ST MARY’S SUNDAY AUGUST 3 2014 7 AFTER Trinity Proper 13
SERMON It is surprising how often a headline will suddenly strike one when in the middle of sermon preparation. ……”We Jews are always bracing ourselves for more anti-Semitism.” In the article in the newspaper where those words occur, the author remembered her school where she was the only girl who was a Jew, and how a teacher, of religious education, no less, referred to her as ‘the Jesus killer.” Some years ago, when I was teaching Religious Education, my first year course in the secondary school was based on the life of Christ. It included looking into the background of Jesus as a boy in Palestine. A Jewish boy, who would learn about his faith both in the home, and in the village school where boys were taught by the Rabbi. We discovered a little of his background and culture, as well as the Hebrew scriptures that were such an important part of everyday life. We found important passages in the Torah where Jesus would learn the commandments “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength. These commandments are to be kept in your heart. You shall repeat them to your sons and speak of them indoors and out of doors, when you lie down and when you rise. “ I remember that I had the boys sitting crossed legged on the floor – girls were taught at home by their mother. We began a typical lesson with prayer. “The Lord God of Israel watch over you and direct your thoughts that you may grow in knowledge and true wisdom.” The response by the class – words with which you are familiar: “May the words of our lips and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight O Lord” We were fortunate in the county, to have what we called the Jewish Box. In this were various artefacts showing, explaining, the practices of Judaism. Prayer shawls, - Talliths. Facsimilies of a Torah Scroll; The Menorah – seven branched candlestick, Phylacteries – small boxes inside which the words of the Shema were to be written down to bind on the forehead, as they were also in the Mezuzah, placed on the door posts and gates.
We learnt a little about the Sabbath, and great festivals, especially of the Passover. This resource was on loan to schools. This showed us part of the everyday life and faith of all Jewish families. It also shows us the roots of our Christian faith as lived by Jesus. One morning one of the girls in the class came up to me and said “My mother says we should not be learning about the Jews.” I hope I got the message right when I told her to remind her mother that Jesus was a Jew. And of course, so was Paul. I found this morning’s passage from his letter to the Romans quite touching as showing the tension between his life as a Jew, a Pharisee, and that of a follower of Jesus Christ. Paul has a problem. He has spent half of his letter to the Romans demonstrating that all have sinned, Jews and gentiles alike, and that all therefore are offered salvation by God on the same terms, namely FAITH IN CHRIST. So, what becomes of the Jews ? Paul’s mission to the gentiles showed that many of them were waiting, and ready to accept the Gospel. the Jews, for the most part, were less so. So has all that was given to Israel- covenant, law, worship, promises, has all that gone for nothing ?. Paul is saddened to think so. His pain at seeing his own people, rejected, or opting for their own rejection, is seen in that phrase from our epistle “I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren .” So this letter from Paul is a very moving letter in fact, from a Jew steeped and trained deeply in his religion; a man so fanatical about his beliefs that he had persecuted Christians “ And Paul stood by watching the stoning of Stephen”; a man who was then confronted by the risen Christ on the road to Damascus; a man whose life changed totally who became the great missionary preacher to the Gentiles. We learnt a little of this when Joan preached recently on the Feast of St Peter and St Paul. Now Paul is thinking of his own people. If his calling is to the Gentiles, what about his kindred ?
So already we have a conflict, a division which was to continue in the early church, and has continued ever since, as followers of Christ find different ways to interpret scripture and tradition, different ways to worship, unfortunately also different entrenched opinions of what is right or true, or indeed Godly. Yet we have these readings this morning where we are assured that God cares for all : Isaiah especially remember his words ? “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters… I made him a witness to the peoples.” “You shall call nations that you do not know” Conflict between members of God’s family. Terrible, terrible disregard for other human beings. Terrible lack of understanding amongst Jews, Christians and Arabs over the centuries, and still today. I have recently been reading a book which dealt basically with the themes of despair, cruelty and forgiveness. It was based on life and death in Europe at the time of the Holocaust, in the second world war. The sort of book which draws tears and horror, almost of unbelief, as to what man can do to fellow human beings. It reminded us of the pitfalls of judging people according to racial, or cultural differences. It was hard to accept that Jews, gipsies, the disabled, the mentally sick could be set aside as being worthless, as indeed being a stain on a nation’s character, and therefore needing to be removed. Then last week we had a meeting of Readers, when we heard a little of the side of life for a Jew serving in the army in parts of the world today. A former chaplain had become especially interested in their attitudes to current conflicts. Tomorrow marks the beginning of the ‘war to end all wars.’ How can we reconcile that event with the thoughts we find in our readings this morning ? How do we respond to wars in the world today ? How do we believe in a God that is good, a God that is Father of all ? OUR FATHER ? “How do I know that God is good ? I don’t. I gamble like a man. I bet my life Upon one side in life’s great war. I must, I can’t stand out. I must take sides. I must have God.
I know not why the evil, I know not why the good, both mysteries remain unsolved, and both insoluble. I know that both are there, the battle set, And I must fight on this side or on that. I bet my life on Beauty, truth And love, not abstract but incarnate truth, Its very self made flesh, Love realised. I bet my life on Christ – Christ crucified. For God is love. Such is my faith. It is a choice. I choose the Christ You might be asking “Who wrote that. Why is it relevant today ?2 G Studdart Kennedy – otherwise known as Woodbine Willie, was the author. He was a chaplain, a padre, in the first world war. As was my father, and it is because of that connection that I have kept the book of poetry which he wrote, which was owned by my Father, called ‘The Unutterable Beauty’, and have shared this extract with you. Watching film clips, looking at photographs from that time a hundred years ago, learning about the contrasts of life and death. Accepting the questions which arise in the minds of us all, and which were present in the mind of Woodbine Willie, as he worked with the soldiers. Those questions are still there. We ourselves may not personally have to face the heartbreak of families living in war zones, but we cannot surely be unaffected. The Foreign Secretary,Sir Edward Grey said, on the outbreak of war “The lamps are going out all over Europe.” They did, and we will be remembering that tomorrow. But we must also remember the words of St. John : “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, the light shines in the dark, and the darkness has never overcome it.” AMEN