Sermon for Sunday 28th September 2008

This summer three students, Charles, Ed and Max, braved the Mongol Rally Charity Race, raising money for Help for Heroes and Mercy Corps. Their journey took them 9,500 miles from Hyde Park to Ulan Bator in Mongolia, situated between Russia and China - in a London taxi!

Just as the Russians were invading Georgia, irregularities in one of their visas meant that they got stuck in a ‘no-man’s land’ between Russia and Kazakhstan. Visitors to www.teamdesertaxi.com can see photographs of the taxi and its occupants trapped behind a barbed wire fence.

Refusing to be daunted, the boys put up a flag and passport control, marking their new state, the People’s Autocratic Republic of Taxistan. Possibly because the boys broadcast Abba at full volume, their guards were unwilling to help them, and they were for a while, entirely dependent on passers-by for food and water.

The boy’s high spirits were remarkable, in the circumstances– 30 degrees in the shade with only the taxi for shelter. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, showed similar spiritedness in the face of adversity. Under house arrest, he had friends who brought him food and water, but his situation was objectively pretty hopeless. It wasn’t many years later that he was executed.

In our Gospel reading today, the Chief Priests asked Jesus by what authority he was acting and speaking, with the sub-text being exactly who was this upstart challenging their authority. Jesus sidestepped the question to avoid arrest, but if there’s any doubt about who he was, Paul tells us the answer. He describes Jesus as being ‘in the form of God’, sometimes translated as ‘in the very nature of God’.

Paul explains that Jesus, ‘being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness’. Paul shows Jesus revealing a depth and breadth of self giving love and servant-hood that stands in stark contrast to pagan and other non-Christian ideas about God.

In the life of Jesus we can see that God’s love is expressed in his blessings on the sick, the untouchables, the excluded from society, the god-forsaken. It is expressed in Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes, in Matthew’s gospel, that reassure even the most downtrodden, that everything is possible: ‘blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5:3).

If Jesus is in the very nature of God, then that nature is humble and merciful, not pious. When Jesus in our gospel story holds up the piety of the Chief Priests against the social outcasts of his time who believed - tax collectors and prostitutes – he was pointing out that it is not how we present ourselves, but our true selves that count. And how do we find our true selves? It is where God, the God of self-giving love and humility is, deep within us.

We don’t need to be sitting between the border of Russia and Kazakhstan to appreciate the isolation that Paul must have experienced in prison, nor the sense of loneliness that strikes people at different times in their lives, from depression, perhaps marital break-up or when people face losing their jobs and livelihoods. It strikes them – but it also strikes us. Governments can try to offer safety nets and protection when things go wrong, but their powers are limited.

Paul’s message to the Philippians was that no matter what the circumstances, nor who the individuals, our salvation lies in self-giving love, in taking on the attitude of Christ who made himself nothing, who humbled himself in obedience to God. So he wrote: ‘Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.’

In Iran, our erstwhile leaders of Taxistan were helped by those least able to give it. The poorest shepherds shared their meager supply of food with the boys and shared their bed under a makeshift shelter, when they were at their lowest ebb. The shepherd’s generosity is a lesson to us all.

We can be fairly sure that the Iranian shepherds were not Christian. But just as we should not package others – and shun them because of the identities they hold, so we should not try to package God’s generosity. God cannot be packaged.

Professing faith publically, even privately involves risk. The risk is that we will have our life turned upside down. The risk is that we will be different, and labeled as such. It means taking time to look to the interests of others. To have faith in Christ means that we look beneath the surface at people’s true selves. And it prompts us to become the ideal of ourself. That we will never be the same again is a risk and challenge that is open to all, no matter our identity. By professing faith, we will find a new identity in Christ.

Much of life is like the experience of the taxi drivers on their way to Ulan Bator. We can find ourselves in a kind of no-man’s land, shunned by neighbours and society with no place to go. Or, we might find ourselves having to take a longer route to get to our destination. The boys journeyed 9,500 miles, instead of the 8,000 miles on the map because of poor road conditions and no roads.

When we try to engage as Christians with the complexities of our modern world, in politics and economics, the pitfalls, even to experts, can certainly feel like potholes in the road.

Under such circumstances, a map, a compass, even a knowledge of the stars is essential, as well as a spare tyre when we get into trouble. This is a comforting analogy for Christ’s role in our life, perhaps as our ethical map. But actually, what Paul is saying is that Christ is our engine, our vehicle, our steering wheel and our fully functioning Satnav and he knows the route.

By risking a relationship with Christ, we have the promise of liberation from all that confines us, all that holds us back. We might find ourselves on the road to Ulan Bator. We might find we’re to become the head of Goldman Sachs, or a ‘Pew Hygienist’ in St Andrew’s Church! We could find ourselves reassessing who our neighbours are, and liking them! We will almost certainly find ourselves reassessing who we are. Whatever happens, we are likely to be surprised, because God is full of surprises. Let’s take a risk today. Let us profess our faith in Christ, and mean it.

©Rosemary Durward, Ordinand, 28 September 2008