The project found that “eight in 10 teachers fear that moral development of children is being squeezed out of schools by the relentless pressure of exams.” This was a study which involved 10,000 British children and 250 teachers. Professor James Arthur said: “Academic attainment is, of course, important, but the moral character of a child matters more. Research shows that a good grasp of moral virtues, such as kindness, honesty and courage can help children to flourish as human beings, and can also lead to improvements in the classroom. And that level of understanding doesn’t just happen; it needs to be nurtured and encouraged, both in school and at home.” And I would add at church. So there you go and that could be the end of the sermon but I wouldn’t want to let you off that easily.
As the voices of the arts and the Church, music and faith are getting squeezed out as central pillars in our society, this study offers pause for reflection. Ethics, morals, principles and integrities are losing some ground and in fact the result is hitting us hard. Where do we turn for moral guidance?
Our first reading from the Hebrew Scriptures began in this way: “Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol…” That is how it began and it went on from there to outline the other nine of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments, certainly describe some of God’s expectations of us, a moral path to walk, some of the hope of how our world should be. Edwin Louis Cole said “Some people would say that the Ten Commandments are all that we need to determine the moral compass of our lives.” Remember the Sabbath Day, honour your parents, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. It is hard to argue against them.
The trouble, of course, is that while they form an excellent basis for moral decision making, life is not always so neat and tidy, is it? How do we honour our parents if one has been abused by one of them? When a country goes to war what happens to you shall not murder? Is it OK if the other side starts the conflict? You shall not commit adultery seems straightforward but what does one do if their spouse doesn’t honour it in the same way? You shall not steal again is obvious but are there situations like starvation, life and death, political abuse where it could be rethought? You shall not lie but at times it can also be painful to only tell the truth. If a victim at the scene of a terrible accident asks if they are going to be OK and you know they are not, what might you say? Perhaps I am poking too many holes in the Ten Commandments and I know this might be troubling but the world is not divided into completely black and white decisions, there are moral grey areas.
Some people might not like to hear this and could even suggest that this is wishy washy theology and we should only hear fixed answers with a theology that makes it clear and obvious in how we respond to each and every situation. You might think that but we have gathered here in the name of Jesus Christ. This Jesus of course was sentenced to death and one of the greatest charges that was aimed at him over and over was that he was not keeping the Sabbath holy. Religious leaders were outraged when on the Sabbath he healed the man at the pool of Bethzatha or the one with the withered hand in the synagogue or many others. In fact when his disciples were reprimanded for plucking grain on the Sabbath, Jesus’ response was “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2: 27). Startling words from Jesus as he opened up the Ten Commandments for interpretation and for compassion.
Perhaps that is why when Jesus was asked which commandment in the law is the greatest, he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” This is a powerful statement about how we view the Ten Commandments. And it got me thinking about other things you won’t be surprised to hear.
When I was on the Island of Iona in Scotland several years ago I went to the Abbey there for evening worship. Yes even on holiday we clergy will go to church. I arrived early and sat down to simply enjoy the silence. The beautiful stone of the walls of the ancient abbey seemed to contain years of prayer, worship and song. It felt good to be there. I was puzzled though by a table placed in the middle of the aisle on which were an assortment of coins. I was curious but soon ignored it. Gradually more and more people came in. We all waited and waited in silence for the service to begin. When the official starting time had come and gone we clock-watchers started to get a little anxious. What was going on? About 7 minutes after the hour a young man walked slowly and deliberately up the aisle. He caught our attention as he walked towards the table in the centre. In one quick movement he grabbed an edge of the table and sent it flying. The table crashed, the coins went flying and scattered and rattled around on the stone floor for quite some time. Nothing was said, the echoes of the crash of the table crashing and the coins rattling on the floor were all that was needed.
It is a memory that has stayed with me for a long time. And so when I heard the gospel for today my mind went back to the Abbey. Jesus’ point I think was that we must stay focussed on what really matters: love of God and love of neighbour. We as church and we as followers of Jesus are not called to simply follow a set of rules blindly and without much thought. We are called to live out the love of God and love of neighbour. We are called to overturn tables if necessary that are set up to make our faith a matter of only following laws instead of responding to God’s grace with our own offerings of forgiveness and compassion. We are called to live our faith with integrity and honesty and not only point out the faults of others. We are called to grow deeper in our connection to God and be overwhelmed by God’s radical and unending love for us. Be bowled over by the depth of God’s desire to hold us and invite us to a closer walk. The Church of today needs to be a place where we take Jesus’ lead and recognize the holiness to which we are called, not simply as rule followers but faithful followers.
In The Guardian Weekly, Giles Fraser wrote recently “This is the great heresy of an established church—it ends up forgetting who the boss is. And this forgetfulness has stalked the church throughout the centuries of what came to be called Christendom—that pernicious self-supporting symbiosis of church and state. My hope is that as Christendom continues to fall apart, so the church may be able to recapture some of it pre-Constantinian vitality and radicalism. It won’t be as big or as strong, at least not in worldly terms. But that was never part of the promise of the gospel.”
That study on the moral decision making capabilities of British children which I referred to earlier is all part of this as far as I am concerned. What shapes how you make ethical decisions? For we all have to make them but what shapes how you choose to act? Love or revenge? Forgiveness or getting even? Compassion or having the last laugh? Your answer is important on this third Sunday of Lent as you consider how you follow this radical, table-turning Jesus in this day and in this time.