"Something New Under The Sun"
In the wake of September 11, the world's religions are striving to understand one another in unprecedented fashion.
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. The Reverend John Harries
Sunday, February 3, 2002
Texts: Ecclesiastes 1:1-9,
2 Corinthians 5:16-19
Prayer: God who makes all things as new as the morning,
may your Word now be spoken,
may your Word now be heard,
may we discover your Will for us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
A few months ago, I was at a wedding reception. For one reason or another, one of the guests began to explain to me the reason why he had become inactive in his particular church.
"I've been there and done that," he said. "It's the same old thing every Sunday. I've heard it all before. There's nothing new in the church."
He sounded to me like Solomon, who is said to have written the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament:
"I have seen it all (and) nothing makes sense! People come, and people go, but still the world never changes. The sun comes up, the sun goes down; … the wind blows south, the wind blows north; … everything that happens has happened before; nothing is new, nothing under the sun.
This kind of pessimistic attitude may be an understandable symptom of the February blues, but it's not Christianity. In contrast, Jesus is the One who makes all things new. As St. Paul once explained, anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.
Now this morning, I want to tell you about something that is very new under the sun!
There have always been many religions in the world. The human race has always worshipped in many different ways. This is nothing new. What's new is the global reach of religious pluralism. During the past 100 years, the religious appearance of our planet has been transformed. In more and more regions of the world, several religious communities now co-exist. International immigration patterns are at the root of this interfaith explosion.
In the past, most religious groups have tended to remain within their own cultural borders. But not now! In 2002, 14 major religions are present in more than 80 countries. Never in the history of humankind has there been such a large meeting of religions.
Canada, as you know, is a pioneer in the creation of a multifaith society. The fastest-growing faith in Canada is now Buddhism, and it will soon be Islam. There are more than 300,000 Buddhists in this country. More than 250,000 Hindus live here in Canada, 315,000 Jews and 300,000 Sikhs. The United Nations has referred to Toronto as the most multi-religious city in the world.1
This is something new under the sun, not only for our city, but also for the ministry of this congregation. The context in which we seek to serve the Lord and to love God's people is new. Now, what does all this actually mean from a Christian point of view? As individuals, how should we be responding to this change? And how should religious pluralism influence the angle of our mission as a church? What is God's Word for us on this matter?
I want to take you, this morning, to the city of Corinth in Greece. I visited there last spring. Why Corinth? Because it's an excellent biblical example of what's been happening in Toronto.
There were many, many understandings of the sacred in this ancient city. It was, of course, a Greek community, located not far from Athens. Zeus was the most revered Greek god, but since Corinth was located on water, like Toronto, Poseidon, god of the sea was also popular. To this day, the site of the great temple of Apollo and Aphrodite, goddess of love, is on a huge hill that dominates the ruins of the city. And there were also Athena, Artemis, Hera, Hermes, Hestia and a host of other Greek divinities.
But Corinth was also a Roman city, the most important in the country. Janus, Jupiter, Diana, Hercules, Mars, Minerva, Saturn, Venus and Vesta - the list of Roman gods seems endless. And of course, the Jews had a prominent synagogue in the city. That's where the Apostle Paul went to preach the message of Christ (Acts 18:1-11). So in the midst of all this religious fervour, there was also a growing Christian church. Can you see how Corinth was like our city?
Into this multifaith mix, Paul sent his famous letter of counsel and advice. Note what he says to the earliest Christians in Corinth, and to us now in Toronto ….
1. TAKE CARE WITH YOUR JUDGEMENTS!
"Be careful not to judge people by what they seem to be." (2 Corinthians 5:16)
Although I am sure that we would like to deny it, the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant neighbourhood of the 1950s that I grew up in often tended to be judgemental about faith persuasions beyond our own, especially in relation to native religious beliefs, Judaism and Roman Catholicism. Religious (and racial) prejudice was not at all uncommon on the mid-town Toronto street corners where I hung out with my friends.
My first glimpse of an alternative way happened inside my father's downtown tailor shop where I swept the floors after school. As a child, Dad had been an immigrant himself. It was no accident that he hired tailors from around the world. They spoke many languages that I had never heard before, and their religious backgrounds were a complete mystery to me. But in all the years that I worked for him, I never once heard an anti-religious or anti-racial slur or joke. He managed a little United Nations. When one sits and sews suits for 35 or 40 years beside a Jew, Buddhist, Hindu or Moslem, or anyone else who worships differently, one learns the kind of human tolerance and religious understanding that is needed in the face of this interfaith newness under the sun.
It is the Word of God through the pen of St. Paul that will enable us to remain faithful to this direction - let us be careful, he advises, of what judgements we make of people who are different from ourselves.
2. GOD HAS DONE IT ALL!
Many scholars consider that the modern interfaith dialogue movement began in 1893, at the Parliament of World Religions. A young Hindu monk, by the name of Swami Vivekananda, travelled from India to Chicago to explain his faith to the delegates. "Sectarianism, bigotry, and … fanaticism have long possessed this beautiful earth," he said. "They have filled the earth with violence, … drenched it with human blood, … and sent whole nations to despair." Ironically, the date was September 11. He received a standing ovation.2
It is not hard to see God's presence in what has happened. As St. Paul expressed in his letter to Corinth, "God has done it all." The world's religions used to relate to each other on an informal, casual, even accidental basis. But not now! Interfaith conversations are now intentional, well-organized and planet-wide. And it's not all just talk! Religions are working together to confront many of the most troubling issues of our time - AIDS, racism, violence, poverty, Third-World debt reduction, conflict resolution of all kinds, animal welfare, First Nation rights, social and economic justice, sexual equality, child labour, interfaith education and the development of multifaith prayer, theology and spirituality, as in the United Church of Canada's Vision TV Ministry.
In 1993, 200 religious leaders who represented every major religion committed themselves to establishing a common global ethic; and in 1999, at the Parliament of World Religions in Capetown, South Africa, an interfaith call was made to five guiding institutions - religious communities, that is us - education, government, business and the media. All over the planet, creative and bold interfaith initiatives are being launched, such as the Westminster United Church congregation in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, that has build a shared house of worship with the Temple Shalom Jewish Congregation in that community.3
Interfaith involvement can bring fear and uncertainty to the surface in followers of any religion. But once this initial insecurity has subsided, Christians and others who participate in this movement will be led by God's Spirit towards a re-examination of their own faith tradition. As we share our religious experience with our multifaith neighbours, we will come to understand Jesus in a new and deeper way. The purpose of interfaith conversation is not our conversion to a different religion. Nor is it to convert others to our persuasion. When someone changes from one faith to another, it is God's revelation that makes it happen. As the great Mahatma Gandhi once said: "Not only do religions need to understand each other, they also need one another in order to understand themselves."4
That's what was happening in Assisi, Italy last week. Led by Pope John Paul in his white robe, there were Christian monks in brown woollen habits, saffron-robed Buddhists, black-cloaked Muslims, Sikhs wearing turbans, white-bearded Orthodox patriarchs and Jewish rabbis, the world's religious leaders travelling together on a peace train to pray at the tomb of St. Francis. "In the name of God," said the Pope, "May religion bring upon the earth justice, forgiveness and love."5 There is something very new in this, under the sun! As Paul, the great Christian Apostle wrote in his second letter to Corinth, we are now new creations in Christ, and God has done it all.
3. WE MUST MAKE PEACE
On the morning of last September 11th, about two hours after the World Trade Centre had been destroyed, I spoke on the telephone with one of our church members whose brother was in downtown New York.
"The earth has been shaken," he said, "The world has been changed forever."
I shall never forget these words. I think he was right, but I also think that each one of us, and even the Christian Church itself, has been changed forever.
A few days after these tragic events, our church sponsored an evening for peace, healing and reflection. It was called "Day Of Infamy - How Should Christians Respond?" Some of you were there. The closing, candle-lit circle in the auditorium left an indelible impression on my soul, as participants shared their grief, tears and insights. Something new under the sun came to us that night. With Jews and Moslems now living in fear in our own hometown, Timothy Eaton Memorial had better get going on its interfaith dialogue and ministry. We can be proud of our relationships over the years with our neighbouring synagogues and with other Christian churches, but clearly, so clearly, much more is needed.
That's why we brought in Paul McKenna, one of Toronto's most experienced interfaith educators on November 21st. And that's why Larry Windland from the Encounter World Religions Centre in Guelph will be here on February 20th, for an evening of "Sacred Symbols" that should not be missed. And that's why we must go much further in the future, for as Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and to us: "Just as God sent Jesus, to make peace between himself and us, so also, he has given to us, the work of making peace between himself and others."
Some of you will be familiar with our congregation's Labyrinth Prayer Path, which began three years ago. It's a quiet and mysterious ministry that is recovering a powerful spiritual tool, dating back in the church for many centuries. Regular workshops and walking meditation times are provided.
If you have walked the Labyrinth yourself, you will know that it is designed as an open 40' canvas circle. There are no doors into it that can be shut. There are no walls around it. There are no questions asked when walkers arrive from all over the city. There are no belief statements to be recited before you begin your walk. For Christians who walk the path, there is the light of the Christ candle at the centre, but that same light can serve as a universal symbol that every creed and culture can embrace. I don't know this for sure, but since we have prayer and meditation in common with every world religion, I have a suspicion that God has given our Church the Labyrinth as a unique gift and opportunity for interfaith dialogue and spirituality. As St. Paul advises, we must do our part in making peace, peace within ourselves, and peace with others.
The great Christian theologian Hans Kung put it this way:
"There will be no world peace without peace among the world's religions. There will be no peace among the world's religions without dialogue among the world religions. There will be no dialogue among the world's religions without accurate knowledge of one another."6
There are as many paths to God in Toronto as there were in ancient Corinth. So let us remember that "God has done it all. The past is forgotten. Everything is new. So we must be careful how we judge our sisters and brothers, and seek peace in Jesus' name."
And to my acquaintance at the wedding reception I would say this: "You haven't been here and done this. Church is not the same thing every Sunday. You haven't heard it all before, because there's something very new under God's sun!"
This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.