00:01:25:21 - 00:01:27:19
I think
my first task is to
00:01:27:19 - 00:01:29:21
wish the chapel
happy birthday
00:01:30:11 - 00:01:32:11
and many happy
returns
00:01:32:23 - 00:01:33:24
to say
that this is a
00:01:33:24 - 00:01:35:24
happy return for me,
certainly
00:01:37:05 - 00:01:38:19
to what's already
been described
00:01:38:19 - 00:01:40:19
as the scene of my
greatest triumphs.
00:01:42:13 - 00:01:43:15
Thank you to Jane.
00:01:43:15 - 00:01:45:13
Thank you to the
College community
00:01:45:13 - 00:01:47:13
for their welcome.
00:01:50:12 - 00:01:51:04
In the name of the
00:01:51:04 - 00:01:52:08
Father and of the Son
00:01:52:08 - 00:01:54:04
and of the Holy
Spirit
00:01:54:04 - 00:01:56:04
Amen.
00:01:58:00 - 00:01:58:09
When the
00:01:58:09 - 00:01:59:17
Roman Empire
00:01:59:17 - 00:02:01:21
persecuted the early
Christians,
00:02:02:22 - 00:02:05:02
they did so mostly
on the grounds
00:02:05:13 - 00:02:07:18
that Christians
were atheists.
00:02:09:21 - 00:02:11:21
That's to say,
Christians
00:02:11:23 - 00:02:14:03
didn't understand
about the gods,
00:02:15:08 - 00:02:17:01
and they treated
the gods
00:02:17:01 - 00:02:19:03
so clumsily
and tactlessly
00:02:19:22 - 00:02:21:04
that the gods
were liable
00:02:21:04 - 00:02:22:10
to get very angry
00:02:22:10 - 00:02:24:11
indeed with
the Roman Empire,
00:02:25:22 - 00:02:27:22
which is why it was
not a good idea
00:02:27:23 - 00:02:28:11
to have a lot
00:02:28:11 - 00:02:28:24
of active
00:02:28:24 - 00:02:30:24
Christians around
in the Empire.
00:02:31:12 - 00:02:33:22
It was not only bad
for public morale,
00:02:34:07 - 00:02:36:18
but very bad indeed
for PR
00:02:36:24 - 00:02:38:07
with the
heavenly hosts.
00:02:40:17 - 00:02:41:09
What, after all,
00:02:41:09 - 00:02:43:09
did Christians
get up to?
00:02:44:13 - 00:02:45:02
They didn't
00:02:45:02 - 00:02:47:02
behave with their
God
00:02:47:06 - 00:02:49:06
as sensible
people did.
00:02:50:14 - 00:02:51:02
Sensible
00:02:51:02 - 00:02:53:14
people
knew that gods,
00:02:54:04 - 00:02:56:04
all sorts of them,
00:02:56:05 - 00:02:58:05
lived in
particular places.
00:02:59:08 - 00:03:00:10
And if you were
treating them
00:03:00:10 - 00:03:02:11
sensibly,
you'd build them
00:03:02:18 - 00:03:04:18
a nice,
comfortable house
00:03:04:22 - 00:03:06:22
that you could visit
from time to time.
00:03:08:19 - 00:03:10:19
Gods lived in
houses.
00:03:11:14 - 00:03:13:14
That's what
temples were for.
00:03:14:04 - 00:03:16:06
You might gather
outside those houses
00:03:16:21 - 00:03:18:05
and sacrifice
and have a
00:03:18:05 - 00:03:20:05
generally good time.
00:03:20:05 - 00:03:21:23
But the point of the
temple
00:03:21:23 - 00:03:23:23
was to house
the god.
00:03:25:11 - 00:03:27:16
Where were Christian
temples?
00:03:29:12 - 00:03:31:12
Nowhere to be seen.
00:03:32:10 - 00:03:34:10
What did
Christians do?
00:03:36:01 - 00:03:38:01
Heaven only knows.
00:03:38:04 - 00:03:39:01
But they seemed
to meet on
00:03:39:01 - 00:03:41:01
Saturday nights
and Sunday mornings
00:03:41:06 - 00:03:44:19
in squalid top floor
flats to do
00:03:45:01 - 00:03:47:01
goodness knows what
00:03:47:01 - 00:03:49:11
they were said
to perform appalling
00:03:49:11 - 00:03:51:20
things, to eat flesh
and drink blood.
00:03:55:04 - 00:03:55:24
Who could trust
00:03:55:24 - 00:03:57:24
people like that?
00:03:58:10 - 00:03:59:19
You really needed
to get them
00:03:59:19 - 00:04:01:06
out of the way
because they didn't
00:04:01:06 - 00:04:03:06
understand
about God.
00:04:07:03 - 00:04:08:18
Christians
were bad enough,
00:04:08:18 - 00:04:10:09
but then actually
so were
00:04:10:09 - 00:04:12:09
Jews.
00:04:13:05 - 00:04:15:05
Jews at
least had a temple,
00:04:16:12 - 00:04:18:12
just the one
apparently
00:04:18:24 - 00:04:20:04
in Jerusalem.
00:04:20:04 - 00:04:22:04
A very spectacular
building.
00:04:22:21 - 00:04:23:20
But one of
the stories
00:04:23:20 - 00:04:25:00
we’re told about
00:04:25:00 - 00:04:27:13
Roman bafflement
over Jewish religion
00:04:28:10 - 00:04:29:19
is the story
of how Caesar's
00:04:29:19 - 00:04:31:11
rival Pompey,
00:04:31:11 - 00:04:32:24
in his journeying
through
00:04:32:24 - 00:04:33:22
what was then
00:04:33:22 - 00:04:36:10
Syria, arrived
in Jerusalem
00:04:37:04 - 00:04:38:09
and forced his way
00:04:38:09 - 00:04:40:09
into the innermost
sanctuary
00:04:40:11 - 00:04:42:11
of the Jerusalem
temple
00:04:42:17 - 00:04:43:18
expecting to find
00:04:43:18 - 00:04:45:22
what you would
normally find in
00:04:45:22 - 00:04:47:22
a well-appointed
sanctuary
00:04:48:11 - 00:04:50:11
that is, lots of
valuable gifts
00:04:50:15 - 00:04:52:15
and a statue.
00:04:53:08 - 00:04:54:18
What did he find
00:04:54:18 - 00:04:56:18
in the sanctuary
at Jerusalem?
00:04:59:17 - 00:05:01:12
A rather
elderly wooden box
00:05:02:17 - 00:05:04:17
and nothing else.
00:05:07:04 - 00:05:08:02
What was it then
00:05:08:02 - 00:05:10:02
about Christians
and Jews
00:05:10:09 - 00:05:12:00
that pushed them
into this
00:05:12:00 - 00:05:14:04
Extraordinarily
irreverent
00:05:14:11 - 00:05:16:11
and irregular
behaviour,
00:05:16:14 - 00:05:18:14
which seemed to take
no account
00:05:18:23 - 00:05:20:23
of the gods -
what they needed
00:05:21:09 - 00:05:23:09
what kept them
happy
00:05:23:12 - 00:05:25:12
where they needed
to live,
00:05:25:12 - 00:05:27:12
what you needed
to say to them.
00:05:29:24 - 00:05:31:20
Jews and Christians
00:05:31:20 - 00:05:34:09
believed in God
in a different way.
00:05:34:21 - 00:05:36:01
They didn't
simply believe
00:05:36:01 - 00:05:38:01
in a different God.
00:05:39:07 - 00:05:40:00
They believed that
00:05:40:00 - 00:05:42:00
their encounter
with God
00:05:42:18 - 00:05:43:20
was an encounter,
00:05:43:20 - 00:05:46:15
not with a power,
a presence,
00:05:47:05 - 00:05:48:06
rather like theirs
00:05:48:06 - 00:05:50:06
only bigger
00:05:50:17 - 00:05:52:21
but something like
being projected
00:05:53:07 - 00:05:55:00
into an unimaginably
larger
00:05:55:00 - 00:05:57:00
world.
00:05:57:04 - 00:05:58:03
In the
Old Testament,
00:05:58:03 - 00:05:59:10
when Solomon
dedicates
00:05:59:10 - 00:06:01:10
the temple
in Jerusalem,
00:06:01:12 - 00:06:02:17
he says, “We know
00:06:02:17 - 00:06:04:17
perfectly well
00:06:05:00 - 00:06:07:00
that heaven and the
heaven of heavens
00:06:07:05 - 00:06:09:05
cannot contain you.”
00:06:10:15 - 00:06:11:23
This is not a house
00:06:13:00 - 00:06:15:00
for you to retire to
00:06:15:22 - 00:06:17:22
with a dog in a
patch of garden.
00:06:18:21 - 00:06:20:21
This is simply
a space
00:06:21:01 - 00:06:23:06
through which
we human beings
00:06:24:07 - 00:06:26:06
may glimpse
00:06:26:06 - 00:06:28:04
a limitless
00:06:28:04 - 00:06:29:08
unborn,
00:06:29:08 - 00:06:31:08
unending reality
00:06:31:15 - 00:06:33:05
in whose presence
00:06:33:05 - 00:06:35:05
we are changed.
00:06:37:06 - 00:06:39:04
Christians inherited
00:06:39:04 - 00:06:41:22
that vision,
or you might say,
00:06:41:23 - 00:06:43:23
non-vision of God.
00:06:45:19 - 00:06:47:19
The God that
Christians worshipped
00:06:48:16 - 00:06:49:20
was not a God
00:06:49:20 - 00:06:52:09
who lived in houses
made by hands.
00:06:53:06 - 00:06:54:14
We read that
00:06:54:14 - 00:06:55:14
Again
in the pages of
00:06:55:14 - 00:06:57:14
the New Testament.
00:06:58:13 - 00:07:00:16
Those houses
made by hands
00:07:00:22 - 00:07:02:22
where Christians
might meet
00:07:03:01 - 00:07:05:01
to encounter God
00:07:05:14 - 00:07:07:12
were passage ways
00:07:07:12 - 00:07:09:12
into the new
landscape,
00:07:10:13 - 00:07:11:21
where people
00:07:11:21 - 00:07:13:21
thought and felt
00:07:14:07 - 00:07:16:07
and saw differently.
00:07:19:09 - 00:07:21:09
That's
why it's significant
00:07:21:10 - 00:07:23:10
in both Hebrew and
Christian Scripture
00:07:24:11 - 00:07:25:12
that great moments
00:07:25:12 - 00:07:27:12
of crisis
and transition
00:07:27:21 - 00:07:29:21
tend to happen out
in the desert.
00:07:32:02 - 00:07:34:13
That featureless
space
00:07:35:11 - 00:07:38:02
with no buildings,
no houses,
00:07:39:01 - 00:07:39:16
no dogs,
00:07:39:16 - 00:07:41:16
and no back gardens
00:07:42:16 - 00:07:44:22
out under the
infinity of the sky.
00:07:46:01 - 00:07:47:05
Jews and Christians
00:07:47:05 - 00:07:49:05
understood
00:07:49:09 - 00:07:51:09
that the God
they worshiped
00:07:51:14 - 00:07:53:14
was never
to be contained,
00:07:54:00 - 00:07:55:24
but rather that
his life
00:07:55:24 - 00:07:57:15
reached out
to embrace
00:07:57:15 - 00:07:59:15
them.
00:08:01:06 - 00:08:01:19
Jacob,
00:08:01:19 - 00:08:03:19
in our Old Testament
lesson,
00:08:04:11 - 00:08:06:11
is running away
from home.
00:08:06:17 - 00:08:08:17
He doesn't know what
his future holds.
00:08:08:22 - 00:08:10:14
He has
mortally offended
00:08:10:14 - 00:08:11:08
probably every
00:08:11:08 - 00:08:13:08
other member
of his family.
00:08:13:14 - 00:08:15:14
His future
looks bleak.
00:08:16:15 - 00:08:18:13
He lies down
00:08:18:13 - 00:08:20:13
in a desert place.
00:08:20:24 - 00:08:23:03
He pillows his head
on a rock
00:08:24:20 - 00:08:25:16
and he finds
00:08:25:16 - 00:08:27:16
that this place
00:08:28:03 - 00:08:30:03
is God's place,
00:08:30:22 - 00:08:32:09
not because there's
a little marker
00:08:32:09 - 00:08:34:21
around it
saying “God's place”
00:08:36:07 - 00:08:38:02
but because,
00:08:38:02 - 00:08:39:13
well, you might say
00:08:39:13 - 00:08:41:13
because God.
00:08:42:07 - 00:08:42:16
Because
00:08:42:16 - 00:08:44:16
this is where He is
to meet
00:08:45:00 - 00:08:46:11
the presence
that will begin to
00:08:46:11 - 00:08:48:02
transform
his identity
00:08:49:08 - 00:08:49:15
and the
00:08:49:15 - 00:08:51:15
identity of all
those around him.
00:08:52:21 - 00:08:54:16
He rises from his
dream of God
00:08:54:16 - 00:08:56:12
and the angels
00:08:56:12 - 00:08:57:21
and says,
00:08:57:21 - 00:08:59:21
The Lord was here
in this place,
00:09:01:09 - 00:09:03:05
and I did
not know it.
00:09:03:05 - 00:09:05:05
Or as we might
translate it:
00:09:05:11 - 00:09:07:11
“I’d never have
guessed it.”
00:09:10:10 - 00:09:12:00
But listen also
00:09:12:00 - 00:09:12:21
to the way
in which the
00:09:12:21 - 00:09:14:21
resurrection story
is told
00:09:15:00 - 00:09:17:00
in our New Testament
lesson tonight.
00:09:18:13 - 00:09:19:20
Once again,
00:09:19:20 - 00:09:21:20
at the heart of
everything
00:09:21:23 - 00:09:23:23
is an empty space
00:09:24:17 - 00:09:25:21
where
the body of Jesus
00:09:25:21 - 00:09:27:19
is meant to be.
00:09:27:19 - 00:09:29:01
There is a gap,
00:09:29:01 - 00:09:30:19
a doorway, a passage
00:09:30:19 - 00:09:32:19
into something new.
00:09:33:17 - 00:09:34:19
“Why are you
looking for
00:09:34:19 - 00:09:36:19
the living
a mong the dead?”
00:09:37:18 - 00:09:38:17
the angels say
00:09:38:17 - 00:09:40:17
to the women
at the tomb.
00:09:41:19 - 00:09:43:03
“Who are you
looking for?”
00:09:43:03 - 00:09:45:03
says Jesus
to Mary Magdalene.
00:09:46:06 - 00:09:48:10
“Don't cling to
me”, he says.
00:09:48:23 - 00:09:50:05
“I am on my way
00:09:51:09 - 00:09:51:19
into the
00:09:51:19 - 00:09:53:19
Heart
of the mystery.
00:09:53:21 - 00:09:55:21
and you can't
hold onto me
00:09:56:02 - 00:09:58:02
and contain me
00:09:58:06 - 00:10:00:06
and make a
little house for me.”
00:10:03:19 - 00:10:05:05
“Why, then,
00:10:05:05 - 00:10:07:13
should we celebrate
any building?”
00:10:08:05 - 00:10:10:05
you might say.
00:10:10:24 - 00:10:12:13
Simply
because we need
00:10:12:13 - 00:10:14:13
signs of passage.
00:10:15:08 - 00:10:16:21
Signs that
00:10:16:21 - 00:10:18:21
take us in one way
or another
00:10:19:12 - 00:10:21:12
from a habitual
world
00:10:21:21 - 00:10:23:21
into something
larger
00:10:24:02 - 00:10:26:06
that take us from
our habitual self
00:10:26:19 - 00:10:28:16
and our pictures
of ourself
00:10:28:16 - 00:10:30:13
into something
larger
00:10:30:13 - 00:10:32:18
that take us from
our pictures of God
00:10:33:10 - 00:10:34:12
to something larger
00:10:34:12 - 00:10:36:12
and more
uncontrollable.
00:10:38:19 - 00:10:40:22
The worst thing
we could ever do
00:10:41:16 - 00:10:43:16
with places of
worship
00:10:44:08 - 00:10:45:22
is to suppose
00:10:45:22 - 00:10:47:11
that they are
where God
00:10:47:11 - 00:10:49:11
is contained
00:10:49:16 - 00:10:50:09
rather than that
00:10:50:09 - 00:10:52:09
they are
the passageway
00:10:52:15 - 00:10:54:15
into an
uncontainable
00:10:54:24 - 00:10:56:05
and therefore
00:10:56:05 - 00:10:58:08
quite risky
and demanding
00:10:59:05 - 00:11:01:05
larger world.
00:11:02:21 - 00:11:04:14
When we give thanks
00:11:04:14 - 00:11:06:00
for any
place of worship,
00:11:07:17 - 00:11:09:15
this chapel,
00:11:09:15 - 00:11:11:15
a Quaker
meeting house,
00:11:11:21 - 00:11:13:21
Saint
Peter's in Rome.
00:11:13:24 - 00:11:15:18
Wherever
00:11:15:18 - 00:11:17:13
we give thanks
00:11:17:13 - 00:11:19:20
that it has been
a place of passage.