Lent 5 2010 Address

Lent 5 c, Passion Sunday, Something New, Isa 43: 16-21, Phil 3: 4b-14, John 12: 1-8, Sunday 21 March 2010, St Johns Campbells Bay 8 and 9.30, Knightsbridge Village 11.15, Michael Hughes

I wish to begin today by speaking about ‘race car movies’.

There seems to be a defining race car movie in each generation – one recent example is the 1990’s street racing film ‘The Fast and The Furious’, which has been popular enough to generate 3 sequels, of course imaginatively titled ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’, ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’, and the latest simply ‘Fast and Furious’.
Younger people, and the young at heart, will know of the animated film ‘Cars’, and its hero ‘Lightening McQueen’.
I guess we could recall a race car film in most decades, back maybe as far as the silent movies and the Keystone Cops who chased each other around in their old jalopies.

Older movie goers like myself might recall one such race car movie that epitomized the genre from the early 1980’s – called ‘The Cannon Ball Run’, which was based on an illegal cross-America race from coast to coast – no holds barred – winner takes all. It featured Burt Reynolds amongst the stars.

Anyway, in this particular race car movie it begins with the various race car drivers secretly meeting up in a warehouse where their cars are assembled and where the race will begin. One competitor is an Italian driver who will compete in this brand new convertible Ferrari – red of course! He jumps into the car, and the first thing he does is grab the rear vision mirror in both hands and breaks it off, throwing it over his shoulder across the warehouse floor and he says: ‘The first rule of Italian driving – what’s behind me is not important!’

What’s behind me is not important!
Which is perhaps a long way around to the Isaiah reading today, and our theme of ‘something new’, but I hope you’ll see the connection shortly.
Here Isaiah says some quite startling things to a Jewish audience, let alone to us as a Christian audience, when he writes ‘Thus says the Lord … do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?’

Or put another way – ‘what’s behind you is not important!’
Yet, for the Jewish people of the exile, who might have first heard this, and for that matter Jewish people still today, let alone we Christian people today, that is a shocking suggestion. The suggestion that we forget our past, we discount our history, we don’t look to our tradition, or consider our heritage and our forebears in faith – but rather that we only look forward, to the new thing springing forth.

I had dinner last week with some friends who are a Jewish family here in Auckland and they were preparing for Passover, which begins for them this week, and they were cleaning the house, clearing out certain food items, getting themselves and their home ready for the Passover – as they set out to celebrate this central festival in their faith, which involves ‘a looking back’, a remembering, a considering of the past event of the Exodus. It is a festival which has involved doing this kind of ‘looking back’ for their people for millennia. The idea that God might tell them ‘don’t remember the former things, do not consider the things of old’, is something of anathema.

As it seems it is for us Christians too, as we go through this Lenten season and get closer and closer to the remembrances of Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Day itself. We too are increasingly focused on looking back, on remembering, on considering the journey of Jesus to the cross and then on to the empty tomb. We are relying on our proverbial ‘rear vision mirror’ – but unlike the Italian race car driver, ‘What’s behind us is important!’ – it is very important!

How then can we stay true to the message of Isaiah today, and to the theme of looking for ‘something new’ – the thing that God would have spring forth amongst us?

Well, I think the difference for us is in the realization that while we do look back, while we recall, remember, consider the past in the journey of Jesus, we do not do so by reliving it as those who first experienced it lived it, but rather we do so by reengaging with the history, the past, the tradition, the story of Jesus, in light of what we know came to pass, and what we know now for ourselves, in our own lives and faith – that is, the truth of the resurrection, the birth to new life, the wonder of restoration, reconciliation, transformation and new beginnings. For as Christian followers that is what we know and what we celebrate, not only in Easter but all the time, right through the Lenten season – we celebrate the experience of lives renewed, of lives re-enlivened.
This is the ‘something new’, the new thing God is about to do, is now doing, and has already done. This is what ‘springs forth’ and what we are to perceive - the ongoing resurrection life, even in the midst of remembering the passion and death of Jesus - as we are about to do over this next two weeks.

And we can find such signs of this new life, of this ‘something new’, all around us, if we only look: in our own lives, in the life of this community of faith, in the wider community and church of which we are a part, and in our world.

Certainly, in my new work for the wider church I get to see and experience some of this newness, some of these signs of new life, of resurrected life, and I believe the same signs can be found everywhere.

Examples for me have been; the ordination three weeks ago in Dunedin of a new bishop, and all the excitement and anticipation that the cathedral, the diocese, and the whole community there, were feeling and expressing as they celebrated this ‘something new’ that was springing forth amongst them.

Similarly, two weeks ago I was in New Plymouth for the consecration of a new cathedral, the first new cathedral in this church for over 80 years, and it was once again a great celebration of ‘something new’, something exciting and energizing, something that God was bringing about, something that was ‘springing forth’ amongst them.

In a maybe smaller way, the week before last a number of people from St Johns were able to share with me and others in a service at the cathedral in Auckland, as I was liturgically welcomed by the wider church into my new role as the General Secretary for this church, which is not so new anymore,. Again I felt, and I trust others did too, a sense of ‘something new’, something exciting and life giving springing forth – certainly for me, and I hope for the wider church which I strive to serve, as we work to bring about the way of God in this land.

And for each of us locally such signs of ‘something new’ might be found, in our experiences of the New Year we are well into now, or the experiences of a new group, or course, or commitment we are involved with this year. It maybe in new relationships we are beginning with those around us at work, or play, or in community or church, in our neighborhood, or voluntary groups, or school. It maybe in a new job, or a new task, or a new ministry, or a new interest.
There are these signs of new life all around, of God bringing forth something new, we have only to perceive it – as Isaiah challenges us.

(Certainly here at St Johns we see many signs of new things springing forth – both in fabric and in people. We have new road side signs, which went up this week, a newly painted hall and church, plans for a new portico to be built over our main doors; we have new families joining our community, we have had baptisms, weddings, and a new vestry about to be elected at our AGM)

And for each of us personally, we have the opportunity for new expressions and new experiences of faith. New insights into scripture and God’s call on our lives. New challenges to welcome all who come to worship, or to our studies, or to our groups, or to our community in a myriad of ways.

Isaiah writes of this newness being like ‘a way in the wilderness’ – so helping the lost find a path in life. Or like ‘rivers in the desert, water in the wilderness’ – so bringing refreshment and sustenance to those who need it. Or ‘like wild beasts bowing down to honour God’ - as that which was uncontrolled chooses to recognise the one who is the source of all life and newness.

So, we can look around us for the examples and opportunities to find for ourselves, and to offer others, such ‘a path’, and a way forward with God in life and faith.
And we can look around us for examples and opportunities to find for our selves, and to offer others, ‘life giving water’ – that which spiritually refreshes, sustains and cleanses all life – as our baptismal liturgy puts it.

Such newness, such life, such opportunity for growth and transformation, is always before us. God is always doing a new thing amongst us; we have only to perceive it.

And sometimes that will require some looking in the rear vision mirror, some reflecting on the tradition, the history, the past, some acknowledging of our forebears and where we have come from - but we cannot get stuck there!
For as the Italian race car driver was suggesting, at least some, if not most, of our attention needs to be forward, needs to be on what is around and in front of us right now, for it is there that I believe we will perceive God at work – God bringing in the ‘something new’.

Commissioning of the Reverend Michael Hughes as General Secretary
of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia:
Te Hahi Mihinare ki Aotearoa, ki Nui Tireni, ki Nga Moutere o te Moana Nui a Kiwa
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland
9 March 2010
Homily by Archbishop David Moxon
Romans 13:10-14
Matthew 5:1-14
“The builders of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia”
I runga i te ingoa o Te Matua, Te Tama, me Te Wairua Tapu
It is right to meet for this commissioning, in a building like this, dedicated to expressing the
diversity and the art of a three tikanga church, because a General Secretary in a church like
this is faced with a unique set of complexities and opportunities. What spirituality do we
need?
We need to be challenged by the first beatitude from tonight’s Gospel: “Blessed are the
poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”. This means that we need to be open to
the riches that come from other perspectives and that when these riches are pooled together
in robust discussion we may all be enriched. Being poor in Spirit means that there is room
beyond my ego for the treasures that belong to us all. This is particularly true when the
different cultures of a three tikanga church interweave and enrich each other.
Grief or tears should not be withheld; a General Synod Office at the nerve centre of this
three tikanga church is not the place where some of the deepest pain of the Church should
be staunched. This could be a kind of weakness or vulnerability which did not belong in a
house using the Westminster method of meeting and debate. But we need to be challenged
by the beatitude “Blessed are those who mourn, for will be comforted.” This means that the
deepest feelings of the Church can belong in the household of Faith. Grief or tears are not
only possible but sometimes necessary given the depth of the suffering we are called to
understand and to respond to, both in ourselves and in the world.
You may have sometimes noticed in the heat of debate in General Synod the temptation to
get into point scoring, which can turn into what feels like a personal diminution of another
person... It becomes easy to play the person and not the ball. When ever this is done, as well
as in front of a large community of people it can have long lasting consequences. But we are
challenged by the beatitude “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth.” This
means an open act of respect for others as a first principle, without being a door mat.
Respectfulness of the other, even when strongly engaging in robust disagreement is a
hallmark of Christian discourse: we are inter relating together as members of Christ’s body,
made in the image of God: we are called to treat each other sacramentally.
In the midst of the political intensity of some official church business, you may have sometimes
noticed that we end up thinking about expedient solutions or compromises which may lack any
principle. When we do this we are challenged by the beatitude “Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” This means that standing up for
what is right is a key to the integrity of the a three tikanga church. The alternative is a kind of
emptiness or nothingness which is devoid of the Spirit of God.
We are challenged by the beatitude “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive Mercy”
We are not here to take advantage, or to stifle forgiveness when advantage has been taken of
us: we are called to enlarge our soul’s to be bigger than that, called and inspired by the infinite
compassion of God in Christ.
The business of a General Synod Office can preoccupy the mind with a thousand details
and distractions: this is the nature of our order paper and our reports as a whole years busy-
ness concentrates together. But we are challenged by the beatitude “Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God.” This means an uncomplicated, single focused gaze towards
God ... an open heart, receptiveness to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit that come deep
within. This can purify our thinking in the midst of many Babel voices in our heads.
The debate structure of a General Synod means that motions succeed or fail by simple
majority, sometimes leaving even large minority opinion feeling compromised or even
disenfranchised. The process can feel combatorial and involve a war of words. When we get
into this we are challenged by the beatitude “Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be
called Children of God”. This can mean reaching out with an olive branch, healing enmity and
looking for fair and safe reconciliation. The challenge from the beatitude is to speak in a way
that does not attack, but invites others to respond rather than retaliate and which fosters
some measure of shalom. When you point the finger at someone else it is always helpful to
remember that three more fingers are pointing back at you.
The beatitude calling us to hunger and thirst for righteousness reminds us that we are called
to stand up for what is right with a passion. To avoid the difficult questions or to approach
them casually or pre-emptively is fatal in a church set in today's fluid modern world.
The world and its ways teach us a message that is in strong contrast to the politics of the
beatitudes. The message to “Do to others, before they do to you” or the message to “be
staunch “, or the message to “gain the very best advantage over your competition” or to let
people “come to heel” or to “stew in their own juice”, is very real. However the Body of
Christ has not endured, grown and shared its great transforming vision by following these
ways: the Church has integrity and reality only because it has tried to share and live the
Gospel in which the beatitudes are set.
Consider the logo of this church we are called to build: the three tikanga flax cross: te ripeka
whiringa harakeke. There is a rich Biblical picture of Trinitarian diversity in unity, particularly
within the wholeness of God, and a coordinating synergy transfusing a vast creation of
amazing detail. It is from this Biblical reality that a three tikanga ecclesiastical arrangement
draws its inspiration for this Church. There are three partners representing three cultural
strands with their own uniqueness and life-giving heritage, freely interweaving into an ever
growing pattern of Trinitarian design.
The artist Ross Hemera was asked by the Anglican Church to design this indigenous cross,
picking up strands from all three tikanga of the church in these islands.
At the centre of the woven cross pattern is the koru, a sign of new life. The koru is presented
in red as a sign of life blood, of the life-giving love which flows through the heart of the
Christian message and Christian mission. This shape can also be seen as a ventricle of a
heart and as a foetal image of new life.
The woven pattern is a sign that all three tikanga of this church are called to interweave in
Mission, weaving being a feature of Maori, Pakeha and Pacific cultures. The design
presents flax strands moving outwards, symbolising the life patterns of the Gospel being
formed in a new creation. The centre of the design features the cross, the image of what it
cost Christ to live and die for righteousness and justice.
The way flax is woven, to build up the design can be seen as a parable of the way we build up
our own lives and the life of the church. There is a saying in Maori which is sometimes used
when flax is being woven "aroha atu, aroha mai." As one strand is put in place, the weaver
thinks "aroha atu," as the next strand interweaves with it, the weaver thinks "aroha mai" and so
the weaving and the thought builds up with each new action. The phrase in Maori means 'the
love that goes forth from me comes back to me', or love is made up of giving and receiving and
in this way life and love are built up. So it is with the life and work of a General Secretary. In
a church like ours what is needed is not bureaucracy or autocracy from the administrative
centre, but interweaving of contributions in the spirit of love. In this way a design emerges and
a shape comes into being.
We have chosen a new General Secretary for whom this way of weaving is natural. It has
been instinctive to Michael from his days as a youth worker, a student, a national executive, a
priest, and now this new opportunity.
Lastly, a new general secretary can be encouraged with the wisdom of Jesus the builder,
Jesus the carpenter. He encouraged people to remove a speck of sawdust from their own
eye before removing a log from someone else's eye. This is an image taken from a carpenter's
shop in Nazareth. The message is clearly not to judge when working with others, but to
discern, to humbly and patiently reflect on ones own spirituality before sharing with someone
else about the challenges and opportunities of their spiritual journey.
From carpentry and agriculture, Jesus used the image of a wooden yoke, both in terms of his
relationship with us, also drawing from the image of yokes around the necks of teams of oxen.
The yoke shoulder to shoulder provided the synergy and cohesion a team needed to shift
large weights, to do heavy work and to act with coordination in a way that made the cultivation
of crops and fields possible and bountiful.
And so Michael as you begin your new ministry in this amazingly diverse, challenging and
remarkable three tikanga church, think of the beatitudes, the woven flax cross (te ripeka
whiringa harakeke) and the wisdom of Jesus the builder.

Repent or Perish....Luke 13: 1-9 Sermon by Rev. Michael Smart Lent 3

Pilate, had ordered the slaughter of some Galilean protestors, even while they were in the sacred Temple itself. “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way, they were worse sinners than all other Galileans ?” “Do you think that because many people in Haiti suffered that they were worse sinners than anyone else ?’...at least one telly evangelists said, yes. What will they say about Chile ?
To return to Jesus day...that industrial accident, when 18 workers were killed in Siloam when the tower they were building collapsed on them ? Accident or divine punishment ?
“Who sinned that this man was born blind,” they asked Jesus. “neither this man nor his parents sinned.” And still, people ask the same kind of question. “What did this little boy do wrong that he was killed in a quad bike accident ?” With regards to individuals, Jesus refutes the simplistic equation of tragedy = punishment for sin and so should we.
Such tragic consequences are not a result of God actively punishing sin. If God were into that kind of business, then are we not all up for punishment....who is next !
But what about Jesus warning, “ Unless you repent you will all perish just as they did”. Jesus was warning about consequences for Jerusalem there and then, not hereafter. If God’s people did not repent of their guerrilla tactics against Rome, accept his way to peace, if they did not set aside the sword, they would perish by the sword.
Some of the warnings of Jesus have mistakenly been taken as warnings about the afterlife, when in fact they are warnings of judgement to come for his fellow Jews in the political situation of their day. “Unless the tree bears fruit this year it will be cut down”....the tree is Israel. Are God’s people producing the fruit that reflects God’s character....if they don’t repent when one greater than Jonah is here, when will they....they will perish; not in the fires of hell after they die, but in the fires of Jerusalem, sacked by the Romans.
It did not take a great prophet to see what was going to happen to Israel if they persisted in opposition to Rome. The prophet ,however, is not merely a wise political commentator. A prophet understands when God is using the social and political upheavals of the day to execute his judgement. Not every social or economic crisis is God’s judgement any more than rain on a parish picnic is God’s judgement on the parish. We must not rush to make such interpretations, for much of life is random, accidental, open to chance.
One way to understand God’s judgement is that there is a built in, moral basis to the world, like gravity. God doesn’t act in one off judgements, but lets the moral basis find its own balance...a kind of reaping what we sew. Others would have God active in every tiny event and circumstances, busy all the time, so everything becomes an expression of God’s approval or judgement...very exhausting. Others hold that God only acts in major events to express his judgement and that is when we need prophets to help us recognize the hand of God. I am suggesting this understanding.
Time to repent is always offered....I will give the tree one more year ! Jesus as a prophet warns them that unless they take his way, Jerusalem would end up like chickens without a mother hen to protect them from the barnyard fire that Rome would light.
God’s judgement is not expressed in giving you cancer or causing a child to be run over. Jesus speaks of the judgement of the nation Israel as the people of God. It is more at the level of a judgement upon the whole church rather than visiting an illness on an individual Christian There are bigger issues for God than whether you eat chocolate during Lent, or lose your cool with your husband or wife or get irritated with your fellow Christian. Let us not argue about the seating arrangements on the Titanic, when the whole ship is sinking.
There can be judgement of a whole nation, even on nations. As Christian nations we should be asking if the economic crisis is God’s judgement upon our corporate greed in the face of others poverty and repent. And repent not out of fear of worse to come, but because we want to embrace the good, the just, embrace the life of the kingdom. We wont accept greed as “ just the way it is these days”, but call for a just distribution of wealth. We will be careful about our own investments and consider the use companies make of our money.
What is most often put before us for us to soak up into our minds from our movies and TV series? Violence and uncommitted sex. We are bombard with visions of violence that infuses our collective mind and we wonder why our society has a problem with violence. “There’s probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy yourself.” The assumption is that to walk in the ways of God means the end of fun and enjoyment.
Our society is obsessed with casual sex, and while that might give some momentary enjoyment, all the evidence is that sex without a degree of loving commitment, without some security within a relationship does not satisfy the human spirit. We are more than bodies. It will be interesting to see if Jane Campion’s latest film; “ Bright Star” which has no physical violence and no steamy sex scenes will be a box office hit. Its popularity might indicate where our collective treasure lies.
When we protest it must not be from some moral high ground, but from a compassionate certainty that God knows how best to use his good gift, and as often happens these days, some psychologist after much research , will confirm what God has already told us. Surprise !!
To worship God is not in the first instance about liturgy and hymns and is not limited to an hour on Sundays. To worship God is at all times and in all places to fill one’s mind and heart with the vision of his kingdom life, to hold before us what is good and beautiful and worthy of God. This living process, can be very deliberate, as in a set time of prayer or reading or watching a thought provoking film, but often, the vision comes to us in unexpected places, like at a school concert, in an art gallery, listening to music. Thus inspired by our worship, by seeing and tasting the worth in what we see and hear, sense and discover we work and pray and speak out for God’s kingdom to come on earth. In particular this will involve developing and supporting programmes for the most vulnerable, the displaced, and those trapped in poverty. Those not against Christ are for him...we should expect to find people of good will and sound judgement likewise concerned and sharing the same vision so we must not isolate ourselves, thinking we are the only ones with moral discernment.
God’s judgement is not about revenge or punishment for its own sake. God’s judgement when it comes, is a way of calling us as a people back to walk the ways of his Messiah, walk the talk of resurrection life.