False Truth

Sermon for the twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity (using propers of the sixth Sunday after Epiphany)

Is the shroud of Turin

a fake?

In the past forty years or so,

competing scientific research 

has deemed it 

a fake from the Middle Ages

or undoubtedly 

a relic from the First Century.

Many people 

believe it to be genuine.

Many people 

believe it to be a forgery.

And it seems

people are determined 

to use the scientific method 

to prop up their own

belief about what this cloth is.

It does seem,

given recent articles 

that no-one comes to 

study the shroud

without some preconceived desire

to prove that it shows

The True Christ 

or a false Christ.

Does it show 

the True face of Christ?

[PAUSE]

If it does,

then we have

some way of recognising Him

when He comes again.

Wouldn't it be awful

if He returned to us

and we didn't recognise Him?

Wouldn't it be awfuI

if we've missed His second coming

just because we didn't know

what He looked like.

Doesn't the Turin Shroud 

give us a way of knowing 

Who we're looking for?

Doesn't it give us

a frame of reference for our faith?

Doesn't it give us

the ability to say

"Yes! This is Christ!

Here He is!"?

No.

No it doesn't.

And why?

Listen to the True Christ.

"If any man shall say unto you, 

Lo, here is Christ, or there; 

believe it not. 

For there shall arise false Christs, 

and false prophets, 

and shall shew 

great signs and wonders; 

insomuch that, 

if it were possible, 

they shall deceive the very elect."

If the Shroud of Turin 

is real,

and there is every chance

that it is,

then it is an ikon

a way of seeing into

the Heavenly Truth.

But,

while ikons are so good

for the soul

and a necessary part

of Christian doctrine

no one ikon

is necessary.

The Shroud of Turin

adds nothing to our Faith

beyond any other ikon.

If the Shroud is a fake 

then this takes nothing away

from our faith:

it still remains as much an ikon

as any ikon written on wood.

The Shroud is not the basis

of our faith.

Christ is the basis of our faith.

The Man

depicted upon the Shroud 

the one depicted in the ikon

the one depicted upon the Cross,

He is the Christ 

and basis of our faith.

[PAUSE]

But don't we say 

"Here is Christ"

when the priest lifts up

the consecrated host?

Indeed we do,

but this is Christ in the Sacrament,

not Christ coming in glory

to judge the quick and the dead.

It is those people

who say "Here is Christ"

meaning the Messiah 

at His second coming 

who are talking about

a false Christ.

It is those people

who are thinking of a Christ

made in their own image

who hope for a return 

of a false Christ.

[PAUSE]

But that is not how Christ will return.

He won't suddenly appear

in one place

so that we all have to pile

into cars and aeroplanes

to meet Him

He won't appear

on television

and tell us to do bizarre things

to prove our love for Him.

But if the Shroud is fake 

how will we recognise Him?

[PAUSE]

The apostles tell us how.

They see Him

hear Him

and touch Him.

And their faith is ours.

We just need to preserve that faith.

Christian Doctrine

isn't just about

what to do

and what not to do.

It is about living,

studying,

praying,

and getting to know Jesus

as He is

through what the Church

has always handed down to us

since those feet in ancient time

walk closely with the apostles 

and walk with us 

through those who follow the apostles.

Christian Doctrine 

will ensure 

that we will truly know Him

when He comes again

in His own way

at a time when we least expect Him.

And then how much joy

will there be for us?