Good Friday Sermon

Sermon. St Mary's Little Ilford.

Good Friday 2016

Passion: John chapters 18 &19.

Did you spot it? We did it last year. We (clergy) didn't comment on it, and I don't think anyone did. And we did it this year again. This year I am going to comment on it. But first – did you spot it?

What I am talking about is that we slightly changed the text of John's Passion narrative as we've just heard it. We are treating it not as a radical change but a subtle nuancing of the passage. We changed many (not all) of the references to 'the Jews' in John's Passion to 'the religious authorities' or 'the Judean leaders' or some such. This we can justify, because the underlying Greek, hoi Ioudaioi means both 'the Jews' and 'the Judeans' and, further, 'the Judeans' could stand for 'the leaders'.

A good analogy today might be 'Brussels'. If we say 'we are praying for Brussels' (as we are) we are very likely to mean we are praying for the people, the inhabitants of Brussels. But if we say 'politician X wants us to pull out of Brussels' we are likely to understand that as meaning the institution, the European Union. And we can make that shift in interpretation without even thinking about it. 

And I am saying that a similar range of different meanings of hoi Ioudaioi make best sense of the text of John. It can mean 'the Jews', 'the Judeans', 'the Judean religious leaders' based in and around the Jerusalem Temple. That's what we've tried to reflect.

But so what? Well, in the first place we have to remember that historically Holy Week was a hard time for Jews in Europe. They were often confined to the ghetto – or chose to remain in the ghetto – for protection. Yes, the idea that 'the Jews killed Christ' was never formally taught, but was so strong, and very soon meant 'all Jews everywhere, throughout time'. We as a Church need to face that, and repent.

We need to repent because of Christian ill-will towards other human beings. But that's just the beginning of it. The more we allow the idea to build up – even when it's not explicitly said – that 'the Jews killed Christ', the less we get a sense that it is we who killed Christ, by our sins, by our betrayal of Christ. In fact, that is what the Church has formally taught. All human beings, being sinners, share in the responsibility for the death of Christ, but when we Christians by our actions betray Christ, we have less excuse, because we (in one way or another) know what we are doing.

This can be hard to hear. But this is the day to hear it. The day when we face up to who we are. Most of us are not murderers (unless I've misjudged you). But we all probably know murderous hate, at least at extreme moments. And we are all betrayers. We all betray others, by overconsuming in a world of need, not confronting racism, allowing gossip... the ways are endless. We betray our vocation, by preferring habit, comfort, or acting out of fear (again the ways are endless). This is who we are – treacherous so-and-sos. I say again: this is the day to face it.

But! Even that isn't the message of today. Even that is only the first part. And the greater part is this: Gd knows this. Gd knows who we are. And – it's not that Gd does not mind. Gd does mind, because we count for something with Gd. Gd doesn't think of us as infants who could do no better. We really do have our vocations, and the freedom we need to fulfil them. But, still, to Gd, our betrayals, though real, do not define us. They are not the first or the last thing Gd sees when Gd gazes on us. Gd's love is such that what Gd sees is when Gd gazes at us is... the beloved.

Some of you may know that the Bishop of London greets people from the pulpit with a booming 'Beloved!' Sometimes it can seem as if he's cornered that particular market. But he hasn't. However you want to say it, however you need to hear it, you are Gd's beloved. And that is why today is good. Gd shows his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners (yet traitors), Christ died for us. Willingly. Out of delight in our company.

Strangely, this can be hard to hear. It can take a lifetime to absorb this truth. That is why Gd gives us the Church. And the Church is here. Amen.