Sermon preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury on the Feast of St Bartholomew
Horror films
aren't what they used to be.
Once upon a time,
it was a classic battle
of good and evil
where the evil
was a vampire
Frankenstein's monster,
a werewolf
or a zombie.
Yes, sometimes
this battle between
good and evil
was not so clear cut.
Is the Phantom of the Opera
truly evil
or is he the victim
of some psychological trauma?
These days,
horror films
seem to be more
about punishing the audience
for going to see them.
They are more gruesome
and much time is spent
in forcing the audience
to endure the evil acts
that the villain
is inflicting upon the innocent,
and then allowing
the villain to triumph
over the innocent.
There is a strange fascination
that human beings can have
about the horrible things
we can do to each other.
Why?
[PAUSE]
When St Bartholomew
is mentioned,
we easily remember that
he is a Martyr.
And what's the first question
we think of when we hear
that someone is a Martyr?
"How did they die?"
Do we really want to know?
No.
But yes.
But absolutely not!
But we sort of do!
behind our fingers,
with eyes half turned to watch
with a squint and a readiness
to turn our face away.
[PAUSE]
Cards on the table.
St Bartholomew
probably wasn't skinned alive.
Like many other martyrs,
it is likely that his death is dressed up
to make him appear more holy,
to present a faith so strong
that it won't bend under torture.
He is more likely to have been
beheaded or drowned.
His death doesn't need to be dressed up.
He faces death
for his faith,
for his Christ,
for us.
Surely, what should concern us most
is that St Bartholomew would rather die
than renounce His Saviour,
the Saviour that He spends
so much time with,
listening to His teaching,
seeing the miracle,
eating and drinking together
enjoying each other's company.
St Bartholomew would rather
die for the truth
than live for a lie.
Indeed,
many Christians today
owe their faith and lives
to the Gospel
St Bartholomew preaches
in Armenia and India.
That should be all that concerns us.
But nonetheless,
at the back of our minds
there is still that possibility
that St Bartholomew is skinned alive.
And it niggles us.
[PAUSE]
Some of us
don't want to go there.
We want to push it aside,
not thinking about it,
because it disgusts us
frightens us,
appals us,
makes our skin crawl.
Others of us
become fascinated
and even depict it
in ghoulish fashion in art
determined to confront
the squeamish
with the gory details.
What's going on?
What's going on
is our inability to cope
with human suffering,
especially the suffering
of one so obviously
engaged in battle with Evil.
[PAUSE]
Those who turn from
the death of St Bartholomew
disturbed and sickened,
don't want to participate
in his pain and suffering.
It's too much for them,
because they experience the world
with empathy
and recognising others' feelings.
Those who turn towards it
are fascinated by the truth,
while still yet being horrified by it,
but their need to know
prevents them from looking away.
The fact is
that we cannot handle fully
the suffering of others
and, when we can't do anything
to stop that suffering,
we either run
or remain transfixed and helpless.
The fact is,
we need both
attitudes.
If we keep turning away
from the suffering of others
then we deny the reality
of that suffering.
It becomes
hypothetical,
and, because it's unpleasant,
we can be tempted
to deny its existence.
If, however, we keep
fixating upon the suffering of others
then we can again forget
that there is a human being suffering.
The fixation becomes clinical,
passionless,
and distracting from
what matters.
Thus, the suffering of others
becomes a horror film to enjoy
and then walk away from.
[PAUSE]
In both cases,
we separate
the suffering
from the sufferer.
Our Lord Jesus Christ
shows that you cannot
do that.
You cannot
separate the suffering
from the sufferer.
When He appears
to St Bartholomew and the other Apostles
He still bears the wounds of the Cross.
Our Lord's suffering means something.
The Cross has become
part of the Incarnation.
Likewise,
the gruesome legend
of St Bartholomew
points to his participation
in the agonies of Christ
however he meets his martyrdom.
But how he meets his martyrdom
doesn't make him greater
or lesser than any other martyr.
Oh, be assured
that whatever we suffer in this life
will be recompensed to us
by Almighty God.
But we cannot measure a martyr
by the cruelty inflicted on then
by human beings.
The glory of the martyrs
is the same, one cross of Christ.
There is no greatest
or least save only
in the judgement of God alone.
And yes,
yes, of course we should flinch
yes, of course we should turn our head,
yes, we should be disturbed
at the agony of others.
That's Love working in us.
It's our natural state
of sympathy, empathy
and compassion.
Our reaction is human.
It is those who are inflicting the agony
who are denying their own humanity
because they can
separate the suffering
from the sufferer.
Our duty is not to let
the agony of others
cause us to walk away
without seeking God in that agony.
For God is not the torturer.
He hears the cry
of every drop of innocent blood spilled.
God ensures that
every scar borne for Him
and His Children
becomes a badge of honour
because He does not separate
the suffering from the sufferer.
He replaces pain with pleasure.
He replaces tears of sadness
with tears of joy.
He replaces humiliation
with exaltation.
All that is given up
for Him
is returned by Him in abundance,
but not to become the greatest
or the least,
not to create status
but solely because it is joyful
in the eyes of God
to restore that which has been
taken away for His sake
by the cruelty of Evil.
And, for us,
disturbed and traumatised
by the Good Fridays of the saints
He gives us their Easter Days
of Resurrection.
[PAUSE]
Life may be
a horror film at times,
but it's a classic film
- one where, in the end
Good triumphs over Evil.
Modern horror films
truly depict
the cruelty that hides
within us
but they often fail
to show us of the truth
that God is alive and with us
until our journey's end.
And,
after all his suffering
for His Master,
St Bartholomew
walks away into the same
Sunrise of the
Eternal Divine light
that will envelope us
in our turn
when our time comes.
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