Sermon preached at St
Augustine’s Pro-Cathedral Church in Canterbury on the 4th Sunday of Easter 28th
April 2013
On the window-sill of
a country pub
sits a pint glass containing
half a pint of
Boddington’s.
How would you describe that glass of beer?
Half-full?
Half-empty?
Something else?
[PAUSE]
It is often said that
how we view such a glass
reflects our
approach to life.
If we see the glass
being half-full,
then it is supposed to mean that
we are optimists,
seeing the best
in every situation.
If we see the glass
being half-empty,
then it is supposed to mean we
are pessimists,
living in a
world of doom and gloom.
There are even some
folk
who are wondering
how on earth could occur such a travesty of
leaving
glass of beer unattended
on
the window-sill of a country pub
in
the first place!
However tempting the
idea may be
that a reaction to that glass of
beer
determines
someone’s temperament,
you
know very well that this is
far
too simplistic.
The character of a
human being
simply cannot be summed up
in their point
of view of a half-pint of beer.
But it does give us
a bit of a glimpse into their
view of the world,
doesn’t it?
So which are you?
An optimist
– one who thinks that
this is the best
of all possible worlds.
A pessimist
– one who thinks
this is the
worst of all possible worlds?
Or are you a bit of
both, or neither?
Glass half-full,
or glass half-empty,
or something
else?
[PAUSE]
Most of us will admit
to being somewhere in between:
optimistic in
some areas,
pessimistic
in others.
It is doubtful that
we’d describe ourselves
as purely optimistic
or purely
pessimistic.
Indeed
we usually criticise both points
of view
as being
extreme.
The pure optimist we
will call blind,
naive ignorant of reality,
foolish for not
seeing how horrible the world is.
The pessimist we will
shun
because they are always dragging
us down,
making us feel
miserable
and
sucking up the life and soul of the party.
So what do you think
the Christian position should
be?
Should a Christian be
an optimist,
a pessimist,
neither or both?
[PAUSE]
Certainly,
Christians do not have
a good record of
optimism.
We can see
the stereotypically prim
Victorian
scandalised by
the sight of a lady’s ankle
and
deploring the moral laxity of young men.
We can think of
Bible-black preachers
standing on street corners
decrying
alcohol,
dancing,
carousing and
sex
as being inventions of the devil
and solely used
to
cause Man to fall away from God.
While such folk are
indeed right
that our passions must be ruled
by obedience to God,
their attitude
makes Christianity
look
like the most miserable religion
in
the world.
Even today,
we are often criticised for a
pessimistic view
of
relationships,
mentioning
the word “sin”
when
people are enjoying themselves,
and accused of pointing the finger
when
someone does something wrong.
How many times do we
describe ourselves
by listing what we are against,
rather than what
we are for?
Isn’t that just
seeing the worst in things?
So why don’t we start
being more optimistic,
seeing the best in things?
This seems very
reasonable and healthy!
Yet,
if we start seeing the best in
things
and taking that
to extremes
then
we can end up in the mess
that
the Church is in now,
allowing
lots of Fresh Expressions
of
Christianity
and
in so doing allowing
a
lot of wrong-thinking
to
infiltrate what Christianity really is.
It’s okay and
actually very right to say
that dancing is not a work of
the devil,
rather a fun and
innocent pastime,
and
indeed it is used as an act of Worship.
Watch how King David dances
with all his might
when the Ark of
the Covenant is brought
into
Jerusalem.
Does this then permit
the verger
to bring up the collection plate
at Mass
while doing the
tango?
No, because the Mass
and the bringing in
of the Ark of the Covenant into
Jerusalem
are different
ceremonies,
under different
conditions
and
requiring different attitudes
of
the congregation.
At Mass, we have to
remember
the Death of the Lord Jesus
as well as His
Resurrection.
That is not an
occasion for dancing!
Yet, do our hearts
dance for joy
when we receive the Blood of
Christ
of the new
covenant into ourselves?
[PAUSE]
We Christians must be
optimistic
because God has created
everything
– everything!! –
and
He Himself has declared it
to
be very good.
“EVERY good gift and
every perfect gift
is from above, and cometh down
from the Father
of lights,
with
whom is no variableness,
neither
shadow of turning.
Of His own will begat
He us
with the word of truth,
that we should
be a kind of firstfruits
of
his creatures.”
We need to see the
good in everything and everyone.
We are indeed God’s
gifts
not only to the world
but particularly
to ourselves.
You are God’s gift to
you yourself
and if God created you,
then you are
very good
and
there can be no question about that.
You might not be
perfect,
but perfection is also a gift of
God
and that comes
later.
But it does come if
we choose it.
This is the best of
all possible worlds,
because God created it.
Christians must
therefore be optimists.
But
We need to see how
the evils
that happen in this world are
the result
of our failings
to live up
to
the standards that God has set us.
The grossest act of
inhumanity
still has its seeds in each one
of us,
because each one
of us has the capacity
to
choose that which is not God’s will.
This world is as bad
as it gets
precisely because of our
fallenness
as Human beings.
This is the worst of
all possible worlds,
so Christians must be
pessimists.
Walking with God,
we can be nothing other than
optimists.
Walking without God,
we can be nothing other than
pessimists.
There is no hope for
a world
to be saved from the
consequences of its evil choices
without the
Death and Resurrection
Of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
[PAUSE]
On the window-sill of
a country pub
sits a pint glass containing
half a pint of
Boddington’s.
Since it is half
empty,
then we clearly have enjoyed
the half-pint we
have already consumed.
Since it is half-full
we still have the other half to enjoy.
The world has its
evil
and that evil will affect us,
disappoint us
and
even cause us excruciating agonies.
Yet, if we fight
against the temptation
to see only the evil
and struggle
hard to see God’s goodness
even
when things are blackest,
then
we shall be more than conquerors
through
His deathless love.
How optimistic are
you about that?