The Third Sunday of Easter, 1 May 2022, Eldroth, Clapham
I’ve a friend whose name is Stocki; well, the Reverend Steve Stockman to give him his full title. He’s a Belfast Presbyterian, the Minister of Fitzroy, one of the longest-established Presbyterian churches in that divided sectarian city; and because of that I was astonished to hear from him that last Monday morning he was sat in a library room in the Vatican with The Pope.
Now even if like me, you only have an inkling of an idea about Northern Irish religious culture you’ll nevertheless grasp the weightiness of that piece of news. Take a moment to consider its significance - a Northern Irish Presbyterian in an audience with the worldwide head of the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope invited Steve to The Vatican in recognition of his work creating common ground within Belfast’s churches and communities. He was there with his wife Janice and his Roman Catholic friend and colleague Fr Martin Magill, parish priest of St John's on the Falls Road, in a pilgrimage party from the Catholic Chaplaincy of Queen’s University Belfast, who are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. [1]
Steve knew of course that many of his co-religionists were less than impressed by this turn of events. Before making the trip to Rome Steve wrote saying that he had no doubts that many in his denomination and other Protestants would call him a heretic. But from what he had read and heard about Pope Francis, he said ‘I see him as a fellow follower of Jesus. I am particularly drawn to his humility and efforts to live outside the ostentatious ways of the Vatican; by his seeking of justice, working for peace and reconciliation and protecting the environment. These are all Biblical mandates that I can shake his hand over, even if he is the head of a different denomination.’ [2]
And shake his hand he did, on Monday morning, leaning in to say, ‘I am a Presbyterian’, at which The Pope took Steve’s other arm and kindly welcomed him even more. [3]
Pope Francis, Steve Stockman and Martin Magill all operate in a world where religious aggression and violence are rife, with their eyes wide open to the damage which is done when religious beliefs become entwined with nationalist political ideologies. It’s a world where Protestants and Catholics persecute each other just as the early Christians were persecuted by the Jews and Romans and where the Jews were later persecuted by the Christians; a world where today Russia is fighting what it sees as a holy war, a godly mission to restore Holy Russia, a ‘Russian world’ with a common political centre (Moscow), a common spiritual centre (Kyiv), a common language, a common church: the Russian Orthodox Church under the Patriarch of Moscow, who works in 'symphony' with a common leader (Putin) to govern this distinctive Holy Russian world. [4]
There’s a name for this ideology: ethno-phyletism, which is what happens when church and state come together on ethnic grounds, and in pursuing its aims creates ‘a world of collective persecution’. In the words of René Girard it is a ‘religious illusion… when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.’’ [5]
Today we meet a man on the road to Damascus driven by just such a vision of persecution for God’s sake. Saul, breathing threats and murder against Jesus’ disciples, and consorting with the high priest to round them all up. He’s convinced that by ridding Israel of these people he is faithfully serving God. What he doesn’t expect to hear is Jesus himself asking him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ What he doesn’t expect to find is that his clear-eyed vision of ethnic-religious purity is a form of spiritual blindness. What he doesn’t expect to happen next is to receive absolute forgiveness, and a brand new commission: to be ‘an instrument chosen by God to bring the name of Jesus before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel’. [6]
The scales which fell from Saul’s eyes were those illusions created by the false gods of religious and political ideology. His mission was no longer to serve religion, but simply to follow Christ.
The transformation in the man came from a simple encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road. And I’m struck by the simple, bold message Pope Francis gave his Belfast visitors on Monday: that ‘The Christian faith is fundamentally about an encounter with Jesus Christ.’
I encourage you, he said, not only to deepen your understanding and appreciation of the intellectual and spiritual richness of our Catholic tradition, but also, and in a truly evangelical spirit, to cultivate the culture of encounter among yourselves and in the University community. The Christian faith is fundamentally about an encounter with Jesus Christ. If we truly believe in Jesus, we must do what Jesus does: encounter others, encounter our neighbours, in order to share with them the saving truth of the Gospel. As human beings, and especially as Christians, we are so made that we cannot live, develop and find fulfilment except in the pursuit of truth and in the sincere gift of ourselves to others. [7]
Now we know that Christ’s Passion revealed the working and the consequences of ‘the false gods of religion, politics, and ideologies. The murderers remain convinced of the worthiness of their sacrifices,’ René Girard says. ‘They, too, know not what they do and we must forgive them. The time has come for us to forgive one another. If we wait any longer there will not be time enough.’ [8]
The teaching of Jesus is pretty explicit: there’s only one kingdom to which we should hitch ourselves a ride, and that’s the Kingdom of God.
The teaching of Paul is also clear: that ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’ So that any division of humanity into groups based on race, religion, language, ethnicity, or any other secondary feature is an evil, contrary to the Gospel, where all have equal access to his love and forgiveness, not as members of particular social or ethnic groups, but as persons created and born equally in the image and likeness of God. [9]
Jesus once said, ‘Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’ We are called to not merely pray for peace, but to actively and prophetically stand up and condemn injustice, to make peace even at the cost of our lives. As over 1400 Orthodox Christian theologians together recently declared, ‘there is no place for spiritual 'quietism' among the faithful and clergy of the Church, from the highest Patriarch down to most humble layperson. We cannot pray for peace while failing to actively make peace, whether out of fear or lack of faith.’ [10]
The late Henri Nouwen once said, ‘For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. There are only children, women and men to be loved.’ [11]
What we can do, is make every day an encounter with Jesus and others on the Way which leads to peace.
Notes
[1] Steve Stockman, Surmising meeting Pope Francis next week, Soul Surmise, 21 April 2022; Lisa Zengarini, Pope Francis encourages Irish students to promote culture of encounter, Vatican News, 25 April 2022.
[2] Steve Stockman, Surmising meeting Pope Francis next week, Soul Surmise, 21 April 2022.
[3] Steve Stockman, Surmising the day I met Pope Francis, Soul Surmise, 25 April 2022.
[4] ‘Russian world’ ideology is destructive, Church Times, 25 March 2022.
[5] ‘Russian world’ ideology is destructive, Church Times, 25 March 2022; Rene Girard, The Scapegoat, pp. 210-212, quoted by Paul Nuechterlein in Girardian Lectionary, Reflections, Easter 3C.
[6] Acts 9.4,15.
[7] To Pilgrims from the Catholic Chaplaincy at Queen’s University, Belfast, Activities of the Holy Father Pope Francis, 25 April 2022.
[8] Rene Girard, The Scapegoat, pp. 210-212, quoted by Paul Nuechterlein in Girardian Lectionary, Reflections, Easter 3C.
[9] ‘Russian world’ ideology is destructive, Church Times, 25 March 2022, quoting Galatians 3.28.
[10] ‘Russian world’ ideology is destructive, Church Times, 25 March 2022, quoting Matthew 9.13.
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