Our Sermons
Sunday 18 May 2025
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it (Attributed to Voltaire, but the words are in fact S.G. Tallentyre's summary of his attitude to Helvetius following the burning of the latter's De l'esprit in 1759)
During this time of Easter we are following the steps of St Paul, specifically during the last weeks and this Sunday, we are tracing what is commonly known as his first missionary journey. If we had a map in front of us, we would immediately realise from what it is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles that during his first missionary journey Paul travelled from Syria to Turkey visiting Cyprus and part of the Greek mainland. More than the historic reasons that led him to go to those places, what might interest us is the evolution of Paul during his preaching to the most different cultures from what was called Asia Minor. His engagement moves from a strictly Jewish community living out of the Holy Land to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people. Perhaps we can describe his missionary journey as a spiritual one where traveling and preaching he understood that he was not called to proclaim the Good News not only the Jewish people, but to everyone.
We need to remember that Israel always had an inward looking attitude when professing its faith in Yahweh. After all, foreigners could convert to the Jewish faith, but they were usually treated as second rate citizens. Instead, Jesus’ followers were immediately admitted into the Christian community as soon as they converted.
Paul’s vision wasn’t probably clear from the beginning of his journey. Instead, it did clarify itself while traveling and meeting the most diverse people of the time in Antioch, Lystra, Iconium and other places in Pisidia. The Jewish inward looking attitude became a universal vision of the world then known, and a message that was meant to be announced to everyone. Paul soon realized that the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, were very receptive to the message of Jesus Christ, and ready to become their followers. At the same time, Paul made it clear that the Christian message was universal not theoretically, but in practice. In fact, he wasn’t afraid of engaging with those who weren’t Jewish. For Paul something entirely new had come into the world, and its revolutionary message of love was for everyone.
Now, how do we relate to this? Does it resonate with us, with the current state of our society and mainstream thinking? I think it does. Look around and see what is currently going on in the world. We seem to live in a world that tends to drive people into divisions, to divide itself into groups of people with an obsessive inward looking attitude. Each group seems to talk just to its affiliates who are craving for confirmation. They want to confirm their most hidden fears, and justify their hatred for those who are different from their group. This group’s polarization leads to hatred and a high intolerant attitude towards any opinion that is different or does not conform with the mainstream thinking and behavior of the group.
Do you think that I’m stating this or exaggerating?
Well, have a look at social media groups. Many of them will immediately attack anyone outside of the group who tries to express an opinion that is different or dissonant from theirs. I’ll give you an example. At the moment, a referendum about citizenship for foreigners has been approved in Italy, but because it is in favour of granting citizenship to those who were born in Italy, the publicity about the voting for this referendum has been opposed by the government and the mainstream national media. Unfortunately for them, one popular comedian posted a video on social media inviting Italians to vote for the referendum, and because of that she was immediately covered by all sorts of insults and life threats.
It is an interesting case, because it shows how a society can become polarized when groups stop talking to each other. The group that supports the comedian’s view, it is advocating for a fairer law, which would allow immigrants to become citizens in a shorter time, while the other group fiercely opposes any law that would encourage immigration. The two groups don’t talk to each other. Interestingly, the comedian wasn't picking a side, but just encouraging people to vote. Even that was seen as a threat by those who opposed any serious debate on immigration.
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We see this happening more and more, and it is scary. No wonder one of the first things the new Pope said was about the affirmation of free speech.
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Another good example of the current state of our world is ‘Adolenscence’, the Netflix series centres on a 13-year-old schoolboy named Jamie Miller who is arrested after the murder of a girl in his school. If you haven't watched it yet, I would highly recommend it. It is a cross section of a world we as parents and people of an older generation don’t really seem to be aware of. At the moment, it is stirring a debate on social media, and the use of smartphones among teenagers, but my nephew, who is a young adult now, made me aware of a deeper phenomenon, which is related to the in-groups, and how they feed into the fears of a frustrated generation of young people. In the series the murder is the peak of the iceberg revealing a shocking world that we adults seem to barely know and understand.
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In this context, we become fully aware of the importance of proclaiming the message of Jesus to the world, and above all of the importance to affirm its universality. Universality won’t just mean a message for everyone, but a message that talks to everyone. Languages, cultures, ethnicities, historic and geographic backgrounds are not obstacles, but channels through which a universal message can travel. At the same time, this universal message urges us to be ambassadors of a culture of dialogue and listening. In-groups like the far too many you can find on social media feed into the worst people’s fears. And fear is the root of all violence and intolerance. The Christian message advocates for a counter-cultural revolution where we tear down the walls of fears and hatred, and build bridges of dialogue and understanding. We are invited to travel with Paul to meet other people where they are, and not where we want them to be. Travelling is, and perhaps has always been, a spiritual and practical experience, because we move from our comfort zone, our safe space, to meet others, we listen to each other, and learn the only language that is worth speaking to: the language of love and authentic compassion. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a naive person. I know this is not easy, but it is urgently needed, especially in a world dominated by polarized groups, increasingly against each other. We wish to build a better place for our children. We envision a world where peace is not utopia, but a real possibility for our world, societies, communities and families. Like Paul, we are not afraid of travelling all the way with other people to reach them where they are, to take the risk of making ourselves vulnerable as he did many times in his missionary journeys, and when we not able to do it, to support those who can, because we know that that’s the only way to head humanity towards a better world for everyone. We long for this New heaven and a new earth’, envisioned by the Book of Revelation, and fully revealed in the message of the risen Lord.