Sermons

Sun, May 14, 2023

Finding our voice

Series:Sermons
Duration:12 mins 41 secs

Recently… 

in its submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into the impact of anti-discrimination laws on schools…

the Presbyterian Church of Australia—

which is responsible for more than twenty schools nationwide—

argued that they should be free to bar students who were in “an active same-sex relationship” from leadership roles…

claiming that those positions should only go to students who could give “appropriate Christian leadership”…

and model “Christian living”.

It further argued that it should be free to appoint staff who were “committed Christians”…

and who “embrace and live out the whole Christian faith consistently”.

A lawyer from the Queensland LGBTI+ Legal Service described such views as “dangerous”…

and pointed out they would constitute a breach of anti-discrimination laws in most states…

not to mention a fundamental breach of human rights.

 

Freedom of religion, in this country, means being free to follow your faith without persecution or discrimination.

It does not mean that you are free to impose your beliefs on everyone else…

nor does it mean that you can expect the state to condone or enforce that imposition.

And yet… 

clearly…

there are certain sections of the church that simply assume that the opposite ought to be the case;

that they ought to be able to impose their beliefs and practices on society…

or simply live out their beliefs however they like.

Now, I don’t know about you…

but there are times when I get absolutely fed-up with that sort of garbage.

Frankly, I get angry…

I get embarrassed…

and I get tired of answering for a Christian voice out there in the community that I simply do not recognise.

Time and time again we get these fundamentalists claiming to interpret the Bible…

claiming to proclaim ‘the gospel’…

claiming to speak in the name of Jesus Christ…

as if theirs was the only authentic and authoritative voice.

And yet, the God of whom they speak—

the God whom they proclaim—

is a violent, vindictive, and vengeful God;

a God who hates…

and a God who, incredulously, is not merciful.

And the so-called ‘gospel’ or ‘good news’ that they proclaim…

is dripping with bigotry, exclusion, and damnation.

And, frankly, I have had enough.

I have had enough of people saying that those who don’t believe certain things…

those who don’t abide by their values…

those who are LGBTI+…

those who make the difficult decision to have an abortion…

or those who happen to follow a different faith…

are all going to hell.

I have had enough of the distorted image that they present of God—

and of the Christian faith—

such that, that’s what the average person thinks Christians are like;

and that’s what they think that God is like as well.

And, all too often, that’s the only “Christian” view that gets reported in the media.

And it irks me that these sorts of groups—

these sorts of bigoted, hellfire-and-damnation people—

are so successful at getting their warped and hateful message across. 

 

Why is that? 

 

Is it simply that the media picks up on the fringe—

on the weird and the wacky;

on those who yell and petulantly stamp their feet the loudest? 

Perhaps. 

But, surely, that’s not the whole story.

In answering “why”, one commentator suggested that it’s because such people…

“really believe their message. When that happens, you’re not afraid to spend money, creativity, passion and energy to make sure your story impacts people’s lives”.

While another commentator suggested that their success is, in fact…

“an indictment of the rest of us who seek to bring faith and life together in relevant ways. It is an indictment of the Christian Church’s feeble effort to proclaim and live the gospel”.

 

Sadly…

in many ways… 

I think those commentators are right.

For those of us who hold a more liberal or progressive theological perspective…

we’re comfortable living with ambiguity and nuance;

we’re comfortable living with— 

and pondering—

the deep questions of life and faith…

without always needing hard and fast answers…

and certainly without needing to impose our insights or understandings onto anyone else.

And, by no means, is that a bad thing.

I don’t think that you can be honest— 

intellectually or existentially—

unless you’re open to doubt, ambiguity, and change.

But, that said, there are times when we more liberal Christians are so tactful and tentative—

even taciturn—

that we actually fail to engage in any public discourse at all.

For a variety of reasons…

we shy away from proclaiming what we, ourselves, have gleaned or have experienced.

We can be so careful in our open-mindedness—

and in our searching and questioning—

that we’re afraid to say anything at all. 

All of which means that the words of the author of First Peter—

which we heard read this morning—

can make us feel somewhat uncomfortable:

“Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence”.

Now, he was writing to churches throughout the Roman province of Asia Minor—

modern-day Turkey—

who were being subjected to discrimination, ostracism,

and harassment…

because they didn’t fit in;

because they held different values and priorities from the rest of their communities.

And, note…

not only does he expect his readers to live a very different way of life—

openly…

unashamedly…

and unreservedly—

but he expects that that will provoke questions.

In other words, he expects that their faith and their experience of God’s love in Jesus Christ…

will inform and will shape who they are… 

how they act…

and how they live.

He expects that their faith will be manifest in gentleness—

that is, in kindness and in humility—

in the way that they consider and relate to other people…

reflecting the love and mercy and graciousness of God…

and that they will do so to such an extent that it will cause people to ask, “why?”

“Why do you behave like that?”

“Why do you treat others with such compassion and grace?”

“Why do you accept anyone and everyone—

without exception and without expectation?”

But, even more than that… 

the author of First Peter expects that what will stand out—

what will be distinctive—

and attract questions and queries…

is that they have hope.

He expects that their sense of hope will be tangibly real in their lives:

that it will define their faith;

that it will characterise their experience;

that it will underpin their very way of life.

He expects that the possibilities for life—

and for the world—

that are opened up by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…

will undergird their thinking…

and breathing…

and relating…

and living—

not just on a private and personal level…

but in every respect…

including in the way that they engage with the world around them.

 

And, in that sense—

almost two thousand years later—

nothing has changed.

 

So, let us proclaim our resurrection hope.

Let us be Easter people—

living a life that reflects the transformative power of the risen Christ;

such that people would stop and ask us…

why it is that we live…

and love…

like we do.

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