When people think about the responsibilities of ordained or authorised lay ministries, something they probably rarely, if ever think about, is the responsibility that comes with preaching. But be that as it may, preaching is a great responsibility. It’s a responsibility that comes from the sermon being the one time in a service that the preacher, usually the parish priest, speaks to people in their own words. The priest speaks to people throughout the service of course but, on the whole, the words the priest uses aren’t their own, they’re the words that the Church has authorised for use in public worship, but in their sermon, the priest uses their own words to speak to the people. All joking about the ‘sermon slot’ being time for a nap aside, it’s also the time during a service when everyone in church is, or should be at least, listening to what the priest is saying. So it’s important that the preacher chooses their words carefully.
A sermon is supposed to draw out some deeper or hidden meaning in the readings of the day. It’s intended to give the people a better understanding of the Scriptures and ideally, it will do that in such a way that it gives people a deeper understanding of their faith and an example of how they can put their faith into practice in their daily lives. But, unless the preacher does choose their words carefully, a sermon can do the opposite of what it’s intended to do. A few mis-chosen words can mean that what was intended to teach, can cause confusion; what was meant to give deepen faith, can cast doubt, and what was intended to inspire, can discourage. And there’s always the temptation for the preacher to use the sermon, not to proclaim the Gospel, but to proclaim their own ideas and beliefs; to use the sermon to push their own agenda and pass it off as something in accord with Christ’s teaching, even when it really isn’t. Perhaps one of the most well-known examples of this is the infamous sermon given by the bishop of London during the First World War. As a great supporter of the British war effort, the bishop was keen to urge men to enlist and to mobilise the general population to action in support of the war. And to that end, in 1915, he used a sermon to claim that all freedom loving peoples were banded in a great crusade to kill Germans in order to save the world. As understandable as that may be given the time and circumstances, it’s hardly in keeping with Christ’s teaching and example and much more in keeping with the bishop’s own agenda.
For all these reasons, preaching is a great responsibility that’s placed on the shoulders of those who are called to do it in the Church. And so, when I read the readings for today so that I could start to give some thought to my sermon for this Sunday, I was really quite pleased with what I read. Not because I thought there was an easy sermon in them, but because they give a scriptural vindication of the things I’ve preached on in the last couple of weeks.
I’m sure we don’t have anyone here who dozes off during my sermons so I’m equally sure I won’t have to remind any of you of what I’ve preached about on the last two Sundays. But, for those who may not have been here or who may have missed out on one of my sermons because they’ve been in Sunday School, on one of the past two Sundays, I’ll remind you.
Last Sunday, I preached about the need for us to remain faithful to God and Christ despite the evil and suffering we see in the world. I said that we need to remain faithful too, in spite of the hypocrisy we sometimes see in the Church. I said that the evil, the suffering, and the hypocrisy we see around us shouldn’t give us cause to doubt our faith because all these things are caused by sinful human beings, not by God and not by Christ. Neither do God and Christ sanction these things. And so, as our faith is not in the sinful human beings who cause evil, suffering and hypocrisy, nor in any human institutions, which are also inevitably sinful, but in God and Christ who neither cause evil, suffering and hypocrisy, nor sanction it, but actually condemn it, we shouldn’t question our faith in God and Christ on account of the evil that men do. And in our Old Testament reading today, we hear the prophet Jeremiah speaking about the sins of Judah and saying,
Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord…Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”
So it’s not just last Sunday’s preacher who says that we should remain faithful despite the sins and hypocrisy of human beings, it’s the Lord who says it, in this case, through his prophet Jeremiah.
Two Sundays ago, I preached about our need to proclaim the Gospel. Then, I said that in one sense, that’s very easy to do, as easy in fact as saying “I go to church, and I try to live my life according to the teaching and example of Jesus Christ because I’m a Christian.” But I also acknowledged that proclaiming the Gospel can be made difficult because of the response we might get from those we try to proclaim it to. And that can be hard because we can be abused for proclaiming the Gospel. We can be abused by people who think we’re stupid for not putting our trust in human science and understanding. We can be abused by people who see hypocrisy in the Church and use that as reason for disbelief. And we can be abused, perhaps more personally too, by those who know us well and know our own faults and failings, our own hypocrisies. Nevertheless, I said we’re called to proclaim the Gospel in spite of any abuse we might get, and that we shouldn’t and can’t blame ourselves if people won’t listen to us. And in our Gospel reading today, we hear Jesus saying,
“Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”
So it’s not just the preacher from two Sundays ago who says that we should proclaim the Gospel in the face of opposition and abuse, it’s God who says this, through his own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
And Jesus’ words do imply that those who proclaim the Gospel will not always be listened to and will be abused by those who don’t want to listen. But he also tells us that we shouldn’t worry about that. In fact, he tells us that we should rejoice when this kind of thing happens because it’s what people have always done to the prophets. That, in turn tells us that, in proclaiming the Gospel, we are God’s prophets.
At the start of my sermon today I said that a sermon should give people a better understanding of the Scriptures, a deeper insight into their faith, suggest ways of putting their faith into practice and inspire them to do it. And that’s what we find here. Jesus pulls no punches; he makes it quite clear that we’ll be opposed and abused for proclaiming the Gospel, but he urges us to do it anyway.
And he inspires us to do it by telling us that, in proclaiming the Gospel, we’re God’s prophets in our own time and place and that, just like Jeremiah and all the prophets, who were all opposed and abused in their time and place, we’re assured of a great heavenly reward for our trouble. And we know this isn’t simply Jesus’ opinion. We know this because we know that Jesus wasn’t working to his own agenda and his words were not his own; he was working to God’s agenda and speaking God’s words because, as he said,
“…I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me.”
Preaching is a great responsibility but, as with everything else we do as Christians, Jesus has set us an example of how to preach. It’s up to the preacher to do their best to follow that example, just as it is for anyone to do their best to follow Jesus’ example in anything they do as Christians. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously, and I hope that translates to you as it should, in a deeper understanding of the Scriptures, a deeper understanding of God’s word, in a firmer faith in God and Christ and in encouragement to live out your faith in your daily lives and so to fulfil the prophetic ministry that God has called each and every one of us to in own our time and place.
Amen.
The Propers for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (3 before Lent) can be viewed here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 