Easter Vigil
March 2008
We are here this evening to commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from death. This is the most important event the world has ever seen and gives meaning to Christianity. As you all know what happened I can leave it at that.
Many of us find religion to be very complicated.
That was one reason why the Jewish religious leaders were so against Jesus of Nazareth. He gave them a hard time. He was always rebuking them about the petty laws and regulations which they required people to fulfil, while at the same time giving only lip service to very important matters such as justice, forgiveness, compassion, love of God and ones neighbour.
It seems to be part of the human condition that once we set up any organisation or group we immediately begin to impose rules and regulations for this and for that in an effort to control the members. For example look at any government or any golf club!!!
So religions and Churches, being made up of human beings, are prone to do the very same thing.
In fact religion is a very simple and natural thing. It is just good manners.
It is trying to understand what God has done for me and saying thank you in the way most pleasing to God.
What has God done for me? God has called me out of nothingness. God has given me existence, life, and intelligence. God has given me the body I have, the spirit I have, the abilities I have.
God has shared His Being, His Life, His Nature, and His Kingdom with me.
To not bother to say thank you is just bad manners.
To not bother to find out what God has done for me is unacceptable.
To not bother to understand why God has done all this for me is laziness.
So religion is composed of three simple concepts.
1) Finding out and realising what God has done for me.
2) Trying to understand why God has done it.
3) Saying thank you in the way most pleasing to God.
To help their followers to achieve these three aims, the various churches and religions have, over the years and the centuries, accumulated various accessories. It is easy, and often happens, that a person, or group of people, confuse an accessory with an essential. This confusion is what often gives religion a bad name and exposes it to ridicule. For example I may be very particular about some form of prayer or church attendance and at the same time at enmity with some member of my family or involved in an ongoing row with a neighbour.
Today I have mentioned some of the obvious things God has done for me. Next weekend I will try and give you some idea of why God has done it.