Remembrance Sunday 2019 – Ecclesiasticus 51, 1-12; 1 Cor 15, 50-end.

Sermon preached by the Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan. St. Paul’s Anglican church Athens.

Today’s New Testament reading is part of the correspondence to a city not too far from where we are right now. Corinth had a primitive Christian community, but it also had diaspora Jews. It was a very cosmopolitan trading port.

His letter to the Corinthians contains some of St. Paul’s insights and theology of the resurrection. The words we have heard this morning are part of his extended reflections on this deep mystery of the faith.

As Christians, of course, the resurrection of Christ is central – central to the mystery of the cross and the new life offered in the Risen Christ. However Paul’s message is more subtle than this plain reading. Part of Paul’s hermeneutical style is to interpret the new faith in the light of the background circumstances of his listeners. At this he is a master.

So it is when he preaches at the Areopagus, here in Athens, he refers to the old pantheistic religion of the Greeks, focusing his attention on the tomb to the ‘unknown God’. He then preaches Jesus.

In Corinth there are community members with a Hebrew speaking, Jewish background, just as Paul had been – he is in familiar territory with this group of people.

So it is that he makes an assumption that Christians believe in the resurrection because of the resurrection of Jesus. In engaging the Hebrew speakers he goes a step further. Resurrection is already part of Jewish belief. Only the Sadducee party rejected it. So Paul adds in an interesting phrase at the beginning of his presentation on resurrection. He says this, ‘If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.’ (1 Cor 15,13). Paul already believed in resurrection – Judaism already believed in resurrection. It is what we can call ‘a priori’ argument. ‘Taken as read’.

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Audio Sermons from St Paul’s Sunday Liturgies; Trinity 16 & 18 and Sermon preached to the Swedish Church

October 6th – Sermon preached to the Swedish Church: Luke Chapter 7, 11-17

Trinity 16 2019, Habakkuk 1, 1-4; 2,1-4;  2Tim 1, 1-14;  Luke 17, 5-10

Trinity 18 2019, Genesis 32, 22-31; Luke 18, 1-8

Trinity 18 2019 – Genesis 32, 22-31; Luke 18, 1-8

The Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan, St Paul’s Athens

In our Liturgy this morning we are giving thanks to God for the gift of Hercules – not the great mythic character of classical fame – but the Hercules who is the beautiful little son of Evie and Christopher. Known in his Greek form as Herakles, the meaning of the name is ‘gift of Hera’ who was the mythical wife of Zeus. Herakles name is what we call ‘theophoric’ in that it is a reference to divinity.

In our reading this morning from the book of Genesis, we have another example of a ‘theophoric’ name. The setting of the story is a ford by the river Jabbok. This is where Jacob and his rather substantial family plan to cross the river, which is a tributary of the River Jordan.

A bit of a wrestling match takes place in which Jacob, it transpires, fights against God, and oddly enough it is Jacob who wins, though with a lasting injury to his hip. Having become victor in the fight, Jacob asks for a blessing from his opponent. He gets more than he bargained for – he gets a new name, in fact the name Isra-el. Any Hebrew word that includes ‘EL’ in it refers to God. This is why Jacob’s new name is ‘theophoric’. Like many Greek names, especially the Christian ones, Hebrew names have an interpretation and meaning. Jacob, now named Isra-el, carries a name that means ‘one who wrestled with God.’

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