12^th February 2015

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 25 January 2015

Lessons - Exodus 3:13-15; Psalm 24; Romans 12:14-21; John 10:11-18

     'God said to Moses, "I am who I am ... the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob".'      (Exodus 3:14-15)

The atrocities being perpetrated by Islamic extremists across the world have shaken our confidence that disputes can be resolved by rational discussion.

Conditioned to believe that Australian values of decency and tolerance are universal, we try to explain their actions by blaming religion, social isolation, economic hardship, Western imperialism or mental instability. 

However, the causes of this murderous evil lie deeper than we think. In our secular society, where belief in God is now treated as a private matter that must not intrude into the public arena, we cannot understand the dismay of Muslims at the failure of Christians (who are also heirs of Abraham) to honour God's name (and speak up for Jesus) in every area of life. If we miss the fact that Islam believes that God is the reality of the world, whose will is to be obeyed, then we will be impotent to fully respond to this reign of terror. 

We may huff and puff about destroying this 'extremist ideology' (as world leaders promise) and trumpet the right to freedom of expression (as the 'Je suis Charlie' rallies call for). However, if as a society we continue to believe that 'God' is not the One with whom we have to reckon in all things, but is merely the projection of our private fears and needs, then we will be blind to the challenges being posed to secular values and Christian faith in Australia and elsewhere. 

Nothing that is said excuses the barbarity of the terrorists. They must be vigorously opposed by the international community. But their fanatical desire to restore the ancient Caliphate (which blossomed from the C6th to C16th) and honour Allah and his prophet Mohammed can be understood historically. If you believe that Islam is the completion and purification of Judaism and Christianity, then it makes 'sense' to wage war on them. 

We need to examine what it means for Muslims, Jews, Christians and secularists to believe in God. The three Abrahamic religions all believe in 'One God' who reveals himself as being unlike any other being. For Jews the name of God, 'I am who I am', is so holy it can scarcely be said. For Christians the holiness of God is embodied in Jesus Christ, who said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life .' For Muslims Allah is the holiest name of all. For all of them, blasphemy is the greatest of sins. 'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain' and 'You shall have no other gods but me '. 

In the secular West this does not make 'sense'. Religions that originate with Abraham are treated with scorn. It is easy to ridicule God/Allah when God is widely thought of, not as the awesome Creator and merciful Redeemer who calls us to newness of life, but as an 'imaginary friend' or a crutch for limping minds and timid wills. When Descartes (C17th French philosopher) said, 'I think, therefore I am,' he opened the way to think that 'who I am' is not determined by God ('I am who I am') but by what 'I think about God'. 

Thus, in a multi-faith society that is proud of being tolerant of diverse beliefs about God, we are mystified and horrified by laws in some Islamic nations that set the death penalty for blasphemy against Allah and Mohammed.

The usual Western reaction against blasphemy laws and Jihadi violence is to argue for laws to uphold the right to freedom of expression, no matter how offensive. Typical is the catch-cry 'Je suis Charlie' ('I am Charlie'), that followed the brutal slaying of journalists at Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. 

This is a necessary but inadequate response to such barbaric actions. The freedom to express opinions that are unpopular or thought to be wrong without fear of retribution is a vital part of a vibrant, open community. 

However, we should not be too smug! Western societies, too, pass laws and create conditions that intimidate free speech. Nobody is free to 'blaspheme'

against 'sacred values' that pander to our self-indulgent life-styles or self-righteous causes. If you do, you will be called an 'extremist'. The hypocrisy of shouting 'I am Charlie' to defend the right to mock Islam (and other monotheistic faiths) should not be missed. Those who offend believers in One God do not usually extend the same right to these faiths! 

It is not that the monotheistic faiths are united on God and faith. Far from it! But it would be a huge mistake if we were to treat the evil perpetrated by Islamic State, Boko Haram and others as being irrational, mentally unstable, the result of social isolation or totally foreign to Islam. There may be elements of delusion. Not all terrorists are committed Muslims. Many Muslims are appalled. 

However, the whole-hearted commitment to honour Allah and Mohammed and shape the whole of life by the teachings of the Qur'an is shared by all devout Muslims. All are aghast at the flippant attitude to blasphemy by citizens and the Church in Western nations. Last night [24 January] a Muslim leader said on TV that, unlike Christians and Jews, Muslims would not 'give in' to godless secularism. 

Until Western societies and churches understand the absolute priority of God's will for Islamic faith and practice, we will not get to the heart of the problem that has surfaced in these barbaric attacks. We should condemn them unequivocally. But they should also act as a wake-up call. 

A secular society that thinks it can mock the Christian faith which has profoundly shaped public life and institutions, and treat religions as diverse forms of 'individual faith', must ask whether, like Charlie Hebdo, freedom to mock God is a sufficient basis for a flourishing society that will last?  

A Christian Church that has let its faith and life be marginalised, privatised and trivialised must ask whether it still believes that 'the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof' (Psalm 24:1). Do we have a vision of the Kingdom of God that has transformed the world through Christ's crucified-and-risen love and brought hope by judging, in mercy, our self-indulgent and self-righteous behaviour? Are we so convinced that Jesus is 'the way, the truth and the life' (John 14:6) that we are prepared to promote a 'culture of life' (Pope John Paul II) and oppose shallow values that now shape public life and mock God's good purposes for all? 

Perhaps these atrocities are being used by God to shake the Western Church out of our lethargy. In the Bible, terrible events, in which God's goodness and love are violated, are sometimes the means by which the faithful have their eyes opened to reality, their wills strengthened to face conflict, and their hearts warmed to those whose lives have been shattered. 

We are being prodded to ask different questions about the Church's future! It is not about how we can survive in a society that treats Christianity as a private religion to be kept out of public life, but how we can express the Christian vision of a world where God is honoured and human dignity upheld. 

Although Islam and Christianity have fought terrible battles, we share a deep sense of dismay at how secular societies 'devalue' God's holy will and the hope that God will be honoured by all in the whole of life. 

At the same time, the differences between us are great. Briefly:

* Blasphemy is condemned in the Old Testament and 'taking the name of God in vain' is very serious in the New Testament. But the One accused of blasphemy against God's holy law actually embodies God's mercy. 'Father forgive them'

(Luke 23:34); 'Love your enemies' (Matthew 5:43-48); 'Do not repay evil for evil but overcome evil with good; Do not avenge yourselves but leave judgment to God (Romans 12:14ff). 

* In Christianity, the Kingdom of God is not identical with any earthly kingdom. It is present in the world and challenges its false values, but its fulfilment lies in a future that God will bring. The relation between Church and State, which involves separate functions and mutual criticism, is different from the theocratic State in Islam where religion and politics are completely one and obedience to Allah is to be enforced. 

By contrast, Jesus embodies the Kingdom of God and calls the Church to bear witness to God's love before the political power-brokers of the day.

Christians are to speak the truth, resist evil, pray for their enemies and look forward to the new heaven and new earth. They are not called to bring in the Kingdom of God by their actions. 

* Ultimately, the crucifixion of Jesus separates the two visions. In Islam it is blasphemous to believe that a holy prophet, or God himself, should be humiliated. Christ's power is displayed in triumphant suffering love. In him there is no ground for Holy Jihad to kill the infidel - simply a call to costly love. The political zealot Judas betrayed Jesus (John 18:2ff); Peter was told to put away his sword (John 18:11). 

* It follows that Christian teaching about sin and redemption recognises that the pursuit of holiness, like un-holiness, can stand in the way of honouring God. Jesus accused the Pharisees of hypocrisy because they refused to welcome sinners as God does. He also poked fun at religious pretension. It helps to remember that we are flawed creatures called to believe in God and not to take ourselves too seriously. 

Thank God for the humour of Dave Allen, Monty Python, Father Ted, The Vicar of Dibley and others who send up our pious short-comings. As we laugh at ourselves, we should remember that there is a chasm between the kind of humour that is soul-searching and affectionate and satire that is vicious, demeaning and hedonistic. 

Thankfully, there is a vision of reality not found in the pursuit of Holy Jihad (as in extreme forms of Islam) nor in the right to freedom of expression (as in the extreme secularism of Charlie Hebdo). This vision might be glimpsed if we were to draw a cartoon which removed the self-righteous 'I' from 'Je Suis Charlie' so that it read 'Jesus, Charlie'. The vision of a truly human life willed by God is to be found in the One who laid down his life for all!

__________________________ 

Rev Dr Max Champion is Minister in St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. 

Dr Champion is a member of the Council of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.