There is a story I read on the internet this week about a tough and very down to earth rural area of
Devon . The vicar had just retired. He had been much loved as a parish priest, though his sermons
were usually way above the heads of most of his congregation. His successor was, by contrast, a
local man with a broad Devon accent. In conversation with one of his parishioners the new vicar was
paid a rather backhanded compliment. ‘You and the last vicar are a really good contrast,’ the woman
observed. ‘He was so saintly.’
I do not have much of a claim to saintliness, probably quite the reverse, but I can’t help thinking one
way to be considered such is to preach on as complicated as passages as possible. That is the strange
thing about theology, if you make it complicated enough it is possible to make yourself sound
wonderfully clever without every really saying anything which challenges people. So, for example I
probably could wax lyrical about the three-fold nature of the God head in the Trinity in a sermon and
sound particularly educated but my message would tell you virtually nothing of any use, nor would it
require you to actually do anything as a result of hearing it. However, it gets a lot harder to stay
sounding saintly when we start dealing with issues of people’s real life. Of course, from the
perspective of a congregation, some people like that because when a preacher stays up on the
theological high ground it does not require those in the pews to do much in response.
The rubber hits the road when the vicar starts saying things which affect the congregation.
So as you probably know I have been banging on a lot recently about change and that is likely to
continue for the foreseeable future. Change is a very, very touchy subject in the Church of England,
probably even more so than talking about money. So I was at a meeting some time ago with
members of a PCC during which we moved onto the ‘change’ word and what was fascinating was
the variety of views.
One of the PCC really did not like the idea of changes, they like traditional worship, hymns and
liturgy. The other really did not like the traditional stuff at all and was frustrated. Both we about the
same age and both had served their local church faithfully for a long time. One of them apologised
for having a divergent view! As though somehow this was some sort of sin (it absolutely is not by the
way!).
I have seen two extremes of this:
Folks who will say to me if you change these pews, I would never come to church again
And others who would say, this building is a millstone around our necks when it comes to mission
and it would be great if it just burnt down.
Now to be honest I have issues with both positions. If pews are foundational to the reason you come
to church it might be worth taking a bit of a look at your theology. Also saying that always sounds
like blackmail to me and so I am apt to react badly to it.
But on the other hand, we are called to be stewards of these buildings for the next generation to
come and we need to respect that. And of course, if the building burnt down the diocese would
almost certainly make us rebuild it.
So, while it is sometimes tempting to stay up on the theological high ground, real christian life
happens down in the mud and marshes where we all really live a lot of our lives, and being Christian
is not about miraculously finding we never disagree it is about learning to disagree respectfully.
Since the very beginning, the Christian church has dealt with conflict and disagreement. Big stuff
and small stuff.
Jesus knew this. Why else did he decide with just hours left to live to talk about it with those who
followed him? He knew how divided his disciples could be. In the Gospel of John, that is exactly
what he does as he prepares for his own death. He knows exactly what his disciples will be tempted
to do as soon as he appears to be gone: Judas will stab him in the back for starters while he is still
alive. Peter will deny Jesus three times as soon as the pressure is cranked up. The others will run
away and hide when it looks like they could be next on the hit-list. You can just imagine the
arguments over those few days for a start. And this sets a pattern for the early church, squabbles
over membership, over practice over money, they had it all. And this has always continued, it is why
there a so many hundreds of different christian denominations. At is very worst it is why Christians
killed other Christians by the tens of thousands over perceived heresy.
So, what does Jesus do before all that kicks off? The night before his crucifixion, he pulls them all
together and reminds them of who they are and what they have been called to do. “As the Father
has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide
in my love…This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends.”
No one has greater love, than to give up something they hold dear.
Church is not a group of similar people who all see the world the exact same way in the same way
church is not a group of folks who all look the same way, church is a group among whom the Holy
Spirit has moved, stirring us to follow Christ. The Holy Spirit choses who he chooses, rich or poor,
black or white, gay or straight, short, tall, none of those matters. How else can we end up with
variety in our churches? We shouldn’t be frightened of lively debate, we have it because we care,
because it matters.
The disciples were not some standardised group of people. They were only joined by one thing. Like
us, we read they are a community united by Christ’s love for them. No matter what future lies
ahead, they were, and we are, bound together by Christ’s love. And together they have been given a
job to do – to love one another as Christ loves them, so we can love and serve the broken world.
That is part of our job description as well.
This is us. Amid a divided world, what holds us together is not our agreement on tough issues: if we
love the pews or hate them, if we want the organ or a band, a service in the morning or the
afternoon. Even, and brace yourself here, if the church building stays open or closed! What holds us
together is Christ’s mutual love for us. That we are friends of Christ called to love one another as
Christ has loved us.
And that is something we don’t get to take a different view on.
