Sermon from the Parish Priest for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Preached at the Grosvenor Chapel for the Third Sunday after Epiphany in the Church of England Calendar. Conclusion of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
"Let's begin to listen to one another". "We can see each other, not as adversaries, but as neighbours". Commentators have been describing these words of President Joe Biden on Wednesday as representing the hoped-for dawning of a new era: listening, coming together, uniting, at a time when this is surely needed so badly. What this means in terms of policy priorities and real actions is for politicians and commentators to debate in the complex mix of international relations, domestic concerns, real economics, how we conceive society. Not saying any position or statement is bad or good or in between. But it surely must be good to reflect on our priorities as society and in our own lives at a time when the experience of this dreadful pandemic is surely, amid the anxiety, exasperation, great suffering and grief, surely teaching us something about who we are and what we can be as the human race, united in our diversity, called to a new strength together through our collective weakness, called to take stock of how we treat each other and treat the resources God has given us for the good of all.
And as we celebrate this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity our common calling as bearers of Christ to our world is something it would be good to ponder. Because to all of us Christians – from whatever country, whatever tradition, whatever background, are in this together as citizens of this global village and, regardless of our differences, of our agendas, of our political views, it is under his, under Christ’s authority, we are called to serve.
Under his authority. United under his authority. Not the authority of the messenger, the angel here in this reading from the Book of Revelation which we hear consistently in the Roman Prayer of the Church and I think also in Anglican Evening Prayer. For the angel is pointing us to the authority of the Lamb of Sacrifice, the Bridegroom here sent into the world over which he claims all authority and to whom he calls to be his bride. A very apt reading for this time as we are called to reflect as Churches on our united witness to Christ under whose authority we pray, work and live together. And the Gospel for this time after Epiphany is not chosen to draw us into reflection on the eucharist, which of course it does prefigure. But this is Jesus’ first miracle. Following on from his baptism in the Jordan by John he shows his power to transform the world in which his authority as Messiah is revealed to all nations. He shows us his authority and his power, a power and authority which unites us all – Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Pentecostal Christians, so-called right or left wing, even Democrats, Republicans, or in the centre . This miracle at Cana for me elicits our fundamental belief– an eternal truth – that is: the teaching that this Jesus is invested with the power of God that unites his disciples. His authority then is different to earthly expressions of power in society. This Jesus, who is the Christ, the Anointed One in whom the Father is well pleased and who is filled with the Holy Spirit, is invested with the power of God, as he has been from all time and will be for ever. And it is under authority we pray, work and live as Christians together, and through his transforming power we respond to our calling in this world of the now and the future – personal, communal, united together.
Because this transforming power changes the lives of the people around him. As water is transformed into wine so our old selves may be transformed into ministers of his Gospel, proclaiming his Kingdom in words and deeds. It seems, as it did in his own words later for St Paul, the first disciples of Christ “changed sides” to him; you might say to put aside their own squabbles, disagreements, prejudices, to put Jesus first. Not a tribe first, not a cause first, not a heroic leader first. No, to put Jesus – yes, to put God, now in human flesh as a divine person, first. Others who follow him around the towns and villages of Galilee realise this – there’s something different going on here. Word about this miracle and all the subsequent miracles will spread around the Galilean countryside: this is something different “with authority behind it”. With the power of God because this is no mere prophet, no mere man, but this man is the fullest expression of God’s authority in the world which breaks through any family, political, tribal allegiance. Jesus first. God first. The values of the Kingdom of God first.
Who is this Jesus to me and how does he transform my outlook on life? How is water transformed into overflowing abundant wine? How does his authority break through into my life and impact on my own sense of personal calling, on my role in society? How does my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Saviour teach me how we rebuild the future together as we move into what Pope Francis is heralding as clearly a change of era. Not an era of change but change of era as we are called to move on from this global tragedy, this era also of political upheaval and conflict, this era when we have plundered the planet and the gifts God has given us to use wisely as good stewards of creation? For me at the very heart of my faith is that this Jesus is not just another good person who teaches us by his example - that is part of his appeal to the crowds around Galilee but there’s something more. To the first disciples it dawns on them there is something more to life which he points to which transcends groups of people – a divine destiny, a deeper intangible meaning in the midst of everyday life and work, something more than what we do in our jobs, however well we do them, something even greater than social concerns, charitable works, for all the good we do. It is rather in following the command of Christ on whose authority we place ourselves in the heart of society to build up his Kingdom.
May I suggest that for many this is a way of looking at the world that is quite difficult to accept at times. As a society we’re not always tuned into equating religious matters – or spirituality – from the perspective of divine or spiritual authority – authority for us is more to do with the secular, with democracy or bureaucracy – and we tend to think of what we accrue in terms of education, ability, status even, and what we do in society not so much as a gift from above but rather as something we deserve. But this is deeply unchristian. Everything given to us comes from God and has a purpose, even when it seems we cannot understand it. And we are called to use that for his kingdom. Even, although it’s difficult to see that right now, the experience we find ourselves in, this dreadful pandemic certainly not sent to us by a loving God but an experience which God invites us to learn from so we do not go back to a ‘new normal’ but which draws us more closely together to serve the Kingdom under one banner, the banner of Christ.
It is this authority of Christ which must be the beginning and end of what we’re about, who we’re about as faith communities, as Church. In a society where there are still in our working and social lives those we encounter who are frightened of the appeal to religious authority because they sound like fundamentalism or extremism or smack of a closed attitude towards the world, of an unwillingness to dialogue, of abuse of power. How can we counter that view together? How can we celebrate and commit ourselves to the Jesus who turns first towards the weakest among us, for that is also at the heart of what he’s all about? As we walk through the streets surely we cannot but be aware of the increasing homelessness all around us. But it’s on Jesus’ authority, not our own or own community’s or our own political agenda, we campaign for those who are increasingly forgotten by society. It is there on the streets we are called to bring his human face to our world, under his authority.
The Lord invites us to unite under his banner, to learn more what he is all about, to love more authentically as one diversely gifted Body of Christ . To be forever renewed and transformed as a united body by the Jesus who walked Galilee and now is present in our world through ourselves as we strive to show his face and repeat his actions of mercy, love, healing. Can I listen to his voice and respond to his call to show the human face of God to a world longing for healing, longing for mercy, longing across divides and differences for this God, a God in human form whose power to unite rests on an authority whose name is truth and mercy.
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ