There are always many things to think about when preparing a sermon, and this week has been no exception.
Some people have been preoccupied by the Australian election, while others have been looking overseas at the Presidential Election in Afghanistan or the terrorist attacks in Egypt on the Red Sea. There are even some people who have been following the debate in the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia. I would make a pretty good guess that General Synod is very low in the popularity stakes - it attracts almost no TV coverage, and the Sydney Morning Herald has, I think, picked up only two items.
The first item concerns the consecration of women as bishops. A ruling to allow the consecration of women as bishops was lost. Nearly three quarters of the bishops in Australia were in favour; but among the clergy and among the lay people the motion was lost because the vote fell short of a two thirds majority.
Although a clear majority of the church is in favour of women bishops now in 2004, the opportunity to reconsider the matter will not occur again until 2011. Until then, there will be frustration, anger and disappointment, while in the wider community the church will be seen to be wholly out of touch with the status of women in the rest of Australia. The gap between the church and the rest of society will grow larger.
And this is a tragedy for the gospel. By making special rules for itself the church is actually making it more difficult to proclaim the gospel. People not in the church will see the rules and not the gospel. When the church declares that "the truth will set you free" and then restricts freedom in ways the world does not understand; the world sees hypocrisy rather than good news.
The second news item concerned homosexuality. The synod did not allow the liturgical celebration of single sex relationships, nor did it allow the ordination of persons in a single sex relationship. Again, the discrimination against gay people denies the gospel of God's unconditional love and raises questions about the integrity of a church which has, in the past, ordained gay people and now denies them the possibility of a long term relationship. Once again the church is creating barriers which many people would see as unnecessary and un-Christian.
The church is struggling with a problem it has suffered from for the whole of its existence. The problem begins, not surprisingly, with the idea of sin. Human sinfulness has separated us from God and this separation means that we cannot lead lives which reflect the love of God. In other words, humans have become disobedient to the will of God. So far, all the church agrees. The church also agrees that through Jesus Christ, we are reunited with God. Jesus Christ has broken down the barriers between us and God so that, through Jesus, we can lead lives which reflect the love of God and which are obedient to God's will.
The difficulty arises when we ask the question, "How do I know when what I do reflects the love of God? How do I know when I am being obedient?"
We may begin with the declaration that God is love and that love is the fulfilling of the law. That is, all our human actions must be measured against the love of God.
St Paul wrote to the Roman Church that "God's love has been poured into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." The church should therefore make its decisions based on this love in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, chapter 15 verse 28, the church made a decision not to require circumcision for all male believers, and they used the phrase, "It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…"
However, it is also true to say that human sinfulness is such that we cannot judge our own actions rightly - we misread God's love and grieve God's Holy Spirit. It is true that Jesus Christ, through his death on the cross, paid the price of sin and freed us from our guilt. But to benefit from Christ's sacrifice, humans must be obedient to God, and God's will for us comes through the inspired word of the Bible. Therefore, every Christian obedient to God should turn to the words of the Bible to discover God's will. In the words of St Paul to Timothy, "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the children of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16 & 17)
Martin Luther, back in the sixteenth century, saw the problem with clearer eyes than most. He said that Scripture is the word of God because in it, THE Word, Christ, is revealed. The Church should then turn to the Bible, not to find unchangeable laws written down, but instead to find Christ, using reason and prayer for the Holy Spirit's guidance. And this has been the Anglican Church's approach to solving problems in the life of the church - it has turned to Scripture, interpreted according reason and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Anglican Church is also a human organisation, and it suffers from the problems of any human organisation. There are factions and power groups, special interest groups and lobby groups. It is a frustrating organisation to belong to, and at times infuriating. Sometimes the Scriptures are interpreted according to bigotry and prejudice and it seems as if the Holy Spirit gets no vote in Synod.
At such times it is important to people of good will and faith to pray for repentance and a change of heart among those who are most recalcitrant.