St Christopher's Cathedral
Bahrain

Friday 2 November 2001

1Peter 2:4-19 & John 3:1-8

I am so delighted to be with you at St. Christopher Cathedral with Clive and Dean Johnson. I have often wondered how Christians day by day live out and express their faith in this part of the world. I have prayed for you often, and now Eileen and I are overwhelmed finally to see you face to face.

Living stones. That is what Peter in the Epistle called us Christians. It is an excellent description of every member of Christ's Church. Look around you at the materials used for the construction of this Church. Some of them are prominent, some are not. Some are large and obviously strategic, others are small and seemingly insignificant. But each one is necessary and vital for the building as a whole.

Living stones. It is a peculiar image because stones are not alive. But Peter uses it deliberately to make two very important points - that the Church of God is something he is building and that in that process each person has something very distinctive and crucial to offer - and I am delighted to see the ways in which those insights undergird the vision of this Church.

In our day and age we are being asked to address a very important question. What is the Church for? The answer is not as obvious as you and I might think. Many of us here have grown up in the Church. We know its glories and its faults and we take it for granted that, of course, everyone knows what the Church is for.

But do they? Even within this Parish as you go around visiting, or talking to your neighbours, I am sure that you will find many different responses. Some people think of it as is a religious club for people who need religion. Some believe that it exists simply to spread a moral message - thou shalt be good. Some would argue that its function is to sing its hymns and say its prayers. And sometimes we confuse good traditions and liturgies with the gospel itself. Some years ago a well known member in the British Parliament was heard to exclaim: 'If the BCP was good enough for St. Paul, then it's good enough for me'.

At this time when your thoughts will, rightly and inevitably, focus afresh on the mission of the Church in this area it is no bad thing to ask: What are we here for? And I want those being confirmed to listen carefully.

St Peter gives us three good answers.

• The Church is called to be a people built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. We are living stones built on a foundation. He is the corner stone. Let us never forget that the Church of Jesus Christ is that company of people from every nation and race called to follow him. That understanding of the Church is a challenge to denominationalism, because the Church of Jesus Christ transcends all our denominations. All those united with him belong to him and become part to the great company of saints. Remember, no church is second class and God has no second class Christians.
  
  In expressing that unity of all Christians we must seek to transcend all racial, social and cultural barriers. Sadly we sometimes need to be reminded of that. The fact is that in Christ we are all equally precious, regardless of the colour of our skin, our accent or our background. As Christians we can have no truck with racism or anything else that may threaten to divide us in any part of our Churches. And that is an extremely important and relevant message today. Our unity in Jesus Christ is the basis for our mission to unite all people.
  
  The unity I am talking about needs to be worked out in our relationships. As Archbishop I occasionally get those letters, never from here let me hasten to add, which say: 'I am not going to that Church because the vicar does not speak to me'. 'I am resigning as Church warden because people let me down and expect me to do everything'. 'I am tossing it all in because the Church is so boring..' Well, I would be the last to claim that there is such a thing as a perfect clergyman or a perfect church. All of us can at times be poor representatives of Jesus Christ. But I also want to say to them: 'Yes, it is easy to complain about being let down by men and women. But, you know, the Christian life is not about the Reverend X and that Churchwarden, Mr Y. It is about following Jesus Christ. Sometimes the Church does get in the way of God. Never mind. Come to him, the Living Stone'.
  
  We are called to be the people built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ - that foundation which does not come from us but from God.
  
  
• The Church is a people who are being fashioned into a building. Look at the passage. 'Come to him, to that living stone and be like living stones built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood'. Archaeologists years ago found a stone in the ancient temple in Persepolis with this statement carved on it: 'I am a stone in the Palace of Darius, the King of Kings'.
  
  I have sometimes wondered if Peter is saying something like this: 'I am Petros, one of the unprepared, undressed stones lying around in the quarry. Jesus Christ came and took this stone and began to fashion it according to his likeness. For 30 years now he has been at work, fashioning me so that I may fit into his perfect building'.
  
  You see, the work of the Church is not done when a person is baptised and confirmed. It is not complete when we take office in the Church. It is far from finished when we become deacons and priests, readers and churchwardens, or even bishops and archbishops. Our Lord wants us to be true examples of his flawless handiwork - that holiness of life which is characterised by true integrity and transparency of life - that sacrificial and glad offering of our talents given humbly and truly - that willingness to go the second mile for others and to put up with hardship, long hours and ingratitude for his sake. So I say ponder seriously for a moment that God might not be finished with you yet. Ponder, I say, what great things God has in store for his church in this land; both in terms of what he has for you to become or indeed, for you to do!
  
  May we keep alive the faith we have received and build upon it so that we can become the Church God wants us to be. I love the splendid definition of the difference between tradition and traditionalism: 'Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living'. Traditionalism is when we refuse to move a flowerpot because my great Grandmother placed the church flowers in that very place and pot 70 years ago. Tradition is when we keep godly customs alive because they are as real today as they were 70 years ago.
  
  
• The Church is a people who are called to be a Royal Priesthood. Here we find one of the most awesome metaphors for the Church - a people and a priesthood which Peter describes as both 'holy' and 'royal'. Let us savour that image for just a moment. Peter is not for one moment asking the Church to do something with this priesthood but to 'be it'. He is telling us what we are. We are a 'royal priesthood'. We are right, of course, to think in that context of worship and the daily offering of prayer and praise as part of our priestly task, but it is by no means the whole. For Peter does not stop there. The royal priesthood is not for itself but for God and his world. As his nation, his priesthood, his people we have one clear and definite purpose. 'That we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light'.
  
  The verb he uses to express the work of the Church is a strong Greek word which means to 'blazon forth', 'declare', and 'set forth'. How do we do it today? There are a million and one different ways in which we can 'declare' the marvellous works of God. Yes, we do so in the faithfulness and regularity of setting forth the glory of God in public worship. Let us never be ashamed of that. It is one of the chief ways in which people are drawn to God and it must be done with excellence. The singing and preaching, the beauty of our liturgy and the warm welcome of people to our services is what the Church has done down the centuries and must continue to do.
  
  But in declaring his praises we should also build on that foundation of regular worship through bible study and discussion groups; through being hospitable and using meals to welcome people into our fellowship; through work among young people and by experimenting with them in finding new ways of using our liturgies; through the occasional offices of the Church; through our ministry to the bereaved and those who need the pastoral offices of ministry; through the faithful ministry of lay people at work - in these and so many other ways we 'declare' the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.
  
  As we seek to do so, so we will encounter opposition - that has always been the case and will continue to be so. But we must never fall for that temptation which says that our world is so grown up, so mature, so good that it does not need the good news of Jesus Christ. Neither must we feel that the environment in which we live is different, so immune to change that Christ's message is irrelevant. We have only to read our newspapers to see the evil that is around, or the gloom in the despair of young people, or the insecurity in the lack of moral guidelines. Our work is not over. We are here to 'declare' and 'blazon forth' the love of God.