It's
probably safe to assume that I'm the only person present today who is
sad enough to subscribe to the Church Times....!
Recently
that trade rag ran a 4 part series, a Health Check on the C of E.
Though
there were many happy things to celebrate, overall the picture was
not too bright.
We
might not yet be staring the Grim Reaper straight in the eye, but
nobody could claim that we are exactly hale and hearty.
Look
around at the churches of Stroud.
There
are pockets of life – but an awful lot that is struggling, weary,
dying...
And
today we have 2 readings that speak to this situation, as surely as
they have spoken into situations of decline death and decay through
millennia.
Let's
start with dem bones....dem dry bones
Scattered
in the valley, the aftermath of some terrible battle perhaps
A
grim reminder of mortality, of the brevity of our time here
Just
a heap of bones – with nothing to tell the stories of the people
they once were.
Dry
bones.
And
then...Then Ezekiel prophecies as God directs....and gradually,
impossibly, the bones begin to come together. And he speaks again and
they put on flesh once more. And finally the Spirit moves and they
return to life.
Living
and breathing
A
vast multitude...the dead restored...
Fast
forward to our gospel reading – and once again the dead live.
Jesus
calls his friend Lazarus back to the land of the living – and tells
the astounded onlookers to unbind him.
Called
in to new life by his Saviour and Lord, he is still confined,
constrained by the trappings of death.
That
made me stop to think.
Are
there things that still bind us, as individuals, or as a
church – even when we have heard the voice of Jesus calling us back
to our selves, inviting us to enter into the fullness of life and joy
he offers...
I'm
sure there are for me...I wonder what they might be for you?
The
duties laid on you by the expectations of others?
The
heavy weight of yesterday – the limitations we impose on ourselves
when we allow ourselves to carry on believing an unkind word or hasty
judgement from decades past...when we take on another's judgement as
our essential truth?
Fear
of failure?
Or
the equally pernicious fear of success?
There
are many things to bind an individual...
And
there are as many that bind the church
Nostalgia
for a lost utopia – a golden age when churches were full to
overflowing and God and politics marched hand in hand
Attachment
to beloved buildings that prevent us from re-imagining our worship
in ways that make sense to the lost generations
Determination
to focus on unity at almost any cost
And
more fear....
So
much fear.
If
a stranger walked into our worship this morning, I wonder what she
would see?
Dry
bones?
Bodies
trapped in grave clothes?
Or
people living the new life for to which they are called?
We
know, each one of us, that God calls US to fullness of life...that
his passion for us is expressed in 100% perfect love.
It
is that love that can breathe life into our dry bones...that love,
casting out fear, that calls us from the darkness of death to walk
free in the sunshine once again.
It
is that love, too, that can transform the Church – which is, after
all, not ours but God's....
So,
on this Passion Sunday, let's pray that God will once again pour his
love into our hearts, that we might live transformed by his Spirit
and share that love and that life as signs of his kingdom where dry
bones live and the dead are raised to newness of life.
Subscribing to the Church times is mad, not sad ;) - I gave it up several years ago because I found all the reports of squabbling and generally unchristian behaviour so depressing.
ReplyDeleteYou've reminded me I was thinking of resubscribing, but perhaps that would be utter madness. I'd like to think the CoE is becoming a bit more Christian, but perhaps that's just because I can no longer hear most of the negative voices.
I think your homily may have hit the nail on the head.