Sermon by the Rev. Sandy Montgomerie

One of my memories of days gone by was the films at the cinema and the big blockbuster movies of Rogers and Hammerstein.

One of them, South Pacific is generally considered to be one of the greatest musicals in history and of course the scenery of a south sea island made it so attractive on film.

Many of its songs, including "Bali Ha'i," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Happy Talk", "Younger than Springtime" to mention a few have survived for years. One that I never forgot was “Carefully taught” which identifies those outside the recognized circle of companions to be bad, by using these words,

“You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, before you are six or seven or eight,

To hate all the people your relatives hate, you’ve got to be carefully taught”.

Somehow those words made a big impact on me rather than any of the love songs.

Society can determine who is in and who is out of the circle and sadly that can often portray itself in the church also.

It may come as a shock to most Christians today, but we would do better to use this woman as a model of faith even more than the disciples. After all, we are neither Jewish nor Galilean; we have no family claim or geographical claim to Jesus.

While the woman learns that the power of faith lies internally, the disciples learn that faith can't be measured by the proximity you are to Jesus. They are right next to him and yet they see this woman as a bother as a pest as an outsider. They don't lead her to Jesus or attempt to heal her daughter, her faith does that. Sadly they are too blinded by their social and religious prejudice to offer miracles to anyone.

I don’t believe Jesus words are meant to cut down deep and hurt this woman. Jesus used extremes to drive home a point more fully, even then this woman’s compassion runs too deep to care if she is insulted.

The words of Christ are meant to reprimand the disciples-and us-when our politics and religious agenda blind us to compassion.

Compassion is a word that we’ve heard so much of recently as refugees from the Middle East and Africa spread across Europe in almost biblical proportions, searching for safety and a new life. Who will have compassion for these people who risk drowning and the abuse of smugglers to find somewhere to live in freedom from oppression and violence.

It’s a touchy subject for many but I certainly do wish the powers that be would describe people as refugees rather than migrants as it gives others a different view of this group.

Migrant is a word that strips suffering people of voice using Refugee in some small way attempts to give something back. I don’t know the answer but I hope each country in Europe can do what they possibly can to improve the situation. The political football haunts our nation and that seems to be a bigger issue than compassion. The death of 3 year old Aylan Kurdi on a Turkish beach has been a trigger to change many people offering helping through donations of money or signing the petition for government action or using Amazon website to provide shoes and clothing for distribution from Kent. We can only do our best.

In the epistle of James often called the epistle of straw. I think we find some challenging words as he seems to infer that words without deeds claims to have a faith without putting it into practice. He chooses that picture of a person who has neither clothes for protection or food to eat. Then a friend comes along and offers words of sympathy but no practical help, so what use is sympathy without turning it into realistic help.

Can we ask ourselves the question, “which faith professed in that gospel for today most resembles mine”? Am I like the disciples steeped in religious and cultural prejudice, yet deeply self-assured of my closeness to Jesus? Or, am I like the outcast woman of Lebanon, caught up by compassion and uncaring of insults if I can just save one poor soul?

We all know, from an early age, the importance of community, of neighbourhood.

We can understand how it is that some people do not want certain kinds of people to move into their district, and the fury with which they will say “not in my backyard”.

So in a similar way there can also be a kind of hostility and distance between us and God and that is nothing new, perhaps it had to be that way, in order that we might come to him freely, turning to him as a child to a loving parent, expressing our love for Him.

When God is in our neighbourhood, the way we think about our place and about ourselves has changed.

God being with us is a rich and many sided idea, within it the belief that God is our protector, helper, support, he is for us, and not against us, he is available and accessible.

Someone has moved in who can make a difference to our lives, he will change that place only for good.

The experience we have of God is shown to us in Jesus and our understanding of the Christian community. Even here we discover that there are those we like being with and those folk that we find difficult. So often it appears easier for us to talk about a problem with everyone except the person concerned. In today’s gospel we are encouraged to practice open and honest communication with each other. We are even given a model of how to deal with the interpersonal problems. Jesus shows us to go to the source of our difficulty to listen to each other and to talk it over.

I am sure even he recognised how hard it is to use this direct approach. But be assured that he is with us when we work at being open and honest. “When two or three are gathered together in my name I am there among them”. As his followers we are committed to loving all the people who touch our lives and that includes being willing to face problems when they arise.

Truth is paramount in our dealing with others and we should never be afraid of it.

Truth about Christ is always found on the road, in the experience of daily living.

Only as we start moving can God show us the way, for God is always on the move.

Remember when your driving, only a moving car can be steered it won't go very well if it remains stationary. Someone once said that Christianity is a way of walking, not talking.

If we want to follow Christ we must keep up with him and go further, go on that second mile and we need to be ready to help our friends go that bit further and support them on their Christian journey. Here today and every time we join with others for Holy Communion we share in a supper which looks forward to that last great celebration, that heavenly banquet.

Today as we do each Sunday, reflection on the scriptures is followed by the breaking of bread together. For over 2000 years this is the great double grace offered to us by our Lord as his followers. For centuries in so many places, from homes, to tiny chapels to vast cathedrals, all have become in their turn that upper room, where scripture is heard and explained, and the sacrament is shared.

As we stand among the complexities of our time, perhaps fearful of our own future and longing for the simplicity and comfort of our own peace, once again in this great mingling of scripture and sacrament the Risen Lord Jesus calls once again us to action, to love and to service.

AMEN.