One with Christ in the other

Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull
Sunday 8th February 2009 – Third Sunday before lent
Readings for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year B

Readings: Isaiah 40:21-31 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23 Mark 1: 29-39


The Apostle Paul is often seen as the archetypal missionary preacher. Certainly the New Testament, especially in the Acts of the Apostles, shows Paul as extraordinarily effective in proclaiming the gospel. This was his great passion; “Woe betide me if I do not proclaim the gospel” we read from him today. And for me, as a child, an image of this formed in my mind. A huge figure Paul is standing high above a crowd, preaching the gospel in a loud voice and with great emotion and with lots of finger waging. And the people in the crowd are cowering before him in fear for their immortal souls, and are weeping in repentance for their sins.
As time has gone by I have come to realise that this image is not quite right, and in places it reveals some serious misconceptions about what it means to proclaim the gospel. For a start we know that Paul’s physical stature was neither big nor impressive (Acts of Paul and Thecla 3 - late 2nd century). Paul notes of himself that, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible." (2 Cor 10:10) But above all, what is wrong is the impression that Paul, through strength of argument or personality was somehow able to force or coerce people into accepting the gospel. I am quite sure that it was not like this at all. In fact the techniques Paul described in our reading today are the very opposite of force or coercion. They show the love of someone who places great value on the experience and opinions of others.
First of all Paul says, “I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.” Paul sees himself as a slave or a servant of those who he seeks to convert. This does not mean that he allows them to dominate or control him or walk all over him. Rather it means he will look at these people with great charity, trying to see them as God sees them, and trying to recognise and understand God’s creation in them, and above all trying to find within them the new life of Christ. It is this new life in Christ and God’s creation in them that Paul is seeking to serve. He will do whatever he can to nurture it, understand it and help it to grow. And the point about being a servant or a slave is that this is done, not on Paul’s terms, but on the terms of the one who is served. Paul serves Jesus, present in the other people.
But then, even more mysteriously, Paul says, “To the Jews I became a Jew… to those not bound by the law of Moses I became like one not bound by the law of Moses…to the week I became week…I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means win some.” This means that Paul seeks to set aside his own agenda and priorities in order to focus properly on the experience and aspirations of Christ present in the people he meets, be they Jews, or non Jews, the week or the strong. Paul is ready to die to Christ in himself, in order to rise with Christ in the other person. Paul seeks to empathise with Christ in the other person. He seeks to walk in the shoes of the other in order to understand the other and to share in their joys and sorrows, their hopes and fears. And Paul remains convinced that it is this losing of himself for Christ in the other that will eventually win the other over to Christ.
And this is the pattern for our love too. We need to be ready to lose everything in order to seek out and love Christ present in the other person. We seek to empathise with and share in the experience of Christ in that person. And this helps Christ to grow, both in them and in us and so it brings forward the kingdom of God. Amen.