Epiphany 3, year B, 2023

-Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

-the appointed time has grown short;… the present form of this world is passing away

-"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

 

You’ve heard me say before that scripture has a pattern. It is the same tale for prophet after prophet in biblical history; society is unjust, irreverent, corrupt and God sends the prophet to call the people to repentance.

In our readings today we have that same theme.

Jonah is preaching doom and destruction to Ninevah.  Paul in Corinthians telling us the time is short, for the present form of the world is passing away.  In our gospel, Jesus is proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come near, and we need to act immediately.

I would not be surprised if we are in the midst of that pattern right now.  The Anglican Church, along with most of the denominations are in decline.  We have lost credibility in society.  Our Demographics lean to the retired age group and the up and coming generations are far more critical of institutions the previous ones were.  We are facing a time when not far from now only a remnant of the Anglican church may be left.

We’ve heard the facts and figures, very doom and gloom.  The society we live in has no faith in the church, most people don’t mind Jesus, but it’s the church they have trouble with.

  • The church that has been instrumental in the oppression and eradication of Indigenous people.
  • The church whose leadership have abused and assaulted children and been simply relocated to new hunting grounds.
  • The church whose leaders have been financially irresponsible, even to the point of embezzlement.
  • The church who have been exclusive, hypocritical and self righteous to the point of harm.
  • The Church which has refuse to acknowledge any authority but itself, gathering during COVID, harassing and threatening LGBTQ+ people, promoting hate and war and damnation.

Of course it isn’t all churches, it isn’t this church but it is enough churches…too many. 

Now as a student of history, and avid reader and someone who has read the bible a few times, let me tell you this is nothing new.  The church has been climbing the ladder of power, authority and status quo for hundreds of years and from what I’ve seen historically and biblically, this is the classic pattern of what goes up must come down.

However, for the church that has almost always been a good thing.  We as a church have always done our best as underdogs. This fall from power renders us humble, and honest with ourselves (as we should be) and open to hearing the prophets that speak harsh words to power. 

The church is declining, so repent and believe!  Now is the time to re-evaluate our priorities.

I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions,
and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

 

Now Paul does lean to the dramatic, but his point is sound.  For Paul the resurrection of Christ meant that God’s return was imminent.

 So, if God’s second coming was at hand, how should we live?  All things may be lawful (ie Jewish law need not be followed), but what is beneficial?  Where should priorities lie if time is short.

The same question ties in with our gospel reading.  If Jesus was to be present on Earth for just a short time, things like the family business and various worldly concerns were really not to be a priority. 

The time is ripe to focus on Christ, repent and believe.

I believe that this is where we are.  The church is being called to repentance.  Power did not serve us well, so power and wealth will be stripped away.  Authority and unquestioning obedience to clergy caused corruption to thrive, so the church’s authority has been lost.  All our fine trappings and self confidence was arrogance and it too has been stripped from us and the church has been humbled.

This is good.

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
…Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
….

Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,
and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.

 

Our Psalm sums it up.  The churches hope should rest in God, not in itself and it’s own power.  What individual churches are losing is painful, heartbreaking even.  The church as a whole through, the institution can afford to loose a lot, without loosing it’s faith.   The present form of the church is passing away, not the Body of Christ itself… so we as the church at large need to re-evaluate our priorities.

Jonah proclaimed to the corrupt city of Ninivah

"Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

We have heard the prophet’s call “15 years and the Anglican Church will be dead” thus proclaims the data of decline.  The Primate spoke of this 3 years ago when the data came out that in 2040 there will be no Anglicans left if the pattern of decline continues.

It is our time to repent and believe.  We are not immune, we are not invulnerable, we are very very human and prone to sin, and a fish rots from the head.  We need to lead from the ground up, at parish level, locally. 

We, as a church need to revisit how we prioritize what we do and how we do it.

What are we supposed to do? There are so many answers to this question… Scripturally people quote The Great Commission to go forth and make disciples.  There is the Judgement of Nations, calling us to feed the hungry, care for the sick and welcome the stranger.  There are the ten commandments and ultimately there is the Great Commandment, to Love God and love neighbour.

The Church itself has also come up with baptismal promises, Marks of Mission and other creeds to form our priorities and guide our paths.  However, we still tend towards a survival instinct, trying to salvage what we can rather than risking it all, because it is a risk going back to basics.

Going back to basics means re training in Christianity 101; things like reading scripture daily, saying our prayers individually and corporately, living sacrificially and telling people about our faith.

The Anglican church has been awful, in its western form, at evangelism, assuming that British colonialism will simply fill the pews.  This is no longer true and as we’ve heard from Rev. Chris, evangelism at it’s best… works! 

The literature and programs out there claiming to be our salvation often focus on bums in pews and how to attract people and their money.  That doesn’t work, the attraction model no longer applies.  Not to forget, Jesus drove more people away in the short term than he attracted.  The church is the hands and feet of Christ, and no where does Christ prioritize buildings, liturgy, programs or committees.  Christ’s focus was people, relationship, justice and equity.  When was the last time we talked about getting butts in pews for the salvation of the people those butts were attached to, rather than increasing attendance and thus finances.

Christ had little time for convention, hierarchy, finance or the status quo.  Stability is not the name of the game, rather Christ … Paul…the psalmist and Jonah all advocated drastic change. 

Scary, risky and convention breaking change, not in order to save our church…but in order to be authentic followers of Christ.

We are headed in that direction.  So for we have also managed to keep our parish in the process, but our neighbours have not been so luck.  Our own parishioners have not been so lucky. 

This is our time.  We have AGM ahead, we have a Visioning process in play, we have stewardship time coming up.  This is a time to re-evaluated our priorities, to discern our call and directions.  It is our time to heed the prophets call to repent and believe.  To focus on Christ’s call to loving service, to be the body of Christ with hands and feet that do Christ’s work.  To do our part, as a parish to engage in reconciliation, in seeking justice, in building relationship and in charitable work.

This is our time.  To look at the decline of the church, not as the end of the church, but as a call to repentance and faith. An opportunity to turn the church around, from the ground up.

To be an example, by word and deed, of who Christ is and how Christ is a part of this community.

The Church has much to repent of, our parish too has had it’s moments of being less than Christ like…but we are human and fallible.  So we get up and try again, and we continue to work towards a vision, a set of priorities that focus on our Christian faith.  Internally and externally.  Communally and Individually.  In St Andrew’s and in the wider church.  This is our time.  The decline is our opportunity.  This is the time to listen for the call of the prophets.

Repent and believe, the time is now.