Ordinary Sunday 7: 20 February, 2000
The Rev'd Dr John Davis, Vicar, St Peter's Eastern Hill
An astute observer of the ways of the clergy once noted that each preacher really only has one
sermon: it is simply preached in different ways and from different texts, but with the same basic
message. It may all go back to a particular awareness of call: some particular formative time,
place and circumstance. It could be a thing of the heart or of the mind, or both. Perhaps a matter
of disposition and attitude. A particular charism. But it certainly goes deeper than fairly
obvious details of manner or delivery.
This is indeed an interesting proposition. I have heard a number of sermons from those working
alongside me over the years to back it up. And from time to time, I listen to myself.
Basic theology, the underlying understanding of God, of the world and of the human condition; the
experience of life and the experience of God - all this and more will determine how a preacher
approaches the task. It is indeed an enormous task and responsibility to do this. It needs to be
done in a way that is both true to the Scriptures, to the developing tradition which enables us to
understand and interpret what we have received, and in a way which also offers and gives life to
those who hear and listen.
Our proposition suggests that each preacher has one basic message. The fun is in the
identification. A recurring theme from one I heard often, for instance, was that the task in life
was to discern the will of God for you and then to obey. It came back again and again. I'm not
even sure that he actually lived that philosophy, but he certainly preached it! It seemed a little
grim and limiting, but there it was, deep down and shaping.
Some preachers will stay with the texts and never get personal. Others will start with the personal and never reach the texts. Some might start from the fear of God, others from the love of God. One can also find places where it is clear that if only you believe sufficiently deeply, all problems will be removed. Others will continually present a clear and direct call for repentance and change in the pattern of life as the only way to assured salvation.
All this is possible while still following the lections for the day and the pattern of the Church year. The fundamental underlying message and understanding will find a way of being expressed. That is the proposition.
I have been provided with a most excellent illustration of this in a beautiful book I was given to read by one of you this week - "The Story Of San Michele" by Axel Munthe, a between -the-wars best seller. Put yourself into the pews of a parish church on Capri, some 80 years ago, and listen to this about the parish priest:
The Protestants were Don Antonio's speciality, his sheet anchor in all his oratorical
difficulties, I do not know what he would have done without the Protestants. The old parroco's
memory was somewhat shaky, the feeble thread of his argumentation used to break at the most
awkward moments, in the midst of his sermons there was a blank silence. His faithful congregation
knew it well and did not mind it in the least, everybody continuing peacefully in their
meditations upon their own affairs, their olives and their vineyards, their cows and their pigs.
They also knew what was to follow. Don Antonio blew his nose with a series of thunderblasts as
from the Trumpets of the Last Judgment, he was on safe ground again
"Ma questi maledetti protestanti, ma questo camorrista Lutero! May il Demonio tear their cursed
tongues from their mouths, may he break their bones and roast them alive. In aeternitatem! (pp
368-9 1945 Australian ed)
A delicious, if extreme, case for this proposition.
I think it an excellent exercise to consider what our individual "one sermon" might be. It is
actually an exercise that each one of us can undertake. This is not simply the preserve of the
clergy. They are simply obliged to work this out in a more obvious way, week by week, over a
lifetime. But every Christian person by their words or actions lives out their "one sermon",
even if it is never clearly or deliberately articulated. Think about it. Others who know you
well may be able to tell you what yours is. Your underlying understanding of God, the world and
the human condition - your experience of life and your experience of God. It speaks. It shows.
It is shared and observed. What a challenging thought!
For me, there is a cluster of associated things that I know I return to again and again: God with
us, gift, grace, gratitude, might go a way towards summarising it. But from that all else flows
and I try to live it through. It is there today, for instance, in my thoughts in the pew sheet,
reflecting on this stage of my ministry. It just keeps on coming out.
So a gospel like today's is indeed grist to the mill. It has it all. The first part of Mark 2
tells that wonderful story of the paralysed man, a huge crowd and four friends each taking a
corner of a stretcher. And the Lord's taking advantage of that chaotic situation to get across
some solid teaching, and a gentle enough rebuke, as well as offering life and hope to one greatly
in need. The paralysed man didn't seem to have a hope of getting close. But those friends so
cared for him that they took away part of the roof of the crowded house where the Lord was
preaching. They lowered him down, into the full and direct view of the Lord. They wanted their
friend to be healed. They knew his need. They believed that the Lord could do it. What would
happen?
"Son, your sins are forgiven".
The first thing that Jesus offers is the bridging of the gap between him and his God, the taking
away of that which separated him from God, that which fractured the love that is with God and
with his neighbour. Reconciliation is offered: spiritual health is what is first addressed,
spiritual need is what is first discerned. Forgiveness. Putting aside a barrier, laying aside a
difference or a grievance, putting right, that which was wrong. Bringing peace where there was
distress or bad conscience. An end to resentment. Pardon. At- one -ness. These surely are
indeed the central issues.
One commentator put it this way:
What if it is true that Jesus can change our hearts, that he really is the author of all
reconciliation; that he did come, not just to patch us up and offer us a very second class
health service, but really to forgive us and to love us with that very crazy kind of loving of
which God alone is capable?
That is what is put before us today.
As the crowd in that now roofless house said: "We have never seen anything like this!" Each
generation, each individual has to discern this afresh, receive it themselves and be thankful.
(Do you see what I mean about God with us, gift, grace and gratitude coming through for this
preacher, from this preacher?)
The Old Testament lesson backs up and provides a context for the gospel. The stirring passage
from Isaiah 43 is a charter of freedom, of a liberation from all that would hold us back.
The Lord said:
'Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;...
I will not remember your sins.'
The epistle in 2 Cor 1 reminds us that with the Son of God, Jesus Christ, there was no
equivocation, there was no 'Yes and No', " but in him it is always 'Yes'." The 'yes' of promise
and acceptance and forgiveness; declared, proclaimed and offered.
Today I am reflecting on some two and a half decades of full-time lay work, study in preparation
for ordination and ordained ministry, including 20 years as a priest of the Church of God. Some
three and a half of them have been spent here at The Hill; two as a curate and now as incumbent
priest.
It is not always easy. And sometimes it is wonderful. True, this 'Hound of Heaven', as one
poet described vocation and call, is very demanding. It is a challenge to discern the best way
to respond to the reality of the presence and working of God in our lives. We all face this.
It is a challenge to attempt with as much integrity as you can muster, to live and to love, to
serve and to share. We all face that.
The continuing mildly astonishing thing for me is that God should call this individual, this
somewhat complex package, for this ministry. And yet, with perhaps a quiet smile, it seems that
he did. Of course there are mistakes. Of course there are stumbles. And of course that is
where gift and grace and gratitude come in. And always there is the chance to start afresh and
refreshed, together.
"Son, your sins are forgiven".
Thanks be to God.
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