Readings: 1 Samuel 2, Mark 13:1-8
We pray: May
all that we hear in heart and mind challenge, assure and encourage us to
respond in faith in Jesus name. Amen
I was sitting in First Church earlier in the week at a
lunchtime service, we were discussing the Gospel reading for today and then one
person looked up and physically and metaphorically raised an eyebrow: ‘Do you
see this great building? Not a stone will be left here upon another…..I
have to say it left us all with a sense of being in the gospel story in a way
we hadn’t before and in not a very comfortable way.
And for me it raised this question. How closely do you think we associate
buildings, especially but not only significant buildings with the wellness of
our faith? How much ‘hope’ do we put in
them for our future survival and how deep is our despair when they prove to be
relatively ephemeral - and our ability
to sustain numerical and financial viability within those buildings proves
problematic?
Troubling questions but symptomatic of the stray paths
that we can find ourselves going down as the people of God. Placing our hope, in the metaphorical large
stones and large buildings of our faith begs the question - what happens when
they fall down? When our numbers fall,
when we no long have right of entry and respected voice on the world stage,
when our churches close, when we are in despair at a world that seems to sink
deeper and deeper into violence and greed and cynical selfishness, how is it
that we are to be a people of hope, a people who believe in the power of love
over darkness, in the vision of Jesus for a world where justice and peace
reigns, where the lion lies down with the lamb?
I think if we explore some of our ‘temples’ we might
find why we are so our stray paths both beckon and are dead ends.
Where did we get the idea that faith should be
comfortable and controllable or that we should miraculously become perfect or
expect people to become perfect because of it? That when life gets hard it’s
because our faith is weak. That when things go wrong it is deserved or God is
being less than loving.
Dead end stuff indeed.
I know a God who loves me unconditionally as a imperfect, sometimes downright
bolshie human being, a God who holds me up when things go wrong, who weeps with
me in times of sadness and continually surprises me and challenges me to grow
in faith especially out of the dead end or the vulnerable moments. Comfortable faith to me means going nowhere
in particular.
From where comes the concept that baptism,
affirmation, commitment is a one off event preparing us for the end time, not a
way of life now? Faith in this man Jesus
the Christ is not about ticking one off boxes then going our own sweet way but
rather all about what we do in Jesus name every day - what I call the ‘ing’
words – living, reforming, creating, suffering, loving, praying, baptising –
where we live and act with Christ within the reality of this world, forever learning,
growing, questioning, alongside all the curve balls that life throws at
us.
When did bricks and mortar become the defining of who
we are as church rather than the people who worship together as the body of
Christ? When have we put tradition,
ritual or lack thereof above grace, mercy and inclusiveness?
No wonder people look and say no thanks, turn away
from a church that seems fixated on what is the ‘right’ way to worship, the
‘best’ way to get bums on pews, the ‘one’ way to understand scripture
which can often be narrow and made
exclusive to suit. No wonder people
leave churches where all the energy is keeping the institution going or the
building drains all the finances.
Wherefore the community facing people of God, making a difference in
this community, this world? Nowhere.
Another dead end!
At the same time I want to challenge anyone who says
the church is dead, that God is absent from this world, that hope is gone and
transformation an impossible dream.
So often the failures and imperfections are all that
people choose to see, the stray paths the only ones that are perceived or
commented on.
We also need to celebrate and hold strong to the
everyday realities that living in faith and love brings. The baptism of Harriet today – a child, small
and precious in the eyes of God and her family with her life ahead, the
compassion in the midst of sorrow, the meal shared, the forgiveness lived out,
the joy of laughter shared, the gifting without expectation, the encounter with
the stranger that enriches both, the questions and doubts profferedd in a safe
and trusting community, and the peace, the peace that passes all understanding
– you will know these things and more.
So yes we get it wrong, head off on stray paths from
time to time, the world is broken for so many people, our buildings may tumble
and our path into the future be unknown and uncomfortable but we who live in
the continual baptism that is Christ in our lives hear this message too.
Jesus tells us is that within our very human frailties
and the birth pangs of the world we all carry the seeds of hope – seeds that
grow with every act of love and compassion, forgiveness and mercy. That in the community of faith, the struggles
and the pain sit alongside the deep trust we have in the purpose of God: the
power of love, the teachings of Jesus, the new life found where death seemed to
hold sway. Birth pangs awaiting the
emergence of beautiful
To end: there
is no right way, there is no perfect church or person, there is no event or condition
or structure that will provide hope for the world - there is only God. Amen.
Margaret Garland
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