The Fourth Sunday
after Trinity
15th June 2008 : 6:00pm Choral Evensong
Preacher: The
In his famous novel The
Brothers Karamazoo, the Russian writer, Dostoevsky,
gives a moving portrayal of Christ.
The action takes place in
Only the day before, a hundred
heretics had been burned at the stake by order of the cardinal, The Grand
Inquisitor.
Though Jesus came without fuss,
the people recognized him at once. They crowded around him. He walked among
them with an expression of gentleness on his face.
He reached out his hands and
blessed them. Many were healed of their diseases just by touching his robe.
He stopped at the steps of the
cathedral as an open coffin with the body of a little girl in it was being
carried out. A hush fell over the crowd .
Then a whisper arose :”he will raise the child”. And he did. However , no sooner had he done so than the Grand Inquisitor
arrived in the square.
When he saw what had happened
he had the stranger arrested and thrown into jail.
That night he visited the prisoner
in his cell. “Is it really you ? “ He asked him . Receiving no reply he said “ You
have no need to say anything. You have said it all before. I don’t know if you
really are he.
All I know is that tomorrow you
will burn at the stake as the worst of all heretics, and the people who today
kissed your feet , tomorrow will be throwing sticks on
your fire. Do you realize that ?’
He waited for some reply but
none came. Then the stranger approached him, and with great gentleness,
embraced him.
That was his answer. For a
moment the old man was confused. But he soon recovered .
He went to the cell door, opened it and said to him, “Go, and come back no more
– never, never ! “
And he let him out, and he
disappeared into the dark streets and lanes of the sleeping city.
You know we can forget what
Christ was like.
The church can forget.
It can put its doctrines and
dogmas, its rules and regulations, before people.
Individuals can put their
private devotions before Christian living.
Today there is an increasing
preoccupation with revelations and apparitions.
Yet today there is also a
hunger for the Christ of the Gospels.
We need to remind ourselves of
what Christ was like by going back to the Gospels.
Today’s Gospel gives us a
beautiful picture of the compassionate Christ in action.
The religious leaders had
nothing to offer the ordinary people in their sufferings.
Neither guidance, nor comfort,
nor strength . In fact they didn’t care about them.
But Jesus was completely
different.
When he looked at the ordinary
people, he didn’t see a crowd but a collection of individuals, each with
problems and worries, joys, and sorrows.
And far from despising them, he
had compassion on them, precisely because they were wounded and in need.
Jesus gave himself to them
first of all. But then knowing how great the harvest was, he decided to summon
helpers.
From his followers he chose
twelve to be his friends and companions in a special way.
He named them
Apostles----People who are sent.
They were from different backgrounds,
and none of them was trained. Each had his own character, foibles, weaknesses
and strengths .
There were tensions and
rivalries among them. Jesus loved them and they loved him in return.
He trained them. Not, however
in a formal way, but by living with them, walking with them, being a model for
them.
They learned to do things as he
did them. Then he sent them out to others.
They knew what their mission was : they were to be agents of his compassion to others,
especially to the poor and the suffering.
Today Jesus depends on you and
me. In order to become an apostle of the Lord it is not necessary to be an
exceptional person, much less a saint. ( at least not
to begin with )
All one needs is willingness
and an open heart.
As a famous Christmas carol
puts it :
What can I give him poor as I am
If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb
If I were a wise man I would do my part
Yet what I can I give him
Give my heart.