Christianity and Contemporary Society

Sermon - Christianity and Contemporary Society – Preached at St Alphege on 21/01/07 (Epiphany 3)

Readings: Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6,8-10, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a, Luke 4:14-21

Today I have been asked to preach on the theme of “Christianity and Contemporary Society.” After the service there will be an opportunity to discuss this topic further in room 1 of the OBH. I have never been involved in a post sermon discussion before, but I do think it is a wonderful opportunity. The G4G feedback suggests that in this church we need more opportunities to talk about our faith among ourselves, so I hope that we can make good use of the opportunity we get today. I hope that you will be interested in the topic, and maybe even in the sermon!
So Christianity and Contemporary Society; where to start? Well I think it is important to start by recognising and celebrating some of the great achievements of contemporary Western society. It is all too easy to take these for granted and to forget that many good and wonderful things have been achieved.
For example in the field of healthcare we have come a very long way in the last two hundred years. The same is true of education, democracy, civil rights, equality of women, wealth, housing, safety and security, transport, communications and technology.
In almost any of these fields of activity our present day society in the Western world is incomparably better than almost any other society that has ever existed on this planet. Because we live immersed in these benefits all of the time, it is very easy for us to forget how good it really is. The two years that our family spent living in India certainly helped me to understand that we take many good things for granted, living in the West.
And as well as reminding ourselves just how lucky we are in Western society, I think is important that we recognise that these great achievements of our society are in many ways attributable to Christian culture. And here in lies the rub. Our culture is certainly far less Christian than it used to be. The 2001 census tells us that 70% of the population of the UK still thinks of itself as Christian, but the evidence of this in terms of public life, daily living and Sunday worship is far weaker than it was 50 or 100 years ago.
For example, let’s consider a big feature of Western society today; the problem of consumerism. We all see dozens of advertisements every day. We have endless advertising telling us that we need a new car, a holiday, a better house, or a particular gadget. And these advertisements affect society very profoundly and create needs that become very real. When I was young I lived quite happily with no computers; now I absolutely must have a PC and a laptop!
Whether we like it or not we are consumers. We do want to try out the products that are on the market. We feel we want to experience what the world has to offer. We also find that other people want this too, and we can very quickly start to feel left behind if we are the only people who don’t take a foreign holiday or send our children to dancing lessons. Consequently we work ourselves very hard to sample all the different products and experiences on offer. We start to find that we are very busy, and other things get squeezed out. All to easily it is our relationships that get squeezed out.
How much time and energy do we invest in our relationship with God, or in our family relationships, our church relationships, or our community? I realise that I might be talking to the converted here but we need to be aware of the paradox. Investing in our relationships certainly requires time and effort, but by and large it does not demand money. Nobody sells us our personal relationships. This means that there are no TV ads promoting family life. There are no billboards that tell us to be good neighbours. And yet our personal relationships have far, far more to do with our happiness than the shampoo we use or the electricity supplier we select.
One of the sad, sad things about Western society today is that despite the many huge advantages that we have, there seems to be a general perception that we are much less happy that we were 50 years ago.
In fact, if we watch the television news, or read the papers it becomes easy to fall into fear and despair. What can be done about global warming? How will the problem of Iraq ever be resolved? What should happen about immigration? Will I be mugged by a youth wearing a hoodie? Does God really have anything to do with all this?
It is very important to realise that the modern news media systematically searches out and presents to us the most dramatic, outlandish and disturbing material it can find, because this, it would seem, this boosts newspaper sales and TV ratings. Many important religious events go completely unnoticed by the media, but a religious controversy can be big news. Although we live in dark times, the word is not as dark and confused as we might think from watching the television.
Pope John Paul II famously compared the dark troubles of contemporary Western society with the dark night of the soul sometimes experienced by great saints as they journey towards God. Such saints, and the archetypical example is St John of the Cross, sometimes experience long periods where God seems to be completely absent from their lives. During these periods, which are spiritually very painful and difficult, the saint is forced to trust God in his absence, and to continue growing in love, particularly by developing a love for the cross. And then, sometimes quite suddenly, the dark night ends and God reveals himself back to the saint, who in the mean time has become more perfect in love and more perfectly united to Christ.
I believe that the comparisons with Western society are profound. God seems increasingly absent from our society, but we are called to respond in the same way as the saint. When the time suits him, God will reveal himself again, but in the mean time we must learn to trust and must grow in love. In particular we must grow in love for the cross, accepting with love the sufferings that God sends us. Jesus on the cross is the picture of despair. He is rejected by the people, betrayed and denied by his friends and even feels forsaken by God. Yet he continues to love by forgiving his tormentors. He continues to trust God, commending his spirit to God as he dies. At this point it looks as though everything has been in vain, but the suffering and love cause God to act. The resurrection is revealed, death is conquered and hope is born.
So as we strive to live out our Christianity in this Godless age, let us follow the example of Christ. Let us continue to love, seeking to renew and deepen our personal relationships. Let’s love everyone, even our tormentors. Let us trust God, knowing that he has the power to transform all our failures, weaknesses and doubts. Let’s go forward in confidence, knowing that whatever deaths our contemporary society might be heading for, they will be followed by resurrections which reveal God’s power and renew all things.