Sermon for the third Sunday after Trinity preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury
It's Monday evening and,
given the nice weather,
you think you ought to go
for an evening constitutional
- a walk before bedtime.
As you pass through the town,
the twilight deepens
and the deep blue of the night sky
darkens the roads and streets.
As you turn the corner,
in front of The Bishop's Finger
- that's the name of the pub,
and it's a dodgy old dive, too
- you see your favourite priest
talking and laughing with a woman.
What woman?
You know THAT woman
- the one who "works at night"!
Well, what do you say
next Sunday morning
when you see your favourite priest
all clad in his chasuable
and looking holy?
Would you sidle up to him and say,
"I know who you were with, Monday night!"
Or would you be on the phone to the bishop?
Or would you interrupt the sermon
to denounce him
to all and sundry?
[PAUSE]
This is the trouble with the priesthood.
Many people today seem to think
that their priest must look
beyond reproach in order
to be beyond reproach.
Absolutely a priest must not
bring his office into disrepute,
but that also means he must do
what his office demands.
We see our blessed Lord
talking with sinners
- all the kinds of people
you would want to steer clear of.
You know the type of person:
it may even be the person
who has done you the greatest wrong.
And Our Blessed Lord is standing there
chatting with them,
laughing at their jokes,
all as if these folk were
as the angels in heaven.
The very people that you think
stand arm in arm with the Devil himself
are enjoying the company of God.
[PAUSE]
We know Our Lord to be beyond reproach,
but there is a sense of
"whose side are you on, Lord?"
But then we think, whose side are we on?
Who gets to pick the teams?
We know the message of the Gospel.
We know the meaning of the parables.
But still, we have to face the fact that
there will be in Heaven
people who on earth
showed really dubious morals,
who committed grave sins,
who hurt many people.
Worse, they may get into Heaven
ahead of us!
[PAUSE]
This is the scandal of Salvation.
It is open to everyone.
Our Lord created each one of us,
saint and sinner,
and He seeks
to save each one of us,
saint and sinner.
And it doesn't matter
if you have murdered millions!
If you come to Christ
and repent of your sins,
if you are baptised
and eat of the Bread of Life,
if you long to love God
with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
- you shall be saved.
There is no doubt.
So the murderer of millions can be saved?
Yes.
But he murdered millions.
What about justice?
That depends on what you think salvation is.
[PAUSE]
If you think salvation
is an escape from Hell,
or a "get out of jail free" card,
then there does seem to be an injustice.
If a murderer gets the same
"get out of Hell" card as we do,
where's his accountability.
But what if salvation and justice
are about making things right?
What if they are about healing wounds?
What if they are about being made perfect?
Well, then,
in order to be made perfect,
we must turn and
see what we have done.
And, if we are being made perfect,
if we see what
Our Lord sees
of what we have done,
then that will hurt a lot.
It will be because we start loving
the same way that He loves
that will hurt.
[PAUSE]
Our Lord sees
not taxcollecters and prostitutes,
not sinners,
but the people He created
who have fallen
and who come to Him
knowing that there is something wrong, something that needs to be put right
and that only He can help.
And that's the attitude
that we should all have.
Yes, there are people
who we could never associate with.
That's because we are not perfect.
But, as we grow in perfection,
the more we reflect Our Lord
and the more that people will see in us
the opportunity for true health
and true happiness.
If we are seen talking
with people of dubious reputation,
then let it be because
God has found His lost sheep
and is using us
to bring them home
to health, happiness and Heaven.
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