So how are we doing? How is progress to date? How far established is the kingdom of God on Earth? How far across the bridge have we got? Are the flood waters going down? Can we see the tip of the Kingdom of God mountains coming into view? It’s an important question to ask and especially these days when the church seems to be under threat – under threat from those who mock what they understand as the church’s beliefs; under threat from the business of maintaining medieval and Victorian church buildings; under threat from the cost of its priesthood. These are all concerns for us to address. But we have to address them, not because we are interested in the maintenance of the church, but because we are interested in the kingdom of God. When the church got round to defining its Sermon Stephen Mitchell preached this sermon at St Stephen’s Church Higham (Suffolk) on Christmas Eve 2008.
They say everyone is famous for fifteen minutes. I often tell kids at school that I was famous for fifteen minutes when I appeared on a BBC programme broadcast on Easter Day some years ago. It was in the series The Heart of the Matter presented, you may remember, by ‘The Thinking Man’s Crumpet’ Joan Bakewell. As you can imagine, any programme produced by the BBC to be shown on Easter Day was going to be controversial. Sure enough, that Easter Day morning the front pages of all the broadsheets were covered with news of the Heart of the Matter programme to be shown later that evening.
When I tell kids about this at school, I give them three pieces of advice for when they are famous for fifteen minutes. Buy a scrapbook I tell them. You can buy one at Woollies, I say – except you can’t anymore. And why do you need a scrapbook? To keep the newspaper cuttings in. And I have quite a few scrapbooks full of cuttings to show them.
If you are wondering about the other pieces of advice I give them for when they are famous for fifteen minutes – whether winning the X Factor or witnessing a bank robbery – the second piece of advice is to buy a big lever arch file to put their fan mail in (or hate mail). And then, thirdly, to write a book because if other people are making money out of them, they might as well make some themselves!
Remarkably, I was given the last word on this Easter Day Heart of the Matter programme. (Yes I know – you’re beginning to wonder if it’s all got too much for me and that I’ve forgotten it’s Christmas Eve. Don’t worry I will get there!) But right at the end of this Easter Heart of the Matter programme, as Joan Bakewell wandered down the nave of Durham Cathedral, they edited in a memorable sound bite ‘It’s good,’ I was heard to say, ‘to imagine even the death of the church’.
People hearing this as the last word of the programme may have heard it as the gloomy and pessimistic outlook of a priest who ought to be thrown out of office. Far from it. We ought indeed to look forward to the death of the church. The day the church comes to an end should be a day of great rejoicing.
The church isn’t, and wasn’t meant to be, a permanent structure but the means of bringing in the Kingdom of God on Earth. As a matter of fact some scholars doubt if Jesus ever used the word church but that’s by the way. The church is a means to an end.
Like the ark. Remember Noah’s ark, which is often used as a metaphor for the church. When Noah had rescued the animals, weathered the flood and parked the ark on Mount Ararat, he didn’t then carefully stow the ark away in the garage for another rainy day. It had done its job. The people were safe.
Remember the name for the pope, the pontiff. Pontiff means bridgebuilder. Another common image for the church, the bridge to salvation. Once the faithful have crossed the bridge, traversed the great gulf, there’s no going back. The bridge has done its job. The people are safe.
So with the church.
Christianity is not about the church but the Kingdom of God. It’s about what we pray for every time we say the Lord’s prayer: ‘Thy kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven’. The point is the Kingdom of God on Earth and when the kingdom comes, the church will have done its job.
Justice and Peace will kiss each other. 16th century coin Gdansk teachings and beliefs in the fourth century, it really only defined two doctrines. One was the doctrine of the Trinity and the other was the one that we celebrate at Christmas, the Incarnation: And his name shall be called Emmanuel, ‘God with us’. Or in the words of John’s Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God . . . in him was life, and that life was the light of men… The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. ..
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
There are two things worth remembering about this doctrine. The first is that if humanity is good enough for God then it’s good enough for us. And until we have learnt to be content with the human condition, until we are happy to be human, then we haven’t begun to accept the incarnation. If we aren’t happy to be human beings who grow old, who are limited in our perspective, who die, then we put ourselves above God. And one test of how well we are doing in establishing the Kingdom is to see how well we are doing in accepting the human condition.
And then it’s worth remembering that if God makes his dwelling among us, then this is where his kingdom is established, and established by us. We inherit the spirit of God to establish the Kingdom of God – a kingdom of justice, peace, love and joy. if God makes his dwelling among us then this is where his kingdom is established, and established by us So another test of how well we are doing is to see how just, peaceful and joyful our society is. And we shouldn’t be too modest. In the West, in certain areas, we have made extraordinary strides. Millions of people have the chance to live comfortable lives, with opportunities for work and leisure undreamt of by previous generations. And that’s because the hopes, ideals and values that were once the preserve of the church have become established as the hopes, dreams and values of the institutions of society.
They have become enshrined in laws and bills of rights, in codes of practice and institutional policies.
Wherever people are striving to promote justice, equality and respect we should rejoice that the kingdom of God is being established.
There was a time when the music of the church was only heard in the church. There’s the story of Mozart, who went to the Vatican and heard the papal choir singing Allegri’s Misereri (which could only be heard in the Papal Chapel). But to show off Mozart’s prodigious talent, his father took him to hear the piece and having heard it, Mozart came out and wrote the whole piece down from memory. Now you can buy a CD of it and listen to it anytime, anywhere.
So with the values, the peace and justice of the Kingdom of God. It isn’t meant to be locked up in the church but to be found at all times and in all places.
And wherever we discover it we should rejoice. Here are a few lines from Philip Andrews’ Suffering and Hope:
There is dignity here – we will exalt it.
There is courage here – we will support it.
There is humanity here – we will enjoy it.
There is a voice calling through the chaos of our times; there is a spirit moving across the waters of our world; there is movement, a light, a promise of hope.
Let them that have eyes to see, see.
Let them that have ears to hear, hear.
Behold, we bring you good tidings of great joy: the Incarnation.
There is so much ridiculous debate about the church these days. Even Polly Toynbee, for whom I have a lot of respect, couldn’t help beginning an article in the Guardian with the word ‘antidisestablishmentarianism’.
Richard Dawkins is always adding his pennyworth, poking fun at the church and its beliefs. Many of these critics miss the point. As a distinguished Bishop said on that Easter Day Heart of the Matter programme, the point is love, the point is justice.
And the question for all of us to ask tonight is not how far have I got in believing all this but how far have I got in helping to establish the kingdom of God.
The question for our church is not how secure a future has the church got in this place and this country, but how secure is the kingdom of God in this place and this country. That’s why we reflect on this story at the heart of our faith, that’s what we pray for tonight, that’s why we are here.
Stephen Mitchell preached this sermon at St Stephen's Church Higham (Suffolk) on Christmas Eve 2008.