Journey in - Journey out
From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
Journey in – Journey out: 29th May 2011: am: The Very Revd Frank Nelson
- Psalm 66: 7 - 19
- Acts 17: 22 - 31
- 1 Peter 3: 13 - 22
- John 14: 15 - 21
Just on a year ago thirty-five people, many from this Diocese, stood on the Areopagus and listened to today’s reading from Acts. It was our first full day in Athens, at the start of our pilgrimage through Greece in the footsteps of St Paul. In the hot sun, shielding our eyes from the glare off the white sand and rocks, we stood under pepper trees – self-consciously saying our prayers and singing a hymn. As time went by we became more relaxed with each other until, at Philippi, the site of the first baptism on European soil, we were a tightly knit group of Christians ready to renew our baptism vows. But not at the Areopagus. There, it was easy to imagine the courage it took St Paul to stand up in front of all those sophisticated people and say that he had the answer to a question they barely knew they were asking – the identity of the unknown God.
This morning’s four readings (including the psalm) suggest a journey outwards, and a journey inwards. Both journeys seem to be part of the greater journey of the Church, with the one sustaining the other.
Clearly the Book of Acts is about a journey outwards. The journey begins in Jerusalem, moves rapidly throughout Judea and Samaria, and on through Antioch, to Ephesus, Philippi, Athens and Corinth, before ending (at least as far as St Paul is concerned) in Rome. Tonight we will look at a slightly different pattern of how the Gospel spread – eastwards to Syria, Iraq, India and all the way to China – long before it took hold in England. But for now, let us stay with Paul in Athens.
Like any first-time visitor to a large foreign city he must have felt overwhelmed by it all - so many people, so many different ideas clamouring for attention. Would anyone bother to listen to him? How and where do I start to tell people about this incredible message that I have? Imagine your great-grand-parents walking into one of our supermarkets today. Where would they begin? There is so much choice. Paul began where the people were – acknowledging the plethora of choice they had – but pointing out that even in all that choice, there was something missing: the identity of the unknown God. Using that idea as a plank Paul suggests he has the answer. Interestingly, in this particular sermon to the Athenians he does not once mention the name of Jesus Christ – referring only to God and to “a man”. His reception was mixed – many scoffed at his teaching, some were intrigued, a few joined him including two named people – Dionysius and Damaris. Presumably they are named because they went on to become leaders of the church. Like Paul, our pilgrimage party went on to Corinth where, in the ruins of that city, we celebrated the Eucharist. Our Greek guide Mara watched fascinated and then, with great daring, asked whether she too could receive Holy Communion.
Let’s jump now to the writings of 1 Peter, where we face a very different situation in a different time, a different place. Peter writes to people who are under siege. The first excitement of a new way of life has rubbed off, and suffering seems to be coming at them from all angles. It is unlikely that this was one of the organized persecutions of Christians by the Roman Empire, more likely the sort of ridicule and discrimination that comes when one group tries to define itself against the rest of society. Where someone stands up and speaks out against particular practices going on around them. Suggest that marriage is for life, that politicians are honest, that bankers are accountable, that children should be disciplined, that conscience is important – see what happens. Peter asks his readers to remember they are defined against the rest of the society in which they live. This definition is by virtue of baptism. As the baptized, we renounce all evil; we turn to Christ. What does this mean? As we read through 1 Peter we find a church struggling to define itself against a world where slavery was the norm, women were chattels of men, a world of take as much as you can and don’t worry about anyone else.
Unlike Paul speaking to the Athenians, Peter has quite a lot to say about Jesus Christ – especially his suffering. Christ, says Peter, suffered; the righteous for the unrighteous. Christ shares the suffering of Christians. That’s often a tough one to get our heads around. Hold on to the faith expressed in baptism; death is not the end, Christ has conquered death, the victory is God’s. The journey here is inward, strengthening the faith, encouraging the faithful.
The snippet of St John’s Gospel read today is also part of that journey inwards – though ultimately it will provide the impetus to go out. The disciples are gathered with Jesus around the table. He is going to leave them, they can’t come with him. Last week we heard Thomas’s question: How can we know the way? (John 14: 5) Today we hear Philip’s naïve and bewildered request: Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied. It is easy to pick up the frustration of Jesus. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14: 9) The way to the Father comes through love and obedience – in no particular order. To love God is to obey God. To obey God will be to love God. The root meaning of obey is to listen. Jesus says to his disciples: if you want to obey God, listen to me, observe what I have done, do what I do. What is that we might ask? Wash each others’ feet, touch and heal the sick, embrace the leper, be open to the outcast. That is what Jesus did, that is the example he left.
But there is more. For on this Sunday before Ascension Day we also get a promise. Love me, keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. (John 14: 16) The Advocate, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. The third of the big Christian festivals we keep is Pentecost – the feast of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the church. But we are not there yet. Just the promise of the Spirit – who will guide us into truth (John 16: 13). This truth about Jesus is something the rest of the world cannot comprehend or even see. Once again, we see a group of people defining themselves over against the rest of society. St Peter described the Christians as aliens and exiles (1 Peter 2: 11) – people who do not quite fit into the normal run of society, people for whom there is always another way of looking at things, people who are not afraid to stand up and be counted.
The community of faith, as part of its inward journey, is sustained by the knowledge that Christ shares their suffering, that the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, leads and guide the church into truth – even when this is painful, unexpected, unwanted. The sacrament of Baptism reminds us that through death comes life – and that there is a cost. The sacrament of Holy Communion invites us to share a holy meal together, to bring our troubles and woes to God, to be fed, washed, forgiven, reminded, strengthened before being sent out again.
Finally, a few words about today’s Psalm. Like the Book of Acts it is part of the outgoing journey where the people of God are not ashamed to sing the praises of God. In their own lives, told and re-told through the great festivals which bind them together as a people, they know that God has not, and will not, abandoned them. The invitation to the world is clear: Praise our God all peoples. (Psalm 66: 7) Yes, we have been tested, refined, suffered – but God was always there. Despite all the troubles along the way, the destination is clear – “you have brought us into a place of liberty, of safety.” (Psalm 66: 11) The only real response to that act of graciousness is worship – worship of God known through history and, in the latter days, through our Lord Jesus Christ, his death on the cross, his rising from the dead.
There’s a tension between the journey inwards and the journey outwards. There’s also a close link between the two journeys. The one sustains the other. The one feeds off the other. Both are necessary. Both give life.
Today’s Collect: Eternal God, light of the minds that know you, joy of the hearts that love you, strength of the wills that serve you; grant us so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may gladly serve you, whose service is perfect freedom. Amen.
