The Late St. George - Great Martyr and our Patron Saint

In our church, this Sunday we honour our patron saint - The Great Martyr Saint George.  Some of you might be asking why we are not celebrating George on his Saint day of April 23. April is way too busy in Tauranga, so we moved our celebration to the nearest Sunday to August 14th, the date we became a parish in our own right in 1962. But Covid got in the way of that this year, so here we are in September doing George.

Wikipedia tells us that Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος, Geṓrgios; Latin: Georgius; d. 23 April 303) was a soldier of Greek origins, member of the Praetorian Guard for the Roman emperor Diocletian, who was tortured and sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith.

We remember his courage in publicly declaring before his emperor both that the command for all soldiers to sacrifice to the imperial cult or be executed was evil, and that he was a Christian and would not be sacrificing. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition he is named among the great martyrs. He is widely venerated and respected by Christian and non-Christians. We join with many churches around the world and fly his flag to honour his story. We recall the Muslim saying applied to him that says “The righteous act is to confront the tyrant”. St. George continues to be an inspiration for Christians under persecution, especially Palestinian and Syrian Christians who claim George as one of their own.

Like the story of George, our gospel reading (Matthew 21:23-32) invites us to consider the important authorities in our lives, and what we are authorised to be and do? The chief priests and elders want to know on what authority Jesus heals, especially on the Sabbath; pronounce forgiveness for sins; enters Jerusalem on a donkey like a king; overturns the money changers tables; and has the affront to teach in the temple. They are the true authority and they have not authorised any of this. But they are unwilling to acknowledge John’s authority to act as he did, so Jesus tells a story about the limits and failure of their authority. A warning for all in authority.

George saw the limits of the emperor’s authority. The higher authority in his life was God’s – the authority to live with an attitude of love and compassion. We too are authorised to live God’s compassion, generosity and justice. In this Season of Creation, we can say we are authorised to love God by loving our neighbours, including all of creation, as ourselves. What place does this authorisation play in our lives? How do we live this out?

 

You can listen to the sermon that came out of all this here