Set apart yet in the midst?

Theme: Set apart yet in the midst?

Romans 1:1-7 

Readings:

Isaiah 7:10-16 - Emmanuel, the sign from God.Romans 1:1-7 - Greetings from Paul in the name of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:18-25 - the birth of Jesus

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-- [2] the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures [3] regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, [4] and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. [5] Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. [6] And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. [7] To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Autism is a condition which has come very much to the fore in recent years, and "The Times" (newspaper) Christmas Appeal this year is a campaign to raise money for the National Autistic Society, for research into and treatment of autism. In the campaign, "The Times" features human interest stories of families where a member of the family suffers from autism, and I was struck recently by the photograph of a small autistic girl. She was sitting on her mother's lap leaning her head against her mother, yet her eyes were somehow blank. There was no warmth or sparkle in her eyes, and there seemed to be no response whatsoever to her mother or to the camera. Although she was sitting on her mother's lap so that there was a certain physical closeness between them, the little girl seemed to be completely dissociated from her mother, to be uninterested in the camera and to be in a sad little world of her own.

Autistic people find it exceedingly difficult, and in some cases impossible, to relate to other human beings. Consequently, they often exhibit bizarre behavior which is extremely hard for other people to accept or to handle. So autistic children tend to be condemned to a life of isolation. Even those children with mild autism who are able to cope with mainstream school often have few or no friends, because their behavior is so uncertain and erratic that the other children can't figure out how to respond to them.

Perhaps autism seems especially sad because human beings usually thrive on contact with each other and blossom when they're loved. Autistic human beings have no way of recognizing or identifying love, and so have no way of knowing whether or not they're loved. So they're generally unable to blossom by making relationships. Autistic people and their families certainly need our support, love, and encouragement, and it's good to see a national newspaper taking up the cause.

The autistic reaction of difficulty relating to other people is in direct contrast to most human interaction. Most human beings are so anxious to be accepted by their peers that they'll go to almost any lengths to conform to their particular group, especially during teenage years. Hence teenagers tend to dress alike, to gather in quite large groups and to follow the social norm for teenagers, whatever it might be at the time. The social norm for teenagers generally involves a certain degree of wildness or recklessness or danger, so at the moment for many teenagers that seem to be consuming vast quantities of alcohol, together with smoking or drugs. But they always indulge in these activities altogether, in a group. You rarely see teenagers drinking alone.

It seems to be a basic human instinct to want to be accepted, so that if your particular activity is not acceptable to your group, you either leave your group and move into a different group which does accept your activity, or you drop the activity. One of the problems for churches is that churchgoing is no longer seen as an enjoyable activity by the majority. Therefore when people start coming to church either they don't come for very long - if all their friends ridicule or disapprove in some other way - or they make new friends within the church and gradually see less and less of their old friends.

This has real implications for the future of the church. If we want to grow new Christians, we need to be very warm and welcoming towards them so that they immediately feel accepted. And since our outreach to other people is largely through friendships, we need to encourage Christians to retain former friendships even if they feel uncomfortable because their churchgoing is not really understood by their friends. And all of this is even truer if we want once again to have youngsters in our midst. Churchgoing is definitely a non-acceptable activity for most youngsters, so many youngsters who do come our way are showing considerable bravery and really should be encouraged.

St Paul identified quite a problem area for Christians right at the beginning of his letter to the Romans. The letter to the Romans is considered to be the best and most complete unfolding of his thought, telling of the gospel for all who believe, both Jews and Gentiles. But he starts the letter, right in the first sentence, by saying, "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God....." and there's the difficulty for Christians.

We are servants of Jesus Christ, called to be apostles and set apart for the gospel of God, but at the same time, we're still human beings living in the world and part of the world. How is it possible to reconcile these two positions - set apart for God, yet still part of the world and still needing plenty of human contact? Especially when St Paul himself often identifies "the world" or "the flesh" with all that's evil.

How do we maintain our own integrity within all the sin and evil that the world has to offer, without condoning all the awful and evil things that go on, and without withdrawing from the world into the safety of the church and like-minded people and pulling up the drawbridge?

For instance, would it be possible for a Christian teenager to remain within a group of friends who get very drunk every Saturday night and take Ecstasy tablets at the local rave, without doing the same? It would be very difficult for someone so young, for it's always difficult to stand against peer pressure at any age, but worse when you've only just begun your adult life. It wouldn't be surprising if Christian teenagers felt unable to handle that conflict, and therefore turned their backs on Christianity in order to conform and have fun with their friends. Those who don't do that but remain within the Church are in danger of being cruelly rejected by their friends with the label of "sad".

St Paul's letters are full of advice and instruction on how Christians should behave because the new Christian church found itself in a world quite similar to ours in many ways. Corinth had such a reputation for debauchery and orgies and drunkenness and evil that decent people avoided it at all costs. The new Christian church in Corinth began to attract great numbers of people, but they weren't immediately aware that Christianity carried a moral code.

We too live in a world of debauchery and orgies and drunkenness and evil, but people today are so aware that Christianity carries a moral code that it rather militates against the Church. The Church tends to be seen as such a moral institution of do-gooders and kill-joys that ordinary people turn away, for fear of being labeled. And at the same time, church people turn away from the world, for fear of being corrupted or simply for fear of being rejected.

Yet Jesus managed to be very much in the world and attracted ordinary people as his followers. How can we too break into this circle so that we can be set apart for God but still remain part of the world?

Perhaps part of Jesus' charm was that he was never judgmental of ordinary people. He accepted people as they were and where they were, and loved them with genuine love. He brought them the good news that God was on their side and that earthly power was unimportant in God's eyes. He also showed them some of God's power, that power which is made perfect in weakness, not in strength, and showed them that it was available for all of them. And he stood up for them against the powerful leaders of the day (most of whom were religious leaders), refusing to kowtow to people he believed were wrong and even losing his own life in the process. So he gave his whole life over to ordinary people, making genuine friendships with those who were considered to be "untouchables" by most of the rest of society, healing them, teaching them, chatting with them, eating with them, and finally dying for them.

Perhaps all we have to do to be set apart for God and yet remain in the world rather than behind the closed doors of the church is to genuinely love ordinary people as God loves them, accepting them just as they are without judgment or condemnation. Teaching them, healing them, chatting with them, eating with them, making genuine friendships with them and gently loving them into the Kingdom of God. And perhaps that's what the babe in the manger came to teach us.