SERMON 12 JUNE 2016 - YOUTH DAY

Collect

God of justice and love, you call your church to witness that you are in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: help us to proclaim by word and deed the good news of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns in unity with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

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Readings

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First Reading:  1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a

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Psalm 5:1-8 (APB pg. 609-610)

Second Reading:  Galatians 2:15-21

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Gospel:  Luke 7:36-8:3

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On Thursday, we’ll be commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising, a series of protests led by high school students that began on the morning of 16 June 1976.

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How do you remember it? Was it a pivotal or watershed moment for you? I was only in grade 1, at the time, so most of my life has been in the shadow of the tragedy events of that day, but I knew something terrible had happened, and the day has had important meaning for me ever since…

I have heard many different perspectives of that infamous day, from denial to justification, from hatred to fear…

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A bare bones account of the morning of 16 June 1976 is that between 10,000 and 20,000 black students walked from their schools to Orlando Stadium for a rally to protest against having to learn through Afrikaans in school. Many students who later participated in the protest arrived at school that morning without prior knowledge of the protest, yet agreed to become involved. The protest was planned by the Soweto Students' Representative Council's (SSRC) Action Committee, with support from the wider Black Consciousness Movement. Teachers in Soweto also supported the march after the Action Committee emphasized good discipline and peaceful action.

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Tsietsi Mashinini is credited with leading students from Morris Isaacson High School to join up with others who walked from Naledi High School. The students began the march only to find out that police had barricaded the road along their intended route.

The leader of the action committee is described as asking the crowd not to provoke the police, and the march continued on another route, as the crowd of between 3,000 and 10,000 students made their way towards the area of the Orlando High School. Students sang and waved placards with slogans such as, "Down with Afrikaans", "Viva Azania" and "If we must do Afrikaans, Vorster must do Zulu".

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The tension was building – no-one knows what spark set the disaster off, one version is that the police set their dog on the protesters, who responded by killing it, and the police then began to shoot directly at the children.

We do know that one of the first students to be shot dead was 13-year-old Hector Peterson, who was shot at Orlando West High School and who became the symbol of the Soweto uprising after that infamous picture of him being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo spread around the world.

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We do know that the police attacks on the demonstrators continued and at least 23 people died on the first day in Soweto. Among the dead was Dr. Melville Edelstein, who had devoted his life to social welfare among Sowetans who was stoned to death by the mob and left with a sign around his neck proclaiming "Beware Afrikaners".

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The violence escalated, only abating by nightfall. Police vans and armored vehicles patrolled the streets throughout the night, and South Africa entered what must surely be one of her darkest hours…

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Who then would have imagined that by 16 June 1990, a mere 14 years later, the ANC and other liberation movements would be unbanned, that Nelson Mandela would be released and South Africa would be on her way to becoming what our beloved +Tutu described as “the rainbow nation of God”?

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And another 26 years later, a total 40 years after that fateful day, things seem to have regressed – our leaders are not being true to the legacy of +Tutu and Madiba, yet all is not lost…

Jesus’ life, death and resurrection SHOWS us that ALL can AND WILL be redeemed.  Our Gospel reading reminds us that the one for whom God has cancelled the greater debt is most grateful, and even as Saul and his past were redeemed, not through our efforts (in the law, to use Paul’s image), but through the grace of God….

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Paul also reminds us that through the law, he (and we) are ALL, yes ALL condemned, but that through Christ, he (and we) may die to the law, so that he (and we) might live to God… That he (and we) have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer he (or us) who live, but it is Christ who lives in him (and us) …

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The power of the Gospel is that it is a story of how love will always redeem evil, as in Christ, God is making all things new, that we can have hope, Peace, Joy and all the other fruits of the Spirit, no matter what our circumstances. As our reading from St Paul’s letter to the Galatians reminds us, we are justified (or saved) not by what we do, be it good or bad, but that through faith in Jesus Christ…

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Through FAITH…

And FAITH is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see…

And through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are invited to see things, to be certain of things we do not yet see, seeing all, in faith, through God’s eternal perspective, that we too might LOVE GOD and FOLLOW JESUS as we too forgive, and forgive, and work tirelessly for reconciliation, for the coming of God’s shalom, peace (or Kingdom), not in our own power, but through faith in God and God’s power…

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From this perspective, from our faith perspective, surely we do not have the option of giving up on the vision of being the rainbow nation of God?

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Surely, from our faith perspective and from God’s perspective, that is what we are, in and through faith in Christ?

Surely, from this faith perspective, we are invited to live in the love and victory of Christ, trusting not nor being disappointed by our feeble efforts (or works), which we know are inadequate?

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The public holiday we now have on 16 June has became Youth Day, and the surely Spirit inspired invitation is for all people, of faith or not, to focus on fulfilling our vocations to follow Jesus as we too continue helping create opportunities for our youth, especially those who are disadvantaged, without hope, and without employment or schools, in a Christ like way, in faith that God will work to the good in and through our efforts, no matter how small they seem to us…

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As I said in the beginning, 16 June has had significance for me over many years, and the reason is that God has used this day as a reminder of my vocation to join Christ in making all things new, in working with God in redeeming my life and showing those I encounter God’s power, through faith…

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For example, this understanding of my vocation was affirmed when I was ordained to the priesthood on 17 June 2006, 10 years ago and 30 years after 16 June 1976…

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I had the honour of preaching at Holy Cross in Soweto in 2008, at the foot of the Hector Peterson memorial….

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I even started at working at the IDC on 17 June 2012, an organisation committed to creating opportunities for all South Africans, including the youth…

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This year, our St Paul’s Youth Alpha is currently going strong, thanks to the hard work of Don and the team and your generous and hopefully ongoing donations, and there are beautiful examples of how God is working in and through the faith of these amazing young people and their sharing of their lives, their encouraging each other… I’ve been blessed to hear testimonies of young, frightened and overwhelmed teenagers starting to discover God’s purpose, and God’s meaning and peace through the touch of our living, resurrected and ever loving God, who is being revealed in their lives through this ministry….

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In fact, my dream is having youth lead services here at St Pauls (and elsewhere), as we join together as a vibrant Christian community, seeing and celebrating God working in us, be we young, old, or in-between, be we black, or white or in-between, as we celebrate God’s grace working through our FAITH, as we, sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see, embrace the universe through God’s perspective together (not apart), UNITED as we LOVE GOD, and OUR NEIGHBOURS AS WE LOVE OURSELVES, as we FOLLOW JESUS, together (not apart), forgiving, and forgiving, and working tirelessly for reconciliation, together, for the coming of God’s shalom, peace (or Kingdom) for the young, the old, or the in-between, of all races and cultures and religions, and all creation…

TOGETHER…

AMEN!

                                                                                                                                REV GAVIN SMITH

SERMON 22 MAY 2016

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Collect:

God of unchangeable power, you have revealed Yourself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit: keep us firm in this faith that we may praise and bless your Holy Name, for You are one God living and reigning in glory now and forever. Amen

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Readings:

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Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3 beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: 4 “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all humankind…”  22 “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; 23 I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. 24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; 25 before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, 26 before God made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. 27 I was there when God set the heavens in place, when God marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 28 when God established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 29 when God gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep God’s command, and when God marked out the foundations of the earth. 30 Then I was constantly at God’s side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in God’s presence, 31 rejoicing in God’s whole world and delighting in humankind”.

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Psalm 8 

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Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

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John 16:12-15 12

 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that He will receive what He will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what He will make known to you.”

May I speak in the name of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit…. Amen!

Today is Trinity Sunday in the calendar of the Christian Year.

If you were here last week for Pentecost, the celebration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all believers, you would have heard Michelle using me as one possible illustration of the Trinity – I’m one person, but I’m a husband, a father, and a priest – three of my roles, yet I’m still one person…

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But what I am could be described in other ways – I am male, I am an Engineer, I am a South African, I am a cyclist, I am a SCUBA diver…. Etc, etc…

Of course, I could also be described as what I’m not – I was previously too fat, or, in my wife’s words ‘not too lean’, and now I’m not… I’m not a woman, I’m not a vet, I’m not an Italian, I am not a soccer or tennis player… Etc, etc…

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Our descriptions of God, similarly, can be described in two ways – Greek “cataphatic” or Latin “via positiva” where we try describe what God is, e.g. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Love, etc.

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But there is another way, Greek “apophatic” or Latin “via negativa” where we say what God is not – this way attempts to describe God, the Divine Good, in terms of what may not be said about the perfect goodness that is God.  For example, the 9th-century theologian John Scotus wrote: "We do not know what God is. God Himself does not know what He is because He is not anything [i.e. "not any created thing"]. Literally God is not, because He transcends being."

When he says "God is not anything" and "God is not", Scotus does not mean that there is no God, but that God cannot be said to exist in the way that creation exists, i.e. that God is uncreated. He is using apophatic language to emphasis that God is "other".

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So bear that in mind, as we go on now to discuss the trinity – God is much more that any theological construct of God, even in scripture there are many images used to describe God – in our Proverbs readings today, we have a description of God as Wisdom (or Sophia, feminine) which we interpret to be God as Holy Spirit…

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In our Roman’s passage, it is said “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”, another image of God, describing Jesus’ role and also that “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit”, describing the Holy Spirit’s role…

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In our Gospel reading, Jesus describes the masculine Spirit of Truth, whose role is to guide us into all the truth, who will not speak on His own; who will speak only what He hears, and who will tell us what is yet to come. Jesus says the Spirit will glorify Him because it is from Jesus that the Spirit will receive what He will make known to us...

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As we all know, there are many, many other “cataphatic” descriptions in scripture of what God is like – from God being like a mother hen, brooding over Her chicks, to God being in the burning bush, to God being in the still quiet voice…

So where does the concept of Trinity come from, and why is it important?

First, the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. That is actually not that unusual because there are a number of theological concepts not found explicitly in the Bible that scholars and Church history and tradition have validated over the past 2,000 years. But the absence of direct teaching from the Bible on the Trinity makes it hard to find a passage of Scripture from which to launch out for a sermon. The passages we read today have hints of a Trinitarian relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, but you have to look carefully for it.

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The Trinity is a concept from the academic discipline called “systematic theology” which is the attempt by Christian theologians to craft a coherent understanding of the work of God.

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As Anglicans, our systematic theologies are crafted from Scripture, Church tradition, and Reason, which is typically the overarching philosophy of the particular theologian who is writing. So, the topics of systematic theology tend to be conceptual, and often difficult to explain in a way that doesn’t put a congregation to sleep quickly.

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But, the doctrine of the Trinity is important because it is one of those doctrines that Christians worldwide affirm, but have great difficulty explaining. The idea of One God in Three Persons — three-in-One — is a concept we have difficulty getting our heads around.

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The concept of the Trinity is difficult to explain, and there have been some interesting attempts:

The Trinity in The Shack. Several years ago, an interesting book titled The Shack became a bestseller. The story was compelling, but one aspect of that book sparked discussion and disagreement among Christians because the author William Paul Young represented the Trinity in a very unique way.

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For God the Father, Young portrayed God as a large black woman, who was outgoing, warm-hearted, and kind. For God the Holy Spirit, Young’s persona was that of an Asian woman dressed in bright colors who seemed to dart in and out of sight in a Tinkerbell-like fashion. For Jesus, the author pretty much stayed with the stereotype of Jesus as a workman, complete with jeans, flannel shirt, and toolbelt. Each of these personas of God exhibited unique characteristics, and each had a specific role to play in the fictional story.

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But, as creative as that portrayal was, Young’s attempt to give the Trinity personality fell short of capturing the theology fully.

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Early Heresies About the Trinity

This idea of the Triune God, the Trinity, is a difficult idea to grasp. And it has been difficult for Christians from the early church down to the present. Many attempts fail to capture the three-in-oneness of God completely. These imperfect attempts to define the Trinity became early Christian heresies.

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The two primary heresies about the Trinity, although there are more than two, are modalism and subordinationism.

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First the heresy of “modalism” is the belief that the Heavenly Father, Resurrected Son, and Holy Spirit are three different modes or aspects of one monadic God, as perceived by the believer, rather than three distinct persons within the Godhead, i.e. that there are no real or substantial differences among the three, such that there is no substantial identity for the Spirit or the Son. One could interpret the illustration I used above describing the trinity through my being a husband to Helen, father to my children, and priest to this church. So, I am one person in three roles.

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A more common heresy is that God the Father is the supreme figure, while both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are subordinate to him in some way, but this is not what the Bible teaches.

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So, to correct the theological conversation, the early Church developed creeds to address misunderstandings about the trinity. The first was the Apostles’ Creed, which simply affirms in three statements a belief in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (APB pg. 58). We also have the Baptismal Creed (APB pg. 59).

But these left the door open for misunderstanding about the Trinity, so the Nicene Creed was developed from 325 AD, and took its final form in 381 AD (APB pg. 108) – let’s read it together….

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We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, light from light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father;

through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary

and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Note the detailed explanation of the person of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. These details were included to correct the notion that God the Father was superior to God the Son or God the Holy Spirit. The “essence” of all three persons of the Godhead was, in other words, the same.

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How does this theory work in reality? It’s one thing to assert something about the Trinity, to say we believe in the Triune God, and to embrace a doctrine we cannot fully comprehend or explain. It is another thing entirely to base our understanding of God on what we see God doing.

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The most important statement I can make about our understanding of the Trinity is that it is based on what we see God has done and is doing in the world.

Let me give you some examples.

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In the Old Testament, God is Creator of both the world, and of the nation of Israel through whom he will bless the world. Of course, God is present as Spirit, and the Messiah is both prophesied and foreshadowed in various appearances of God, such as the angel who wrestles with Jacob. But primary on the stage of the unfolding drama of the Old Testament is the God of Israel, Yahweh, El-Shaddai, Elohim, Adonai, and all the other names by which God is called and worshipped.

In the New Testament Gospel accounts, the emphasis is upon Jesus — his birth, his baptism, his message, his life, his death, and his resurrection. But God the Father approves his Son, and the Holy Spirit anoints Jesus for ministry.

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In the New Testament Book of Acts and the epistles, the Holy Spirit is at the forefront, equipping, enabling, guiding, empowering the early church.

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In the Book of Revelation, God the Father, Son, and Spirit are all present, each featured in a way that is both consistent with the Old Testament, witnesses to the New Testament, and brings fully into being the Kingdom of God in its closing chapters.

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Okay, we’ve looked at some theology, but to keep this from being merely an academic exercise, we need to turn our attention to “Why should we care?” Doctrine is important, but doctrine comes from the lived experiences of God’s people as they interpret the work of God in the real world.

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We should care about the Trinity, and be aware of the uniqueness of the One-in-Three and Three-in-One because without a balanced view of all three persons of the Trinity, we can misinterpret the work of God in this world.

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For instance, if we emphasize some aspects of God in the Old Testament, and subordinate Jesus and the Spirit, then we could develop an image of a god of wrath and judgment, who has little compassion.

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If we emphasize the person of Jesus to the exclusion of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, we miss out on the fact that God sent Jesus because “God so loved the world…” The purpose of God is to redeem the world, not just the individuals in it. Salvation is the work of God, and that salvation extends not just to individuals but to God’s creation as well.

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Finally, if we over-emphasize the Holy Spirit, and the charismatic experiences and gifts of the Spirit, it is easy to lose sight of God as Creator, Son as Redeemer, and the role that the Holy Spirit played and plays in both of those aspects of God’s work.

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So, that’s the downside of why the Trinity is important to us. But there are at least two positive reasons we need to care about developing our own understanding of the Trinity.

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First, we find our model for community. As God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit relate to one another, demonstrate love for each other, and work in concert to accomplish the purpose of God in the world, we get the idea of the vibrant Christian community we are called to be.

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This idea of the relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit has been depicted by many Christian scholars using the term “perichoresis,” a Greek word which means “dancing around.” I like the implications of God — Father, Son, and Spirit — in a divine dance, interacting with one another, expressing love for one another, and complementing the work each has to do.

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Jesus says that the Spirit will guide his disciples, glorify Jesus, take what belongs to Jesus and give it to the disciples. But, everything Jesus has comes from the Father, and that is why the Spirit can make it known to the disciples. If that sounds like circular reasoning, it is. God the Father creates, God the Son redeems, God the Spirit illuminates and equips. In this divine dance of mutuality, each person of the Godhead complements and builds on the work of other members of the Trinity.

At the baptism of Jesus, Jesus demonstrates his obedience to the plan of God through baptism. God the Father announces his approval, and the Holy Spirit anoints Jesus for ministry.

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In the early church, the Spirit empowers, equips, and emboldens the apostles to tell the good news of Jesus, who is God’s gift sent into the world to redeem it.

Secondly, in the doctrine of the Trinity, we find our mission. Jesus stated to the disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.” Just as God the Father sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world to do the Father’s work, equipped and accompanied by the Spirit of God.

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God’s work is to bring in his kingdom on this earth, so that God’s creation can know the shalom, the salvation of God — the peace that says all things are as God has intended them to be.

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God sends Jesus to bring the shalom of God to the nation of Israel and to all who will respond, whether Jew or not. The Father and Son then send the Spirit who equips, empowers, and emboldens the early apostles as well as us today.

And, salvation itself — the idea that we are right with God — proceeds from God, is incarnate in Jesus, and is made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit.

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Whatever work we have to do in this world, we do from the standpoint of the Triune God — Father, Son and Spirit — who created, redeemed, and enabled us to do so.

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So, let me encourage you today to think about the Trinity — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But we can’t stop at just thinking about a theological concept. As followers of Jesus, we are loved by the Father, and led by the Spirit. All three persons of the Godhead are at work in our lives, in the life of this church, and in the life of this world.

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As we live in new awareness of God in all God’s expressions as Father, Son, and Spirit, our spiritual lives will deepen, our vision of God’s kingdom will expand, and the work that God has chosen for us will take on a new vitality and urgency. AMEN!

Rev Gavin Smith