My sermon has the title “‘New!’: When is it good? When is it bad? When is it ugly?”
Let us pray.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be
acceptable in your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
The word “new” features in both scriptures passages we’ve heard a few
minutes ago.
In our lesson from the Book of Revelation, we hear of a vision of a new heaven
and a new earth, with a new Jerusalem descending from
God. We hear of the voice of God
declaring, “See, I am making all things new.”
In our lesson from the Gospel of John, the setting is the Last
Supper. Jesus gives his disciples a “new
commandment”, to love one another.
Oddly, Christians will argue about the meaning of this new
commandment: with some saying it’s a
command to love our fellow-Christians, others saying it’s a command to love all
people, yet others saying it’s a command to love all creation, and a few
particularly sad sorts saying you’re off the hook as long as you love those who
are the same sort of Christian as yourself.
Personally, I think the wider the definition of “one another”, the
better, so that we don’t cause Jesus to ask us the question “What part of ‘Love
one another’ don’t you understand?”
But meanwhile, here’s a fun fact about this passage. The word for commandment in Latin is mandatum, from which we get our English
word mandate. The fact that this word is used in the Latin
version one of the gospel accounts of the Last Supper is why the day before
Good Friday has been called Maundy
Thursday (in the English-speaking world at least) since the Middle Ages..
That Latin word is also relevant to the fact
that there was an election yesterday.
After elections, politicians (at least the ones who won) talk a great
deal about their “mandate” from the voters.
In our passage from John, Jesus gave us all a new mandate, to love one another, with the widest definition of “one
another” which is possible.
But looking at this word “new”
or, in Greek, kainos, we see that the
word is used in these passages to speak of something very good: … a new heaven, a new earth, … a new Jerusalem, … a new commandment. Here the word new implies being renewed, and perhaps even (as they say
in advertisements) “new and improved!”
But, in the Bible as in our day-to-day
lives, the word new doesn’t mean always mean renewed. Sometimes new may
merely refer to a novelty or, as Luke
called it, a kainotoron. In the Book of Acts, as Luke described Paul’s
travels, he mentioned his visit to Athens with some exasperation. The Athenians were only interested in
discussing the most recent novelty, the latest thing, the kainotoron. Reading Acts 17,
it’s easy to pick up that Luke was expressing Paul’s sense of both profound annoyance
and sheer boredom with the Athenians.
This brings me back to the question I asked
in this sermon’s title. When something
is new, … when is it good? … when is it bad? … when is it ugly?
When
does “new” equal “ugly”? … When does “new” equal “bad”?
Sometimes a novelty can merely equal a
trivialisation, a cheapening, or even an outright trashing of our culture. Not all things which are new are examples of profound
ugliness. Most are not. But some are.
If something new, for example, happens merely (or even just mostly) for shock
value, this is usually something profoundly ugly. Sometimes, it crosses the line into something
that’s also ethically bad. To give an example of an event from two years
ago, I would not call it “art” when a person cuts up a dead animal in front of
an audience. If the meat from the animal
is than wasted, rather than used for food, the ugliness of the act is
compounded into something that’s ethically very wrong.
To give another example, much of “reality
television” can involve the manipulation of vulnerable people to behave badly,
in the interest of becoming a “celebrity” (whatever that means). Frequently a group of strangers are placed in
a confined space and presented with an artificial situation, while the viewers
watch and wait for them to fight.
And, in the quest for the latest superficial
novelties, the churches are by no means immune.
In the name of “relevance”, “getting bottoms on seats”, being “contemporary”,
and (dare I say it) being “missional”, some churches have become as
enthusiastic as Paul’s Athenians in embracing mindless kainotorons.
So, then, when does “new” equal “good”?
That is where the new commandment, the new
mandate comes in.
Whenever something new makes us more caring, … more merciful, … more inclusive, … more
compassionate, … more loving (as individuals, as a culture, as a nation, as a
human race), the new development is good.
To use words politicians like to toss around, it’s progress. It’s a reform.
It needs to be embraced and celebrated.
If it makes us less caring, … less merciful,
… less inclusive, … less compassionate, … less loving, it’s an abuse. Get rid of it. (Do not pass “Go”. Do not collect $200.)
Jesus gave us a new commandment,
a new mandate: “Love
one another”. As I said earlier: Personally, I think the
wider the definition of “one another”, the better, so that we don’t cause Jesus
to ask us the question “What part of ‘Love one another’ don’t you understand?”
Thanks be to God. Amen.
