This morning’s passages are almost completely about the congregation. And the Revelations passage will do for an introduction. For it describes where we find ourselves as a church.
I am jealous of the purity of my church, the church. I know that it is the bride of Christ, and as a man refrains from the marital bed until the wedding, so Christ is refraining from returning, for in his return the dross will be burnt away, without a chance of repentance. For we are as the Church of Sardis: in the West we are close to death.
“I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. 3Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
We have the liberals infesting our churches and choking the Gospel. We are told that we need to support this party, or our freedom will cease, or that party, for justice must flow like a river. We are told that our acts will save us as if the church is the Party in a Surplice.
And we are told that it does not matter what we do, for Jesus will save us because we just so darn deserve it. This is not the gospel.
This is not the gospel. The Gospel is that God almighty chose to be incarnate as a child of a (probably terrified) virgin young girl, was raised in a tradesmen’s house in the hills — a part of Palestine held in contempt — preached, was arrested, tortured, died and rose so that his punishment could be in our stead, and we could be righteous. We are now, as those chosen by God, despite the fact our acts deserve damnation, to act as his hands and feet, proclaiming his gospel and doing good.
Which is why I used Jenny Erikson as an exemplar last week. Nothing to do with my job (I am a psychiatrist in real life) and I don’t know her but for her writings. But to correct those writings. That does not require one to have a series of letters after one’s name, but merely to engage one’s brain and apply scripture: for divorce is the very nature of the suck, and many have been dragged out of the church and from the faith by it.
We will be accountable, for Christ will stop waiting, and want his bride, which is the church, and at that point time stops the judgment happens, and the glory of the world will be revealed.
1In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 2Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, 3Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, 5according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 6For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; 7and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the LORD of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts. 9The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts.
1As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2Then he asked them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
3When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4Jesus answered them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: 8all this is but the beginning of the birthpangs.
9“Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.”
From what I have gathered over the years the splendour of the temple of Herod — which is the one that the disciples and Jesus were worshiping in — was immense. It had a storehouse of treasure.
And it was so tempting to the Roman procurate, who always desired to conquer for the glory of the Roman People (and to line their pocket: being a governer was when you made the profit it had taken twenty years of that expensive cursus honarium to achieve). And it fell.
And so does the church when it is seen as powerful and a source of power. The ambitious join, not for a love of the gospel or in remembrance of their salvation, but because it is seen as another way to become part of the elite (and without needing either a noble family, as in Renaissance Italy, or a noble university, as in modern America).
That has always led to corruption in the Church. And within the passage of the gospel today is one sentence that applies so accurately to our time: because of the increase in lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.
Which is where we are in the greater society. We are falling: not as far as the English Speaking world has fallen before — I know my Hogarth — but far enough. The churches are emptying. Pray that there is more than a remnant.
And remember that Handel got it right. On the final day, all nations will be shaken, and their treasures taken, for the glory of the Lord will surpass them all. All our societies will fail and fall: as previous imperial systems have failed, so will the current hegemony.
And as the Temple fell, those who put their trust in the instution of the church and not Christ will also fall. For the church is not an NGO, but belongs to God, and is for God.
We also live in a time of crisis that touches various sectors of existence, not only that of the economy, of finance, of food security, or the environment, but also that of the deeper meaning of life and the fundamental values that animate it. Even human coexistence is marked by tensions and conflicts that cause insecurity and difficulty in finding the right path that leads to a stable peace. In this complex situation, where the horizon of the present and future paths seem threatened by menacing clouds, it is necessary to proclaim with courage in all realities, the Gospel of Christ, which is a message of hope, reconciliation, communion and proclamation of God’s closeness, of his mercy, his salvation; a proclamation that the power of God’s love is able to overcome the darkness of evil and guide us on the path of goodness. Humanity of our time needs the secure light that illuminates its path and that only the encounter with Christ can give. Let us bring to this world, through our witness, with love, the hope given by faith! The Church’s missionarity is not proselytising, but the testimony of a life that illuminates the path, which brings hope and love. The Church – I repeat once again – is not a relief organisation, an enterprise or an NGO, but a community of people, animated by the Holy Spirit, who have lived and are living the wonder of the encounter with Jesus Christ and want to share this experience of deep joy, the message of salvation that the Lord gave us. It is the Holy Spirit that guides the Church in this path.
And our society is falling: Francis is proclaiming the truth here. Thos of God must live as if they are Christ, for in this generation that is all there is. It is not the institution, or the music, or the liturgy. It is that we are not our own, and in our families and lives we need to — to quote Francis namesake ‘preach the gospel always, using words only when necessary’.
And this means that the threat from trolls — implied by naming my profession and that I therefore implying it was wrong to criticize a fellow blogger I have never met — is going to be ignored. The bulk of this blog is based around my daily thoughts on the bible passages for this day. I make enough errors in this — and I’ve been called on them many times.
This is not work. I don’t talk about the people I see but in generalities: like my family, they are civilians in this mission. But the threat of being asked to silence, when the church — the people whom I am one of, and the place I have loved for almost my entire life — is being attacked, will be ignored, and called. While I have a brain, breath and broadband, the blog stays.
