Lent Reflection 1
Revd David Skitt
Friday 8th March 2019
WHAT SHOULD BE OUR APPROACH TO OTHER FAITHS : CO-OPERATION OR COMPETITION ?
A dying wife lies in a bed with her husband sitting alongside. She says : “ Jim, my friend , Brenda, is a lovely woman and would make a super wife for you after I die.” Jim’s reply was : “ My darling, you had all the say over whom I married the first time round. If there is a next time, I think that I might not want to leave it all to you again ! “.
This true-life incident happened in the North London Hospice and this talk really happens there as well because the context of much of what I am going to say. When it opened about thirty years ago, I was charged with setting up the multi-faith chaplaincy team.
Despite the fact that the patients were terminally ill, it can appear a rather cosy setting compared with places where there is persecution of followers of one religion by followers of another – where mosques, churches, and synagogues are being burnt and where, for example, Christians are being driven out of so many places in the Middle East . It is important when that is so that , as Jeremy Hunt says, we do not succumb to a false form of political correctness and fail to defend our Christian sisters and brothers. I came across some of the reality of these persecutions in 2015 when our URC in Oxted hosted both refugees on a pilgrimage of “ Refugees Tales “ organized by the Gatwick Detainees’ Welfare Group and, separately , a Catholic Group supporting Catholic refugees from Iraq. I spoke to many firsthand who had faced such persecution. This makes me recognize how ill-equipped I am to speak about such circumstances and how true are Jeremy Hunt’s words. I believe that those with whom I spoke would also have emphasised the importance of not being tribal but of taking seriously Pastor Martin Niemoller’s words : “ First the Nazis came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and was no one left to speak for me . “
So we must speak out for those of all faiths being persecuted by those of another. We can also be non-tribal in more positive ways following the example of those in a multi-faith paramedic organization in Syria who respond immediately to tend to anyone in a bombed building even when they know more bombs and shells are to come.
In the “cosier” context of the North London Hospice ( NLH ) I discovered the need for the same approach as we had a chaplain of different faiths going in each day to visit ALL the patients. Including humanists as well, we had monthly meetings and soon found that pastoral care crossed all barriers. I certainly was called in by a number of Jewish families, one of which asked me , with the permission of their rabbi, to go through John’s gospel with them and another of which showed me a video of the patient’s daughter’s synagogue wedding.
So to John’s Gospel I go for authority for our approach, which, I believe unavowedly, should be one of COOPERATION. We should be all striving for what my six year old grandson received recently from school – a Certificate of Collaboration for Collective Working.
In John 14:6 Jesus says : “ I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me. “ This text often used as a stick to bash others over the head “ We’re right, you’re wrong ! “. Such was not the intention of Jesus .Rather he was wanting us to ask, as we now will, what His Way consists of for this verse could equally be rendered : “ My Way is the model for truth and life and no one comes to God’s understanding of the world except through following the way I’ve espoused”.
As we look at John’s gospel, we find out at least six aspects of this way which lead us inexorably to the conclusion of COOPERATION.
So God’s Way in Jesus is one of : -
CONCLUSION
In David Hare’s play : “ I’m Not Running “ , the heroine describes going, at a critical decision-making time in her life, into her local park and pond very early one morning. As she lights and puffs at a cigarette, she watches the mists clear off the water, hears the dawn chorus and the rising sun appear. It is breathtakingly beautiful and she feels inspired about the service she should perform. As she soaks it all in, a jogger with headphones on and looking downwards runs down the side of the pond, stops by her and as they point a finger at her fag says : Disgusting ! “ before running onwards. As she said : “ He was absolutely right about my smoking but, right though he was, he failed to see the delight and wonder of dawn breaking ! He missed the main thing.”
Self-righteousness or conviction that we are right can make us so easily miss out on what is really important for us in relationship with those of other faiths. My appeal is not that we dismiss the interpretation of John 14:6 which gives us comfort and direction but rather that we broaden it . Let us take the WAY OF JESUS in the six-fold aspects which John outlined more seriously and see in them a pattern for working and living and celebrating with those of other faiths so that the way of Jesus can bring new life to us all.
Revd David Skitt
Friday 8th March 2019
WHAT SHOULD BE OUR APPROACH TO OTHER FAITHS : CO-OPERATION OR COMPETITION ?
A dying wife lies in a bed with her husband sitting alongside. She says : “ Jim, my friend , Brenda, is a lovely woman and would make a super wife for you after I die.” Jim’s reply was : “ My darling, you had all the say over whom I married the first time round. If there is a next time, I think that I might not want to leave it all to you again ! “.
This true-life incident happened in the North London Hospice and this talk really happens there as well because the context of much of what I am going to say. When it opened about thirty years ago, I was charged with setting up the multi-faith chaplaincy team.
Despite the fact that the patients were terminally ill, it can appear a rather cosy setting compared with places where there is persecution of followers of one religion by followers of another – where mosques, churches, and synagogues are being burnt and where, for example, Christians are being driven out of so many places in the Middle East . It is important when that is so that , as Jeremy Hunt says, we do not succumb to a false form of political correctness and fail to defend our Christian sisters and brothers. I came across some of the reality of these persecutions in 2015 when our URC in Oxted hosted both refugees on a pilgrimage of “ Refugees Tales “ organized by the Gatwick Detainees’ Welfare Group and, separately , a Catholic Group supporting Catholic refugees from Iraq. I spoke to many firsthand who had faced such persecution. This makes me recognize how ill-equipped I am to speak about such circumstances and how true are Jeremy Hunt’s words. I believe that those with whom I spoke would also have emphasised the importance of not being tribal but of taking seriously Pastor Martin Niemoller’s words : “ First the Nazis came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and was no one left to speak for me . “
So we must speak out for those of all faiths being persecuted by those of another. We can also be non-tribal in more positive ways following the example of those in a multi-faith paramedic organization in Syria who respond immediately to tend to anyone in a bombed building even when they know more bombs and shells are to come.
In the “cosier” context of the North London Hospice ( NLH ) I discovered the need for the same approach as we had a chaplain of different faiths going in each day to visit ALL the patients. Including humanists as well, we had monthly meetings and soon found that pastoral care crossed all barriers. I certainly was called in by a number of Jewish families, one of which asked me , with the permission of their rabbi, to go through John’s gospel with them and another of which showed me a video of the patient’s daughter’s synagogue wedding.
So to John’s Gospel I go for authority for our approach, which, I believe unavowedly, should be one of COOPERATION. We should be all striving for what my six year old grandson received recently from school – a Certificate of Collaboration for Collective Working.
In John 14:6 Jesus says : “ I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me. “ This text often used as a stick to bash others over the head “ We’re right, you’re wrong ! “. Such was not the intention of Jesus .Rather he was wanting us to ask, as we now will, what His Way consists of for this verse could equally be rendered : “ My Way is the model for truth and life and no one comes to God’s understanding of the world except through following the way I’ve espoused”.
As we look at John’s gospel, we find out at least six aspects of this way which lead us inexorably to the conclusion of COOPERATION.
So God’s Way in Jesus is one of : -
- DRAWING ALONGSIDE : “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us “ ( the Incarnation ). God becoming Human in Jesus shows us the way God works ie by living with us and in us, drawing alongside us. The UN recently stated that the most effective tools against Female Genital Mutilation are groups like the Primrose Project who enter communities and live with folks setting up groups there which come to their own decision to stop.
- FORGIVENESS : ( John 20:21-23 ) So much is this Christ’s Approach that when the Risen Jesus appears to disciples and breathes the Holy Spirit upon them , it is all about peace and forgiveness. Between the faiths we have a lot to forgive each other about and if we don’t we are lost. As St Augustine said : “ Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
- SERVICE : ( John 13 :14-15 ) Washing the disciples feet, kneeling before them and elevating them, He showed by example that we should take seriously upholding and respecting others for who they are.
- VISION : ( John 10:10 ) Here Jesus shows that He has come for a purpose. He had a vision. At NLH the purpose was the welfare of the patients and their families . If this purpose/vision was to be fulfilled we all knew that we could not stand on the doctrinal hobby-horses of our various faiths. Indeed , I discovered that each religion had , on the one hand, fundamentalists who wanted all law and no spirit, insisting on strict regulations, and also, on the other hand, those who agreed with the way of Jesus in emphasising the infinite worth of each human being. The purpose/vision gave us a focus and an inspiration in all working together. So often we need to find that common purpose/vision.
- INCLUSIVENESS : ( John 6:35 & John 12:32 ) There were times at NLH when stances by Christians, by those of various faiths and by humanists really shook me but, though tempted, I never found that exclusion worked and that, on the contrary, I found such blessings and revelations when others included me . One Jewish synagogue invited me to their Sabbath Day housegroup to talk about the healing miracles of Jesus. I sat next to an Auschwitz survivor who showed me the number tattooed on his arm and took part in the simply beautiful and fragrant “ end of Sabbath” ceremony. I felt such blessing and learnt so much.
- RESURRECTION : ( John 21 ) At our monthly meetings we held mutual studies from each other’s scriptures . The first that the others asked me to lead was on John 21 about the risen appearance by Jesus by Lake Galilee. When I expressed surprise that this was their choice, the response was : “ We need you Christians to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus “ – now there’s a challenge ! We were dealing with death and dying but ALL of us wanted hope. Constantly, in the way we inter-related and served patients, and in the way patients blessed us, we found new life.
CONCLUSION
In David Hare’s play : “ I’m Not Running “ , the heroine describes going, at a critical decision-making time in her life, into her local park and pond very early one morning. As she lights and puffs at a cigarette, she watches the mists clear off the water, hears the dawn chorus and the rising sun appear. It is breathtakingly beautiful and she feels inspired about the service she should perform. As she soaks it all in, a jogger with headphones on and looking downwards runs down the side of the pond, stops by her and as they point a finger at her fag says : Disgusting ! “ before running onwards. As she said : “ He was absolutely right about my smoking but, right though he was, he failed to see the delight and wonder of dawn breaking ! He missed the main thing.”
Self-righteousness or conviction that we are right can make us so easily miss out on what is really important for us in relationship with those of other faiths. My appeal is not that we dismiss the interpretation of John 14:6 which gives us comfort and direction but rather that we broaden it . Let us take the WAY OF JESUS in the six-fold aspects which John outlined more seriously and see in them a pattern for working and living and celebrating with those of other faiths so that the way of Jesus can bring new life to us all.
