The Greatness That Matters

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Alvin Garrison
5 years ago
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1 The Greatness That Matters A sermon preached at Killara Uniting Church on Sunday 21 October 2018, prepared by David Gill and delivered by Jacqui Floyd. Readings for the 22 nd Sunday after Pentecost were Job 38:1-7, Hebrews 5:1-10 and St Mark 10:35-45 It is sobering to remember that the birth of the Commonwealth of Australia provoked a religious brawl. Plans were well advanced for the ceremony at Sydney s Centennial Park, where the new nation was to be proclaimed and the first governor-general sworn in. Through the city there would be a procession of the great and good from the various colonies. And therein lay the problem. For at the last minute an unholy row erupted between the Anglican archbishop of Sydney and his Roman Catholic counterpart over who should have precedence in the procession. After much huffing and puffing the Anglican archbishop won. Cardinal Moran withdrew in protest. And, not to be outdone, the Wesleyan, Presbyterian and Methodist leaders decided to boycott things as well. All in all, 1 st January 1901 was not one of the ecumenical movement s better days. We shake our heads sadly at this. Or perhaps we laugh. But we had better not laugh too loudly, or for too long. 1

2 Why? Because a Christian hankering after prestige and power is not something that started -- or stopped on 1 st January Nor is it in any way peculiar to Australia. It runs like a dark thread through the long and chequered history of the church. From its earliest days. Remember today s gospel? Two sons of Zebedee, James and John, had sensed that Jesus was destined for great things. The Zebedee boys wanted part of the action. They sidled up to their leader, for a word in private. They had a request. Jesus, we re close, right? Friends. We ve been through a lot together, you and us. We ve been wondering, what s in this for us. You re going to need help, when you come into this kingdom you re talking about. We d like to lend a hand. We re ready to take on top responsibilities, the leading posts in your cabinet. How about it? The other disciples twig to that request, and they are not amused. They re angry. Not because the Zebedee brothers were asking the wrong question, but because they hadn t thought of it first. James and John were right, of course. Well, half right. Their leader was indeed destined for great things. But they got the nature of his greatness completely wrong. At the end of today s passage, we hear Jesus setting them straight. 2

3 Greatness, he says, is about serving, not power as the world thinks of it. Being first entails being a slave, not revelling in prestige as people normally assume. It s remarkable that early Christians kept this story alive, so that eventually it made its way into the gospels. After all, the incident doesn t exactly flatter the disciples. Those leaders of the early church do not emerge looking good. Perhaps our ancestors in the faith kept the story because they sensed something of the Zebedee boys lurking in all of us. If so, they were dead right. After all, that request from James and John was so human. The craving for power and prestige is natural. It should never surprise us. Even when it s wearing the trappings of religion. Which it does, alas, all too often. Usually in ways that are not acknowledged. Take the current kerfuffle about religious discrimination in Australia. The nation has been jumping up and down about the Ruddock committee s report on religious freedom. Confusion reigns supreme, for several reasons. For one thing, people are ventilating about a document they have not seen. Which almost guarantees more heat than light. For another, the debate is framed as being between secularists, who support LGBTIQ rights, and religious people, 3

4 who purportedly do not. That is, both sides believe religion and homosexuality are incompatible, and they re arguing about what the consequences should be for the ordering of society. That way of framing the issue is mistaken. Adding to the confusion, something else is going on beneath the surface. Some religious groups, it is true, have expressed fear about being discriminated against. There is no evidence to support this. True, if you wear a hijab on public transport you may get some hostile comments, and if you re running a mosque or a synagogue you probably need security guards. But for most people -- especially Christians, who are making most of the noise on this subject -- there is no problem. Religious discrimination may not be real, but the anxiety about it certainly is. Why? Why are some people worrying about a problem that doesn t exist? Because, I suspect, most churches are suffering from a sort of institutional post-traumatic stress disorder. In recent years, they have experienced 1. A loss of prestige. Not so long ago, churches had clout in determining public policy, city preachers found Sunday s sermon reported on the front page of Monday s Sydney Morning Herald, and clergy could wear dog collars without hanging their heads in shame. Not any more. 4

5 2. A loss of power. Most church leaders thankfully, not ours in the Uniting Church -- called for a no vote in the marriage plebiscite, then were cheerfully ignored by most of their people as well as the community at large. Bishops and their ilk have been accustomed to their guidance being followed. Not any more. 3. A loss of privilege. Religious groups in this country, churches especially, have long enjoyed special concessions, ranging from financial advantages to the Lord s Prayer in parliament. Religion s privileges were unquestioned. Not any more. None of these developments violates anyone s right to freedom of religion. Being ignored, being disagreed with, even being ridiculed, is not the same thing as persecution. But it hurts. Not surprising, then, that some religious groups have been exhibiting anxiety, fear, suspicion. In this atmosphere, today s gospel invites us to think some revolutionary thoughts. To disentangle ourselves from worldly notions of power and prestige. And to rediscover serving, caring, as the name of the game. The pope has a wonderful title which appears under his name on certain important documents of the Roman Catholic Church. It is Servus Servorum Dei Servant of the Servants of God a title that goes back to the 6 th century. Of 5

6 course, popes haven t always lived up to that label. Any more than those of us stuck with the bizarre tag of Reverend have lived up to ours! Servant of the Servants of God. It s a good label, and not only for popes. It should be written into the job descriptions, carved into the desks, of all who are called to leadership in the church. A reminder of what the Zebedee boys forgot: that those who lead should do so not through domination but through service. Their authority is to be ministerial, not magisterial. They should be driven not by the love of power, but by the power of love. And not leaders only. Each and every one of us. We began this morning with that unseemly clash between Australia s churches. Let s end with a very different ecumenical example. A much happier one. Twenty-plus years ago, Australia s community relationships were feeling the strain. One Nation as usual was telling us to hate someone or other Asians I think it was, then. Indigenous land rights had everyone shouting at each other. Feelings ran high. Not a good time for the country. At the time I was working with the National Council of Churches in Australia. At a meeting of our governing body these and other issues were discussed. Good resolutions emerged. Good policy initiatives were adopted. But the 6

7 memorable moment occurred, quite unscripted, right at the end, during our closing worship. With no prior warning, two participants, one Aboriginal, the other a Torres Strait Islander, came forward. Two heads of churches Cardinal Ted Clancy, then chairman of the National Catholic Bishops Conference, and Archbishop Keith Rayner, then the Anglican primate -- also came forward. And knelt before them. And washed their feet. Roles were then reversed: the two indigenous Christians washed the feet of the church leaders. Not a word was said. But that moment silently spoke volumes. Not about power, prestige or privilege. About the exact opposite. It pointed to a different set of values. A different kind of church, working for a different kind of nation, striving for a different kind of world. The people of this congregation, I know, take very seriously Christ s call to serve. And you don t just talk about serving. Individually and together, you do your damnedest to live it. Blessings upon you. May our loving God keep your eyes fixed firmly on this, the only greatness that truly matters. * 7

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