In front of a mic
Rev Indrea Alexander
Sirach 15:15-20; Ps 119:1-8; 1Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37
You may have seen or heard the Auckland mayor being interviewed recently about his and the council’s preparation for and response to the recent storms and flooding. He was asked why they hadn’t done some of the key things they existed to do. The mayor squirmed a bit, evaded answering some of the questions, then a couple of days later fronted up with an apology.
What would it be like if a reporter thrust a microphone under our noses and interviewed us as Christians or as a parish about some of the key things we exist to do. There would be some questions we would answer happily, but I think there are others that we may squirm away from.
We are not perfect, and actually, the church has never been perfect. In our New Testament reading today we heard Paul, in around 55AD, pointing out some of the problems in the church at Corinth - jealousy, quarrelling, factions, with different groups preferring different leaders. Paul isn’t seeking to undermine the church at Corinth by his assessment, but to strengthen it.
He acknowledges that different leaders in the church have different skills, and he likens them to a team of gardeners with different roles. One plants, another waters, but he reminds them that it is God alone who can give life and growth. And Paul tries to refocus them, reminding them that like gardeners, “The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose…” - I suggest the church’s common purpose is to live an authentic Christian life, serving the purposes of God. Paul tells the Christians at Corinth that God has different standards from those encountered in ordinary life. He tells them that they cannot be mature Christians, because they have not yet grasped the nature of authentic community. They still live by the screwed up standards of the world.
The reading from the gospel of Matthew carries a similar theme. In it Jesus is shown speaking to his closest friends along with a large gathered crowd on a hill, giving what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. It includes a whole series of sayings contradicting the common view. “You have heard it said… but I say to you…” Todays selection included anger and sexual behaviour. “You have heard it said… but I say to you…” And he ups the expectations.
It’s a fairly daunting piece. Jesus says it’s not enough not to murder, but that we also need to avoid the anger and actions that precede it. He says it’s not enough to avoid adultery, but that we also need to avoid the lust and attitudes and actions that precede adultery. He also says that people’s acceptance of divorce (allowed for in the Old Testament) falls short of the ideal - an ideal which is expressed in every Christian wedding - marriage is vowed until the couple is parted by death.
Writers have suggested that, taken by itself, the Sermon on the Mount is not Good News, but bad news, because it sharpens the demands of the law to the point of the impossible.
But, despite these extraordinary standards, it is not bad news. When you are on a dangerous road it is helpful to be shown a safer way. People who have struggled with anger issues find huge relief in learning skills to defuse their response to situations of conflict. People who are tracking toward sexual or relational unfaithfulness can find huge relief in finding a way back from the brink. And couples whose relationship is sliding down a slope of neglect and boredom can find huge joy in rediscovering love for each other that is strong and more mature than the love which first drew them together.
However, we know such things don’t happen easily and particularly the issues that lead to divorce are sometimes insurmountable. Thankfully in times of such pain, we find God not only has incredibly high standards, but offers incredibly deep compassion, healing and love.
In some situations we need to take responsibility for failing to live to the standards of God. In the reading from Sirach it said, “to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice,” and it reminds us that the Lord “has not commanded anyone to be wicked, and has not given anyone permission to sin.”
The portion of Psalm 119 set for today says, “happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord,” and the psalmist yearns, “that my ways may be steadfast … then I shall not be put to shame.”
Thankfully, when our choices are unfaithful, and when we carry shame and pain as a consequence of our choices, we are promised that if we truly and humbly confess to God, we will receive the undeserved, unearned loving forgiveness of God, and may also hear those words of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery, “Go, and sin no more.”
And if we have suffered through the faithlessness of others, if we have been shamed and hurt, we can seek the deep healing of our compassionate God to raise our heads and bring us to the fulness of personhood God has designed us for. Some people powerfully claim promises such as that given by God through the prophet Joel, “I will restore to you the years that the locust swarm devoured.” (ISV) The grace of God can help us achieve what we cannot achieve in our own strength.
That is the good news, news so good that we can embrace the challenges of the Sermon on the Mount. Like the early Christian church, we need to be challenged by the standards of God, challenged about the way we live and relate to each other, and refocussed to engage with the future.
Many years ago I had a chat with someone who said the team who looked after the gardens at their church were all tired. They had been doing the gardens for 25 years and were now in their 70s. It made me wonder if God called them to 25 years of looking after church gardens, or whether God would have been content if they’d employed Mr Green to do the gardens while they brought their neighbours to faith?
Doing beautiful gardens and sharing faith are not mutually exclusive, but sometimes we let ordinary things push aside our unique calling as Christians—to worship God and bring others to faith. To be disciple-making disciples.
I asked earlier what it would be like to have a reporter interview us about whether we are doing what we exist for, but, daunting as that may sound, we’re not answerable to a reporter - we are answerable to God.
Ok team, God asks, how have you done in the past year with the things I have entrusted to you? Are your neighbours feeling loved? Have they heard about Jesus? What about your retired family members and friends? And the 50s and 60s? The 30s and 40s? The teens and 20s? The kids? Do they know they are profoundly loved and don’t have to live up to world’s expectations, but can find hope and freedom in life with me?
And God might ask us: Are you welcoming, nurturing and encouraging each other as Christian disciples here? Do you humbly share what I am doing in your life? Are you nurturing your own faith, taking opportunities to draw aside with me and allow your hearts and minds to grow and flourish in the warmth of my love? Are you giving generously to my work? Are you trusting me and bringing all your concerns to me in prayer? And are you caring for my creation? God asks.
There may be other questions God wants to ask us as individuals or as a congregation. Let’s pause before God: Holy God, give us the courage to open our hearts and minds to anything you may want to ask us today.
Pause silently with God.
Whatever just stirred in your heart or mind, may you find the courage to seek God’s continued guidance, and to be obedient. God, transform our lives ever more closely into the likeness of Jesus Christ our saviour, we pray. Amen.