Headline Christianity
Sermon
There was a headline in The Times a while ago, which said: 'More than 28 per cent of all suspected robbers are black'. When I first read the headline my immediate reaction was, 'How awful! What bad news.' But a moment's reflection made me wonder whether perhaps it wasn't bad news but good news. If only 28% of suspected robbers are black, then presumably 72 percent, that is, nearly three quarters of all suspected robbers are not black! That sounds as though it could be good news.
When I actually read the article, it became clear that it was really about racism for it was based on government figures which showed that black people were, on average, five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and on average four times more likely to be arrested.
So the headline, 'More than 28 percent of all suspected robbers are black' was for me, quite misleading. Another headline in an advert in the same paper said, 'State of the art computer - only 999.99. My immediate reaction there was 'That's good news.' But after a moment's reflection I found myself thinking, 'But that's a thousand pounds - it's not good news at all!' It isn't always easy to know from a headline, what's good news and what's bad news. Headlines can be very misleading.
In today's reading from the letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul talks about the good news of Christianity through which people are being saved, but he talks about it in headline terms, so it isn't particularly easy to determine what the good news is.
St. Paul said that the good news through which we are being saved is that Jesus died for our sins, that he really was dead because he was buried, that he then rose again and that he really did rise again because he appeared to any number of people. But if you went out into the streets of Norfolk today and told people that the good news through which they are being saved is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, they'd look at you with blank stares and hurry away in the opposite direction.
The headlines need more flesh, they need an in-depth article to explain what they really mean. And for today's world, they can no longer be satisfactorily explained in terms that were acceptable and understandable centuries ago. Our language and our culture has changed almost beyond recognition, and if we're really to spell out the good news, we need to use today's language and speak within today's culture. In other words, although churchy language may be OK in church, it certainly isn't a suitable medium for telling the good news to non-churchgoers. Headlines can be very misleading.
For a start, what does "being saved" mean? What are we being saved from? And what would happen if we weren't saved? St. Paul tells us that we're being saved from our sins because Jesus died to save us from our sins. And he tells us elsewhere that the wages of sin are death and the free gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23), so presumably if we're not saved from our sins we die, but if we are saved, we live forever.
Except that everybody dies eventually, and there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that bad people die any earlier than good people. So what difference does the death of Jesus make, what are sins, and how does Jesus save us from them?
Imagine for a moment that you're a teenager again, and madly in love. Can you remember both the pain and the ecstasy of your passion for the loved one; the agony of waiting for the postman or a phone call, the seventh heaven of delight when the loved one appeared? That's how God feels about you, all the time. He waits to pour his love into and over and through each one of us, with all the benefits of healing and deep inner peace that brings.
Sin is turning away from all that, in one way or another turning away from all God offers. And if I turn away from God's healing love, I'm likely to feel unhealthy, dis-eased. But it's hard and often painful work to keep always in God's orbit. Jesus showed us how to hang in there even when the going gets very tough indeed. Through his integrity and his refusal to stop loving, even in the face of terrible agony, he reached an unexpected and overwhelming resurrection - the pinnacle of God's ecstatic love for him.
It's that resurrection which is waiting for all human beings who can hang in there even when the going gets tough. We experience glimpses of it now, but will experience it in all its glory after death. In this life we may experience resurrection as spiritual health, which has a huge influence on physical health. Or we may experience it as the light which begins to emerge at the end of one of life's dark tunnels. And occasionally we may have moments of transcendence, spiritual highs, mountain top experiences. After death we experience resurrection as eternal life - complete, utter and total health and overwhelming happiness.
All we humans have to do to receive these amazing gifts, is to remain faithful. "Hold firmly to the message" was St. Paul's headline way of speaking about it. Jesus has shown us how to remain faithful, and God does the rest. And that really is good news.
When I actually read the article, it became clear that it was really about racism for it was based on government figures which showed that black people were, on average, five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and on average four times more likely to be arrested.
So the headline, 'More than 28 percent of all suspected robbers are black' was for me, quite misleading. Another headline in an advert in the same paper said, 'State of the art computer - only 999.99. My immediate reaction there was 'That's good news.' But after a moment's reflection I found myself thinking, 'But that's a thousand pounds - it's not good news at all!' It isn't always easy to know from a headline, what's good news and what's bad news. Headlines can be very misleading.
In today's reading from the letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul talks about the good news of Christianity through which people are being saved, but he talks about it in headline terms, so it isn't particularly easy to determine what the good news is.
St. Paul said that the good news through which we are being saved is that Jesus died for our sins, that he really was dead because he was buried, that he then rose again and that he really did rise again because he appeared to any number of people. But if you went out into the streets of Norfolk today and told people that the good news through which they are being saved is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, they'd look at you with blank stares and hurry away in the opposite direction.
The headlines need more flesh, they need an in-depth article to explain what they really mean. And for today's world, they can no longer be satisfactorily explained in terms that were acceptable and understandable centuries ago. Our language and our culture has changed almost beyond recognition, and if we're really to spell out the good news, we need to use today's language and speak within today's culture. In other words, although churchy language may be OK in church, it certainly isn't a suitable medium for telling the good news to non-churchgoers. Headlines can be very misleading.
For a start, what does "being saved" mean? What are we being saved from? And what would happen if we weren't saved? St. Paul tells us that we're being saved from our sins because Jesus died to save us from our sins. And he tells us elsewhere that the wages of sin are death and the free gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23), so presumably if we're not saved from our sins we die, but if we are saved, we live forever.
Except that everybody dies eventually, and there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that bad people die any earlier than good people. So what difference does the death of Jesus make, what are sins, and how does Jesus save us from them?
Imagine for a moment that you're a teenager again, and madly in love. Can you remember both the pain and the ecstasy of your passion for the loved one; the agony of waiting for the postman or a phone call, the seventh heaven of delight when the loved one appeared? That's how God feels about you, all the time. He waits to pour his love into and over and through each one of us, with all the benefits of healing and deep inner peace that brings.
Sin is turning away from all that, in one way or another turning away from all God offers. And if I turn away from God's healing love, I'm likely to feel unhealthy, dis-eased. But it's hard and often painful work to keep always in God's orbit. Jesus showed us how to hang in there even when the going gets very tough indeed. Through his integrity and his refusal to stop loving, even in the face of terrible agony, he reached an unexpected and overwhelming resurrection - the pinnacle of God's ecstatic love for him.
It's that resurrection which is waiting for all human beings who can hang in there even when the going gets tough. We experience glimpses of it now, but will experience it in all its glory after death. In this life we may experience resurrection as spiritual health, which has a huge influence on physical health. Or we may experience it as the light which begins to emerge at the end of one of life's dark tunnels. And occasionally we may have moments of transcendence, spiritual highs, mountain top experiences. After death we experience resurrection as eternal life - complete, utter and total health and overwhelming happiness.
All we humans have to do to receive these amazing gifts, is to remain faithful. "Hold firmly to the message" was St. Paul's headline way of speaking about it. Jesus has shown us how to remain faithful, and God does the rest. And that really is good news.
