Sunday Sermon - summary (Proper 18) Romans 13. 8-14 & Matthew 18.15-20
On paper it was a good sized vibrant congregation in an affluent suburb. Yet it hit the headlines not for its potential success but for the resignation of the young priest. The front page of regional tabloid read 'You lot are awful'! On the last Sunday the priest placed a damming editorial in the parish magazine which was subsequently leaked to the press. It hit the nationals a few days later. Journalists were able to come in and stir things up further with anonynmous quotes "he's reduced the congregation from 400 to 30" , "we're glad to see the back of him" and 'he was more interested in what happened in India parish link than here'. With division over doctrine this evangelical church tore itself apart. Church mediators were brought in unsuccessfully and the priest began to be signed off for stress. It was a shame that (a) he had to put in his article in the parish magazine clandestinely and (b) that there wasnt an attempt at serious reconciliation from the aggrieved group in the pews. The greatest shame was that a capable priest left ministry. I would like to underline the word 'left' a hundred times.
Years ago, I was at a jubilee anniversary of a Kent RC priest. He was (is) a bit eccentric, very much someone who tows the party line, loves the latin rite, etc. Yet people love him in the parish and liberals and conservatives get along and wave to each other through the clouds of incense. At this Mass he preached one line which was something like this - "If in 25 years of ministry I have wronged anybody then I truly apologise and however long ago this was would be willing to make up." I was dumbfounded.
A recent Church of Scotland ministries report said that congregation more and more are relying on mediation to try and repair divisions. It is a terrible shame if things get to this point. No doubt the pressures of a fast-paced aged with lots of change add to this. Churches in my experience experience disunity over doctrine, architecture, liturgy, leadership and youth. A good example might be a congregation divided over the removal of pews or the introduction of a woman priest. Sometimes these divisions have their roots in long long history. Other times the division is more to do with a clash in mission values.
The words of Christ in Matthew's gospel call us to consider what it means to be a congregation at peace with each other. The emphasis is to be proactive even when we feel we are wronged. The alternative is let things boil under the surface and for cliques to develop and their to be a lot backbitting. Whatever the wrongs or rights of any conflict Christian communities have a very serious commitment to being places of love, peace and harmony. To quote the song "We are one in the Spirit" - "And they'll know we are Christians by our love." Or to use the words of Terullian, the most cutting of early Church fathers, "See how those Christians love each other." This love will say more than any hundred carefully crafted sermons or beautifully arranged liturgies.
No wonder Paul says put on Christ, put on the armour of light. If we are not different, then God help us, everything is in vain.
A final story, a cautionary tale from thirty years ago. After some battles a church decided not to introduce the sign of the peace. Too many people within the pews loathed this new ritual. Above the church porch was a sign to inform visitors that this rite was out of their liturgy it read "There is no peace in this church."
