The Rector Writes:
A Fractured Society
Trinity 8 Year A - [ Matthew 15-10-28 ]
14th August 2011
These last weeks we have witnessed astonishing scenes of rioting in large English cities, most significantly in London, in Tottenham, an area well known to the late Gladys Nelson and even Gloucester. Rioting and looting by youths and young Adults of all shades, it feels a different world from gentle Perth, yet it is a world, Andrew, Alison and I came from. Yes these are dreadful and inexcusable crimes, often against the very community these people live in, but we let ourselves off if we just put this down to a yob youth culture. Already we know that several professionals have been arrested, people seemingly with everything, except conscience or social morality.
I believe the riots were and are inevitable, a symptom of wider cultural problems, that have been growing since at least the 1960’s. In a culture that promotes individualism, a subjective sense of truth, greed and consumerism, society has bred consumer monsters who feel the world owes them a celebrity lifestyle. Where if you don’t have the latest whatever, you feel shame and are made an outcast unable to run with the designer label pack, this seen even in communities we would deem socially disadvantaged.
The young people have been brought up to expect more and more, sometimes gained illegally, and now in the midst of the recession their expectations of possessions cannot be met. Many have no access to work with 59 people chasing every job, some positions receiving hundreds of applications. There were some communities including Roundshaw, part of my old parish, that were on the third generation of unemployed, families who had only ever know benefits. Many maintained an honest approach to life, others took whatever chance came their way, dealing and black market. No job, no money, no worth.
On the other hand we have bankers, half of whom should have been put in jail, who see it as their right to have huge bonuses while the good people they have damaged, struggle. Lord Philips described the city of London as immoral and giving an immoral lead to society. When they see the immoral behaviour of bankers and their arrogance to society and the poor in particular, why should young people wait – many have never known or seen poverty before. University graduates lying idle, having been convinced that everyone will want their media and sports degree and not even MacDonald’s needs another graduate to serve fries.
While our culture values nothing but money and celebrity, and has no moral compass or soul we will see more and more of this fracturing. With the governments cuts biting and biting the poorest first and hardest, where the social divide is growing and the rich get richer while the poor get materially poorer, while wrong it is conceivable that some have had enough and will want what the criminal bankers have, or at least break what they have so they can’t enjoy it. There is nothing right about this but it is a consequence of policies that fail to take into account the impact on human lives and it is also a consequence of the failure of the Church to be relevant in people’s lives and to give them something more than bling to make them feel worthwhile. We have seen a social crisis coming for years, the labour party were brought to power on a need to tackle it and failed hugely other than in success in racial harmonization largely brought about by the religious communities working together. Our national soul is deeply damaged, unlike the majority of countries our churches are increasingly empty and increasingly ageing. Until we can be relevant to our society it will remain damaged seeking healing from materialism that will always fail to fill the hunger of empty souls.
It may seem obvious to us that God is the answer but we have to bring that answer out from these walls and meet people where they are before inviting them in to this place of holiness. We have to be “real” for them, relevant bringing real options and chances. We must reveal a living faith in the lives we lead, valuing the least as much as the greatest among us.
I think St. John’s is this type of community, I think we can be servants to our wider community, bringing hope with us. Look around we are a church setting out on the task of restoration and renewal, to be open for people, to be a centre of mission, and resource, helping people to find their path to God.
We have to help people come in, it is not always easy for people, indeed crossing our threshold when society rubbishes what we stand for is sometimes impossibly difficult requiring a personal crisis to break down the barriers. We do not always find ourselves comfortable when we are among people we don’t know. Visiting a new church can be nerve wracking, unless we are among the extroverted class, and so it is up to every one of us to make it as easy as possible for the seeker.
It is easy for us to be caring at a distance. Writing cheques to help other people in need is a vital and good service, but it is perhaps made easier because we don’t have to rub shoulders with the people we are helping. If we volunteer in a thrift shop or help feed the needy, like our Lunch Club, we may wonder what on earth we would say to such people if we had to be in their homes or met them on the street.
Maybe today’s Gospel [ Matthew 15.10-28] will help us in this task. In the gospel today, Jesus has a discussion about the way we think. He points out that what we say, perhaps how we act toward others is much more indicative of how we think than keeping certain religious rules about what we eat or drink.
It seems his comments offended the pious. One is reminded of the story Jesus told of the pious person who went into the temple to pray. He stood there in the attitude of prayer and said, “Thank God I am not like other people.” It would be dreadfully offensive if we said, “Thank God I am not of another race or culture.” Yet we do find ourselves thinking such things as we watch the news or engage in heated conversations about those people who don’t agree with our politics or religion or social attitudes. It makes it worse when we are sure we are right and they are wrong.
Although it can feel good being bigoted against bigots is no virtue!
The gospel today goes on to tell a story about Jesus leaving his homeland and going into what we would now call Lebanon. There are only two recorded occasions when Jesus leaves Jewish territory.
There was a long-standing ethnic feud between the people of the Holy Land and the people of Lebanon. There still is. This might well be a contemporary story.
Jesus is approached by a local woman who wants him to heal her daughter. The Israelites called such people “dogs.” And remember that dogs didn’t enjoy the privileged place in society then as they do for many of us now.
It was obvious that the woman was desperate. She would have been brought up to despise Jews. She risked being rebuffed and insulted. There are moments of desperation in our lives when we are impelled to step out of our safety zone, our secure society. Our need overcomes fear and even prejudice.
Jesus tests the woman. He even uses the common racial slur. “We don’t give dogs human food.” Please note that Jesus is not merely saying that dogs shouldn’t beg at a table. He is using a dreadful slur to test the faith of the woman. We may find that shocking. Please note he is not being a racist. He is testing the boundaries that have been set. May they be crossed? The woman is desperate, but can she, is she able, to step through pride and prejudice and reach the point of acceptance and healing?
Yes, Jesus comes to us, but we also must make that step of faith toward him.
Jesus is different. He isn’t a nice friendly Brit or a person we would meet at church. We have to admit our need as we approach him. “Our own righteousness” won’t hack it. By “righteousness,” we can mean pride, or confidence in our own culture, or learning, or intellect, or good taste, or manners. We might mean our own racial, or political, or national roots.
Jesus is for all; and because he is for all, he belongs to no one.
The woman replies with some good humour. She points out that even dogs get the scraps that fall from a table. Jesus tells her that her trust has made it possible for her daughter to be healed. The woman is being a conduit for another. There is an extraordinary reminder here that we may become “go-betweens” for others and be the means by which God’s gift of healing love may be extended to others.
All too often our prayers are safe. They are prayers at a distance. They cost us little. They trip off the tongue at bedtime or even in church when that long list of sick people is read during the Prayers of the People. We risk nothing when we say, “God bless Annie.”
When Jesus says that if we are to follow him we must be cross-bearers, he invites us into uncomfortable, painful, and hurting places where those who need our prayers live. He invites us out of our comfort zones. He invites us to experience the tragedy and hurt another one is suffering. He invites us to be with those who may be called “dogs,” or think of themselves as “dogs” – unclean, apart, perhaps at the bottom of the social or class ladder, or perhaps “apart” because of their lifestyle or habits, the drug addict, the ex-con, the prostitute. Unless we value them, they will feel valueless and continue on destructive paths.
The woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon came to Jesus where he was. He came to her. They met and exchanged barbed words, and another was healed. Here is an extraordinary example of reconciliation and grace.
It is clear that few of us has the strength to reach out beyond our comfort zones without the support of the Holy Spirit. Yet at the table each Sunday we step from our own world into the unknown place where Jesus is and he feeds us not with crumbs or scraps but a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. We receive him. We live in him and he lives in us. The question remains, for whom is our encounter with the Lord intended? Is it intended for another, a person who may live in a place or have an experience outside the normal routine of our life, or whose habits or lifestyle may offend us greatly?
Perhaps in this holy place this day we can think of a group, or a person who cries out to be healed in one way or another. Dare we step out to the table at which the Lord sits and beg for his aid? Dare we be a channel of healing and love to that other person or group who, too, belongs to God and for whom Jesus died?
Only when we as a community, and the church in general are outward looking and supportive of all, will society begin to regain its soul. We will be mocked by some, attacked by others but we will be welcomed with relief and longing by others, because we carry with us the peace of Christ.
