| The Rublev Icon |
Trinity Sunday 15 June 2003 St Peters
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Revd Mark Bonney
Relationships can be the most exciting and the most trying of things. They provide energy and dynamism; they are the place of love, of growth and of discovery - they can also be the place of real pain and hurt, of loss and betrayal.
Today is Trinity Sunday - and I'm not on this occasion going to enter into a theological explanation of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Trinity is a dynamic of relationship that we enter into through worship, prayer and service - Bernard of Clairvaux said "How can plurality consist with unity, or unity with plurality? To examine the fact closely is rashness, to believe it is piety, to know it is eternal life." Amen to that - I will not be rash - neither will I be pious -rather I will take a very oblique link to the Trinity saying something about relationships - it's probably through our relationships that we most experience God.
As many of you will be aware through reading your newspapers in the past ten days or so, the Church of England and the Anglican Communion are, if the press are to believed, in danger of a severe split following the election in America of a homosexual man who lives with his partner to a diocesan bishopric, and the nomination in this country of a homosexual man to the suffragan bishopric of Reading - a man who the Bishop of Oxford assures us is following the House of Bishops' guidelines on homosexual behaviour. I have to confess that I have been exercised considerably by this, it's caused me some considerable disquiet - and I'll tell you exactly why a little later on.
The short space of a sermon doesn't give me time to go into any Biblical exegesis of the issues involved - suffice to say that quoting scripture verbatim doesn't get us very far. To say that the Bible condemns homosexual practise is deeply simplistic - it also condemns lending money for interest, it accepts slavery, it tells women to have their heads covered
(extempore comment - "I can't see many hats in church today")
and to keep quiet in church. Few people take any notice of these things - yet when it comes to homosexuality and the tiny number of references to it in the Bible a rampant literalism overcomes some people. I gave a talk a few months ago about these things and if you missed it and want to know more you'll to ask for a repeat performance.
One of my favourite images of the Holy Trinity is that of the Rublev icon - a copy of which you'll find at present in the Lady Chapel. Three angelic figures are gathered around the table with food upon it - they clearly have an intimate and close relationship with one another - but there's a space at the table - and that space is for the person who is engaging with the icon. The Rublev icon presents a picture of the Holy Trinity that isn't an exclusive closed relationship, but one that invites us in to share in the joyous movement of love that is the Godhead.
It also presents for me what a Christian community should be -one that is inclusive and inviting - sharing with others the delight of knowing God.
The way so much of the Christian church has been behaving over the past few weeks in respect of matters of sexuality leaves me appalled and deeply upset, particularly because of the treatment that gay people so often receive. The nominated bishop of Reading is being hounded by the press; Bishops from other provinces condemn him from afar - I'd be fascinated to know if they've ever met him or read any of his stuff. The main theme of the 1998 Lambeth Conference was, believe it or not, third world debt - but candidates for bishoprics aren't pursued about their views on this subject - but they're hounded about the gay issue.
When push comes to shove I think we need to ask some important questions about the kind of church we are and want to be. We usually say that we want to be welcoming - but are we welcoming to gay and lesbian people - are they welcomed joyfully around the table of the Rublev icon to share the joys of the Godhead? We've probably heard many a sermon about how important it is to see Christ in the poor, the unloved, in the widow and the orphan, and rightly so - but it's not just the poor, the widow and the orphan, when Christ comes into our church in the person of a gay or lesbian person does he or she experience support and affection or hostility and embarrassment? The way we answer that question is a real gospel matter.
Despite the apparently easy acceptance of gay and lesbian people in some circles there is a significant degree of homophobia in our society. I read the other day that research amongst gay and lesbian people shows that over a period of five years 34% of men and 24% of women surveyed had experienced violence. The percentages for those under 18 were even higher: one in two had experienced violence, 61% harassment and 90% verbal abuse.
It disturbs me greatly when I hear young children who don't know what they're talking about using words like gay, as a term of ridicule and abuse. That's learnt behaviour - and learnt only from those who are older and who should know better and should know to tell them otherwise - the trouble is too many adults use the same language abusively as well. Such things can only reinforce the homophobic elements within our society. Unless we're a church that supports all harassed minorities then we're not being loyal and obedient to Jesus.
I must now declare an interest - and it explains why this matter has exercised me. Jeffery John, the nominated Bishop of Reading has been a friend of mine for over 20 years: he was my confessor when I was at theological college, he preached at my First Mass - he's preached in this church and spoke to our Deanery Chapter not long ago. I stayed with him in London last time I was at General Synod. I also spoke to him on the 'phone last Sunday afternoon - he was speaking to me from his office - he hadn't been able to go home for three or four days because of the Press on his doorstep, people tailing him - he was very distressed. Jeffery's an honest man of enormous integrity and courage. He is definitely NOT a strident gay activist - but that isn't the impression you'd get from the papers. He's a first class NT scholar and an amazing linguist - learning foreign languages is his hobby - though he finds the Nordic ones a bit tricky. A periodical that came out last week that wasn't happy about the appointment nevertheless had the grace to say, "those who know Dr John would attest that he is an erudite, urbane and charming man who is capable with the pen. He may well, therefore, stand out in the otherwise grey world of suffragan bishops." I would heartily concur with that!
What kind of a church are we in?
A church worthy of the name needs to show everyone, including gay and lesbian people, that God loves them. When we as Christians stand in front of God - when we stand before that beautiful icon of the Trinity none of us wants to think that we're tolerated or just about allowed to be there - we want to be deeply, deeply loved. As Christian people we need to develop attitudes that help that sense of worth and love grow. When our Christian brothers and sisters, whoever they are, say "Who am I before you O God?"- I'm quite confident of the answer God gives, but it's an answer that is more often than not mediated initially, through us - and the answer we give is a deep spiritual and gospel matter.
I pray that all people will hear the answer "Yes, you're deeply deeply, loved -" Deeply loved by us, and above all deeply loved by the one and only living God - who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.