13th February 2022
In the summer of 2021, the Prime Minister made his landmark ‘Levelling up’ speech in which he promised that if left-behind regions had the grit to put forward a plan for their particular place, he would back them with training, investment, broadband and high-speed transport links. (Slide one)
It was a vision that won for him the Red Wall at the last election.
Of course, whether that speech turns out to be peak Boris or plain old same old remains to be seen…
In this morning’s Gospel, the original levelling up minister sets out His agenda for change. (Slide two)
In this case whether the sermon was peak or plain is moot – alongside Jesus’ reading of the prophet Isaiah in his maiden speech – this is a manifesto that has stood the test of time.
In St Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount and here in St Luke’s Sermon on the plain (both versions of the same thing) – the word BLESSED is the CLUE to its meaning.
In contrast with the static impression given by the gospel, the roots of BLESSED in Hebrew, in Arabic and Akkadian connotate moving forward, marching out, walking on.
So these statements are not tea and sympathy.
They are an exhortation for those who will choose to step out and blaze a trail on Christ’s Camino.
Keen minds will have already noticed, exactly the same word used in Psalm 1, which we heard sung earlier. (Slide three)
Thanks to that Psalm we can see that the Beatitudes are not some think-tank assessment of sad static state – they are the starters’ pistol. The announcement of the general election. Choose your side. Cast your ballot. Follow me. (Slide four)
Blessed is the person that does not walk with the ungodly for guides – it says-
Nor stand in the roadway of the sinful
Nor halt for a rest at the camp of the cynics
Whose delight is in the Law of the Lord.
Like a tree planted by streams of living water- whatever they do shall prosper.
The ungodly shall not be so… they are like chaff that the wind drives away…
The Lord knows the way of the righteous
But the way of the ungodly vanishes in the sands” (Terrien)
The same Psalm has always reminded me of that famous poem by Robert Frost
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
From Superbowls to Ford adverts. From self-help classics to the posters on a student’s bedroom wall. Frosts The Road Not Taken is the iconic take on choosing one’s path in life.
As Americas favourite poem it is THE most celebrated articulation of that independence and self-assertion that is so characteristic of the American Way (“I took the one less traveled by”).
But- if you remember- the choice in THAT poem… is seen retrospectively and is remembered as a very subtle one. (Slide five)
Both roads ‘equally lay’ and ‘were worn about the same.’
This is where the scriptural story differ starkly, from the relativism and individualism of our time.
When we stand at the edge of these Yellow Woods, we find the roads very different indeed and the choice of path is imbued with immediate and eternal consequence.
The way of Woe is the easy way of the scornful commentariat & popular cynic. It is a confused track of self love and self loathing. It is the clouded, crowded avenue of easy but fleeting prosperity, of pleasure without consequence and politics without principle.
By contrast Jesus’ way demands clarity and subtley: the humility to follow Christ and the courage to walk apart from the crowd. (Slide six)
It asks that we cultivate a joie de vivre that embraces the joy of vivifying OTHERS.
Jesus’ way invites us to embrace of the traditions of the past and have a willingness to risk of the unknown future:
It involves an ever-deepening love of its ancient texts & daily practice that liberate the believer, not just from foreign tyranny but also from the trap of sinful self.
Yes, its margins are generous and forgiving, but Jesus way draws deep to deep and invites an intense, exact, sustained, and loving observation of the divine transcendence.
This ancient lane – though a harder route for sure – also bears the weary traveller up to new heights.
Unlike Frosts sentimental yellow brick road, it is not a look back down the years – a here’s how things panned out…
This opening psalm and Jesus’ sermon on it remind us that the Christian way offers to dignify each passing moment by imbuing it with eternal significance.
The different roads don’t all lead to same place in the end. The candidates are not- ‘all the same’. The manifestos are not ‘just as bad as each other’.
Every moment is a crossroads that sets us forever on one course or the other. The eternal is present to us in every moment. And thus every decision in every moment of our days tends one way or the other.
As the late Samuel Terrien reminds us in his commentary on Psalm 1, this PRESENCE and the CHOICE it presents bestows upon every person, upon every life and upon every moment equally – inestimable value.
‘This demanding vision of a living God who faces human diversity and conflicts’ he says ‘will enable women and men to overcome prejudices and uncertainties. Those who go the Lord’s way will find an equilibrium between egocentricity and the ability to love neighbours… and even enemies.
Each of us, every day, is granted the creative power to steer God’s creation toward the way of destruction or into the way of Peace:
So friends – as at every turn in our lives- we are invited in this morning’s worship to meet Jesus at these Crossroads where the Two Ways meet.
And which way you choose, will make ALL the difference in the world… (Slide seven)
Come (then) to the place, where every breath is praise,
And God is breathing through each passing breeze.
Be planted by the waterside and raise your arms with Christ beneath these rooted trees,
Who lift their breathing leaves up to the skies. (so the Psalmist puts it – as retold in verse by the poet Malcom Guite)
Be rooted too, as still and strong as these,
Open alike to sun and rain.
Arise From meditation by these waters.
Bear The fruits of that deep rootedness.
Be wise In the trees’ long wisdom.
Learn to share The secret of their patience.
Pass the day In their green fastness and their quiet air.
Slowly discern a life, a truth, a way, where simple being flowers in delight.
Then let the chaff of life just blow away.
AMEN
