'The best neighbour is a good fence' - a reflection on recent controversies

by Revd Roland Barnes

I write this message (actually my most recent Sunday sermon!) as a contribution to the FFF, in the context of the controversy over the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris. 

Some people found the content "heretical" and felt the need to protest and complain. Actually I watched the whole ceremony and all I saw was a French depiction of French culture and history. 

We did the same at the 2012 London Olympics - including the depiction of industrial "sweat shops" and all the darker side of the industrial revolution. 

What I saw at the Paris opening ceremony was a celebration of the French fashion industry (love it or hate it) and a depiction of 20th century French culture - Moulin Rouge, Folies Bergere etc. Its not everyone's cup of tea, its not mine; but it is part of French history. (I'm clearly very naive and very innocent, but I did not see anything heretical on the night!) I suspect some people just love to stir.

I also write in the context of the riots and demonstrations in our towns and cities at the moment. 

Again, people protesting about what they perceive to be a threat to their culture and way of life, from too many immigrants who come with a different culture and religion. We can simply condemn these people - a very easy and lazy thing to do - "they are all ignorant thugs and criminals and trouble makers". Makes us feel good to condemn them. But I look at them on TV. They are all ages, young and old, and many of them women as well. Arresting them all and charging them is not going to address the underlying tensions. I was a farmer for half my life. One of the truest farmer's sayings is this :

'The best neighbour is a good fence'.

It sounds awful and is not very Christian, but people are tribal, people are emotional beings, and unless we take that on board, and address the problems causing the unrest, them I fear we are heading for more trouble. As an educated liberal it is easy for me to spout Christian love, patience and tolerance, as I do in my sermon. But in the harsh real world, I go back to the saying, 'the best neighbour is a good fence'!

So even before the ink has dried on the paper, I can pick holes in my own sermon. We live in a very complex world.

Sermon on John's gospel, chapter 6, verses 24 -35.*

Jesus declares: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

I "found" Jesus many years ago - in my early thirties, and yes, I can vouch for Jesus' claim. Life brings many problems, many of them unsurmountable, problems with no solutions. But Jesus is still my rock, my "bread of life". I don't need anything else.

But can I be a bit controversial? Jesus does not claim exclusivity to the "bread of life". He does not say :

"I am the only bread of life"

He does not say :

"If you don't follow me and become a Christian, you are - what? - a sinner, misguided, left out in the wilderness, missing out on God."

He does not say that. So just as different people, certainly different cultures and nationalities, have different diets, different foods to keep them healthy, who is to say that there are not different ways to God? The Hindu and Buddhist faiths followed by billions of people, over many centuries; the Muslim faith again followed by billions. 

It is a brave, if not conceited, self-opinionated person who will claim that the Christian way is the only way to God, and that everyone else is - deluded at best, mortal sinners at worst! 

Billions of experiences for centuries, and we are saying that they are all completely wrong! I can't see that. In my own experience there are some lovely Christian people out there, but some pretty awful ones as well. Likewise I've met some truly wonderful, salt of the earth Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims. But there are plenty of narrow, unsavoury ones as well.

I don't need to attack other faith groups in order to somehow prove the worth of my own faith. Attacking other faith groups is often the preserve of those lacking real confidence in their own so-called faith. They feel threatened, insecure and feel the need to lash out, prove their worth, prove their dedication, their exclusivity. "I'm right, you must be wrong". 

I've met lots of people like that - they are often the worst kind of bullies. Those confident in themselves and their beliefs, shouldn't need to bully others. Likewise I don't need to go out there waving banners, trying to "protect" or justify my faith, as if my faith - Christianity - is somehow lacking and needs propping up! 

Do we really think that the message of Jesus is somehow vulnerable? Jesus' is the most powerful message in the world, it stands on its own merits. It does not need little me or little you, to protect it.

Jesus' message of love is life-giving, life-affirming. Whether one calls oneself a Christian or not, does not really make a blind bit of difference. But if we uphold and live the life of Jesus - love our neighbour, and yes, love even our enemies as well, have respect and tolerance for other people - and yes, respect and care for our world and its environment (not an issue in Jesus' day, of course) then we all, everybody, is doing God's work.

Now we as Christians actively demonstrate that message by sharing in the Eucharist. We make the Eucharist our own, sharing in what Jesus did for us 2000 years ago. 

That's not going out and throwing bricks at Muslims, smashing the windows of mosques, or even calling for legal protection of Christian rights. 

Sorry, but that is a joke! Christianity is Christianity, love is love; we don't needs laws and penalties to prove or somehow enforce that. (P.S. I know there are lots of arguments against that statement! Nevertheless, maybe you can see where I'm leaning.)

We see love in God, in the form of Jesus his Son, who gave himself, naked on the cross - demonstrating to all humanity, the power of love, of giving, of being vulnerable. (Not smashing windows!) It takes real power to go up to our scary neighbour and to say - "Just hit me, right now, I won't resist" 

That is what Jesus does. He disarms his oppressor with love. Just keep that image in your minds - "Jesus disarms his oppressor with love!" It is the most powerful image in the universe, it is the image of God. Amen.

_______________

* John 6:24-35:

'So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us, then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.