Trinity 15 2018 : Isaiah 35, 4-7; James 2, 1-10, 14-17; Mark 7 (passim)

Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan

 

On Friday afternoon I went with Fr. James to introduce him to the work of Apostoli . We were shown a video of their work. I already knew about many of the projects, but it was really impressive to note all the good works that the Archdiocese is doing throughout Greece as it seeks not only to support refugees and migrants, but also Greeks who have been affected by times of austerity, or whose needs cannot be filled by a government in chaos, strapped for cash.

We saw a facility for elderly people with alzheimers; a safe haven for children and young people with Downs Syndrome; projects to protect and nurture unaccompanied minors stranded in Greece because of the tragic situations in their own countries; tens of thousands of meals being produced every year to feed the hungry – and I noted how many of those who were thankful are Athenians. There are projects to ensure that medicines  and medical operations are made available for those who have no medical insurance.

Apostoli, on behalf of the Archdiocese of Athens is responding simply to the needs of people, and they are doing it from a conviction that the vocation of the church is to care for the poor, and the sick and the hungry. Simply to offer the Liturgy faithfully Sunday by Sunday is not enough, and is only half the Christian gospel. The Liturgy – the work of the people – must also be the Liturgy – the work for the people. This is surely the paradigm of the Incarnation. The biblical evidence is that God’s love made flesh in Jesus , is a transformative love – a love that is compelled to change people’s lives, and in that transformation showing forth God’s glory God’s glory.

Last week, you will recall, I touched on the great theme of the shema – Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is the only Lord, and you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength. Then we heard how Jesus ‘incarnates’ this by adding not a codicil or afterthought, but an exegesis of that text, ‘and love your neighbor as yourself’.

In the Apostoli video the Archbishop of Athens also quoted and endorsed  those words that I was preaching on a week ago – isn’t the Archbishop a wise man! It is a great joy and a source of immense satisfaction, though not complacency, that our small Anglican church makes a contribution to so many of these projects, and we are held in such high regard for our faithful commitment to these social programmes. Deacon Christine does us all a great credit in her liaison work, and with her experience and wise judgement we will continue to commit to the social needs of our community; this covenant with the community is not an optional extra, and more and more of us need to reflect on how we participate in ways that transform other’s lives – and I promise you, in doing this our own lives will be transformed also.

Our readings for this morning are also about transformation, about changing people’s lives. From Isaiah there is a message of hope for the faint-hearted. How easy it is for us to be faint-hearted when we see the scale of tragedies evolving in our world; when we see the people who wield enormous  power in world – worry more about the people who wield enormous power whom we don’t see. The prophet has a clear message to us – the springs of God’s glory will irrigate all that has become dry and barren. He is a God who saves, and who transforms. The vision of the prophet is not so dissimilar to the poem of Mary when she is informed that she will be with child. ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord’ because God will turn everything upside down for his kingdom, is not compelled by the forces of this world, but by those who are committed to change things.

It is this that the apostle James writes about in today’s epistle. Last week you will recall I criticized the great Reforming Father Martin Luther for being unduly harsh on this Letter of James, calling it an epistle of straw. Would I have been so bold last week had there been a Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of North Germany and a group of his theologians and pastors present (he is here today, so are they). Yes, I would, because this theme of transforming people’s lives continues in this so called epistle of straw. There is a challenge at the heart of James’s letter. Just as quite rightly the reforming fathers wanted to make a statement about the priority of faith, and not works, St. James is working through the shema as interpreted by Jesus as the need for faith to be rooted in our social commitments – worshipping the Lord our God, serving the Lord our God by serving those in deep need. Good works are the expression of our faith – transformation of lives – our own and others. This  is at the beating heart of faith.

The Syrophoenician woman is an unlikely candidate to express faith, and as a consequence she has her life situation transformed. In her conversation with Jesus there is some clever word play going on. Jesus talks about the children, an allusion to the children of Israel no doubt. She turns the image around. The Syrophoenician woman, from the area called Tyre and Sidon, is not Jewish. There was a custom of the Jews to refer to non believers as dogs. So she playfully refers to dogs receiving from the master’s table, and in doing so she is surely acknowledging the authority of the one she is standing or kneeling before as she implores his mercy. Jesus is Lord, and this woman from a non Jewish culture acknowledges him, just as unclean spirits kneel before him. He heals her sick daughter – her life and her daughter’s life are transformed. A deaf and dumb man responds to the call – Ephatha – be opened. It is all as the prophet Isaiah has told us as waters break forth in the wilderness of people’s situations.

Those words of Christ should be heard clearly by all of us today. ‘Ephatha’. Our faith compels that our hearts and minds be open to the love of God, the love of God as he transforms the lives of people embracing them into his Kingdom of justice and love and peace. This is what Apostoli seeks to do. This is what we seek to do in our St. Paul’s support for them, and for other community projects. This is what all people of faith are compelled to do. We will be reminded of this when we transition our Liturgy of loving God, to our Liturgy of loving our neighbour – Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ. Amen.