Linus and Erastus: Luke 21.5-19

This is a short dramatic scene which I wrote a few years ago for Digswell Village Church and which is based on the gospel reading for the Second Sunday before Advent in Year C, 17 November this year. We usually have quite a jolly atmosphere in the church in the early part of the service, but by the end of the scene the frightened silence could really be felt.·        

 Many of us by now are making plans for Christmas. Choir rehearsals, planning meals, presents, travel, school carol concert and service etc. Always very busy but, there’s a kind of warm feeling that goes with it.  So if that’s what is beginning to occupy our advance thinking, today’s Gospel reading is not very welcome! What are we to make of the disturbing prophecy? … 
As always, one of the first things we do when interpreting scripture is to think what it may have meant to its first readers, or, in this case, hearers. Then we can try to map our insights onto our present situation. Luke almost certainly wrote the Gospel between 70 and 90 AD, and his first readers will have been part of one of the early church communities. What will they have made of it? Let’s eavesdrop into a conversation:
 
 We are in the equivalent of a bar/pub in a small town in what was then called Asia, around 80 AD. It’s lunchtime and two men, Erastus and Linus, who are part of a new church community, are discussing what they have just heard in their morning worship. It happens to be the Gospel we have just heard. They are quite cautious and talking in a low voice to each other.

Erastus           So, Linus, what did you think of this morning’s worship?

Linus               I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t think I like all these new songs. I much prefer the psalms sung in the old Hebrew way. But I know we are not only a Jewish community now – Jews, Greeks, Romans, slaves and free – all sorts in the church.

Erastus            Yes, but how about that new reading from Luke? My wife was asking me about it before I came out. She didn’t dare ask whilst we were together at worship after we got that rather strong letter from Paul.

Linus               Yes, he’s a bit hard going. Tough on the women, too. I wonder if he was ever married when he lived in Tarsus? Things like Luke’s writings are usually easier, and they talk directly about Jesus.

Erastus            But today was not at all easy. It was all conflict and destruction.

Linus               Sure, but Jesus was a prophet too, and he clearly got it right. Do you remember what the refugees from Jerusalem told us? The temple was one of the most magnificent buildings anywhere. In the sun it would shine bright gold, and now it is completely destroyed, and with it the whole Jewish priesthood. Now there are only isolated synagogues with their rabbis.

Erastus            But with hindsight it could have been expected. There were always revolts and insurrections against Rome. Eventually they were bound to lose patience and when anyone makes themselves an enemy of Rome, Rome makes sure that they are completely destroyed.

Linus               What about the rest of the reading? I’ve never heard such a long list of disasters and conflicts.

Erastus            I wonder if some of that is not already happening? Look how we have to keep our heads down at times. The Jewish community is after us and Caesar’s officials are getting suspicious of us. Not all my family agree with me about Jesus, and some of our closest friends are beginning to keep their distance. It’s quite worrying really. Some of our members may even be spies for Rome.

Linus               So isn’t this where what Jesus said is so important? I mean right now? Because what Jesus prophesised about the temple happened, and what he said after that seems to be happening now. What can we do?

Erastus            I agree. It’s frightening. … See that man over there in the corner? He’s not a regular. He’s looking round at everyone. Don’t look up and catch his eye. …

           

            What I’m trying to do, but I’m not very good at it yet, is to keep praying. I’m learning the psalms. Our Jewish brothers know them by heart. Some of them really make sense. How about: ‘O God make speed to save me. Let those who seek my life be put to shame and confusion.’

Linus               Yes, that’s possible. Now you mention it, there’s lots of verses that make sense .. ‘In God I trust and will not fear, for what can flesh do to me?’

Erastus            ‘Behold, God is my helper; it is the Lord who upholds my life’.

Both getting louder and more excited so that they are heard by everyone around. During this the stranger comes over to them.

Linus               ‘Hear my prayer, O God; hide not yourself from my petition.

            Give heed to me and answer me: I am restless in my complaining.’

Erastus             I know this one. ‘I am alarmed at the voice of the enemy and at the clamour of the wicked; for they would bring down evil upon me and are set against me in fury.’

Linus               ‘And I said, “O that I had wings like a dove, for then I would fly away and be at rest.” ‘

Erastus            And later, ‘As for me, I will call upon God and the Lord will deliver me’ (he gasps as he looks up).

Officer              Which of you is Erastus? You, is it? Please come with me to the Praetorium. We have information that you have been heard insulting the name of Caesar.

Erastus leaves with the officer.

Linus   (calling after him) Remember what Luke wrote for us? ‘Not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls’.

Perspectives of St Johns' 4: Dedication Festival

This is the fourth and last of my series of sermons taking different perspectives on St John's Church. Here the perspective is one of time - of 900 years and more with thoughts on what our worship means to us in this context. 

I plan to bring all four talks together in a booklet, but, for those on line, everything is here.

 

1155, 1214, 1267 – what do these dates mean to us? Here are some equally obscure clues: Hugh the Clerk, Guy de Digeneswell, Thomas Watermue, John de Warwyk. These are the dates and names of the first recorded Rectors of Digswell. The church is probably much older than this, predating the formal foundation of the church as a dependency of the Priory of Walden (now Saffron Walden) by Geoffrey de Mandeville, who was one of the most notorious robber barons in the reign of King Stephen.

So for nearly 900 years, and probably longer than this, prayer and worship has been offered to God. If this is striking enough to imagine, then it’s even more remarkable when we realise that the worship we share today has a very similar shape and, who knows, feel to what was offered many centuries ago. In bigger churches (which we have now) the main mass on Sunday may have begun with a procession, just as we did today. And as the priest and his assistants prepared in the sacristy they may have said together:

            Deus cui omni cor patet et omnis voluntas loquitur..

Which is: God to whom all hearts are open, all desires known ..

And said the psalm, which I sometimes do before the Eucharist:

            Introibo ad altare dei ad deum qui letificat iuventutem meam,

I will go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness.

And that is just the start. Although it has been developed and adorned over many centuries, and reordered and simplified in others, what we do now would be recognisable to someone from the 15^th century (like Sir John Perient of our famous brass memorial) just as we in our turn would see familiar signposts in the Latin service of earlier times had we been there.

Over the past month we have been developing different perspectives on St John’s Church and as we celebrate today our Feast of Dedication we bring all of these together – our past, our place in the present community, our own community and our own personal roles. Probably the most important reaction to this is the simple one of wonder at the way in which this place has been kept holy by succeeding generations. Our response to that thought is one of thanks and praise to God. But further, it gives us confidence for the future. What we do together is to maintain and build on a robust foundation, in fact it’s the greatest one within several miles of here (until we get to the next medieval parishes – Welwyn, Hatfield and Datchworth!).

All of this is part of a shared memory which needs to be continually refreshed if it is to maintain its power. Just think, what we are about to do as we continue this Eucharist remembers, represents, brings into the present what Christians have done for two millennia, twice as long as this church has existed. And it all arises from the command of Jesus to his friends round the table with him, ‘Do this in memory of me.’

So how does it all work, what we do in our worship today? What would I explain to my friend from outside the church who we met in the first dialogue? A precise explanation is impossible. That’s why, in the technical language of the church we call it a ‘mystery’. It’s just as impossible as trying to tie God down to one or other definition we may prefer. All we can do is offer and develop images which may help us to feel closer to the reality (which in a more basic meaning implies ‘the thing in itself’).

Memory is only part of what we are doing in this celebration, but it’s an important part, so here’s what I would consider telling my friend. He’s an intelligent person so to begin with I would tell him that we can describe what we are doing as ‘intensified memory’. That’s a bit of a teasing phrase, but I think it is quite a nice one. Many people have some experience of what I am thinking of. For example, many have possessions which bring people, occasions or events into a clear focus. Some would point to pictures of members of the family, others to a wedding ring. I have a set of stoles which my mother made for my ordination 20 years ago including the magnificent festal one which I have chosen to wear today. I’m sure you can think of something of this kind.

Think then of articles which belong in the extended family. At infant baptisms we often see a gown which has been used over several generations, not uncommonly back into the 19^th century. Something like that was used in Prince George’s baptism this week. In this way our sense of time can expand – that’s a wonderful human capability – so that we can say that in a similar way worshipping here today is in itself and example of intensified memory.

The best example I have heard of a personal memory of this kind came from an adult participating in a course I was running for admitting children to Holy Communion. He’d sat quietly most of the time we were talking about what happens, but when I asked if anyone had any examples of things that carried an important memory for them he told us about his grandfather’s box. That seemed to me right away to be a very good example, but when he told the story of how it had come to be made it became even better. It turned out that this treasured box was made by the grandfather for his grandson and, even better, that he, the grandson, was with the grandfather as it was made. It’s only a short step from there to saying, as he did, that looking at and handling the box was like being with his grandfather as they made it together. It brought the past back into the present.

This beautiful story gives us some sense of how it may have been that the first Christians, the ones who knew Jesus through his ministry, recognised his presence as they shared in bread and wine. In my definition it was an intensified memory which they passed on to the next generation, a memory which leads on through the centuries and over nearly half of that time through this building directly to us. It’s a direct link with Jesus which brings the church of the past together with the church of the present and Jesus himself.

This is just part of what we share in today and every week. I don’t want to try to define it further, because firstly, as I said, it can’t be done, and secondly because disagreements about attempts to define things more precisely have been the cause of great damage to the church historically, and we still suffer from the consequences.

So on our Feast of Dedication I want to make and repeat a bold assertion. Here in this church we experience a direct link with many previous generations of Christians. They have given us a gift which expresses their faith to us. We can see it all around us and use it as they did. Even more important, we have as they did a direct link through the Eucharist to Christ himself. Can we, can everything we do together, be animated (literally filled with Spirit) so that we can offer to the present and future generations still more? They have already our gift of faith and perseverance, so can we go further? What else might we be able to bequeath to them? What would be their perspective on St John’s then? 

Perspectives of St John's 3: Going Deeper into God

 The series continued with probably the most challenging questions. We can look from a perspective of outside the church and look around inside, but overall it comes down to each one of us. We have to look around to see where we stand and consider how we respond to the challenge of 'Going Deeper into God'.

‘I rather think things are going to get more personally challenging,’ she said as we began another conversation. ‘You’ve talked about what people outside the church might think, and given some thoughts about how we operate as a church community at St John’s, but I can’t help thinking that it all comes down to each one of us as an individual.’ I smiled gently. ‘You’re not wrong. What happens to us as a church community directly depends on our own individual situation. Put precisely it depends on our relationship with God. That can sound a bit profound, but before we get too concerned about it we need to remember that we are talking about good news, about how things happen as we get closer to God and nothing could be better than that.’ ‘But we’re not all perfect, we’re not nuns or monks or priests or whatever.’ ‘Quite right, we are all different. The point is not getting marks for where we are right now, but that we are part of a process of growth. It’s what our bishops are calling Going deeper into God. When I was working for SB and GSK we had something similar called continuous improvement. It worked in the same way. It’s good to be where you are and to recognise the good things that have been done, but there is always more that can follow and build on what has already happened.’

‘Still, it can seem a bit depressing,’ she said, frowning a little, ‘that means we never make it.’ ‘I think we have to look at it rather differently,’ I replied, being quite sympathetic to this point of view. ‘As I said, the spiritual life is not about passing exams, reaching a standard, collecting badges as in the Brownies, or any kind of qualification. Scripture is quite clear about this. It’s there in the parables (think of the hired workers in the vineyard) and Paul knows about it too when he talks about all the different gifts and roles we are given. So it’s none of these. It’s about commitment and growing in holiness, going deeper into God in fact. None of us will reach the holiness of God in our lifetime. Only Jesus did that.’

‘Ok, so how do we grow in holiness? It’s not easy being a Christian and living a normal life as well.’ I agreed with the basic point and indeed as we’ve noted frequently being a Christian is not normal now with respect to most of the population. Once again, we need to recognise and support each other bearing in mind that for us at least living as a Christian is normal. It is our default setting. So I began to develop the idea. But first I said, ‘Now we come to the challenging bit. At least that’s what I think whenever I try it myself. Shall we go ahead?’ A possibly tentative nod gave approval.

‘Remember we are talking about a continuing process. Things change. The way we may think about things next year may well be different from the way we think about them now. I’m sure you’ll agree that your spiritual perspectives (we might call them) are different from ten years ago?’ ‘I don’t know. I’d have to think about that,’ she said, looking a bit puzzled. ‘Well, that’s would be a good place to start. See what you think. What I’m going to say now takes a bit of work. It requires thinking about some of our deeper background thoughts and experiences. I’m afraid it’s not really what people want to hear in a sermon. I have tried it a few times before. Left the whole congregation silent!’ ‘That’s just a preacher’s trick to amuse them and get them interested!’ she replied, and I had to agree that that was indeed the case.

‘Let’s have a go. The first thing to say is that everything must be done in prayer and be supported by prayer. As we go on we need time for listening to what God may be saying, or making us aware of, or drawing our attention to through the Holy Spirit. And we can’t do everything at once. Sometimes a particular occurrence will encourage us to think about where we stand. For example, we may have surprised ourselves by being strongly irritated by a particular turn of events or by a certain person. There may be good reasons for that, but one useful reaction is to look at the events prayerfully. It’s quite possible that there is an opportunity here to go deeper into God, to grow spiritually. I think it happens all the time.’

I could see that she was thinking about whether she had any recent experiences like this, so I said, ‘we don’t need to talk about an example now, but it’s good to do it at some time if you want. Let’s look at a more general process which anyone can try at any time, although I’ve often recommended something like it in Lent. It may sound rather dramatic but it’s worth looking at in this way. Perhaps without realising it we all have what we can call a Rule (capital R), or perhaps a Pattern. I don’t mean something rigid and monastic. What I mean is the way we have decided to live our lives as Christians, the way we do it at present.’ ‘I’ve never thought about it like that,’ she said, ‘what would you include in a Rule?’ (again with a capital R). ‘I’d firstly look at what you do now. Do you pray?’ She nodded. ‘That’s great. So we can think in more detail about it. For example, when, and how often? What do you pray about? Do you allow some time in silence to allow the Holy Spirit to direct your thoughts? Do you tell God exactly how you are feeling about things, what your concerns are, what you are pleased and happy about, what you think you could have done better …’ She interrupted, ‘Come on, I can’t do that all at once.’ ‘Quite right,’ I agreed, ‘but you can check out your current pattern of prayer and see if there are ways in which you might develop it.’ She seemed to agree, but also looked a bit uncertain. ‘Yes, I know it is a challenge. The more we are prepared to offer things to God in prayer, the more we are likely to come across things that need attention, shall we say. But, as I said before, this may seem paradoxical, but it is a good thing. It means we are going deeper into God. And if we decide to go that way we know the Holy Spirit will support our decision.’

‘But let’s move on. Prayer is very important, but there are a couple of further elements we could add. What do you think they might be?’ ‘Reading the Bible?’ she offered. ‘That’s right. Reading the Bible and other spiritual writings (there are so many) are also important. Scripture provides a window for us onto so many important things. It’s good to have our own pattern of reading scripture as well as following the sequences we follow in our Sunday worship.’ ‘Ah, and that’s the other one,’ she said, looking pleased. ‘The other main activity is worship.’ ‘Yes indeed,’ I said. ‘And worship can be a great delight because we celebrate together. This brings us back full circle to where we were in our last conversation. Remember that coming together in worship has lots of give and take. We receive and give support to each other and we all receive support from God.’

Then just to summarise I said, ‘So if we were doing a review of the kind I suggested, developing a Rule or Pattern of our Christian life, we would want to include at least these three components – prayer, reading scripture and worship. We’d need to think about what we do under each heading and we’d need to think about how often and when, just as I’d asked about prayer a moment ago. Then, and this would be listening part of the prayer, we’d need to discern whether we are being led to a development in any of these areas. A different pattern of prayer, timing and frequency? A plan of scripture reading? Or a change in coming for worship? – if our pattern is to come once a month, how about one more time a month, on Sunday or on another day when we have a service? Whatever we decide, these could become part of our Rule, which we would decide to follow for the time being. Then in six months or a year we could review it and make changes where it seems appropriate.’

At this point I thought I could not really add anything more because each of us has to make the next steps ourselves. The important thing is that we do continue to move forward. We may feel we don’t have the time. But it’s my experience that when we feel called to make a move and offer it to God, and if it’s the right thing to do, we will be supported, the time will be there and we will indeed find ourselves going deeper into God. And for a Christian there is nothing better than that.