Sermons from St Faith's
The Cost of Witness
Fr Dennis Smith, June 22nd, 2014
Jesus’ encouragement to his followers to act fearlessly comes in the
context of sending them out to proclaim good news to the lost sheep
of Israel; giving them authority to cast out unclean spirits and
heal diseases; and warning them about future persecution.
Matthew uses Jesus words also to remind the Church of his day that
being a disciple isn’t a weekend break, but a long haul, a vocation
to be borne through bleak as well as rewarding times. As followers
of one who faced opposition himself and suffered crucifixion for
announcing the Kingdom, they cannot expect anything different from
their master. They are therefore to rise above their natural fears
and look beyond them to the future fulfilment of God’s promises.
Another of the lectionary readings recounts Jeremiah’s struggle with
his sense of call. “O Lord, you have enticed me and I was enticed;
you have overpowered me and you have prevailed. I have become a
laughing stock all day long: everyone mocks me.” It doesn’t
undermine the personal and heartfelt cry of the prophet for us to be
aware that his words come to us in the shape of a liturgical prayer
whose form as a lament is the same style as many of the Hebrew
Psalms. As such, it gives a vocabulary to the whole worshipping
community to be honest in prayer and to struggle to understand what
is being asked of them as covenanted partners with God. “O Lord of
hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind …. to
you I have committed my cause.”
To work in an unresponsive or hostile environment, whether society
or the church, may cause people to lose their nerve and reassess
their calling. Yet in the gospel reading Jesus tells his disciples
not to be afraid, their needs and shortcomings being covered by
God’s protection and embrace.
“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master.
It is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, the slave like
the master.” Why should followers of Jesus be spared the clash of
earth and heaven which he experienced? Even human loyalties (son and
father, daughter and mother, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law) may
be tested.
Discovering what our Christian calling might mean for us in a range
of different circumstances inevitably presents us with some
difficult choices, not least where obedience to God reins us in.
In one London suburb, on Good Friday, people from several local
churches unite to take part in a walk of witness through the central
shopping area to the Methodist Church where an open-air service is
held. In recent years, due to cuts in public services, the
police haven’t been able to accompany the procession, so it’s been
left to volunteers to make sure that the walk of witness takes place
safely.
Usually the pace of the procession is set by someone beating a drum,
but it was noted that people were bunching six or seven abreast,
because they were walking too fast, ignoring the drumbeat and almost
overtaking the cross being carried at the head of the procession.
There’s always a risk of wanting to get ahead or by-pass the route
of the one we follow, and, over the years, the Church has had to
repent may times when its desire for power and influence has
undermined or compromised its calling to serve the weakest in
society and identify with the poor.
The Japanese theologian, Kosuke Koyamon once wrote a book of
meditations called “No handle on the cross” which wryly described
the inefficient way in which God set about saving the world. Koyama
suggested that a smart, well-proportioned lunchbox would be an
easier receptacle in which to convey the gospel, rather than
staggering under the weight of the cross, which is badly designed,
not conveniently portable, unattractive and hard to promote as an
attractive lifestyle. Yet Jesus says “It is enough for the disciple
to be like the teacher, the slave like the master.” It’s enough to
follow him in the way he has walked, and in the way he has chosen
for us. But is it sufficient?
The reassurance we find in today’s gospel, to disciples, or to a
struggling church, is striking, but Jesus’ words take us beyond
personal assurance into the realms of public proclamation. Matthew
looks beyond the earthly life of Jesus with a promise that there
will be future time when “nothing is covered that will not be
uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known.”
Far from being a threat, this is a cause for rejoicing. From the
vantage point of Jesus’ resurrection, the truth will out, and the
essential connection between his suffering and God’s purpose to set
creation free will become widely known. In the meantime, even the
risen Jesus depends on the testimony of those who believe. He didn’t
stage a public appearance to end speculation that he is alive, but
embodied his story in the life and testimony of the church.
Paul reminds the Christians in Rome that their baptism is an ongoing
sign of their union and identification with Christ in his death and
resurrection, and that the fusion of death and life, suffering and
hope is to be proclaimed publicly and demonstrated through the
witness of their lives.
Etty Hillesum, who came from a family of secular Jews, began to
discover God during the most severe period of Gestapo activity in
Amsterdam during the Second World War. She was already interested in
religion, having read widely from Jewish and Christian sources, but
she came to realise that simply reading about it wasn’t enough, and
describes in her diary two consequences for her of following
her particular spiritual path.
First, she felt an overwhelming desire to kneel – even though this
was foreign to her nature. She didn’t know, initially, to whom she
was kneeling, but it was something she felt compelled to do. Later,
after her arrest, and while waiting to be deported to the Auschwitz
concentration camp, where she subsequently died, she wrote in her
diary of her gradual realisation that, in this world, “someone has
to take responsibility for God.” She felt that someone, in the midst
of the horrors of the Gestapo destruction in Holland “has to live as
though the Gestapo is not controlling the Universe. Somebody has to
live as though things are just different …. and that someone,
unfortunately, seems to be me.”
While the cost of being a witness is demanding, the whole enterprise
springs from God’s relationship to us in Jesus; it’s nurtured by the
ongoing conversation between the gospel and our life experiences;
and the opportunities which come our way to testify to the hope that
is in us for our times and for the time to come.
The sermons
index page
Return to St
Faith's home page