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Find in our difference a glory of God's image

Homily delivered by the Rt Rev Idris Jones, Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway in the Scottish Episcopal Church, during Evening Prayer on 23 January 2005 at St Andrew's RC Cathedral as a guest of the Archdiocese of Glasgow in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Dear Friends in Christ, let my first task be that of expressing my profound gratitude to Archbishop Mario for his gracious invitation to speak at Vespers this evening; and with those thanks please allow me to convey to the Archdiocese the greetings from my own United Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway in the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Now, may I begin by referring to the significance of my salutation. It is cause for great joy that I can use the style of “dear friends in Christ” and to truly mean it !
Thanks be to God for the way in which Christians of all traditions in Scotland look to one another as those who share a journey- fellow pilgrims indeed. As fellow pilgrims we may walk at different speeds; we may not always be on the same side of the road – but we are moving in the same direction and recognise and salute each other on the way . This is progress; but is it enough? – it is to that question that I want to devote some thought because part of me believes that actually it is enough; whilst part of me desperately wants it to be not enough and looks for some more robust sign of togetherness.

Hans Kung, leading an inter-faith conference here in Glasgow some years ago made the comment that today, in terms of the world community, the question of whether Christians could talk together and share a common life has become irrelevant (we have been overtaken by events which you may choose to see as a powerful nudge from the Holy Spirit or as a sign of judgement) - but now the urgent question for the world is whether those of different faith communities can talk together and share things in common.

The Chief Rabbi in his recent book “The Dignity of Difference” has expressed a similar sentiment about the significance of dialogue between the faiths of the world in a world context but in a crisper kind of way - “We shall either be part of the solution, he says, or certainly part of the problem”. I think that as we reflect on our shared journey of discipleship we must have regard to the wider picture in a way that defends us against being caught up purely in the local situation.

Is not this the meaning of Catholicism – that the mind of the church when so expressed is just that- and not the thinking of one part of the church . When consider the opportunity as well as the urgency of dialogue with other faiths, it is inconceivable that in our sharing with other faiths we should loose our own – and certainly not expect them to loose theirs. The dignity of difference and the sharing of that difference is the means of allowing our companionship with those who seek,as we do,to understand and do the will of God. If this is true in inter-faith encounter; might it not also offer us one insight into one way of exploring our joint-faith encounters . I know of course that we are speaking of different contexts but in considering how to proceed with our joint-faith dialogues we are not talking of “ apples and oranges” so much as of different kind of apple. Now there’s a thought - who is the “Granny Smith”; who the “Cox’s pippin” – and who the “Cooker” ?

Reflecting on this very theme, an Anglican writer who published over thirty years ago wrote these words . “There are some beliefs held by fellow Christians which seem to the present writer to be so profoundly and immorally wrong, so destructive of true human life and of God’s love that he has no difficulty in understanding how earlier generations felt when they persecuted heresy: he has no illusions about the effect that reading this might have on any of them who read it . But what hope is there if we each retreat into fortifications garrisoned only by the like-minded and defensive believers. What is the answer - there has never been one!

Like it or not we must all be put into one boat and set adrift on God’sea the better to find our answer together or else perish. But this cannot be by institutional means which only lead to polarization among those who share the same point of view or belief. It is by the coming together of small cells of the un-likeminded who want to explore God together, that new and shared understanding will come. If the lions are too cowardly, the mice must be brave. Then Word can unite where words have divided”

When I read that again recently, it seemed to me that John Austin Baker, apart from great courage had great foresight and that these thirty years later his views have particular relevance. It is not by submerging difference that we achieve true unity- it is by allowing and exploring difference and submitting these human traits to be judged by the Light of Christ’s Word that we are drawn into a true unity .

So I do not wish to fudge our difference – but I do want to turn now to the Word of God and to find in it occasion for rejoicing in the hope that we share .

In our lectionary we are given the privilege of hearing the preaching of St. Peter. Episcopalians have no difficulty is reverencing St. Peter as first Bishop of Rome and leader of that Church community and of the congregations that it founded around the Mediterranean seaboard. Scholars are on the whole willing to encourage us to receive in these words the authentic voice of apostolic preaching as delivered by St. Peter himself; and to receive the challenge that is offered to all of us through that preaching .

First, the apostle, in a truly Jewish way begins by offering praise to God – “blessed be God the father of Jesus Christ . Bishop Leslie Newbiggin reflected on the mission of the early church – it began he wrote with an explosion of joy . After the ascension of Jesus the apostles returned to Jerusalem and were continually in the Temple praising God . So it is part of the apostolic witness to give praise, and in the Athanasian Creed (though more to do with St.Ambrose than with Athanasius) we share that tradition. “ Now the Catholic Faith is this – that we worship One God”. And in the catechism of the Reformed Church the purpose of man is “to praise God and enjoy him for ever”. In the coming together to give praise we are doing something which is in conformity to the earliest witness and practice of the \Church .

It has often been my experience that to be in a gathering of Christians who are offering intentional worship and praise is to experience a change in oneself and a greater sense of the presence of the living God, whether that is focussed in devotion before the Blessed Sacrament or being led by a praise band . So to follow the example of St. Peter we do well whenever we can to unite in offering worship. This is not to deny our difference – but it is to celebrate a deeper and more profound sense that we are united by and in the One whom we worship, whose love is greater than we can either conceive or deserve.

The second observation on this short passage is that we have to work quite hard to capture that sense of why the Christians so naturally and freely offered praise to God as the most natural thing to do . St Peter speaks of celebrating a new birth . We struggle to enter into that sense of newness that was so immediate for him . Yet he above all others knew about making new beginnings, starting again, and receiving the forgiveness of Jesus . The closest that I can imagine is someone who had been addicted to a way of life, or to drugs; breaking free of that addiction –as some do- and beginning life anew. For them it is an experience of rebirth and in their pieces of creative writing that are sometimes part of rehabilitation and therapy that excitement and wonder – and thanks to God keeps breaking through . It is seen in the lives of he Saints as they are overcome with the sense of the presence of the love of God – lost in wonder, love and praise. Well- we are called to be saints but it is sometimes hard work to hang on to that primal experience that made St. Peter speak words about a new birth. Something that is, that was completely and radically different from the faith they had before – a living hope that is sealed and put into human existence through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

And thirdly, the hope we share of resurrection life, begun now, continued for ever in eternity . It is not perhaps the top of our theological agenda at the moment- but hope for the future in God is given us; hope that for many Christians today is translated into care for the environment and the welfare of the planet. Since we know that in the end the love of God shall prevail and all who call on the Lord shall be saved – in that security we do not need to worry about the ultimate end of human kind and may concentrate on making sure that life here and now is as good as it can be – for everyone . This becomes the living out, the expression of our faith in God who will give salvation to be revealed at the last time. Hope gives vision for the future; it gives motivation to work to bring in the kingdom of God now in our homes; our neighbourhoods; our communities – across the nations of the world .

Perhaps we do have to re-assess how we are to do that; to be open to those who share with us in a common cause; to have the courage to stand apart from those who work against it . Most of all to be prepared to be open to the possibility that the dream of all things being the same everywhere at every time and altogether is an unrealistic dream; and because unrealistic we can waste time and energy flogging a dead horse; better to rejoice in God; live in hope and find in our difference a glory of God's image far more comprehensive and wonderful than we have imagined it to be .

And now to God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - be all praise and all glory, from the church and in the world, now and for ever, Amen.