The Call to be Faithful

I have brought together some of my thoughts, talks, and sermons to create a Booklet on the occasion of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.

It can be read or downloaded here:

The Call to be Faithful

All Saints' Eve 2017

Today is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. We have been thinking about it at Christ Church over the past few months. Over the past year, I have given three sets of talks for the radio programme Minutes that Matter on RTHK Radio 4.

In them, I have tried to reflect on the significance of the Reformation as well as looking at where the Church is today.

I have brought all three of them together in a booklet, which I will post here today. The following is the Preface I have written to them.

Preface

This booklet contains the lightly edited transcripts of three sets of talks that I have delivered this year for ‘Minutes that Matter’ on RTHK Radio 4. The format of the programme explains the form and length of the talks! Originally, a piece of music accompanied each of the talks, but I have left the details of the music out of the transcripts. Those who would like to listen to the audio version of the talks together with the music that originally went with them can still do so on the RTHK website in the Radio 4 Programme Archive.

The talks were written with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in mind.

In the first set of talks for March, I address directly issues arising from the Reformation and the division it caused. I argue that while the Reformation emphasized important aspects of the Christian Gospel, it had ‘unintended consequences’ apart from the immediate divisions it caused. The Church is facing the full force of these consequences today.

In the second set for August, the subject is the Holy Trinity. In the talks, I discuss the importance and centrality of the Holy Trinity for the Christian faith and argue against attempts in the present day to see belief in the Holy Trinity as something peripheral, optional, or even to be abandoned altogether. I urge those who continue to believe in the Holy Trinity to lay aside their historical differences and unite in the face of attacks on the historic, orthodox faith of the Church.

Finally, in the third set of talks for November, I examine what it means for the Church to be ‘fruitful’ as Jesus commanded. I argue that the Church in the West, taken as a whole, has ceased to be ‘fruitful’, and has instead opened itself, both consciously and unconsciously, to the prevailing spirit in western society with fatal results. I express the hope that Churches outside the West will take up the challenge to be faithful to Christ and stand firm against the new paganism that, I believe, is threatening the Church.

The title for the combined sets of talks comes from the words of our Lord in Revelation:

‘Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.’ (Revelation 2:10)

Ross Royden

All Saints’ Eve, 2017

Third Sunday before Lent

In a recent sermon I mentioned that this is the 500th anniversary this year of the European Reformation.  On October 31, 1517 a monk in Germany by the name of Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of the local church calling for an academic debate on them.  At least, that is how the story came to be told.

What is clear is that Luther’s challenge to the system of indulgences went ‘viral’.  Luther challenged the idea that the Pope had the authority or ability to release people from ‘purgatory’ so buying bits of paper in order to get friends and relatives released early was a complete waste of time and money.  Ultimately, the Reformation wasn’t about abstract theological ideas:  it was about authority. 

But behind the challenge to authority there were theological ideas and in the coming years, Luther was to spell them out.  These ideas, at least as far as Luther was concerned, were anything but abstract.  They came from intense personal experience.

Luther had been destined to become a lawyer.  This was what his father had planned for him.  (Some things don’t change!)  Then one day, on a journey, he was caught in a storm and feared for his life.  He promised St Anne that if she were to save him, he would become a monk.  He did live and he honoured his promise. 

Being a monk, however, did not make him happy.  He took the whole business seriously – some including his confessor – felt too seriously.  He wanted to please God, but never felt good enough or that he could do enough to please God.  When he came across the phrase the ‘righteousness of God’, it only served to remind him of how unrighteous he was. 

Then while preparing lectures on St Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he came to see that the righteousness of God wasn’t about condemning sinners, but offering them the opportunity to be forgiven for their sins, freely, without having to do anything except have faith and trust in Christ. 

No need then for pilgrimages, confessions, religious acts and devotions, good works, penances and all the other things that were part of medieval religion.  The discovery changed his life and was to change Europe and the world. 

The doctrine of ‘justification by faith and not works’ was to become central to Protestantism.  This the Protestants believed was the message of the New Testament and the Bible.  ‘God forgave our sins in Jesus’ name’ - as we shall sing later in the service.  It is an amazing message and it has brought freedom and liberation to many.  It is celebrated in many of the hymns we sing, for example, ‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…’

Nowadays there is no argument over it.  What was once a source of division between Catholics and Protestants is so no longer.  If you were to put a Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican in a room and get them to discuss justification by faith, there would be little disagreement between them.  Indeed, I would argue that a radical version of justification by faith is the present message of all the churches.

What we preach is that Jesus is an inclusive, welcoming, forgiving, and accepting Saviour.  It doesn’t matter who you are, where you have come from, or what you have done, Jesus loves and welcomes and accepts you.  In some versions of the message, we drop the whole ‘Saviour forgiving sins’ bit.  Jesus is not the sort of person to condemn us for what we have done: after all, who is to say what is right or wrong?

Now I don’t want to spoil the party, and I like the idea that I don’t have to worry about what I have done as much as anyone.  Clearly, as Luther discovered, the New Testament does tell us that God forgives us our sins and that it is all about his grace made available to us through faith (we will talk more about this when we study Ephesians).

Luther discovered justification by faith while studying Romans.  The problem, however, is that while Romans undoubtedly teaches justification by faith, it also teaches judgment by works.  In Romans, God is a God who gets angry with sin and while he forgives those who turn to him by faith in Christ, he punishes those who fail to live as he requires.

Take, for example, this passage from chapter 2:

‘For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.’ (Romans 2:6-11)

It is perhaps not surprising that these verses, and others like them in Romans, cause huge problems for those seeking to write commentaries on the letter.  We know that human works do not count.  The trouble is that there are many passages in both Romans and the rest of the New Testament where it seems that they do. 

All of which brings us to this morning’s passage from 1 Corinthians 3.

You will remember that the Corinthians were dividing into the ancient equivalent of fan clubs around various Christian leaders.  In dealing with the problem, St Paul diplomatically avoids talking about St Peter and instead discusses himself and Apollos who is part of his circle.  He discusses their respective roles in ministering to the Corinthians.

St Paul says that he planted, that is he established the Church, while Apollos watered, that is help it to grow.  Each St Paul says will one day find their work judged and will be rewarded accordingly.  St Paul says that he has applied this teaching about our work being judged to himself and Apollos, but it is true for all of us.  As St Paul is to write subsequently to the Corinthians:

‘For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.’ (2 Corinthians 5:10)

This is a message we prefer to ignore or to see as a minor part of the New Testament.  However, the idea that we will all be judged according to our works, that is, to how we have lived our lives is central, not peripheral, to our Lord’s teaching while he was on earth. 

It is a theme of many of his parables.  Yes, of course, we love the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the story who of the Father who reaches out to his lost son and accepts him back and forgives him despite everything he has done.  We take heart from the story of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to go off in search of the one that is lost.

But what of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats where the Son of Man separates people into sheep and goats?  Each are judged on how they have lived with the sheep who represent the righteous inheriting eternal life, but the goats who represent those who have failed to live as our Lord expects being sent to eternal punishment.

How, in other words, are we to hold together justification by faith and judgement by works?

Obviously, we can’t decide this issue this morning.  What we can say is that we must hold them together.  While it is tempting to favour one at the expense of the other to do so is not to be true to the Word of God.  And while it’s easy to see why we prefer one to the other, that doesn’t make it right.

One of my favourite TV programmes is the BBC programme, Dr Who.  I particularly like the present incarnation of the Doctor who is played by the actor Peter Cipaldi.  He is the oldest actor to play Dr Who and as grey hair.  You may be able to guess why such a representation might appeal to me!

One of the most famous quotes of the Doctor is:

‘We are all stories in the end.  Just make it a good one’.

All good stories have their ups and downs, high and low points, happy times and sad.  ‘Justification by faith’ reassures us that when we make a mess of things, when we fail and screw up, that God will forgive us and that his approval and love of us is not based on our works.  We won’t in other words be judged on the individual chapters, we will, however, be judged and that ought to encourage us to take seriously how we live and what our priorities in life are.

What will be our story?

One of my favourite prayers comes from an Anglican funeral service:

Lord, give us grace to use aright

the time that is left to us here on earth. 

Lead us to repent of our sins,

the evil we have done and the good we have not done;

and strengthen us to follow the steps of your Son,

in the way that leads to the fullness of eternal life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Epiphany 3

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

On October 31, 1517 in a relatively obscure town in Germany a monk who lectured in the university ‘nailed’ 95 theses in Latin to the Church door inviting people to debate them with him.  At least this is how the story became to be told.  Scholars are not sure whether he nailed them, posted them, or just had them printed.  However, the monk issued them, they were to have seismic consequences.

The monk was Martin Luther.  The theses were in many ways innocuous.  The cause of them was a Papal Fundraising Scheme.  The Pope wanted to build a magnificent Cathedral in Rome.  To pay for it, he issued indulgences which were sold throughout Europe.  These indulgences granted the purchaser the power to get a loved one out of purgatory. They were very popular. 

Luther, however, was opposed to them and his theses challenged their sale.  Implicit in his opposition was a challenge to the authority of the Pope.  His protest went viral as one would say today.  And it was not long before the argument became about much more than ‘indulgences’.  Western Christianity which had been united around the authority of the Pope disintegrated and the Church became extremely fragmented.  Many more joined the protest and it spread to other countries.  The word protestant came into being.  However, while the Protestants could agree on what they were against, they found it much harder to agree on what they were for.  And rather than there being one protestant church, many different churches came into existence sometimes hating each other as much as they hated the church of Rome. 

In England things were even more complicated.  Initially the King, Henry VIII, opposed the protestant movement earning himself the title of Defender of the Faith, that is, the Roman Catholic version of the faith.  However, Henry then decided he wanted a divorce and the Pope for political rather than religious reasons refused.  Thus setting in motion the English reformation and the creation of the Church of England. 

I realize that this is a very general and simple summary of what by any account was anything but simple. But I think it is accurate enough.  What is beyond dispute is that as a result of the Protestant reformation division between Christians became the norm and the different groups formed their own denominations:  Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, and Baptist.  Having got a taste for division there was to be no stopping Christians and since the reformation many other denominations have come into existence. 

If you walk down Waterloo Road you see church after church all belonging to different denominations and mostly not talking to each other in any meaningful way. 

What began as a movement calling for the reform of the Church ended up dividing it.  Some regretted this, but saw it as necessary, many did not and even seemed to relish it.  You still hear people arguing that truth must always come before unity. 

I dwell on this today for 3 reasons: firstly, this year is the 500th anniversary of the reformation.  Many events are being organized to commemorate it.  We are even being invited to celebrate it.  We are going to hear a lot more about the reformation in the weeks ahead. 

Secondly, we are in the middle of the week of prayer for Christian unity.  Each year at this time Christians all over the world are invited to join together to pray for the unity of the Church.  Of course, having prayed for it, we then spend the rest of the year doing absolutely nothing about it.  I don’t think I am being unfair to say that many Christians would be horrified if it started to happen. 

Thirdly, our second reading this morning is a passage from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in which he tackles division in a church be founded. 

St. Paul had spent 18 months in Corinth doing what is known as his second missionary journey.  Many were converted and the church was lively and successful.  They attracted some of the celebrities of the early church people like Apollos and Peter as well as others not so familiar to us today. 

The Corinthians seem to have been very pleased with themselves and started discussing which of the various Christian leaders they preferred.  Some argued for Paul, others for Peter, others for Apollos and they were beginning to form into groups depending which they preferred.  Paul was horrified not because some preferred other leaders to himself, but that they were prepared to divide the church. ‘Is Christ divided?’  he asked.  ‘Did Paul die for you?’  he goes on to tell them that they are the church, the body of Christ.  They’re God’s temple.  And says, ‘St Paul, anyone who destroys God’s temple God will destroy.’

So what would Paul have said about the reformation?  Some argue that Paul was prepared to cause division for the sake of the truth.  They point to Galatians and how Paul reacted to people he believed to be preaching a false Gospel. He even openly and publicly challenged Peter when he believed Peter to be in the wrong.

Of course, they argue, Paul would have supported Luther and others like him who stood as he did for the truth of the Gospel.

Personally, I am not so sure, or rather I think he would have agreed with many of the things the reformers said whether he would have been prepared to welcome the division of the Church I am not so sure.

The reality is we just do not know.  What we do know is that Paul thought the church should be united and do what it could to avoid diversity.  So when writing to Rome and knowing that there were different groups within the church each taking a different position on a variety of issues.  He tells them to accept one another and to live with the differences.  Unity, in other words, does not mean uniformity.  We can have diversity without diversity and division. 

The reality is that many of our divisions are not over key doctrines of the Christian faith, but over matters where it is of little real consequence.  This is especially true within individual churches.  Frankly, I hold out very little hope of the church reuniting.  When it comes to the different denominations my own approach is to be denomination lite.  I do not think that the Anglican Church is the one true church.  I don’t think we have got it right on every issue – not by a long way.  I do think that there are many good even outstanding Christians within other denominations so rather than working to keep my denomination apart from other denominations, I try where and when I can to work with Christians of other denominations without letting our denominational background get in the way. 

While we may not be in a position to bring about denominational unity, we certainly are in a position to affect unity within our churches.  I think we do a good job at Christ Church.  While we have our differences and disagreements, we don’t let them drive us apart as, sadly, often does happen in churches. 

There is, however, no room for complacency.  As I have said people sometimes say that the truth of the Gospel must come before unity.   But unity is part of the Gospel;  As we will see in our studies in Ephesians, St Paul sees unity as the central message of the Gospel;  Unity in the first place between us and God, but as Paul explains, peace and unity between God’s people.  He writes how the death of Christ has made possible unity between two groups who were deeply divided:  Jesus and Gentile.  So a very simple challenge to us this morning:  to maintain our unity in the bond of peace.