Sunday's Sermon

Justice & Mercy (The Beatitudes) 29^th January 2017

On a warm spring day many years ago I sat with a colleague drinking coffee and discussing their goals, how to fund them and what the results would be. I was reminded of that this morning as I listened to the news and tried to square the ever-growing circle of today’s readings with the reality of the world today.

Our subject was Nuclear Power, my colleague was an activist (please ask detailed questions later) and want to ban weapons and power and saw that as an achievable goal. I pointed out that the Pandora’s box was opened when the bomb fell on Hiroshima and you couldn’t put it back, that the goal of trying to save the planet from nuclear destruction was a good one but be aware this is not a goal you are going to achieve. At this point they turned to me and said, ‘well then what is the point? If I felt I wasn’t going to succeed I wouldn’t do it!”

Ah, do you ever feel like that, when you declare your faith i.e. “nothing ever changes , what is the point?” I think we all do, especially when we see those professing the name of Christ utter words Of Franklin Graham ( son of Billy) who has stated that ‘ the ban of Syrian refugees is not a bible issue.

“Jesus' command to love and welcome the stranger did not mean the US should welcome more refugees.

"It's not a biblical command for the country to let everyone in who wants to come, that's not a Bible issue," he said.”

How ironic then that our readings from Micah and Matthew todays M & M’s should be so diametrically opposed to that view. And what does the Lord require of you  ‘do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your god’ And the beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

It does render you speechless doesn’t it that for all the insistence on the Bible on the most important parts like the passage from Micah, the rights of the aliens in your land and their treatment, the beatitudes the commandments, love God & Neighbour, the Lord’s prayer which people parrot out of their mouths every Sunday it hasn’t changed anything

I spotted a great cartoon on Facebook this morning ; it goes like this:

Jesus is teaching the crowd and says ‘Love you enemies, do good to those who hate you’

a shout from the crowd ‘ But Jesus what about if they’re Muslim’

Jesus answers ‘OK, let me start over from the beginning, let me know where I lost you!’

‘Let me know where I lost you’ – In the fear of the other perhaps, in the need to take rather than to give, in the desire for greatness, in the inability to see life as a gift that all must equally share. And this mind set is infections, I have this postcard on my desk it says in Gaelic & English;

‘One snotty nose can infect a whole Church'

AKA, one idea can infect the whole be it congregation, community or nation. For once an idea takes root in a person in a group, in a nation it can spread, it can overturn all in its path, it can become an infection. This week saw Holocaust Memorial Day a day we remember the 6 million Jews and others murdered in the Gas Chambers, we also remember the victims of other genocidal acts and it seems we still do not learn, that ideas good and bad can become infections that spread.

I apologise for being depressing this morning and I don’t really want to be, because I do believe that even the smallest act of kindness, or mercy of peacemaking can help to change things. But it takes action, the action of all who disagree with the teachings of hate and bigotry and vengeance and I could go on. You will of heard this quote sometimes attributed to Edmund Burke

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

So doing nothing is not an option, keeping silent is not an option, tutting about it quietly and accepting the status quo is not an option, coming to church on Sunday and declare the faith of Jesus and the ignoring responsibility for the rest of the week is not an option.

Such actions or lack of action leads to an emptiness of hope, of love, of compassion, which in the end leads to becoming part of the very evil  you despise. If you take nothing else away from this morning remember not my words but the words of Micah ‘

‘what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?’

and the words of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, which can help to mitigate evil and emptiness and aid our troubled world, one of the Beatitudes

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”  Amen