Christian Vocation
Sermon preached in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews on the 13th April, 2008 by Bishop Jon Cunningham
Readings: 1 Peter 2: 19 - 25 & John 10: 1- 10
Sermon
The Book of Acts of the Apostles, which was written by St. Luke, takes up where the Gospels leave off. It opens with his account of our Lord's Ascension and then goes on to tell us what happened afterwards. According to Luke, our Lord's final instruction to the Apostles was that they were to return to Jerusalem and await the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then they were to be his witnesses first of all in Jerusalem, then in Judea and in Samaria and indeed to the ends of the earth. In Chapter two, we are told what happened when the Holy Spirit descended upon them at Pentecost- how they were able to go out and communicate with people of all nationalities and languages, and how Peter proclaimed that Jesus the Nazarene, whom they had crucified, was in fact the Messiah and that he had risen from he dead. Cut to the heart, the people asked Peter and the Apostles, "Brothers, what must we do?" Peter replied that they must repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ.
It is a matter of history how the apostles carried out their mission to spread the Gospel message throughout the then known world.
Through the pages of the Acts of the Apostles, we are given an insight into the development of the early Christian communities in Jerusalem and elsewhere. Initially the followers of Jesus were called the 'Followers of the way'. In Chapter 11 V.26 we are told that it was at Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians.
The early Christians, however, were not all saints. St. Luke's account makes that quite clear. They had their differences of opinion and disagreements just like us, but they did have something that perhaps we have lost- a commitment to their Christian faith and as sense of mission to share that faith. As early as verse 42 of chapter tow, we are told that the infant community in Jerusalem were faithful to the teaching of the Apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. A few verses further on, we are informed that everyone looked up to them and that day by day the Lord added to their number. Looking back now, we cannot but be astonished by the rapid spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire despite persecution. As early as 150 A.D., Tertullian, writing as a Christian could taunt his pagan rivals with these words- 'We are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all the places that you frequent- cities, villages, towns, the camp itself, the palace, the senate, the forum- we have left you nothing but your temples.'
The first of our two readings today were taken from the First Letter of St. Peter which was addressed to the Christian communities in Asia minor and was written towards the end of Peter's life, probably before the end of the year 64 A.D. In the passage in question, Peter is reflecting on what it means to be a Christian. For him there is more to being a Christian than simply believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Being a Christian means living like Christ, identifying with him. The Christian has to learn to refer all the experiences of his life to Christ, in order to live them in, with and through Christ. Accumulated Christian experience has in fact shown that it is possible to refer all human situations to Christ¿s life, death and resurrection and to draw endless inspiration from that source.
In today¿s second reading, which was taken from chapter ten of John's gospel, Jesus compares his love for his disciples to the love of a shepherd for his sheep. The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd searching out the lost sheep is a very endearing one. It assures us that he will never abandon us. On the contrary if we stay and fall by the wayside, he will seek us out and lead us home.
Today's first reading challenges us by reminding us of what it should mean to be Christian. We should be imitating Christ in our daily lives and leading others to Him through the example of our lives. If we have been failing in this regard, the second reading tells us that Jesus will always welcome us back. G.K. Chesterton summed things up well when he said: 'The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found very difficult and left untried.' I began by reflecting on the Early Church. The early Christians were not all saints, but as a community they probably came closer to the Christian ideal than any subsequent generation. They did have a marked effect on the world in which they lived. There is surely a lesson there for us.