8th Sunday After Pentecost – Ted Hackett
This morning I am going to do what I have done a couple of times before this year….
I am not going to preach directly from today’s readings…
but instead on a topic….
But it is an urgent topic.
To get into it….we have to do a bit of history.
Alexander the Great was born in Macedon in 356 BC.
He wanted to conquer the whole world and make it into one giant empire….
And by the age of 30 he had just about done it!
Alexander’s Empire included all the Mediterranean, Persia
and stretched to India.
He didn’t bother with northern Europe…it was a barbarian wilderness.
When Alexander died of battle wounds at age 32, the Empire was divvied up
among his heirs. There was frequent in-fighting among them,
but the Empire sort of hung together.
300 years later, the powerful Roman Empire took it over….
except for Persia….which became Rome’s great enemy.
Now, since Alexander, the Empire had evolved into a truly Cosmopolitan creature.
Cosmopolitan means, in Greek, World-City.
Instead of a number of independent city-states, or countries, each
with its own culture…there was to be one, great City…
The whole Empire…
And everyone was supposed to belong to…and be loyal to…
that single Empire.
That Empire was inclusive.
Everyone who lived in it was supposed to be equal
under the law…though that never really worked.
One of the remarkable things about this “the world is one city” idea was that people could freely travel or live anywhere in the Empire they wanted.
Kind of like the European Union now…No Passports necessary…
And in many ways, this was a great thing..
Increased trade, education, less war……
But it had its downside….
In the old days…before Alexander ….
People were pretty much confined to their own countries.
Everybody had different rules and laws…. But it was dangerous
to move…these little countries were always in conflict,
Often at war.
But….if you grew up in one place…. where your parents and grand parents grew up….
You knew the local customs…
You knew the local law…
You knew and worshiped the local gods.
You probably knew lots of people.
All of that meant….that you had a solid sense of who you were…
where you belonged…
who your people were….
What your history was…
In other words…
You had…. and knew…. your
IDENTITY!
Now identity is a very important thing….
It’s a matter of knowing…
Basically of feeling….that you belong
somewhere…
Where your roots are…
Where you belong with others…
Who you are…
Your identity….
Without it you are… really…nobody!
Socrates chose to kill himself rather than be exiled from Athens…he feared losing his identity.
And by Jesus’ time, that’s how probably millions of people felt….
Disoriented…
Lost…
Alienated …without a people to belong to..
People with no identity….
Into this gap…stepped religion.
For the first time in history, religion was
optional….it wasn’t determined by birth.
Local god’s that used to belong to this or that nation….
Cabeiri from Samothrace, Isis from Egypt, and so forth…
became open to everyone….
And many people chose to be initiated into several cults…because the god’s often “specialized” in certain things…Mithras for instance specialized in military bravery and protection.
And the government had no objection so long as these initiates could also be
patriotically loyal to the Roman Gods….
These cults…at least to some extent…
Gave the members an identity…
To publically go in a big procession with fellow worshipers carrying a big statue of Isis…
Was a public statement of
Who you belonged to….
Who you belonged with…
What was your identity!
But… you were still a Roman.
Then….along came those Jesus-people….
Now called “Christians”…
And they had, like other religions, an impressive initiation.
To join the Christian cult…which is how people saw it….
One had to contact a member…usually a dangerous thing to do…persecution you know.
And why were there persecutions?
You will see…but back to initiation…
After you secretly contacted a Christian….
You were observed in your daily life to make
sure you were moral and honest…
If you passed that test…you entered into a period of instruction…
plus daily exorcisms….now you were a Catechumen.
After another year or so…
For the first time…
You heard the Story of Jesus.
The Gospel.
Then…usually on Easter Eve…
You underwent 3-day fast….then you were taken to a place where there was
a pool with running water..
There you were stripped naked…you were asked to absolutely
renounce the Devil and all devilish things and promise to follow
Christ alone.
After that you were exorcized again, anointed with oil and
led by a Deacon down a couple of steps into a bathtub-like pool….
You sat in the water in a foetal position…suggesting re-birth….
Then a priest looked you in the eye and asked: “Do you believe in the God the Father?”
Yes!..And he pushed you under for a while.
Hauls you up.. “Do you believe in God the Son?” Yes…and pushes you
under for long enough to impress you….Hauls you up: Do you believe in
God the Holy Spirit? Yes…and down under again.
Then you are led up and anointed with oil again…oil of Chrism as if
you were being installed as a King…
And then vested in a long white garment like we wear up here
on the altar…only the aristocracy wore long albs…common folk
wore short ones.
You are now escorted to the Bishop who is sitting either in an alcove or across the street in the Church or a “safe-house.”
You kneel before him….he is the head of your new family….
And he lays his hands on your head…
He “claims” you as a member of Christ’s Body, the Church….
The Household of God
This is important….
In a Roman household, when a child was born it was taken to the patriarch of the house and he did one of two things …
He crossed his arms and looked away, or laid hands on the initiate and
certified that he or she was part of the Familia.
If he did not accept the baby, it was put up for adoption or taken out and
exposed to die.
So by the Bishop laying hands on your head, you are claimed by God
as part of God’s Familia.
Then the Bishop anoints you again…. designating you as
an eternally “special”member of this family.
Now you are a Christian.
This liturgy is impressive…
But why so much?
And why so long?
Because now…being a Christian….
Your identity has changed…
Where you belong has changed…
You are no longer a citizen of the Roman Kingdom….
You are now a citizen of the Kingdom of God…
You are a fellow heir with Christ in the glory of a new creation.
That is who you ARE!
From now on, there is for you only One Lord…
Any other Lord in your life is an idol…
Whatever or whoever comes first….
Whatever or whoever has authority
in your life to command you to do anything that is not
in keeping with Christ….
That is idolatry…
Whatever besides Christ that you trust completely,
that commands your loyalty….
is an Idol….
Whatever thing….
If money, Power or prestige commands your loyalty ahead of love…
For love is the ruling force of Christ’s Kingdom,
Whatever commands you to hate, or hold someone in contempt, or cheat….or get Christianity mixed up with an ideology like so called “Christian Nationalism”, or any of the other works of the Devil…
That is asking you to sin… and calls for repentance and forgiveness…
Repentance and forgiveness…
Because when we worship an Idol…
We make of that person or thing..
A false God…
And because our identity is belonging to Christ by Baptism …
Because Christian is who we really ARE….
When we make false gods to worship,
We are betraying ourselves.
Looking for an identity….
We are ignoring our real identity
We are missing what our identity can make of our lives…
Make them real and honest…
Being a Christian…
Having Christ as our God…
Means we find our identity in Love and in Forgiveness….
Christ has made us who we are…
And there is no identity greater….
There is none other that can really satisfy our deepest longings.
Because we belong to Jesus
Because that is our…. Identity!….
And will be for all
Eternity… Thanks be to God!