Remembering Simple Basics
Sermon
When three of us from our benefice here in South Norfolk went to London on an Alpha training course at Holy Trinity Church in Brompton, we were told some quite surprising things. One which stuck in my mind was the exhortation not to allow any church people on the Alpha course, unless they were leading or helping to lead the course! That was quite a surprise to me, as I'd thought the church and its congregation was probably the obvious place to start a course on Christian basics. But the speaker told us that Alpha courses which were made up almost entirely of churchgoers, were usually pretty deadly - and generally died quite quickly. He told us that the Alpha course was aimed at people outside the church, those who never or rarely attend church services, atheists and agnostics and those who don't care one way or the other. And he told us that a course made up of such people was usually lively and dynamic and exciting, and often continued as a home group long after the course had finished.
The reason for this somewhat odd quirk was that church people know too much. From day one of the course they usually start to argue the odds, and nearly always find areas of theological disagreement which then stifle any real growth. Church people tend to find it difficult to put aside their years of churchgoing, and are often quite deeply prejudiced in one way or another, although they may not be aware of that fact. The prejudice colours the whole course, and things often disintegrate very quickly into nit-picking over relatively trivial issues.
Non-churchgoers, on the other hand, know nothing about Christianity, so have nothing to unlearn. They come with little or no baggage except perhaps a distrust of church and a healthy scepticism, and are able to be open and accepting. On the whole, they're also more honest about their faith or lack of it than churchgoers, and if they think God doesn't exist will say so, thus generating considerable debate!
Alpha tends to be successful, sometimes phenomenally so, perhaps because it states the Christian faith in very basic and uncompromising terms. On the whole, after years of churchgoing people have moved beyond the need for those basics to be spelt out in words of one syllable, but for churchgoers the danger is that sometimes the basic message becomes obscured by too many words and too many nuances and too much intellectual debate. For Christianity isn't only about intellectual understanding or acceptance. There's also a deeper understanding and acceptance which goes beyond words and which the Bible describes as being located in the heart.
It's possible to become so embroiled in discussion about Christianity and how we should worship and how we should express our Christianity, that Christ himself is actually kept out. Although I firmly believe that the brain should be engaged in our faith, I also believe that the brain can on occasions prove a very effective barrier to God. I personally have problems with the sort of religion which abandons common sense and logical thought, relying instead only on heightened emotions and spiritual highs, rather like a drug fix. But I also have problems where everything is kept at the level of discussion and debate, so that the emotions are never acknowledged. Both of those extremes are aberrations and sell Christianity short, for Christianity should be a religion which produces human beings who reach their fullest potential in every area of their being.
The problem of keeping God out through the way we use religious discussion isn't new. In today's epistle reading from the second letter to Timothy the author says to Timothy the priest with responsibility for his congregation, "Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen." So already, in the earliest church, folk had found a way to keep God out of their Church by their use of discussion and argument. They wouldn't have made a good Alpha group!
The author also makes a very good and succinct summary of the Christian gospel, the good news, and it may be that this was part of a very early Christian hymn. He starts by spelling out the central figure of Christianity, and his credentials, "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David." Then he adds a bit of weight to that by pointing out that he himself is in chains right now because he has proclaimed the gospel, but that ultimately nothing, not even chains, can stop God's word. Then comes the hymn which summarises the gospel so well, "Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
There are no ambiguities in that statement. The author repeats Jesus' own message that we Christians must lose our lives if we wish to gain eternal life, we must endure whatever life throws at us, and we must proclaim Christ and never deny him. But even if we are faithless, Jesus will remain faithful to us, for he loves us so much that he cannot help himself.
We could have a long and deep intellectual discussion on what "losing your life in order to gain it" means, but actually, that's something we need to experience at a deeper level than the brain. I was at a meeting recently where several small parishes were thinking of joining together in one benefice. What struck me most about the meeting was the fear expressed by quite a number of people. They were afraid to lose what they already had, for fear that what came later would be worse. But Christians need to learn to trust God to such an extent that they're prepared to lose what they have and risk gaining nothing in return. What actually happens if they're following God's will, is that something overwhelmingly better occurs in return. When you lose your life, you gain it.
We could nit-pick on what "disowning Christ" really means, but that's something which belongs in the heart. Peter wasn't really aware he had disowned Jesus until the cock crowed. Then he suddenly remembered Jesus' words to him, and realised what he'd done. Perhaps many of us disown Christ many times in subtle ways, perhaps by our words, perhaps by our behaviour, but most of the time we're not even aware that we're at odds with Christ. Disowning Christ is to do with the heart.
We could ask whether "endurance" applies to everything in life like unhappy marriages and protracted and painful terminal illnesses and foetuses who might be born with handicaps. We could ask whether this passage means we need to endure all that, or whether there are some exceptions which we could list. We could wonder whether "endurance" applies only to spiritual issues. But again we'd be missing the point, for endurance is something which can't really be intellectualised. It's something to do with gritting your teeth and getting through it, whatever "it" might be, with God's help.
As the writer of the letter to Timothy says, we need to keep reminding ourselves of these basics of our religion. We could even learn by heart these couple of verses, so that we always have a summary of our faith to hand. "If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
They're good words. They're simple and straightforward words which might lead to discussion, but which shouldn't be so discussed that they are diluted and lose all meaning. We need to strike a balance between the head and the heart, because in the end only one thing matters. And that's drawing closer and closer to God.
The reason for this somewhat odd quirk was that church people know too much. From day one of the course they usually start to argue the odds, and nearly always find areas of theological disagreement which then stifle any real growth. Church people tend to find it difficult to put aside their years of churchgoing, and are often quite deeply prejudiced in one way or another, although they may not be aware of that fact. The prejudice colours the whole course, and things often disintegrate very quickly into nit-picking over relatively trivial issues.
Non-churchgoers, on the other hand, know nothing about Christianity, so have nothing to unlearn. They come with little or no baggage except perhaps a distrust of church and a healthy scepticism, and are able to be open and accepting. On the whole, they're also more honest about their faith or lack of it than churchgoers, and if they think God doesn't exist will say so, thus generating considerable debate!
Alpha tends to be successful, sometimes phenomenally so, perhaps because it states the Christian faith in very basic and uncompromising terms. On the whole, after years of churchgoing people have moved beyond the need for those basics to be spelt out in words of one syllable, but for churchgoers the danger is that sometimes the basic message becomes obscured by too many words and too many nuances and too much intellectual debate. For Christianity isn't only about intellectual understanding or acceptance. There's also a deeper understanding and acceptance which goes beyond words and which the Bible describes as being located in the heart.
It's possible to become so embroiled in discussion about Christianity and how we should worship and how we should express our Christianity, that Christ himself is actually kept out. Although I firmly believe that the brain should be engaged in our faith, I also believe that the brain can on occasions prove a very effective barrier to God. I personally have problems with the sort of religion which abandons common sense and logical thought, relying instead only on heightened emotions and spiritual highs, rather like a drug fix. But I also have problems where everything is kept at the level of discussion and debate, so that the emotions are never acknowledged. Both of those extremes are aberrations and sell Christianity short, for Christianity should be a religion which produces human beings who reach their fullest potential in every area of their being.
The problem of keeping God out through the way we use religious discussion isn't new. In today's epistle reading from the second letter to Timothy the author says to Timothy the priest with responsibility for his congregation, "Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen." So already, in the earliest church, folk had found a way to keep God out of their Church by their use of discussion and argument. They wouldn't have made a good Alpha group!
The author also makes a very good and succinct summary of the Christian gospel, the good news, and it may be that this was part of a very early Christian hymn. He starts by spelling out the central figure of Christianity, and his credentials, "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David." Then he adds a bit of weight to that by pointing out that he himself is in chains right now because he has proclaimed the gospel, but that ultimately nothing, not even chains, can stop God's word. Then comes the hymn which summarises the gospel so well, "Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
There are no ambiguities in that statement. The author repeats Jesus' own message that we Christians must lose our lives if we wish to gain eternal life, we must endure whatever life throws at us, and we must proclaim Christ and never deny him. But even if we are faithless, Jesus will remain faithful to us, for he loves us so much that he cannot help himself.
We could have a long and deep intellectual discussion on what "losing your life in order to gain it" means, but actually, that's something we need to experience at a deeper level than the brain. I was at a meeting recently where several small parishes were thinking of joining together in one benefice. What struck me most about the meeting was the fear expressed by quite a number of people. They were afraid to lose what they already had, for fear that what came later would be worse. But Christians need to learn to trust God to such an extent that they're prepared to lose what they have and risk gaining nothing in return. What actually happens if they're following God's will, is that something overwhelmingly better occurs in return. When you lose your life, you gain it.
We could nit-pick on what "disowning Christ" really means, but that's something which belongs in the heart. Peter wasn't really aware he had disowned Jesus until the cock crowed. Then he suddenly remembered Jesus' words to him, and realised what he'd done. Perhaps many of us disown Christ many times in subtle ways, perhaps by our words, perhaps by our behaviour, but most of the time we're not even aware that we're at odds with Christ. Disowning Christ is to do with the heart.
We could ask whether "endurance" applies to everything in life like unhappy marriages and protracted and painful terminal illnesses and foetuses who might be born with handicaps. We could ask whether this passage means we need to endure all that, or whether there are some exceptions which we could list. We could wonder whether "endurance" applies only to spiritual issues. But again we'd be missing the point, for endurance is something which can't really be intellectualised. It's something to do with gritting your teeth and getting through it, whatever "it" might be, with God's help.
As the writer of the letter to Timothy says, we need to keep reminding ourselves of these basics of our religion. We could even learn by heart these couple of verses, so that we always have a summary of our faith to hand. "If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
They're good words. They're simple and straightforward words which might lead to discussion, but which shouldn't be so discussed that they are diluted and lose all meaning. We need to strike a balance between the head and the heart, because in the end only one thing matters. And that's drawing closer and closer to God.
