Saved!
Gate Pa – Easter 4 (Good Shepherd Sunday) 2014
Readings:
First Reading:
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm: 23
Second Reading:
1 Peter 2:19-25
Gospel: John 10:1-10
What I want to say:
I want to explore how we understand salvation, and how our
understanding then affects how we see God, ourselves, Christ, Church and
mission. I want to offer one way of understanding that using Augustine and
Julian of Norwich, and then use that to explore some of Acts, with a side look at
God as mother.
What I want to
happen:
People to feel free to embrace a wider array of
understanding of all of the above and to know they still fit within the wide
stream of Christian thought and belief.
The Sermon
1. Introduction:
34 years
ago Bob Dylan released Saved – album unashamedly proclaimed Christian faith
great song
remember
mid 80’s going concert Mt Smart rocking to it all stoned people around me
song comes
out particular understanding what being saved means
understanding
sometimes/often understood as only Christian understanding
reality is
that there are a number of understandings which go back to the early church.
As I read
todays readings and some commentaries
thought about our understanding
of salvation shapes how read passages like todays
certainly how read next week’s gospel
like we
put on these glasses
they shape
how read bible
shapes
how understand God
shapes
how we see ourselves
shapes
understanding Christ
and
what it is we think we are here to do.
despite
all that
I suspect
that many of us don’t think about much at all
don’t give
a lot of attention to “what is it we understand by being saved?”
what
is salvation?
what
being saved from and for?
what want
to do today spent a little bit of time wondering
what on
earth does that mean to be saved?
2. Saved for eternal life
we can say
- saved means gaining eternal life
life with God
think if
asked most you
after die – future
heaven - somewhere else
colours
everything
God is loving – up to point
God is
holy, righteous, judge
see
ourselves as sinful
stone cold dead – Bob Dylan
describes it
our
sins keep us out heaven
Jesus death
paid price of those sins
resurrection
allows us live again
all which
means we will get in to this eternal life
if we believe
right things and say right prayers
what then
implications of this theology for
how see
God?
How see
ourselves
How see
Christ?
how we
read bible?
What we
are on about as church?
3. Saved – for now
Older
understandings salvation
find them
in John’s Gospel
find them
writing early writers – Augustine, Athanasius
Find them
in writing Julian Norwich – who remembered Thursday – calendar saints
eternal
life is life with God
now
here
salvation
is in the here and now
4. St. Augustine
St Augustine
of Hippo (not be confused Augustine sent by Pope Gregory to Britain 200 later)
wrote – we
had forgotten who God is
who are – those made image God
forgotten how to live people
made in image of God
For Augustine
Jesus came remind us
show us
came as
God among us
we might
be reminded who God is
who we are as ones made image
God
made
in image one meet person Jesus
(by
we mean all humanity)
how we are live as those made in
image God
In Jesus we
find God
invited
rediscover character of God
people mixes with
how interacts with them
what teaches
what he does – restoring community
in Jesus meet
God in whom there is only love (Julian Norwich would say)
What this understanding
do to
how see
God?
How see
ourselves
How see
Christ?
how we
read bible?
What we
are on about as church?
being
saved is not something about future
about how
see ourselves now,
people made in image God who we
meet in person of Jesus
restoring
God’s community in here and now
5. Acts
not a lot written
about early church by non church people
some references
to James Just – brother Jesus the messiah
James of
Acts
brother Jesus
Head of
church (not Peter)
he was
renowned as holy and devout
zealous
God
champion for
poor
take off the
eternal life is in future glasses
offered
glimpses in Acts in particular
group took Jesus message about “new”
way conceiving society very seriously
message
stood firmly in tradition of prophets
king
David – shepherd of God’s people
sought
live that out
in way all
treated as made image of God
who
loves all
draws
all in
freely
forgives and seeks life for now
lived in
way all had enough, and none had too much
salvation
was to live out this life now
in way
others invited to join.
For these the
kingdom of God is now, and in will be fully realised in the future
6. The Questions
two years
ago suggested three questions we constantly need to reflect on
our
answers to these will shape our understanding who we are as people God on this
place
understanding
of what we are doing here
those three
questions are
whose are we
who are we
what is ours to do.
how we
understand salvation shape how answer all these
how answer
these 3 questions also shape how understand salvation
we need to
think about and talk about how we understand salvation
invite you
turn neighbour and reflect on what just said
what stood out
what new
what disagree with
what next?
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