St Mark's Pennington and St Thomas' Lymington are spending the next six weeks exploring HeartEdge themes including the 4 Cs. I joined them this Sunday to preach and introduce HeartEdge. Catherine Duce will preach for the final Sunday in the series. Their services can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKRF1l-cpB5-rn1o5tUNWUw.
Here is the sermon I shared:
Are you at the heart (at the centre) or on the edge? Is your church at the heart or on the edge?
Your answer to that question will depend on what you identify as the area under consideration and where you see the centre or heart being. So, if the question was, are Pennington and Lymington at the heart of Hampshire, you might give a different answer to being asked whether the churches of Lymington and Pennington are at the heart of their local communities. The question can also be posed personally in terms of your churches; are you at the heart of your church or on the margins? Again, in order to answer that question, you have to think first, where is or what is the heart of this church?
These are important questions for all churches to be asking and the answers that we give shape the mission and ministry of each church, in ways that can be positive or negative. The HeartEdge renewal movement provides a framework for exploring these questions, but it is one which may reverse or challenge some of the assumptions you may have when you begin to ask these questions.
Our Gospel reading today (Matthew 21:23-32) is based on the same questions and, within HeartEdge, we want to be faithful to the answers it gives. As the beginning of John’s Gospel puts it, the Word became flesh and lived among us, the true light, which enlightens everyone, was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. That’s essentially what we see happening in today’s Gospel.
Here is the sermon I shared:
Are you at the heart (at the centre) or on the edge? Is your church at the heart or on the edge?
Your answer to that question will depend on what you identify as the area under consideration and where you see the centre or heart being. So, if the question was, are Pennington and Lymington at the heart of Hampshire, you might give a different answer to being asked whether the churches of Lymington and Pennington are at the heart of their local communities. The question can also be posed personally in terms of your churches; are you at the heart of your church or on the margins? Again, in order to answer that question, you have to think first, where is or what is the heart of this church?
These are important questions for all churches to be asking and the answers that we give shape the mission and ministry of each church, in ways that can be positive or negative. The HeartEdge renewal movement provides a framework for exploring these questions, but it is one which may reverse or challenge some of the assumptions you may have when you begin to ask these questions.
Our Gospel reading today (Matthew 21:23-32) is based on the same questions and, within HeartEdge, we want to be faithful to the answers it gives. As the beginning of John’s Gospel puts it, the Word became flesh and lived among us, the true light, which enlightens everyone, was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. That’s essentially what we see happening in today’s Gospel.
The beginning of John's Gospel says that God came into the world but was rejected and not recognised. Yet, the stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone. The one who was at the centre of the Universe – the creator God – chose to be on the edge by becoming one with his creation; not as one born with power and prestige, but as one on the edge – a servant, a slave – who was then unrecognised, rejected and killed.
God chose to be on the edge, with those on the edge, and to be recognised by those on the edge. That’s what today’s Gospel reading tells us; those at the centre of religious life in Jesus’ day - the chief priests and the elders of the people – didn’t recognise him. But those on the edge of religious life (including those excluded from it) – the tax collectors and prostitutes, did recognise him. As he said of John the Baptist: ‘John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.’ The clear implication from Jesus is that exactly the same thing was happening in regard to his ministry too.
So, we ask the questions with which we began this sermon not because the centre is the place to be and the place into which everyone needs to be brought, but, instead, because God is actually with those on the edge and the renewal of the heart – the centre – will only come from those on the edge.
‘At the heart. On the edge.’ is the vision statement of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Sam Wells, our Vicar, has explained what it means for us. St Martin’s is at the heart of London and at the heart of the establishment. Theologically, St Martin’s exists to celebrate, enjoy, and embody God being with us – the heart of it all. This is not a narcissistic notion that we are the heart, but a conviction that God is the heart and we want to be with God. The word ‘heart’ refers to feeling, humanity, passion, emotion. It means the arts, the creativity and joy that move us beyond ourselves to a plane of hope, longing, and glory. It means companionship, from a meal shared in our café or a gift for a friend perhaps bought in our shop. At the heart means not standing on the sidelines telling the government what to do, but getting into the action, where honest mistakes are made but genuine good comes about, where new partners are found and social ideas take shape.
The edge, for us, refers to the edge of Trafalgar Square, looking over its splendour and commotion, pageant and protest. But theologically, as wehave been reflecting, the word ‘edge’ speaks of the conviction that God’s heart is on the edge of human society, with those who have been excluded or rejected or ignored. God is most evidently encountered among those in the margins and on the edge. St Martin’s isn’t about bringing those on the imagined ‘edge’ into the exalted ‘middle’; it’s about saying we want to be where God is, and God’s on the edge, so we want to be there too.
Being on the edge does mean facing the cost of being, at times, on the edge of the church. Some of the issues we care deeply about are not areas of consensus in the church. We aim to practise what we believe is a true gospel where we receive all the gifts God is giving us, especially the ones that the church has for so long despised or patronised. We believe that God is giving the church everything it needs for the renewal of its life in the people who find themselves to be on the edge. But the ‘edge’ also means a leading edge, perhaps a cutting edge with an outstanding music programme, a green footprint, and an eye for issues around disability. In particular it means a commercial enterprise that’s integrated into the life of the church community and, rather than simply being a source of funds, is at the forefront of the congregations interface with London’s civil economy.
The stone that the builders rejected didn’t find a place in the wall somewhere by being thoughtfully included like a last-minute addition to a family photo. The rejected stone became the cornerstone, the keystone – the stone that held up all the others, the crucial link, the vital connection. The rejected stone was Jesus, as our Gospel reading makes clear. In his crucifixion he was rejected by the builders – yet in his resurrection he became the cornerstone of forgiveness and eternal life. That’s what ministry and mission are all about – not condescendingly making welcome alienated strangers, but seeking out the rejected precisely because they are the energy and the life-force that will transform us all. Every minister, every missionary, every evangelist, every disciple should have these words over their desk, their windscreen, on their screensaver, in the photo section of their wallet, wherever they see it all the time – the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
If you’re looking for where the future church is coming from, look at what the church and society has so blithely rejected. The life of the church is about constantly recognising the sin of how much we have rejected, and celebrating the grace that God gives us back what we once rejected to become the cornerstone of our lives. That’s what prophetic ministry means. That’s what HeartEdge is all about.
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Paul Baloche - God, My Rock.
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