April 17, 2016

Helen Jacobi

Easter 4     Acts 9: 36-43     Psalm 23     Revelation 7:9-17     John 10:22-30

Video available on YouTube, Facebook

In the liberal/ progressive church tradition to which we belong I don’t think we often read from the book of Revelation. Its end times, apocalyptic imagery and talk of angels and thrones is not really to our taste. Written for communities who followed in the tradition of the gospel of John and the letters of John, it speaks in images which are strange to our ears. It is written though to real communities of people, about real situations, but in a style which makes it seem very disconnected from our reality.

When the multitudes cry out “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev 7:10) we hear imagery which speaks of a far away God, in a heaven “up there” somewhere that we don’t really believe in. But if we listen again to the words and think of early 2nd century Christians and Jews being persecuted by the Romans we can hear them differently. The Saviour for the Romans was the Emperor, the person on the throne was the Emperor. Christians were killed for refusing to call the emperor Lord. They called Jesus, Lord. So “salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne” is not about God in some far away heaven, but God on the throne of the lives of those early Christians, God whom they worshiped, not the Emperor.

This was very radical and political talk and often cost them their lives. They are comforted by the writer of the book of Revelation – there will come a time when “they will hunger no more, thirst no more, and the Lamb (that is Jesus) will guide them to the springs of the water of life, and will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:16-17). In an interesting overlaying of imagery the Lamb is also going to be the shepherd! In the same way Jesus was the shepherd in John’s gospel, calling the sheep who know his voice to follow him. And echoing the 23rd psalm “the Lord is my shepherd, who leads me beside still waters and restores my soul”. The Christians of the book of Revelation are being asked to put their faith and lives on the line and call Jesus Lord, not the Emperor; and so build a new community, a new way of living.

It only took 200 more years or so for the church to stop being opposed to Rome and to become aligned to Rome. When the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 the rules of the game changed. It was on Constantine’s watch that the Council of Nicea was called to thrash out the creeds when stating a belief in Jesus as Lord, as opposed to the Emperor as Lord, became a safe thing to do. What exactly was meant by that was hotly disputed and people still fought and died for their brand of the faith but they were no longer persecuted by the Emperor for being Christian. The age of Christendom had begun.

1700 years later the age of Christendom (where society and church went hand in hand) is over. Yet here we are still, seeking God, seeking the shepherd who calls our name.

At the 8am service this morning we baptised Mahau. We used our baptismal pool so he could be baptised by full immersion. What a very strange and counter cultural thing. At 8am on a Sunday morning to gather and get into very cold water, to physically enact the call of Jesus to die to our old selves and to be born anew.

Emperor Constantine was not baptised until he was dying so worried was he about not being able to live up to the obligations of the baptised. The rising up out of the water enacts for us the resurrection, the renewal of life, the beginning of a new commitment. In the baptism service everyone is asked to affirm their faith and we say “Blessed be God, Jesus is Lord”, echoing the words claimed 2000 years ago by Christians who were brave enough to make this claim.

There are still Christians around the world for whom making this claim is a choice between life and death, or life with no risk and a risk filled life. For us the choice of attending church or acknowledging a life of faith is more likely to be met with bemusement, maybe some ridicule or lack of respect; but not danger. Yet it is still I think a brave choice. It was certainly pretty brave to get into that cold water at 8am this morning and say yes I believe.

This morning we are commissioning our Vestry – our leaders for the year – elected at our recent AGM. They have bravely stepped up to the task of leading us as a community of faith, of casting our vision and helping us accomplish it. They have oversight of all aspects of our parish life, including the buildings and the finances. And so hand in hand with their commissioning comes our Generous Spirit campaign – their request to you, to make a financial commitment to our life together. They cannot lead us without resourcing.

We cannot progress as a community without some income and an increase on our current income. There is no point electing a team to lead us and then tying their hands behind their backs because they have nothing to work with.

Giving to our church community though, is about more than paying our bills and giving us the tools to work with. It is also part of our commitment as people of faith. It is about taking Caesar off the throne and putting Jesus there – or if the throne imagery doesn’t really work for us anymore – it is about letting go of some of our money (which our lives tend to revolve around), letting go of the need to hold on tightly to what we have and sharing it with others, and offering it back to God. Letting go, offering. Spending our hard earned dollars on our church community is a brave, counter cultural thing to do. We could happily spend it on other things. Some of us can afford more, some less. That is ok, however small or big our commitment, it is making the commitment that is important. The Vestry need you to fill in these forms so they can plan; you need to fill in a form so you make that commitment. Mahau stepped into the cold water this morning and came out baptised and a member of the body of Christ. The Christians of the 7 churches of Asia that “John” wrote to in the book of Revelation proclaimed Jesus as Lord and not Rome.

We invite you this morning to take away a Generous Spirit brochure and think and pray about your commitment. What will it be? And I invite you to support our Vestry members as they lead us forward. “Amen! Blessing and glory and thanksgiving and honour be to our God forever! Amen.” (Rev 7:12)