When the party's over

From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

When the party's over… 13 February 2011 The Revd Jenny Wilkens

• Amos 3:1-8
• Ephesians 5:1-17

http://wellingtoncathedral.org.nz/index.php/Sermons

A headline in Saturday's DomPost has stayed with me: 'Girls just wanna get totally smashed'. You probably read the article, and its interview with doctors at the emergency department who each weekend cope with teenage girls and young women who have been binge drinking to a state of being completely out of control, prone to risky behaviours themselves and open to being exploited in all sorts of ways by those who will take advantage of their vulnerability. We are challenged to think what is driving this - exposure to endless media images of celebrities in similar states?, slick marketing?, keeping up with the lads?, a devil-may-care attitude compounded by a sense of hopelessness about a future with few jobs and escalating world problems?

Is it worse than ever? Or has it ever been thus? It doesn't sound so different from what Paul is suggesting are the realities of 1st century Ephesus in our2nd reading tonight. Although perhaps the lectionary shouldn't have come to a screeching halt before the salient verse 18: do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, bur be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

Back in the 17th century, the French philosopher Pascal, in his famous Pensées reflected on humanity's compulsion to invent endless diversions (divertissements) to avoid confronting the circumstances of our existence, which would otherwise plunge us into despair, and to fight off the ennui or boredom which would otherwise afflict us.

So pastimes become just that pass-times, we spend more time watching TV than ever now, it seems, in a vicarious, entertain-me world. Although it's said we can't really tell how much TV we're actually watching, as in many houses the TV is just left on as background noise until people fall asleep in front of it and go to bed.

I was amused to hear of the Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, recently putting his name to a pressure group called 'Pipedown', protesting against background music in public places, after he was driven out of a bookshop by the noise! What would we hear if we took off our IPods? Our heartbeat, our breath, a still small voice?

And what would that still small voice be saying to us?

I was struck by a couple of things in reading this Ephesians 5 passage. It's interesting that as far as things that are not proper among the saints go, greed is put on the same level as fornication and impurity Greed is also linked with idolatry: "be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph 5:5).

We in the church can still get pretty hung up on the fornication and impurity stuff, but we might be less inclined to comment on our greed and idolatry. It's interesting how that word 'idol' has come into use again, and now in popular celebrity culture - American Idol, NZ Idol. We talk about celebrity worship, the cult of celebrity, the adoration of fans, all religious words. Dr Pete Ward in his recent book, 'Gods behaving badly: media, religion and celebrity culture' suggests that when we idolize a celebrity, we actually idolize an ideal version of what we would like to be if we could afford to be that attractive, that talented, that good a dancer etc. Think of how many tweenagers now aspire to be a top model, or filmstar or football player, if only they could be 'discovered'.

But the reality of course is that idols have always been false gods. We know we're worshipping what is shallow and fallible, and we join in the media building up and pulling down of the celebs as they inevitably mess up, melt down and go into rehab. In one way that makes them more human, more like us, but in another way we realise the emperor has no clothes, and we lose confidence in anyone being who they really are, with integrity and consistency, from one day to the next, predictable yes, but also worth trusting and worth respecting. Is it any wonder that our young men and women are so confused, so easily disillusioned, so gullible?

When all we see is a never-ending procession of image make-overs changing from day to day, we can lose any sense of what is enough and what is right for us. Greed has been described as an attempt to avoid making choices by wanting it all. It's also a symptom of our not being satisfied, a bit like when people lose the sense of knowing when they've eaten enough and are full, they just keep on going. And that can happen to us at the level of how we feed our minds, our spirits. Perhaps that is part of the journey of Lent we will undertake soon - a time to think about what we take in, what we expose ourselves to, what we talk about and do. Perhaps Lent is a time to ask God to challenge our greediness, whether it's material or emotional, to ask God to help us know what we need to let go of, and what we need to hold onto to keep us on an even keel.

The danger of this of course is that we give up before we start, because it just sounds all too hard, and that God is really being a sort of kill-joy spoilsport, out to get us if we put a foot wrong.

But if we have a look at Paul's words to the Ephesians we heard tonight, yes, he doesn't pull any punches, but he also drops in pearls of encouragement, which if we let them sink into our hearts and souls can be deeply healing and constructive, life-building.

'Be imitators of God, as beloved children' (Eph 5:1). "Let there be thanksgiving' (v.4) 'Now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light, for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.' (v.8,9) 'Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord' (v.10) 'Make the most of the time' (v.16) - or as in the King James version, 'redeem the time', buy it back for good.

I was interested to read a recent interview with Sir Bob Geldof where he comments after reflecting on all the bereavements in his life and the death he's seen in places like Africa, "love is all you need, love is the answer, it's hugely redemptive and powerful, as we all know, except it took me a long time to get there."

Paul couldn't have put it better himself, except perhaps in the beautiful words of Ephesians 5, verse 2: 'Live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.'

One of our choristers asked me yesterday - what makes Good Friday good? There is his answer.

In the name of that God, Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life. Amen.