Bishop of Doncaster - Sermon and addresses

Easter Day 2012

Some of you may recall that the Queen recently delivered an impassioned defence of the established Church and stressed the continuing importance of religion in an increasingly secular society.  In a strongly-worded speech – one of the most outspoken of her 60 year reign – the Monarch described the Church of England as misunderstood and under-appreciated.  Her address to the leaders of Britain’s nine main religions, gathered at Lambeth Palace, also highlighted how religion offered ‘critical guidance’ for the way in which people live their lives.  She went on to pay a particular tribute to the mission of Christianity and the value of faith in this country.

So the Queen, in this Jubilee Year, has unashamedly put faith at the centre of her own life and work as the ‘Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England’, and it clearly matters to her personally.  She’s reminded us of the contribution that faith makes to society whilst also reminding us that this isn’t how it’s viewed by everyone. This is a theme taken up a few years ago by Archbishop Rowan, not in an Easter address but in his Christmas one.  “The trouble with politicians” he said “is that they assume that religion is a problem, it’s an eccentricity, it’s practiced by oddities, foreigners and minorities. The effect is to de-normalize faith, to intensify the perception that faith is not part of our bloodstream”

The Bishop of Bradford has also recently accused broadcasters of an “ideological knee-jerk reaction against religion”.  He went on to say “if you go beyond the BBC religion has been dropped as if it were a toxic contaminator of decent culture.  This ideological knee-jerk sees religion as an embarrassing problem”.  Those of you who attended my welcome service here in the Minister will know that the relationship between the Church and Society is a key issue in my ministry and a driving force behind my misional engagement with civic and civil life.  Sadly as we know, there is in the West today, forces of scepticism and cynicism within our culture which are very powerful, not least in some sections of the press, government and in society in general.  However, I’d like to pay tribute to such leading politicians as Baroness Warsi, with whom I’ve shared a platform at a Mosque in Leeds, and Eric Pickles for their robust defence of the role of religion in society and its structures.  It echoes the Queens stance.  It is, in the present climate, easy for Christians to feel intimidated not least as we live out our lives in the full glare of the world.  However today, of all days, Easter Day, is for us a clear reminder not to hide away, but to be bold in our proclamation of Jesus Christ risen from the dead, to proclaim the saviour of the world, who has the power to transform our world and the lives of millions of people.  He can also continually transform the church and the impact of our Christian mission on society, but it requires us to play our part.

The Gospel reminds us of our mission to proclaim the risen Lord.  While most of the disciples were hiding in their homes, Mary Magdalene had chosen to go to the tomb, early on that first Easter Day, with other women, as Mark tells the story.  She chose to go to the place where they’d placed Jesus’ body just a few days before.  But what, we may ask, had drawn her there so early?  Mark tells us that she had brought spices to anoint Jesus’ body.  We could speculate that is was to have time alone with Jesus, to mourn the one she loved so deeply.  But whatever the reasons, she was shocked to find that the rock covering the tomb had been rolled away.  So we instantly know that this isn’t going to be a simple grieving process, the body had gone.  The result was that, in Mark’s Gospel, she is told to go and tell his disciples and Peter that the risen Christ is going ahead of them to Galilee.  In St John’s Gospel she ran and went to Simon Peter and the ‘other disciple whom Jesus loved’ and told them that the tomb was empty and she didn’t know where they’d laid the Lord.  The other disciples then ran ahead to look in the tomb, and when they saw the scene, were afraid.

Whichever story you follow the result is the same.  Mary Magdalene is commissioned to take the glad news of Jesus’ rising to the other disciples.  She’s called to be the first witness sent out to tell others about the risen Lord.  She was called to do this against a background of vulnerability, scepticism and unbelief people had after all, only a few days earlier called for Jesus to be crucified and even his own disciples had deserted and denied him.  She wasn’t going out to tell people good news in the easiest of circumstances.  So we might say some things haven’t changed.

Note that Jesus tells her not to cling on to him.  This may imply a concern that she shouldn’t simply cling on to Jesus, enjoying the blessings of doing so, when there were a group of men and women who had as much need and right as she did to hear what she had to tell them.  The application of this to the church is a direct one.  All too often, over the centuries, the Christian Community has shown a far greater interest in sitting at Jesus’ feet, holding on to him, enjoying the comfort of his presence, than going out into the world to share the good news of the risen Lord with broken and needy hearts who have as much right to know him and the blessings of salvation as we do.

Jesus also calls her by name and that’s important – this is no aloof greeting, it’s a reunion, Jesus is alive and seeks her out.  It was a life transforming appearance and as in Mary’s case, Christ’s rising is intended to lead to a personal discovery of Jesus that will lead to transformation.  Christ was there for her and his coming to her banished her sadness, betrayal and fear, and he’s here for us now.  The point is that today we, and others, can meet Jesus, not in the same way as Mary but through the Holy Spirit and faith.  The encounter will be no less life changing.  Jesus is alive and still comes to mend broken lives.

Mary simply tells the disciples “I have seen the Lord”.  Her calling is our calling, to go into the world to tell the good news of Jesus Christ, to say that we have seen the Lord and that our lives have been changed because of it.  We have new life and new hope through Christ who conquers all, even the depths of the grave.  “I have seen the Lord” must lead to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’, the great Commission, which is the responsibility of us all.  We mustn’t hold on to Jesus as our own prized possession or because we’re too afraid to proclaim Christ crucified and risen, in a world that seems set against the Christian message.  We mustn’t allow the world to intimidate us and we need not be fearful because the risen Christ is alive amongst us.  The simple fact is this, if we the Christian community of faith don’t tell the good news to a world that is so in need of hearing its life transforming message, no one else will.  The resurrection is the vindication of the life and death of Jesus, as the one in whom God entered our world, so that salvation might be won for every tribe and people and nation.  Easter is the Gospel, and it belongs to the world not just to us.  Christ has called each and every one of us by name and made us his own and because we know him so personally we shouldn’t be afraid to go out into the streets of Rotherham, Doncaster, Sheffield or wherever we are, with the trust and confidence that his risen life will sustain us and we will not be conquered by the powers of this world.  So let’s take our courage in our hands and do this today without delay.