Christ in ourselves

Some of you will know the hymn, Brother,sister, let me serve you, which goes on to read, Let me be as Christ to you. What exactly does this mean? To find an answer, we need to look in different directions. First we need to look at Christ in ourselves as to how Christ being within us changes us, directs us, compels us.

On Monday evening I spoke of Christ in our world offering compassion, love and forgiveness as his arms are stretched on the cross. Yesterday evening I spoke of Christ in our community – breaking down barriers, inviting humanity to look to the cross as the means of salvation. Compassion, love, forgiveness, barriers broken down so that we can come in, salvation: all these are ours. They inhabit our being when we live knowing and believing and living with Christ in ourselves. As these inhabit our being, they change us, direct us and compel us – towards Christ’s heart and very self and thus towards Christ’s heart and very way.

I referred yesterday evening to Rowan Williams saying. “Mission is finding out what God is doing and joining in”. With due credit to my esteemed colleague, Mr Powell, who gave it to me, I use this quote from D T Niles, who, when speaking of the faith we follow, said “Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread”. It goes without saying, we are each beggars. We have each been shown by others where bread is to be found, and we are each called to show still others where they can find it too. This bread – the bread of life – is Christ in us.

Listen to this story from the Second World War (as recorded in the book, 'Sleeping with bread':

During the bombing raids of World War II, thousands of children were orphaned and left to starve. The fortunate ones were rescued and placed in refugee camps where they received food and good care. But, many of these children who had lost so much could not sleep at night. They feared waking up to find themselves once again homeless and without food. Nothing seemed to reassure them. Finally, someone hit upon the idea of giving each child a piece of bread to hold at bedtime. Holding their bread, these children could finally sleep in peace. All through the night the bread reminded them, "Today I ate and I will eat again tomorrow."

Christ in ourselves is the gift of bread we have received and Christ in ourselves is the bread we offer. Christ in ourselves means we have been fed and Christ in ourselves means we are ourselves food. Christ in ourselves means we, as the hungry, have received, and Christ in ourselves means we, in turn, offer to feed the hungry.

Rather like the children who could not sleep, and like our ancestors, the Israelites in the desert, who collected quails and manna and trusted that they would be there again, we are given bread – the body of Christ – into our hands and this is life. The bread is placed into our hands; we must place it in the hands of others. We must do this so that they may know and have life – and live in hope for the new day.

Having looked first at how Christ within ourselves changes us, directs us, compels us. The other direction we must look is how Christ within ourselves means we are like Christ in changing others, directing others, compelling others. As we recall, Let me be as Christ to you. This might sound as though we become dictatorial – far from it. The generous, gentle, compassionate heart of God is one that provides and gives and endows – without measure and without end. Christ within ourselves – within you and me – changes others by the manner in which we treat them and speak to them. Christ within ourselves directs others towards a way of seeing, of understanding and of being that offers a new way and a new life.

I know – as we probably each do – that I fall, I fail, I stumble and I get it wrong – this goes without saying – but I go on, because Christ lives within me and he goes on. Christ has sought us out, Christ has chosen to live within us, and Christ longs for the world, like us, to choose him.

As we prepare for the Triduum Sacrum, the Three Holy Days, it is worth remembering that salvation has already been accomplished. We are already saved and we have already been shown where to find the bread of life. As we journey into these holy days, we are Christ-bearers: Christ is in our hands and our hearts. With Christ in ourselves, let us be as Christ is, light to the world. 

Brother, sister, let me serve you,

let me be as Christ to you;

pray that I may have the grace to

let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on a journey,

and companions on the road;

we are here to help each other

walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you

in the night-time of your fear;

I will hold my hand out to you,

speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping;

when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;

I will share your joy and sorrow

till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven

we shall find such harmony,

born of all we’ve known together

of Christ’s love and agony.

Brother, sister, let me serve you,

let me be as Christ to you;

pray that I may have the grace to

let you be my servant too.

Richard A. M. Gillard, 1977

Christ in our community

Yesterday evening, the reflection I offered wound, in part,  around the phrase, “the last place I would have expected to see”, referring to places and times and seasons where we might not have expected, or expect now, to find Jesus in our world.

When speaking of the Mission of the church, Rowan Williams said, “Mission is finding out what God is doing and joining in”. Mission is the work of God – seeking out the people he has created for himself, and bringing them back to himself. We see this missiological activity lived out in God’s self from the moment of God’s walking through the Garden of Eden in the evening breeze, looking for Adam and Eve to speak with them – through to the Holy Spirit coming on the disciples to assist them in speaking the languages of all people’s so that they could know of God’s love for them.

When reflecting on the phrase, Christ in our community, I find myself doing a kind of word association game with that word ‘community’. Try it for yourselves sometime: community focus, community spirit, community service, care in the community, Clare in the Community even – if you are a listener to Radio 4.

The concept of community brings with it all sorts of hopes, dreams, fears and wonderings. It also brings with it a subtle judgement – often unspoken – as to who is and who is not ‘in’ any given community. I suggested yesterday evening that:

often, the Church can find itself – in many subtle and unspoken ways – saying, the last place I would have expected to see – as if the Church has a monopoly on the ways and workings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Some of us will find ourselves doing this about members of our community – in both our church community and the wider community. There will be people who seem to fit naturally, who it is easy to invite along to something, who make themselves known, who seem to reflect something of ourselves – even if we aren’t sure why or don’t even speak this truth. Then there are those though who are on the fringes, who don’t use the lingo, who don’t even know that there is lingo to be used. These remain something other to us, to the church and, so often, to the wider community.

This word community though – just what does it mean for us? A collection; a gathering; a self-selecting group who, by choice of practice, dress, geographical location, school, church, politics even.

Throughout his ministry, we witness Jesus breaking down the barriers of communities, and in doing so challenging the pre-conceived stereotypes of those who are to be classed as in or out of the spiritual landscape he inhabited. In doing so, he challenges the spiritual landscape for Christians across time. This is a truth that is hard to live with – but it is a truth that is liberating and freeing, full of possibility and potential. If we allow Christ to have broken down the barriers of community delineations, it means that no-one should ever have to worry about whether they are in or out ever again – and this includes each one of us: for we are one with Christ – part of his body – in the world that is his for eternity.

Christ in our community seeks to embrace the whole of humanity, because this is exactly who Christ tells us he came to save. As we read: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.  Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Christ takes his place in our community in his very self, through the Holy Spirit, but Christ also takes his place both within the people whom we encounter and how we encounter them and the way in which we are encountered by these very people too. What vibes do we give off? What do we see? What do we hear? What do we hear as we listen to the words of the world? What of Christ is revealed or heard or made known – by us, by others, by the work we allow Christ to do?

For me, as for so many I suspect, “finding out what God is doing and joining in” often bumps against “the last place I would have expected to see”. I am not always so good at seeing God at work – or displaying God at work. When we look for Christ in our community we will often be surprised where we find him at work, in whom we find him at work, and how we find him at work. Community focus, community spirit, community service, care in the community: none of these are so very far from the truth. If Christ is there – and he most certainly is – then let us join him – or, indeed, let him join us.