“childlike faith”
|
A sermon preached Readings: 1
Cor 13:1-13, Mark 10:13-16 |
I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God
like a little child will never enter it. (Mark 10:15)
When I was a child,
I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. (1 Cor
13:11)
Two apparently contradictory
Scriptural statements about childhood–
·
If you would enter the Kingdom, be like a child, says Jesus.
·
We must grow to maturity and leave childish things behind, says Paul.
The
distinction is between being childlike and childish.
Both
children and adults can be childlike
And both children and adults can be childish.
Like
adults, children are never perfect and can be very childish:
you don’t need to read Lord of the Flies to know that –
you’ve
only got to referee a dispute between two six year olds
both wanting the last ice cream and to be in goal –
But nevertheless there are childlike qualities which are often there in
children
and may be lost later in life.
It
is to our shame how at such an early age we encourage allow our children
to exchange relative innocence for a cynical brand of experience.
·
The toddler who once would have told you
quite simply
whether he liked someone or something
learns instead to keep his cards to his chest,
to lie and practice hypocrisy, from a whole range of motives.
·
The child blissfully unaware of social
distinctions
learns racism and nationalism and class distinctions.
·
As the child becomes an adult,
his or her feet grow physically larger – that is fine –
sadly it is often also the case that he also grows
“too big for his boots”
·
The child who once, like Oliver Twist,
simply came with empty hands for succour and comfort,
now seeks to manoeuvre into positions of power and control.
And perhaps
these are sorts of things Jesus is thinking of
when he puts a child on his knee and says
“If
you would enter the Kingdom, be like a child –
that is don’t come to God pretending to be what you
are not,
trying to pull rank or muscle your way into the Kingdom
on the basis of your strength or power or position.
Just come asking for what you need and God will give you his blessing.
There
are childlike qualities to preserve – or to recover.
But
lets be clear – Jesus is not advocating a Peter Pan
religion
in which we remain permanently infantile.
Paul
says we are to leave behind childish things and grow up.
And among other things, that means thinking and questioning about the faith.
Of
course children start asking questions at a very early age.
I remember when my children were still very young
they were always asking questions – chiefly the one word “Why?”
I remember I used to quite enjoy these conversations
which if you tried to follow them through logically could be quite fun.
On the way to school in the morning we might see a man on a zebra crossing.
Q Daddy, why is that man doing?
A He is crossing the road
Q Why?
A Because he wants to get to the other side
Q Why?
A Because I suspect the place where he works
is on the other side of the road
and he needs to go to work.
Q Why?
A Because when you go to work you get paid
wages
and he needs to earn money.
Q Why?
A Because he needs money to buy food from
the shop
Q Why?
A Because the shop man owns the food in the
shop
and you can only have food if you
pay him for it
Q Why?
A Because we live in a capitalist society
which is based on the idea of
personal property
which people can buy and sell as
they wish.
Q Why?
I
will leave those of you good at explaining capitalism to 5 year olds
to continue the conversation in your imagination as you will –
but 8 whys and we have gone from
why the chicken crossed the road
to the very basis of how society does or does not work.
Asking
questions helps us get to the bottom of things –
and it is part of faith’s journey.
Like
Jesus in the temple at the age of 12,
it is never too soon to start asking questions.
On Friday we
commended our good friend John Lawson
to God’s eternal care.
John was 94 but he was still thinking debating,
and above all letter writing to his dying day.
As Norman Wallwork said of John in his address so
wonderfully,
“There were few things on which he did not hold an informed opinion,
and few opinions on which we were not informed”
Whether
we are 12 or 94 there are still questions to be asked,
debates to be held, answers to be sought.
And
that of course is true not least of all for those of you
beginning University courses here this week.
There is a hymn
which is no longer in our hymnbook called
“I vow to thee my country”
I vow to thee, my country—all earthly things above—
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
We don’t sing
it anymore, because, however well intentioned,
it contains at best a dangerous half truth –
The Gospel is not actually about unquestioning loyalty to a nation state.
It is not part
of the Christian way to agree with Government policy on Iraq –
or anything else for that matter – without asking questions.
And great swathes of the OT are actually prophetic books
which amount to critiques and questioning of the status quo.
I read the
other day about a vicar somewhere who had a problem
with “I vow to thee my country”.
His Boy Scouts liked the tune and wanted to keep singing it,
but he didn’t agree with the words.
So he wrote some new words to the old tune and that seemed to do the trick –
I don’t know, maybe we could try them sometime –
The new words
go like this –
“O
God of all creation, most holy One in Three,
uniting
perfect wholeness with rich diversity,
beyond
all human dogmas above all class and race,
pour
out upon your people the riches of your grace:
the
love that dares to question, the courage to explore,
the
faith to tread where no one but Christ has trod before.
O
God of liberation, who breaks the prison bars
Unchain
our earthbound spirits to reach out for the stars.
Release
us from enslavement in narrowness of mind,
Of
all that stops us searching for fear of what we may find.
Let
faith join hands with knowledge, and wisdom set us free
To
celebrate with wonder the depths of mystery.”
(Michael
Foster in All Year Round 2000, CCBI p.128)
Thus
can the light of the Gospel shine on the shades of the prison house!
Of
course you can stop asking questions –
but if I think I know all the answers,
and refuse even to consider another point of view, I become a bigot.
And a bigot by definition has given up the possibility of growing in
understanding-
For if I refuse to question my current view, refuse to analyse it,
I will never be open to new ideas,
I will never give myself the intellectual space to move on
to something newer and deeper.
To those of you
newly arrived at Exeter University welcome –
I hope you will ask loads of questions whilst you are here.
You will have to ask questions about your degree topics –
but please don’t fall into that terrible brand of spiritual schizophrenia,
which asks intellectual questions from Monday to Saturday
and then promptly deposits your brain at the door
as you come into Church on a Sunday.
And
of course what is true for new students is true for us all -
as a Church we all need to ask hard questions.
I might say here if there are issues you would like to see addressed in sermons
or in midweek discussions, do let me know.
Everyone
will have different questions to ask
Perhaps the most important ones are about my personal journey with God –
·
What does God want me to do with the rest
of my life?
·
How can I find a real sense of the
presence of God?
·
How can I cope with suffering and
disappointment?
And
I know there are many here already praying and seeking the guidance of the
Spirit
as they wrestle with those questions.
But
there are also a whole raft of other questions,
which we all should be tackling as best we can –
and will help us make sense of our lives.
They
will be different for all of us – but here are a few you might try for size –
Have
you thought about these questions lately?
·
Is the Bible true? – and
what do you mean by true?
·
Will everyone gain eternal life?
·
What are the political implications of
the Gospel?
·
Is all life sacred and what does that
mean for my lifestyle?
·
Are all major religions different paths
to one God?
They
are to a certain extent a random list, though they share one thing in common –
go to different Christian Churches and groups
and you will find quite different answers on offer.
I hope you will not simply take the first answers that come your way
Read
the scriptures, say your prayers, discuss with your friends,
seek the guidance of the Spirit, wrestle and think.
Not
that we will ever have all the answers in this life –
we
see in a mirror dimly says Paul –
Never forget
the old bit of graffiti on the Belfast wall –
“If you have found the
answer to the Irish problem,
you haven’t understood the question”
There
are no easy answers –
but
faith is about moving on and seeking the truth.
The
main thing is that we are on a journey of discovery.
It
is a journey we will not finish in this life.
But,
praise God, the day will come for us all,
as it has for our brother John,
when we reach our journey’s end.
“Now
we see in a mirror dimly, then we shall see face to face”
So,
keep walking with Christ
and in his presence question all things,
and await
the day when we will see what as yet we but glimpse,
the day when every question will be answered.