"Well, Amen, In Deed, Guvner."

MadPriest has posted the entire text of a sermon given in Westminster Abbey by Anglican Archbishop Ndungane of South Africa.

I'm not going to post the whole sermon. I'll pick and choose, because I view portions of the sermon as pertinent to my post below, which I now see as lacking in both eloquence and right thinking, and yet, though I may have strayed off track, I ended up in the right place, in my humble opinion.

Archbishop Ndungane:

...The life of faith is first and foremost about our relationship with our God. It is not about how good our behaviour is. Nor does it hinge on how correct our theology is. Nor does it hinge on our stance on human sexuality. What God really cares about is whether we love him.

The first commandment is that we should love him, with all our heart and mind and soul and strength - that in the depths of our being we should yearn for him, and yearn to grow in love and knowledge of him, above all else. God loves us with an outrageous exuberance. He loves us far, far more than is reasonable or rational or sensible. He loves us to death - literally, to his own death, in Jesus on the cross. And the desire of this God, who is love, is that we should share in this overflowing, excessive and abundant love - with him, and with others.

....

Paul argues a similar point - it is by faith in Jesus Christ that we are justified. We are not saved by being orthodox in our theology, or good in our behaviour. What matters is whether Jesus is the touchstone at the heart of our lives. Our primary identity must be that of being 'crucified with Christ' so that 'it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.'

The first consequence of this is that by being united with him, we are automatically united to everyone else who is 'in Christ.' This is a gift of God, and it is a given. No matter how deep our divisions, we cannot change this fact. We would do well to remember this. The second consequence lies in remembering that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and he is the one who, by the Spirit, will continue to lead us into all Truth. Being led by him is what enables us to dare to tackle the difficult question of how to enunciate the eternal gospel truths in the changing circumstances of our world. In other words, being in Christ is what allows us to change our interpretation of Scripture.

I hope I have not shocked you by saying this! Please be reassured that I am NOT saying that 'anything goes' and we can make of Scripture whatever we like - or just ignore it where it suits us. But we have to be honest about this. There are areas of life where we have made great changes - not to Scripture itself, but to how we understand it. For example, it is entirely clear that slavery is accepted within the pages of the Bible. Even St Paul says 'Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called. Where you a slave when you were called? Don't be concerned about it!'

....

But we have NOT changed our position on Jesus, and I do not see that we could, and still call ourselves Christians. If anyone wants to pick a fight with me about my faith, let it be on the grounds of my relationship with Jesus, and my belief in who he is: the belief to which Scripture attests and the creeds affirm.

....

Jesus Christ remains the same, yesterday, today and for ever! So, even though some of the church is in turmoil over issues of human sexuality, that should never become the touchstone of orthodox belief. Rather, let the heart of your faith be your love for God, responding to God's love in Christ for you.

Archbishop Ndungane's wisdom and eloquence shine forth the light of Christ.

I did pick and choose large chunks of the sermon, because I believe that it's nearly perfect. I cannot speak as the archbishop does, so perhaps, I should not speak at all. Perhaps, I should allow my life to reflect the light of Christ, or not, whatever is the reality.

However, there's a part of me that says that a humble Christian in the pew, without great knowledge or scholarship, with no position of power whatsoever, may be permitted a few words.

Thanks to MadPriest for the title of this post.