I received an invitation to attend a lunch for local clergy during the week There was space on the invitation for a picture of the guest speaker The name of the person And a sentence informing me as to why I should attend this lunch and hear this person speak The particular claim to fame was that the Church community from which this person comes has grown from 200 to 700 in the space of five years It’s not uncommon at all to hear and read of glowing endorses like this Phenomenal ands rapid growth Presided over a fast growing church Etc etc In some circles this is the only and ultimate criteria of success It doesn’t matter how many life’s are really and genuinely transformed are changed How many food parcels are handed out Or whatever else the church might do The bottom line is numbers And close behind it – giving, the money That is invariably the measure of success used in Christian – and in many Anglican – circles today That is the first wrong and misguided view of the Church that I want to bring to your attention today The second is this – and its closely related A few years ago in the United States experts in church growth and in missiology devised a plan for increasing a congregations numbers It was called the Homogenous Unit Principle And it remains very popular today The principle is simple Birds of a feather gather together Or, like breeds like What the devisers of this strategy and the churches who followed them did was to build whole congregations around groups of people who were basically the same sometimes in the same building but meeting at different times so there might be a 9am service made up of largely white, middle class people with children and a later service made up of largely immigrant worshippers and in the evening a younger congregation mainly of teenagers and young adults And here is why both of these two views are wrong From the Book of Revelation ”I looked and there was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the lamb” You and I belong to a Church that is huge! It may look small It may be disheartening that so few are willing or wanting to join us But our Church is in fact huge It is made up of a multitude that no one can count The Christian Church is much more than a group of people meeting in one place at one time It is countless in number Transcending time and place and all human barriers Or language, ethnicity, and birth And that is why the Homogenous Unit Principle Even though it has been successful in terms of church growth and numbers Is plainly wrong The multitude in heaven are not birds of a feather Nor are they like one another They are a fabulous mix of people from every tribe and culture and language on the face of the earth And they stand before the throne of the Lamb A symbol of Jesus As one – holding palm branches Symbols of peace And offering their worship in one voice When St John wrote these words And put this great vision into print to inspire and encourage others The Christian family would have been measured in the thousands Christianity was, in the Roman world of St John’s day A small and insignificant Often persecuted – movement His vision here in the Book of Revelation is a truly prophetic one That the Christian family would number a multitude beyond even counting must have seen a fantastic and far fetched idea as John wrote That this great multitude would embrace every tribe and language and culture known to the human family would also have seemed unlikely Even impossible Distinctions of race, class, and gender were very apparent in the Roman world And in the early Church The first great debate among the first Christians was over race and culture All of the apostles and the first converts were Jews And when some non Jews – or Gentiles – were converted and began to join the Church Some said they must be circumcised and follow all the laws of Moses Like all the Jewish peoples do Even earlier among the Jewish Christians themselves There were tensions between the Hebrew speaking and the Greek speaking members of he congregation Both of these incidents And others Are known to us through the Acts of the Apostles The history of the Christian Church is full of examples of intolerance and racism and ugly things like this As well as many examples of barriers between peoples And of prejudices and intolerances Being broken down and overcome in the name of the Gospel In the face of all this Of the worldly and present reality Stands this great vision of St John here in Revelation 7 It is more than just a nice thought Or a hopeful sketch of what heaven might be like This is a glimpse into another reality Another way of being and of existing This is a portrait of life as God intends it to be Here there are no barriers or distinctions between peoples But all stand before the Lamb and before the throne room of God himself as one as one – and yet as many here culture and language and tribe and difference is to be celebrated here the human family is one but diverse this great vision is an ideal a heavenly ideal a picture of the coming – still future – kingdom of God when all peoples will stand before God as one and where all the things that divide and separate us in this world will be rendered meaningless and we, the human family, will be one the rock band U2 – whose members were influenced and inspired by Christianity - sang of this in a hit song form the 1980’s called ”I Still haven’t found what I’m looking for” the final verse begins like this ”I believe in kingdom come when all of the colours will bleed into one” This vision from Revelation is more than a nice thought or hopeful sentiment It implores us Who are God; people in the here and now To ask ourselves Do we reflect this ideal Are we an image of this heavenly reality Do we hold up a mirror to those around us that reflects the heavenly glory of the age to come Of all peoples from all tribes and nations and languages Worshipping as one before the throne of the Lamb does our Christian community look like the great multitude in heaven and if not, then why not or at a personal level do we live in a way that anticipates this coming kingdom when people of every tribe and nation and language will stand as one before God do we see those who are other and different to us as those next to whom we may one day stand before the Lamb as brothers and sisters and children of the same heavenly Father is it is this that informs the way we live and relate to others around us as I have said several times now this great vision of John points to another reality it offers a glimpse of what God’s kingdom looks like it is not yet a human or earthly reality we – in this country – were powerfully and tragically reminded of that one year ago today by the shocking events in Bali divisions between peoples remain hatreds between peoples remain age old disputes resurface in new and violent ways and there is always blame and fault on both sides of those divisions as there is always good and efforts to heal and work to bring about peace and justice on both sides there will be many today in Australia, in Bali, elsewhere who will weep as they remember the events of one year ago this reading from Revelation holds out to them and to us the promise that hatred, violence, and war between peoples will cease and the hope that that those who were lost to hatred and violence are safe now in that place where the Lamb will be their shepherd and where God himself shall wipe every tear from their eyes in the name of God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. |