St Margaret's Church Prestwich

This sermon was preached by Rev Helen on Sunday 15 October. Here it is for you again.

We all have people who we admire or look up to. Just mentioning it now I’m sure you will be thinking about yours right:

• It could be a person from history how did something amazing
• It could be a family member or someone special you know.
• A teacher or someone who you have learnt a lot from
• It could be someone in the public eye, musician, actor.

Now this many not be a surprise to most people here but I am a David Bowie fan. In my opinion I can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like him. Recently I was chatting to one of my friends who doesn’t get the whole Bowie thing and got rather disturbed when I mentioned in my house and I have more pictures of Bowie than my mother. Now this is all banter and we have had this debate a lot over the years and often joke that we’ll find out on judgement day who has got this Bowie thing right and who’s got it wrong What were we really doing here, we were judging each other for liking or not liking someone. I’m judged for being a Bowie fan but lets be fair, I’m as judgemental because I’m judging them for not being.

But it does beg the question doesn’t it, we judge each other and other people so easily for sometimes little thing, for liking a certain celebrity, for someone they admire and look up to, for something they do and something the say. We do it for people we don’t know just from their appearance and sometimes that judgement can be deeply ingrained from our own culture, upbringing and our own personal prejudices. We are a society who judge people and judge people seriously for things that they can’t help. I mean it’s one thing to judge over liking a certain type of music or film but of course as a society we don’t stop there. We judge or make assumptions about people for their race, their gender, their sexuality, if they have a disability physical or mental (you might not even be able to see it), sometime even judging people for where they were born or what class they are from. What right have we got to judge people at all for these sort of things? None but we do and I include myself in that as well. So who does have that right? Who has the right to judge humans for who they are? When I have a question like this I usually turn to Jesus, as a good start point. So what did Jesus say about judging other people and what example did he set?

Well Jesus ate with the Tax Collectors, the outcasts, those people who society have shunned and written off. Jesus came to be with everyone not those who society think are acceptable, everyone is acceptable in Jesus eyes. He didn’t follow the crowd or do what society expected of him, he was different and he challenged those ingrained prejudices. It could be said he wasn’t just teaching and preaching he was leading a revolutionary movement.  He was telling the higher ups that they need to look after those below them and not sneer at them, Jesus came to be with those who were judge unworthy and were outcaste, the sick, the disabled, those who were different. How society had changed since the first century Common Era, I think not?

We see that in todays gospel where Jesus tells another parable and can’t you see God as the master in this story. Those who are first invited don’t wish to attend, so all those left out or undesirable also are invited to attend again if they want to or not. The master doesn’t make any judgements or judge anyone as undesirable the first will be last and the last will be first. Many are called but few are chosen. Those who are chosen are the ones who hear the message that Jesus has brought with him, who don’t judge people and welcome all into his church, just as he did on behalf of God.

So is God the only person allowed to judge and we can’t question God’s judgement? I’d argue that we can and the first reading from the Old Testament is a good example of that, you see the people in the desert have displeased God (again!) this time by making a golden calf and worshiping it. God isn’t happy and is going to smite them and destroy them all but Moses begs for the people to be spared, God is still not happy but Moses’ reasoning eventually works, he questions God and God does come round and spares them. Can we be like Moses and question God? We can question our leaders about how they run the country? Yes and that is what we do in a prayers an petitions. I’m sure everyone has questioned God’s judgement at some point, we don’t need to understand the answer, but we can still ask the question and I think this is something we should all do. When I was a child I can remember my vicar taught me many things about our relationship with God, but these two have always stuck with me, the first was never stop questioning God and the second was never stop demanding that God do better. When we live in a world that is still far from the tolerant and caring, the one that Jesus tried to bring about, so committed to this cause that he died for it, so why not ask the question of God especially when there is so much disruption and suffering in sometimes unimaginable ways. You might not get the answer you want or would feel comfortable with but that doesn’t mean you don’t ask the question.

So if only God shall judge us what do we do to get a place at the wedding banquet, be one of those who are chosen.  We do what Jesus told us and follow his example. We spend time with those who are in need, we care for those who outcast and judged by society and bring them back into the fold. We don’t judge others and treat everyone equally. We keep speaking to God, asking God make our society more just, fairer and make the people less fearful and more tolerant of those who are different to them. This is how we show the love Jesus brought to us, before he ascended he charged his followers to keep spreading his message of inclusion toleration and love for all and by doing this we know that we will have a place at the banquet and not need to make excuses. Amen

 

Some extra resources

•  Jesus. A Life in Class Conflict – James crossley and Robert J. Myles
• The Rebel Christ – Michael Coren
• Redefining Perfect Amy E. Jacober