Mercy and compassion even in lockdown reflections on Matthew 10 24-39
During the lockdown, with the Church closed work has gone on.
In particular the work of the group looking to replace the last of our plain glass windows with a new stained glass window in memorial to a former Churchwarden who held the office of Churchwarden for 45 years.
The window will be erected in the Baptistry over the Font and provides an opportunity to reflect not only a life lived faithfully but on the idea of what Baptism means in the life of any Christian.
I know that some clergy refuse Baptism if the family have not been or are not regular church attenders, but that has never been my approach.
In my first parish in Manchester Baptism became a key element of my evangelistic outreach, so much so that in my time in that parish the number of communicants doubled with new families being welcomed and woven into the life of the Church.
I have always though of and described infant Baptism as 'wrapping the child in the love of God' doing the very best we can for this new Christian as s/he grows into the life of the Church.
In our reading from Paul's letter to the Romans today we read about Paul's view of Baptism.
For St Paul, baptism is a is a journey or process that begins at the font with water but whose effects are not only for a moment but for a whole life, very much as was the case for the person we are seeking to memorialise, so the image of the Tree of Life with its roots standing in the water of Baptism captures both the life of one particular individual but of all Christians.
Baptism in Paul is not just the washing away of sin but it is literally participating in the death of Christ, as we are plunged into the water of death and raised out dripping wet, we are figuratively participating in the death of Christ in order that we became enfolded in and are given the grace to live his resurrection life.
The consequence of this claim however is that as baptised Christians we have to both, believe in the possibility of what resurrection means but we have to represent personally what it means to live a Christian life, where the boundaries are beyond which we must not step so that as we practice living a Christian life we walk into Grace and become new beings in whose life sin has no place.
Our old self, or selves, if we allow Bob Dylan's reference to Walt Whitman's poetic line 'I contain multitudes' to apply here, our culture, our rights, our private spaces and the desires of the flesh have been crucified in and with Jesus Christ.
So our daily living must reflect our newfound and grace filled life in Christ.
It does feel to me that the stress of living in our lockdown situation, living in such a way that every space over which we have no personal control leaves us fearing the possibility of our catching this virus.
As we read in today's Gospel:
26 "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Fear is a pervasive and force in human experience.
We fear for our health. We fear for our economy. Almost from our first moments we learn to fear the stranger, learn to fear the world around us, sometimes fear those who are closest to us.
Certainly the daily briefings that have been rehearsed throughout this pandemic crisis have exploited natural fears to the point that sometimes we have been encouraged to behave in ways that do not necessarily serve our best interests.
Politicians exploit fear to encourage conformity, fear underpins our economy and the judgements we make, fear is encouraged to shape our political priorities.
So in Matthew Jesus recognises that fear will cause the failure of discipleship.
It does seem to me that there are issues arising in the life of our church which seem rooted in the fear that Jesus is calling his disciples to address:
The threat of violence (Covid 19) and death.
The inevitable conflicts that arise even within families (even the family of the Church)
Even the act of peacemaking (10 34) generates violence because so often (too often) healing, restoration and the conquest of death threaten human assertions of power (and the church is no exception to this).
This is a powerful and challenging Gospel not just for the disciples but for today's Disciples when worship is disrupted, Churches are closed, so many of our congregations are shielding in vulnerable groups, others are reaching out with the gift of technology to worship where they choose, the usual pastoral care that congregations expect is being undertaken by telephone or email or zoom
It is hard to know what the impact on church life will be in our own parish or in the wider church. But the answers to fear must include clear eyed recognition of the conflict that the Gospel produces alongside an equally clear conviction that God is present, even in a world struggling with the impact of a pandemic, in the mercy and compassion we are called to share with one another.
In particular the work of the group looking to replace the last of our plain glass windows with a new stained glass window in memorial to a former Churchwarden who held the office of Churchwarden for 45 years.
The window will be erected in the Baptistry over the Font and provides an opportunity to reflect not only a life lived faithfully but on the idea of what Baptism means in the life of any Christian.
I know that some clergy refuse Baptism if the family have not been or are not regular church attenders, but that has never been my approach.
In my first parish in Manchester Baptism became a key element of my evangelistic outreach, so much so that in my time in that parish the number of communicants doubled with new families being welcomed and woven into the life of the Church.
I have always though of and described infant Baptism as 'wrapping the child in the love of God' doing the very best we can for this new Christian as s/he grows into the life of the Church.
In our reading from Paul's letter to the Romans today we read about Paul's view of Baptism.
For St Paul, baptism is a is a journey or process that begins at the font with water but whose effects are not only for a moment but for a whole life, very much as was the case for the person we are seeking to memorialise, so the image of the Tree of Life with its roots standing in the water of Baptism captures both the life of one particular individual but of all Christians.
Baptism in Paul is not just the washing away of sin but it is literally participating in the death of Christ, as we are plunged into the water of death and raised out dripping wet, we are figuratively participating in the death of Christ in order that we became enfolded in and are given the grace to live his resurrection life.
The consequence of this claim however is that as baptised Christians we have to both, believe in the possibility of what resurrection means but we have to represent personally what it means to live a Christian life, where the boundaries are beyond which we must not step so that as we practice living a Christian life we walk into Grace and become new beings in whose life sin has no place.
Our old self, or selves, if we allow Bob Dylan's reference to Walt Whitman's poetic line 'I contain multitudes' to apply here, our culture, our rights, our private spaces and the desires of the flesh have been crucified in and with Jesus Christ.
So our daily living must reflect our newfound and grace filled life in Christ.
It does feel to me that the stress of living in our lockdown situation, living in such a way that every space over which we have no personal control leaves us fearing the possibility of our catching this virus.
As we read in today's Gospel:
26 "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Fear is a pervasive and force in human experience.
We fear for our health. We fear for our economy. Almost from our first moments we learn to fear the stranger, learn to fear the world around us, sometimes fear those who are closest to us.
Certainly the daily briefings that have been rehearsed throughout this pandemic crisis have exploited natural fears to the point that sometimes we have been encouraged to behave in ways that do not necessarily serve our best interests.
Politicians exploit fear to encourage conformity, fear underpins our economy and the judgements we make, fear is encouraged to shape our political priorities.
So in Matthew Jesus recognises that fear will cause the failure of discipleship.
It does seem to me that there are issues arising in the life of our church which seem rooted in the fear that Jesus is calling his disciples to address:
The threat of violence (Covid 19) and death.
The inevitable conflicts that arise even within families (even the family of the Church)
Even the act of peacemaking (10 34) generates violence because so often (too often) healing, restoration and the conquest of death threaten human assertions of power (and the church is no exception to this).
This is a powerful and challenging Gospel not just for the disciples but for today's Disciples when worship is disrupted, Churches are closed, so many of our congregations are shielding in vulnerable groups, others are reaching out with the gift of technology to worship where they choose, the usual pastoral care that congregations expect is being undertaken by telephone or email or zoom
It is hard to know what the impact on church life will be in our own parish or in the wider church. But the answers to fear must include clear eyed recognition of the conflict that the Gospel produces alongside an equally clear conviction that God is present, even in a world struggling with the impact of a pandemic, in the mercy and compassion we are called to share with one another.
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