries at a personal and local level. I sense that what we have gathered for today is an example of this. Visiting one another; talking to one another; finding things that can be done together; and relating informally across the denominational barriers.
In Epping, from where I come, three churches - Catholic, Uniting and Anglican - have actually signed a covenant, putting them in purposeful relationship with one another. There are combined Lenten services and study groups. Clergy speak to each other’s congregations. There is an annual combined church council meeting. When the World Youth Day Cross visited Epping, we shared in a combined procession with the cross and combined worship at both Anglican and Catholic Churches. And so on. Similar covenants have been formed in other places, and at a higher level in the Central Coast and Newcastle a covenant has been entered into by the Anglican and Catholic Dioceses.
What we believe does matter. We ought not lightly let go of our convictions, although we ought to be prepared to re-examine them and let go of things which we find are not as sound or not as important as we thought. Institutionally, my hope is that one day the Roman Catholic Church will be able to offer hospitality at the Eucharist, not unofficially, but out of conviction. It seems to me that this does not require the rethinking of the doctrine of the church that some of the other protestant expectations might demand.
But in the meantime, let us see that we ourselves keep doors open, that we keep talking and listening, and we keep praying that the unity we have been given in Christ will be expressed in personal and practical ways.