The Morality of Dependence
Collect: Triune God, Jesus prayed that we might be one: help us to transcend our differences; and find our unity in Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. one God, now and forever. Amen.
Readings:
First reading: Acts 1:6-14
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7 He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew,
Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
Psalm: 68:1-10, 32-35
Second Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you…
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel: John 17:1-11
After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
6 ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one…”.
MAY I SPEAK…
For three or four years I was involved in leadership development, and I used to start the process by doing what we called “360 degree assessments”, which involved getting assessments of people’s effectiveness from their peers, their subordinates, and their bosses, and I would analyse these assessments, and I would then discuss the feedback in my first meeting with the person.
What fascinated me was how often a person and their boss rated the person significantly lower than all the others rated them.
What do you think the common factor was most often? A white person rating a non-white person lower than they clearly deserved? Could not see it in the numbers…. Different religions? No.
One thing happened so often, it got to the stage that I would say hello to the person, explain the process, and then say, to a woman, “your boss is a sexist, isn’t he?” and the woman would often burst into tears, and be amazed that I could pick it up, because she had thought it was her fault…
The horror of sexism (or racism, etc.) is that the sexist seems fine to people who are not part of the group the person thinks are less than them, and how the sexist, maybe unintentionally, treats women (or men) in a very condescending way, because the sexist believe woman (or men) are lesser beings, even objects…
I see sexism against woman daily, both in secular society and in church!
Often I see how sexist men will literally not consciously hear what a woman suggests in a meeting, until a male colleague says the same thing – usually, I’m afraid, passing it off as their idea, possibly because they at least heard the woman subconsciously….
I’ve even experienced parish council members not hearing an idea Michelle said, until I repeat it….
Of course, the reaction of calling all men pigs is equally offensive…
But the saddest for me is how often women themselves became “archetype sexist men” who persecute their fellow woman even more viciously than any man would do…
Yesterday, a female friend on Facebook objected to an advert on the side of the road near her home which depicted a scantily dressed woman with a caption encouraging woman to join their agency so they could get paid for sex.
This reminded me of when my daughter saw a lingerie advert on TV, and, how she turned to me with a hurt expression, and asked “why does the media so often portray woman as sex objects?”
God gave me the wisdom to say that “my darling, it is terrible to objectify a woman as a sex object, but don’t you think it is equally offensive to men to imply that the only way a man can ever react to a woman is sexually?”
Today is the second last sermon in our series on 50 Days of Moral Action which ends next week when we celebrate Pentecost, and in his letter for this week, +Steve reminds us that Christian morality speaks not just to the need for good governance, honesty in business, and justice in society, but also in the way in which we treat one another as human beings.
He speaks, with anguish, of heinous attacks on women we’ve read about in the press, and reminds us that we are all called to address the scourge of violence against the most defenseless in our society.
Now let’s put ourselves in context, liturgically - on Wednesday, we celebrated the Ascension, described in our reading from Acts. Before ascending, Jesus promised us, His followers, that “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
And we need to witness to the fact that we are all children of God, deserving of love and respect, no matter our gender, age, creed, religion, race, sexual orientation, education, class or whatever – we especially need to care for the most defenseless in our society....
Our Gospel reading is one of my favourite passages in all of scripture – it overwhelms me with joy, because we hear Jesus Himself praying for His disciples, and for His followers, throughout history, including us, acknowledging that God has given Jesus authority over all people, and that Jesus Himself gives eternal life to all whom God gives Him, (which means everyone, and everything, surely? Irrespective of gender, age, creed, religion, race, sexual orientation, education or class…)
And now for the really amazing part – Jesus, God, tells us what eternal life is, He says and this is eternal life, that we may know God, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom God has sent….
So eternal life means knowing God, and Jesus Christ whom God has sent…. Let me repeat that - eternal life means knowing God, and Jesus Christ whom God has sent…
Scripture shows Jesus, again and again, treating men and women, children and adults, sinners and saints, Jews and gentiles, anyone and everyone, with dignity, love and respect, especially the most defenseless in society.
As His followers, we are called to follow Him and do likewise…
In our reading from Peter, we get an idea of what this means for us– SUFFERING!
Peter calls it a fiery ordeal that is to test us….
Peter tells us to rejoice in our sufferings, where these mean we are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that we may also be glad and shout for joy when Jesus’ glory is revealed…
Peter reminds us that if we are reviled for the name of Christ, we are blessed, because the Spirit of Glory, the Spirit of God, is resting on us…
Peter tells us to humble ourselves under God, to cast all our anxiety on God, because God cares for us – you and me, for the most defenseless in society. …
Peter warns us to be disciplined, to keep alert, because our adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour, like a roaring lion.
I believe the essence of the testing Peter is referring to is about us resisting hardening our hearts, resisting being co-opted into the violence of hating instead of loving, of judging, of projecting what we loathe in ourselves onto the defenseless, be they the weak, the young, the old, the different...
So, friends, in our sufferings at the hands of others, let us not be co-opted into the system of inflicting that suffering on those perceived as weak.
The teaching of Jesus and the example of the saints is for us all to follow Jesus, to obey His command to love God, love ourselves, and to love our neighbours as we all, everywhere and through all time, are brothers and sisters, who experience the same kinds of suffering, and that after we have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, will restore, support, and strengthen us…
In the interim, may we restore, support, and strengthen each other, especially the defenseless, as He implores us to do, regardless of gender, age, race or creed….
AMEN!
Rev Gavin Smith
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