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Sunday August 21, 2005 - Proper 16, Year A

It was one of those pivotal moments, those times
when what you say
can change the direction of your whole life. Jesus asked his disciples,
"Who do you say I am?"
And they said, "Well, some people say you're one of the prophets, Elijah or Jeremiah, or one of the other ones, or even John the Baptist."
"But who do you say I am?"
And it was Peter who answered, for once in his life
getting it right.
Peter said, "You are the Christ."
An impulsive leap at faith
that would change his life.
Then Jesus told Peter
"On this rock I will build my church; I will give you the keys of heaven."
And so Peter became the leader of the church, and eventually was recognized as the first Pope.

It was an exciting moment in Peter's life. But the excitement
got a lot less pretty soon. Jesus started to talk about how he was going to suffer, and Peter didn't want any part of that. And that led to Jesus' famous words, that we'll hear in our gospel reading next week, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."

Faith wasn't just about getting the words right, but about living it,
and living it
would be costly.

That's something that countless Christians have found out over the years. Many have made costly sacrifices; some sacrificed their own lives. We call them martyrs, and there aren't so many of them nowadays.

Those great heroes of the faith
are wonderful examples to us all,a nd its important that we hear their stories. And so today I'm going to tell you the story of one man
who died this week. We don't know what
was in the mind of the person who killed him, why she did it,
but I think it's safe to say that
if he had not followed Christ with the whole of his being,
he would never have come to her attention.

Roger Louis Schutz was born in 1915 in the Swiss Jura, the youngest child in his family. His father was a Swiss Lutheran pastor, his mother came from France. He got TB as a teenager, and while he was recovering
spent a lot of time thinking about the first World War, and the disputes between the churches, and got turned off religion.
But by the time he was at college, he began to study theology, formed a small student community, and was ordained.

Roger's vision
was to begin a community where reconciliation between Christians would be lived out in daily life. A community where "kindness of heart would be a matter of practical experience, and where love would be at the heart of all things".

And so when he was 25, in 1940,
in the early years of the second World War, he went
to a little village called Taizé, close to the boundary
between occupied and unoccupied France.
There he hid refugees, particularly Jews, who were trying to escape the Gestapo. Eventually he was denounced, and it was only because he was away at the time
that he didn't end up in a concentration camp.

When the war ended, Roger returned to Taizé with three friends, and they founded a tiny religious community. On Easter Day in 1949, the first brothers of the community took their vows:
celibacy, community of possessions, and simplicity of life.

From the very beginning, they went against the tide. Just as Roger had cared for refugees during the war, after the war they befriended German PoWs, something that made them unpopular locally. But one of the central ideas from the very beginning was that the only way to overcome violence
is with peace.

During a long silent retreat in the winter of 1952-3,
Brother Roger wrote "The Rule of Taizé"
which expressed the "things necessary for living in community".

More and more men came to join the community, and groups were sent out across the world, to wherever there was poverty and need, in England, the US, South America and Mexico. They supported themselves, working as things like street sweepers and in steel works. And they traveled throughout the world, sometimes going to dangerous places like Easter Europe, encouraging people in their faith.

Taizé is independent of Christian denominations. But Chirstyian leaders from all traditions, including three of our Archbishops of Canterbury
have visited Taizé, to join the brothers in worship and reflection.

The Taizé Community today
has over a hundred brothers, Catholics and Protestants together, from more than twenty-five countries. They don't accept donations or gifts; instead they earns their own livings, and any extra money is given to the very poor. Small groups live in Asia, Africa and South America, and as far as possible they share the living conditions of those who surround them, striving to be a presence of love among the very poor, street children, prisoners, the dying, and those who are wounded in their depths by broken relationships, by being abandoned.

Taizé is independent of Christian denominations. But Chirstyian leaders from all traditions, including three of our Archbishops of Canterbury
have visited Taizé, to join the brothers in worship and reflection.

And what Taizé
is probably best known for
is the weeks that teenagers and young adults spend there. Every week, up to 3000 people come to Taizé, to worship, pray, sing, reflect, learn, a time of pilgrimage.
They are Roman Catholics and Protestants and Eastern Orthodox, from all round the world. Taize has become a place where people from all Christian traditions can worship together.
Worship at Taizé
is some ways very traditional
and in other ways
something totally different.
Many languages are used - it's not unusual to sing in Latin, Spanish, German, French and English, all in one service. Prayers focus on injustice in the world, and the music is quiet and repetitive. And there are candles
everywhere.

And when they leave, they are invited to take part
in a pilgrimage of trust. To go back home with a greater awareness of their own spiritual lives, and of their bonds to other people, and to share that.
And to continue in worship and faith.

Each year there are meetings, follow up worship services and retreats held throughout the world. And each year, Brother Roger has written a letter as a text for reflection, to encourage young people in their faith and life.

Taizé is a place
of peace, reconciliation, communion and hope. That was Brother Roger's vision. He wrote: "When the Church listens, heals, reconciles, then she becomes what she is in her most radiant aspect: a crystal-clear reflection of a love."

During evening prayer on Tuesday 16 August,
in the midst of the crowd surrounding the Community
in the church at Taize, the Church of Reconciliation,
a woman - probably mentally disturbed - struck Brother Roger violently with knife blows. He died a few moments later.

But even in death
his work of reconciliation
continues.

On Tuesday night, just hours after his death,
in a service of songs, Bible readings and silence, Brother François, one of the eldest of the brothers of the community, spoke these words

"In the Bible, we find these words: "Costly in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his friends."

This death of Brother Roger is costly first of all for all of us, and terribly so. Death is like something being torn away, and a violent death even more so. And even when this death is caused by an unbalanced person, there is a feeling of unfairness, that can even lead to a sense of hopelessness.

In the face of violence, we can respond only by peace. Brother Roger never stopped insisting on this. Peace requires a commitment of our whole being, inwardly and outwardly. It demands our whole person. So this evening, let us communicate peace to one another, and do everything we can so that each person stays in hope.

These words from the Bible say that this death is costly not only to us. It is costly to God. God himself participates in our sorrow. He is suffering with us. This is how God feels "the death of his friends", as the text says.

And Brother Roger was certainly a friend of God. From the beginning, he used all his strength so that we should understand that God loves us with a love that has no end, a love that excludes no-one, a love that accepts us as we are, a love that has no limits.

And if it is true that this death means a sorrow that touches God himself, we would like to do everything to express to him our gratitude, our thankfulness for all that Brother Roger has been among us."

Brother Roger
knew what it was to call Jesus the Christ. And in the end, it cost him everything.
He is one of the true heroes of faith.

And he is someone whose ministry has in fact touched us directly here at Trinity. A number of the songs we sing, particularly that we've taught in Sunday School,
come from the community of Taize.
They include, "Veni, veni Emmanuel", which we sing each Advent.
"Eat this bread" which we often sing after communion.
"Jesus remember me" which reminds us of the robbers hanging on crosses beside Christ.
"Bless the Lord my soul", which we sing at our Easter vigil.
"Surrexit Christus," "The Lord is Risen" which we also sang at the vigil.
"O Lord, hear my prayer," which we use as response to the prayers in the Easter season.
"Veni Sancte Spiritus," Come Holy Spirit" which we sang at Pentecost.
And "Ubi Caritas", "ubi caritas
et amor
Ubi caritas
Deus ibi est."
Where there is charity and love, there is God."

And now I invite you
to join with me in singing "Jesus, remember me"
as we remember Jesus our Christ,
and in memory of Brother Roger
who truly knew what it was
to take up his cross
and follow Jesus.

Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.

 

Sermon ©Raewynne J. Whiteley 2005