Have you ever
been sent to
the headteachers office
for being naughty?
How did you feel?
Scared?
Ashamed?
Or
Defiant and smug?
[PAUSE]
Most of us
of a certain age
dread even the thought
of being sent to the head's office.
The mere threat
Is enough
to ensure that we
behave ourselves.
These days,
things seem different.
Teachers, the police
the judge, even the King himself
are not people
of whom we are afraid
or even respected.
What's gone wrong?
[PAUSE]
Our Lord says,
that the Holy Spirit
will reprove
- that means say what's wrong
- the World of sin, righteousness
and judgement.
The Holy Ghost
will tell the world
why it is wrong
about what sin is,
what righteousness is
and what judgement is.
It is because
the World is wrong
about sin, righteousness
and judgement
that being told
that you've done wrong
is an affront to your dignity.
We don't like being told
that we've got things wrong,
but now
instead of being ashamed,
we believe ourselves to be so right
that we can challenge
whoever thinks we're wrong
even God Himself.
While going to the head's office
is supposed to be a sign
of a grave fault,
it is now a place to stand up
and say that it is the Head
that has it wrong
and you are being punished
unjustly.
[PAUSE]
The World has it
wrong about Sin
because it doesn't believe
Our Lord's teaching about
what sin is.
Our Lord tells us that
remarriage after divorce
is adultery,
that even lasting is adultery.
But the World says
that divorce is no sin
and that pornography is okay.
Our Lord tells us
to love our enemies
but the world likes
to put feuds on display
in the papers or on the telly.
Our Lord tells us to go the extra mile.
The World tells us to go the extra mile
and then demand payment.
The World is wrong about what sin is.
[PAUSE]
The World lives by the rule
"do what you want
as long as you don't hurt others."
And so the World
teaches us to be self-righteous
because it refuses
to believe that Jesus
is the Son of God
and thus the true judge
of righteousness.
Self-righteousness
is in direct opposition
to the Kingship of Jesus.
We are not the source
of the rule of what is good.
To do what we want
except hurting others
does not take into account
that what we want will
ultimately hurt others
without our knowledge.
That hoarding wealth
is depriving others.
That having a second house
lying empty
is depriving someone
of somewhere to live.
That paying a woman
to bear a child
which will be taken away from.her
is putting a value
upon both motherhood
and the life of the baby.
And then there's Abortion
which the World says
doesn't hurt anyone
because it says
that the human foetus
is not really alive
and so the rule about
not hurting people
doesn't apply.
Nowhere
does the World see
that Righteousness
is not a thing of the World
but sits at the Right Hand
of God the Father.
The World has got it wrong
about what righteousness is.
[PAUSE]
And woe betide us,
if we should hurt people
by telling the truth.
How awful of us Christians
to be so mean
as to oppose the marriage
of two people
of the same sex!
How awful of us Christians
to refuse to join in
Pride Month
or wear the rainbow!
The World refuses
to be judged.
It has been sent
to the Head's office
in its state of
self-righteousness smugness
full of indignation
and fury
about being judged
by the One
Whose authority
it rejects.
So the World tells people
that because Christians
say what sin is
they must hate people.
The World wants to convince
people that the judgement of God
is to punish,
to condemn
to cast into Hell.
Instead of a God
who becomes Man
in order to bring back
all to God.
The judgement of the World
is to punish
and push God away
and, in so doing,
locking the doors of Hell
from the inside!
The judgement of God
is to put right,
renew, restore, realign, redeem
refresh, resurrect.
The Prince of this World
is judged and found lacking
bur refuses to accept
the judgement that will put it right.
The World is wrong about judgement.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
[PAUSE]
We Christians are right
to believe in God
and to accept His moral standards
and to live lives
which seek His righteousness first.
We cannot be self-righteous
because that way leads
to worldly thinking.
We must be humble
in matters of judgement
and generous in believing
the best in people.
While we may be wrong at times
as individuals,
we must remember
that Christ in His Holy Church
is not wrong
and will always draw us back.
[PAUSE]
Now that you've knocked
on the Head of the Church's door,
what will happen when you go in?
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