Sermon preached at a Zoom service with the congregation of Skopje in the Republic of N. Macedonia. Service is for the 4 th Sunday of Pentecost
Preacher: Revd. Canon Leonarad Doolan
Readings: Gen 21, 8-21; Rom 6, 1-11; Matt 10, 24-39
‘What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.’ Matthew 10, 27
It has always been a fascination of scholars and faithful enquirers to know what any ‘secret teaching’ of Jesus might be. Such speculation has led at various times to turbulent relationships within the history of the Church – especially with that heretical group known as the Gnostics. They are even referred to in the New Testament – the people who claim to have some special mystical ‘gnosis’, knowledge, ( handed on secretly from Christ.) 1 Timothy 6, 20-21
I suppose it is fair enough to ask the question what else did Jesus say and do that is not recorded in any of the four gospels? We are curious, inquisitive searchers of material.
The words I quoted from the gospel of Matthew are set within a passage that is not so easy to understand. Even a bald man like me is glad to know that God knows even the hairs of my head! However, also in this passage we hear of challenging messages – I have not come to bring peace but a sword; those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10, 39)
Messages like this are generally considered as a group as the ‘hard sayings’ of Jesus. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild is hardly the image conjured up when he tells us about the disintegration between blood relatives and relatives through marriage caused by the blade of his sharp message – though in reality we can make a pretty good job of this ourselves, without any outside influences.
Set alongside the gospel reading, the OT and NT readings are not easily digestible either. So the preacher has a job in hand to try and interpret all of this. Or the preacher might try to avoid doing so. Let’s see how it goes.
‘What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.’
When I hear this my mind travels to Jerusalem, and to the pilgrimages I led as a parish priest. On the itinerary there is always a visit to the Eleona Church on the Mount of Olives, and is one of the 4th century basilica churches founded by Empress St. Helena, mother of the Emperor St. Constantine.
It is also called the Pater Noster Church, the Our Father Church. In a small cave there is the site believed to be where Christ responded to the request of his disciples, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’. In this small underground cavern, seated with his 12 disciples, Christ then proceeds to tell them, in the quiet secrecy of the place, the words we know as the Lord’s Prayer.
It seems to me that never was such a great example of bringing into the light something Christ said in the darkness, and now it is proclaimed on the rooftops. Never was there a prayer that more identifies the world’s Christians, as followers of the One Lord. Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Protestants – whether Pentecostal, Baptist, Methodist, or whatever, say this prayer.
What I always loved at this holy site is the stones set around the outer wall of the compound, on which is carved the words of the Lord’s Prayer in dozens of languages – including, believe it or not, Doric, which is a Scottish dialect from the NE of Scotland.
Oor Faither in heiven, hallowt be Thy name. Doric speaking Scots must be thrilled about this- however few they are. I actually knew a man from Cullen in Aberdeenshire who spoke Doric.
To scripture – Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah. You will recall that the story tells us that Sarah was barren and elderly, and by God’s miracle Abraham is told that she will have a child. Abraham scoffs at the idea, but it is fulfilled, and Isaac is the fruit of her womb. But Abraham had a son already – the child was the offspring of a slave girl called Hagar. Potentially this creates problems and awkwardness. Such situations often do even in our own time – especially at the reading of Last Wills and Testaments. The scriptures don’t seem to treat this
reality as if it were an issue. We should remember that the Abrahamic period predates the injunctions towards monogamy, so culturally Abraham was not really doing anything controversial.
Anyway the result is that Isaac has to be the favoured one as he is the issue of Sarah – and as a result of the promise that God has made with Abraham to be the father of many nations. Hagar and her son are given provisions and sent on their way to live eventually in the wilderness of Paran.
This son’s name is none other than Ishmael, who gives his name to the Ishmaelites. I don’t need to tell you that it is through Ishmael that Muslims claim their descent from Abraham. Some of you may know much more about this than I do – but you can imagine it is part of the historic conflict.
St. Paul uses some of this material as he argues the case between the religion he departed from and the faith he now espouses – his faith in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ.
