wfn.org | Sermon for the Opening Service of the 1998 Lambeth Conference

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ACNS LC015 - 19 July 1998

Sermon for the Opening Service of the Lambeth Conference

Canterbury Cathedral

Bishop Simon E. Chiwanga
Diocese of Mpwapwa, Tanzania
Chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council

Called to be Christ-like
Luke 6:27-36 (2 Cor. 4:7-11)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. 

I express my deepest appreciation to his Grace, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, for giving me this rare and awesome honour of
preaching at this Opening Service of Lambeth 1998. I accepted
this honour on behalf of my Province and on behalf of the
Anglican Consultative Council. 

I thank the Dean and Chapter for their most warm welcome. I thank
all of you for your prayers, for me and for all those who have
been asked to undertake tasks more challenging than mine at this
Lambeth Conference.

I count it a particular honour to worship today with His Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, with former Presidents of the
Anglican Consultative Council, now retired Archbishops of
Canterbury, and with all of you present at this great Eucharist
where we ask for God's blessings upon the Lambeth Conference and
the Spouses' Programme. 

For Anglicans Canterbury Cathedral symbolizes both our common
roots and our being part of that apostolic succession of costly
witness through suffering and martyrdom. As we view its
magnificence and grandeur during our time here let us be reminded
of the majestic transcendence of God which rises far above our
divisions both in the church and society and draws us together in
Christ as a pilgrim people. 

During the great 4th century period of spiritual renewal, when
women and men were called by God to forsake their cultures and
retreat to the desert, a great and powerful man of the royal
court went to the desert to seek out a holy person. 

Soon the pilgrim met an abbot (a holy man) walking with his young
monks. He stopped the holy man and asked for a teaching upon
which he could build his whole life. The abbot responded by
picking up a tablet and on it he wrote one word "Awareness!"

Perplexed, the pilgrim asked if the abbot expected him to live
his life seeking God on the basis of only one word. The abbot
took back the tablet and wrote "Awareness, awareness, awareness!"
 "Whatever do you mean?" cried the pilgrim. The holy man bowed
down humbly, picked up the tablet and wrote, "awareness,
awareness, awareness, means awareness!" 

For myself if there is one thing that I am in need of in my
ministry, it is awareness, Christlike awareness. 

I am aware that the world is desperately in need of a living
demonstration of what it means to be a Christ-centred community
of believable believers where every person is welcomed, accepted,
loved restored to wholeness and is encouraged to serve.

Like the pilgrim in the story, there are many people,
particularly the youth, who are looking for Christ-like leaders
in the Church - lay and ordained - who can demonstrate the
awareness of the love of God and the way to a more meaningful
life. 

The context of our ministry:

The scenario described in today's readings is a scenario that
confronts many of the Bishops gathered in this Cathedral this
morning. The 2nd letter to the Corinthians, which forms the text
of our daily Bible Studies at this Conference, speaks about
episcopacy in time of crisis and leadership in the midst of
struggle and suffering. 

2 Cor. 4:7-11 reflects the difficult experiences that are faced
by many within the Anglican Communion, who live and serve in
places where there is both physical and spiritual deprivation.
There are places where state disapproval is the normal context
for some, as the recent tragic loss of the Roman Catholic bishop
in Pakistan testifies. "We are afflicted in every way, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but
not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; all ways carrying
in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may
also be made visible in our bodies."

The stories of tribal conflicts in Africa, the violence in
Northern Ireland, the terrorism that strikes at literally every
person in the Western world; all this points to a world which is
hungry for Christ's love and compassion; and this is the world
that God so loved "that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
(John 3:16) God wants His Church and His servants to keep on
growing more and more into a Christlike image in order to
accomplish His purpose as St Paul says, "so that through the
Church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made
known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places."
(Eph.3: 10).

Turning the Church inside-out:

What this means for the Church is to turn itself inside out. The
Decade of Evangelism was a call to turn the Church inside-out,
that is to move from being primarily a pastoral community,
looking inward; to being primarily a missionary community looking
outward.  This call to Evangelism must remain our guiding
principle as we develop the next step after the Decade. 

The Church that is aware of, and is engaged in Christlike
mission, will not spend its time bragging about being the only
real missionary or the better evangelist. It will not occupy the
seat of Moses judging others. The Christlike evangelist says with
St John the Evangelist - "He must increase, but I must decrease."
(John 3:30)

A Church that harbors bitterness, anger and disharmony is
distorting its image of a living gospel and may be on the road to
decay. 

It is in mission in the world that we grow more into Christ's
likeness. For Jesus, the constant moments of his encounter with
the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, the sinner and the
dead became moments of deeper awareness of his divine identity
and mission.  Likewise the identity and mission of the church is
discovered and deepened when we literally take up our cross and
follow Jesus Christ into the midst of the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind, the dead, and there reveal the love of Christ.
The authority and power given to the church and its leaders is
discovered at Table in Holy communion, in table fellowship with
the poor the outcast, the broken hearted and all who are in need
of God and of freedom. 

Our Communion's total commitment to the cause of canceling
International debt that adds an unbearable burden on the poor is
a powerful witness of our following Jesus into the midst of the
disadvantaged. 

Day by day our Anglican Communion continues to grow. We give
thanks to God for the exciting developments, such as the
formation of our new Province in South America. The incredible
work of the 'Karen' Christians in Burma and Thailand is a
tremendous inspiration to us all. The often hard-pressed
situation of our Palestinian-Arab Christian friends, including
our own Episcopalians in that country, is also most inspiring. 

Called to be Christlike in differences:

Christians who live in the midst of such conflict teach us to be
aware of being Christlike in differences and in conflicts. 

The passage from St Luke, read for the Gospel, speaks about the
need for Christians to treat even those whom they find resentful
and who might have significant differences with them in a way
that is Christlike. Controversial issues and passionate debates
do happen, and the Lambeth Conference cannot be an exception.
What is essential for every participant to be aware of is that we
have to look for the Christ in each other and to turn the other
cheek, particularly when feel we have been offended. 

In Barbados, a story is told of a woman in Church who always
bowed profoundly whenever the name of Jesus was mentioned. But
she was seen to bow equally profoundly whenever the name of Satan
was mentioned. When she was questioned about this strange
behavior she explained "Well when I die I do not know whose hands
I shall fall into, so I am making friends on both sides!"
Being Christlike in our differences does not mean having no
convictions or clear position of your own. It is a call to
interpretive charity in our Christian dialogues. 

Interpretive charity can be defined as the ability to apply the
most loving interpretation to actions and opinions of others.
Interpretive charity means listening to one another in love. It
demands that we restrain our impulse to start formulating our
response before the other has finished what they are saying. It
is difficult. It is a lot easier and more attractive to evaluate
the first few words of the speaker and then plug that statement
into a pre-constructed mental model. 

Interpretive charity calls us to persevere with the discomfort of
thoughtful silence and to use that time to prepare a loving
response to what we have heard. Interpretive charity challenges
us to avoid demeaning labels that we are so eager to apply to our
opponents. 

There are several examples we can give of Jesus' interpretive
charity. When some men cut through the roof of a house where
Jesus was staying so that they could lower their paralyzed friend
into Jesus' healing presence, he did not call them vandals. He
rewarded their faith. When an angry mob wanted to stone a woman
caught in sin, Jesus challenged anyone who was without sin to
cast the first stone. And even upon the cross, when he was being
insulted, spitted at and nailed, Jesus prayed "Father forgive
them for they know not what they do."

Interpretive charity calls us to two further things: first not to
disenfranchise or un-church anyone. Hold unswervingly to that
which you believe to be of essential truth, but to God leave the
final judgement in all matters. Change comes by enlightenment,
not by force. Forcing your point of view by excluding from your
circle those who disagree with you, or by compelling acceptance,
is to usurp the place of God. 

Remember what St Paul says in Romans

"Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is
before their own lord that they stand or fall." (Rom. 14:4)

In Philippians he says, 

"Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if
you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to
you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained."
(Philippians 3:15, 16)

Second, do not give power to sin. Whenever you are the recipient
of uncharity in any form, bear it, forgive it, rather than repeat
it to others. The Apostle Peter says, "Above all, maintain
constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of
sins" (1 Peter 4:8)

St Paul again says, 

"With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with
one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one
spirit, ... one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father
of all." (Eph 4:2-6)

In our daily relationships with others and during this
Conference, may we be aware that a critical remark, a gesture of
rejection or an act of impatience can be remembered for life by
those to whom it is directed. The Prophet Malachi cautions those
in authority and leadership as follows: "For the lips of a priest
should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from
his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts."(2:7)

During the next few weeks, as we stand aware of God and the
world, we have a tremendous opportunity before us. It is a Holy
Moment, when we can once more demonstrate, through the power of
the Holy Spirit, our ability to speak the truth in love,
interpretive charity, and to show how truth can triumph over
error in a way that is Christlike. 

"But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who
abuse you." (|Luke 6: 27, 28)

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen. 

For further information, contact:

Lambeth Conference Communications
Canterbury Business School
University of Kent at Canterbury
Telephone: 01227 827348/9
Fax: 01227 828085
Mobile: 0374 800212

http://www.lambethconference.org