An address for Easter 7 - May 28, 20006
The Very Revd Michael J. Pitts
Dean and Rector, Christ Church Cathedral Montreal
The Biblical readings for the Sundays after Easter this year have juxtaposed, each week, Luke’s story of the post-resurrection church, with John’s story of the post resurrection Jesus. Let me clarify that. All the canonical gospels, written as they are at the end of the first century, are interpretations of the meaning of the life of the risen Jesus as experienced in those early Christian communities.[i] Once this rather obvious fact about the Gospels began to become clear to protestant scholars in the mid-nineteenth century, many attempts have been made to go behind the texts we have, to discover the historical Jesus. But even after the meticulous and assiduous work of the Jesus Seminar in recent years, we have to admit that there is little hard information to work on. Thanks in particular to their work and to the work of archaeologists, however, we have a great deal more knowledge about the historical and social background of the Roman empire and of the Jewish community and religion, and I find that an invaluable help in understanding our canonical texts. But the very variety of historical Jesuses on offer should tell us that none of them is more that a speculative reconstruction, often arising out of the particular experience and interests of the author.
So, in approaching both the canonical and the extra-canonical texts we are dealing with stories, some of which may contain traces of historical memory, but whose importance lies in offering us an understanding of what the risen Christ, Lord and Saviour meant to those early communities. Studying our sacred texts is a hermeneutical, not a historic endeavour. As I understand it the purpose of Liturgy is to present, in word, music and action (in other words in drama) the Christian story and the Christian stories. The purpose of preaching within the liturgy, is to link the experiences and understandings of the risen Christ in our scriptures and in the writings of the ages with our own experience and our own search for meaning and understanding.
Our post-Easter readings from the Gospel of John have been drawn from what are called the farewell discourses, which are John’s setting out of how the church should expect to experience both the presence and absence of the risen Christ in the liturgy and in the world. They replace in John’s Gospel the story of the Ascension which we celebrated this week, but which does not appear in the Johannine texts. The extracts from Luke’s Acts of the Apostles have told the story of Peter and the other early Christians in the very early years after the resurrection experience.
There is a huge difference in the atmosphere of the two documents. Luke is a man with a tidy mind. He sets out the whole story in a very ordered fashion. Indeed, at the beginning of the fist part of the work, the gospel, he states his goal:Particularly in the second part, the Acts of the Apostles, with which we are now concerned, the order is very clear. The Gospel is spread in a God-determined pattern, starting in Jerusalem, through Samaria and Galilee and then on into the cities of the Roman empire. It is spread first by Peter and the others of the twelve, and then the baton is taken up by Paul.I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,…[ii]
In order to make this pattern work, Luke has to change or ignore other parts of the tradition. There is no meeting of Jesus with the twelve in Galilee. In fact the references to that in Mark, which Luke uses, have that carefully expunged. The enormous struggle between the Jerusalem community lead by James the brother of Jesus, and the Gentile-admitting communities of the Diaspora (of which St Paul gives us a first hand account in his letters) are glossed over by Luke. Luke also puts the best possible spin on relations between the churches, especially those of Paul, and the authorities of the Roman Empire. I mention this to underline, once again, that when we are reading the Acts of the Apostles, like any other literature our key interest is in experience and interpretation, not in fact gathering.
Certain themes run through Luke’s writing. The strategic plan of the early church is the work of the Holy Spirit. The mission to the Gentiles was part of that spirit-driven plan. And, above all, numerical growth was important. Today’s reading was from the earlier part of the story. Luke notes:
As the story moves on the numbers grow. St Luke is the church’s first statistician. How reliable are his statistics? My guess is not very, but not much worse than today’s statistics for membership of the Anglican communion. [iv]In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons)… [iii]
When we move to John’s Gospel we are in a different world. In the place of the externality of Luke, in John we read of the things of the inner life. The key themes for John are knowledge, love, truth, light, refreshment, holiness, joy, faith and community. His Gospel story is about how the risen Christ gives these things to us in overflowing abundance, if only we are open to accepting them.
Our Diocese is currently involved in creating and activating a Strategic Plan. I hope that like the plan set out in Luke, it is being driven by the power of the Holy Spirit. But as we seek to put it into practice, it is my hope that we can avoid a one-sided emphasis on numbers, dollars and things external. Not that these things are unimportant or can be ignored, but the Luke understanding needs to be supplemented by that of John.
One of the concerns in this process, around which there has been discussion is how we can form criteria for deciding which ministries are valuable and successful, and which represent too much drain on our resources for too little result. It is, of course relatively easy to create criteria based on numbers. What is the average Sunday attendance? Is it increasing or decreasing? Is the financial state of the ministry in growth or decline? How many members are on the rolls? Aside from the inherent externality of such criteria, there is also the problems of whether the statistics on which they are based are reliable and how they are being interpreted.
As an alternative, or at least addition, I want to suggest the following questions which are based on John’ s understanding of Christian life and the mission of the church, and which came into my mind as I reflected on today’s readings in the context of our readings of the weeks since Easter.…The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." [v]
Is this ministry living the Gospel? Is it bringing the challenge, judgement and hope of the Gospel to those involved and those around? Is it interpreting the Gospel in a way people of today can understand? Is it eliciting a response to the Gospel?
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. [vi]Is this ministry co-creating the new humanity offered by the Gospel? Is it affirming the dignity and humanity of every human being? Is it reaching out in dialogue to people of other traditions and faiths?"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [vii]
Is this ministry an example of loving, faithful committed community? Is it seeking examples of true human community in the secular word, rejoicing in them and working with them?
As we move forward in the strategic plan of the diocese, these are the questions I shall want to put here in the Cathedral and its deanery, in my now more realistic work with the non parochial ministries of the diocese, and in my new work as Archdeacon of the Montreal parishes.
Six months ago, I had thought that the next three years would be a time of slowing down, preparing to celebrate the 150th birthday of this building, and preparing the Cathedral to begin the next stage of its life beyond my retirement. However it seems that the Holy Spirit has other plans! I ask you prayers for a lot of very intense work I shall need to undertake over the next three years.
[i] This is even more true of the later, extra-canonical, gospels, like the Gospel of Judas, which seems to have captured so much media space recently.
[ii] Luke 1:3 NRSV
[iii] Acts 1:15 NRSV
[iv] A glance at the figures given in Crockford’s Clerical Directory will show that many of them are unchanged over ten years, which alone casts doubt on their accuracy!
[v] John 20:20-21 NRSV
[vi] John 1:14 NRSV
[vii] John 17:20-21 NRSV