Sermon Archive
An unrepentant ecumaniac
Sermon preached by Tom Cuthell at Holy Communion on 4 February 2007, West End Churches Together Joint Service
I have been an unrepentant ecumaniac throughout my entire ministry! As an assistant minister in St Giles' Cathedral I was instrumental in introducing an American Episcopalian by the name of John Tyrell to my boss, Dr Harry Whitley, who then invited John to become my colleague over the brussel sprouts at Sunday lunch. The canon lawyers, needless to say, were apoplectic - as indeed were bishops and ex-Moderators at this unilateral ecumenical gesture, at this breaking of the rules governing institutionalised ecumenism. An idea, perhaps, before its time.
In 1985 I was thrilled to be part of the establishing of the Local Ecumenical Partnership between St Cuthbert's and St John's. Historic barriers were breached, for at the heart of this new partnership was a mutual recognition of ministry. Thus Ken Boyd and Yours Truly were to be found presiding at an Episcopalian Eucharist, deemed hitherto to be the exclusive preserve of Episcopalian clergy.
In 2005 my dream of leading an ecumenical group of Catholics and Protestants to Assisi, along with my good friend the Cardinal, became a happy reality. Though we agreed beforehand to respect the rules of each other's church, I was, in all honesty, chafing at the bit. However, the Holy Spirit had a cheeky knack of side-flanking the rules, with the result that there were moments when we all found ourselves ambushed by grace.
There was, for instance, that hallowed moment towards the end of Mass celebrated by the Cardinal at the little church of San Damiano. As the service was drawing to a close Cardinal Keith suddenly left the altar, headed in my direction, stood in front of me and requested a blessing. There he was the Cardinal in full liturgical 'clobber' and there was I dressed in a T shirt and a pair of slacks!! I stood up, laid my hands on the Cardinal's head and recited the Aaronic Blessing over him 'The Lord bless you and keep you: the Lord make his face to shine upon you'. It was a grace-filled moment, and I learned afterwards that there was not a dry eye among the group!
I wonder did you see the BBC film about the ecumenical group of church leaders from the UK who recently visited Israel/Palestine a group that included Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and Archbishop Rowan Williams. In the film there is a scene where these distinguished churchmen visited a Palestinian school. The children had just had a painting and drawing class. The drawings reflected life as these Palestinian children lived it. What disturbed the churchmen was that every painting contained a depiction of that ugly, sinister wall built by the Israelis to divide the Palestinian population. A near-by microphone picked up the quiet, little voice of one of the children, saying, 'I do not like walls.' That, for me, is too much of an understatement. I hate walls and barriers. For good measure, I also happen to hate exclusiveness and narrowness. Robust language true but then I am only emulating the linguistic robustness of the prophet Isaiah 'Your new moons and appointed festivals my soul hates'. What I am saying is that my ecumenical fervour obliges me to hate narrow, exclusive religion religion that builds walls and erects barriers, especially religion that seeks to give a divine imprimatur to narrowness, exclusiveness and separateness. Part of my ecumenical credentials, then, is my hatred! St Luke 4 v21-30 the gospel reading for last Sunday highlights that moment in the Nazareth synagogue when Jesus almost found himself lynched by the congregation. What triggered the riot and had the good kirkfolk of Nazareth baying for Jesus' blood was his scandalous statement that God's love, grace and favour was not restricted to Jews, that Gentiles were included within the orbit of his grace. In other words, Jesus challenged their vision of God a vision that was narrow, limited and exclusive. Theirs was a tribal God, a God who was exclusively kosher; a God whose grace and favour did not extend beyond the confines of Jewry. Time and time again throughout his ministry Jesus was found challenging narrow, exclusive religion, challenging religious mindsets that sought to place restrictions on the grace and favour of God, that sought to narrow down the circumference of the love of God. He was found challenging social, cultural and religious barriers, and in fact undermining them barriers that denied outsiders and the marginalized, the non-kosher, the lowest and the least, open and unrestricted access to the mercy, grace and love of God. Always we find Jesus pushing out the boundaries, the margins, the limits, so much so that in his eyes nothing and nobody was off-limits, as far as the love of God was concerned. In very truth, Jesus was the first ecumaniac: he was the first catholic, in that he fleshed out a divine love that was inclusive and all-embracing. A true ecumenist will always be broad in his affections never narrow, never insular. My My favourite hymn was written by Frederick William Faber:
There's a wideness in God's mercy
like the wideness of the sea.
The love of God is broader
than the measures of man's mind.
I believe, and I believe robustly, that breadth is an attribute of God, whereas narrowness or exclusiveness is not. God is broad-minded, not narrow-minded. And to be honest I just wish the Church could be as broad-minded as the God it seeks to worship. Sometimes the Church has tended to operate with a much smaller compass than the God whom it is seeking to serve. Sometimes the Church has been infamous for its attempts to reduce the circumference of the family circle, so as to encompass the select few who pass the spiritual means test. Hence the exponents of a narrow and exclusive Calvinistic Protestantism would have us believe that Christ died only for the elect, the select few. Some Christians pride themselves on their piddling little compasses which, alas, are capable of only piddling, little circumferences. I happen to believe that one of the things that happened at Calvary was that Christ took none other than the compass of God and, with a broad, sweeping gesture, defined a circumference that was bigger than the measures of man's mind. Christ died believing that not one single human being fell outwith the compass of his outstretched arms. The Cross was, and always will be, the centre of the circumference of the love of God.
Another ecumenical image that I want, briefly, to reflect on is that of the divine banquet. In the words of George Herbert love bade me welcome. Praise be, there is nothing grudging or mean-spirited about divine hospitality. One will never hear the divine host saying, in typical Edinburgh fashion, 'You'll have had your tea.' No, it will be the best of china and the best of fare, for the hospitality of heaven is always free-flowing, lavish, extravagant. Praise be, the divine guest list is drawn up by One whose Name is Love, whose essence is Love, whose ways are Love therefore that list will be much more extensive than you and I can imagine. And if the divine guest-list is so inclusive, then woe betide us if we find ways of trimming the list to make it more exclusive. And this is where I take issue with the Church of Rome. By denying non-Catholics open and unrestricted access to the grace and favour of the Lord's Table, is the Church of Rome not in danger of being more exclusive than the Lord himself, who, throughout his ministry, actively welcomed at table those who lacked proper religious credentials and pedigree? Thus I long for, and pray for the day when all who love the Lord Jesus will have free and unrestricted access to the hospitality of each other's altars and tables for the altar or table is not the altar or table of any one Church, but rather the altar or table of the Lord.
Today I have shared with you the theology that underpins and energizes my ecumenical passion. And if there is a word that I would leave with you as I stand on the threshold of retirement, it would be this - broaden and expand your vision of God, if it is somewhat limited and constrained. Be equally broad in your affections - let that which is narrow, blinkered, insular and exclusive be declared anathema among you. Take the risk, break down the walls, abandon all narrowness and insularity and expand the Local Ecumenical Partnership so that it includes all the churches represented here this morning. In the meantime, in my retirement I shall continue to prise open that which is narrow, to undermine walls, to chip away at barriers that alienate and divide, to witness passionately to the inclusiveness of the love of God.
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