It’s lovely to be back and I’m very grateful that Sally gave me the chance to preach here again. It’s 6 years since I first came to you, and you’ve been very hospitable and welcoming to me. Pre-covid there was always a brew, and more often than not some home-made cake, sat around the table after the service.
So, I could well have picked the reading from 1 Kings, where we see God looking after Elijah’s mental and physical well-being thanks to a nice cup of tea, a bun and a nap. I know I’m a paraphrasing just a little but I’m sure if PG Tips or Yorkshire Tea had been around at the time, then the angel would have put the kettle on.
Gluten-intolerant
Instead, I’m going to look at the Gospel. At this time of change and upheaval, of challenge and yes, perhaps, opportunity, I want us to think about when Christians come together in worship. Not necessarily here, since I’m sure the bishop will talk about that in a few weeks’ time, but anywhere. Anywhere where Christians gather.
Some of you will know that my wife is gluten intolerant. She has coeliac disease. People who have it often start off perfectly healthy and develop the condition over time. Unlike some celebrities who make gluten-free a lifestyle choice, if you genuinely have coeliac and you eat gluten, then you get ill.
She definitely won’t thank me for sharing this, but you can get diarrhoea, constipation, stomach cramps, headaches, fatigue, weight loss or weight gain. If not treated soon enough it can lead to osteoporosis or small bowel cancer. As 1% of the UK population have it, someone else here probably either has it or knows someone who has.
Guinness
And June wasn’t diagnosed straight away. For about 10 years they thought it was anaemia. Believe it or not, initially, the recommended treatment was to drink bottles of Guinness or Mackeson’s – which of course made things worse.
So, we spend our time looking at the ingredients lists on packaging for oats, wheat, rye and barley. Or checking menus to see what’s ok to eat in a restaurant, and if it’s not clear (which it usually isn’t) then asking whoever is serving if they can explain. And then hoping to goodness that they know what they’re talking about and aren’t bluffing.
The more-aware churches have a gluten-free option when it comes to Communion. Either a wafer or bread which look like the normal gluten equivalent – or they make a feature of it and have a rice cake. With the less-aware churches, well, you just do without.
I am the bread of life
So, slightly tongue in cheek, “I am the bread of life” doesn’t have the best connotations if you’re gluten intolerant. If you can’t eat normal bread without being ill, then would you want a saviour who makes you think of stomach cramps, headache and the runs?
Of course, in saying “I am the bread of life” Jesus meant that he sustains our spiritual life in the same way that a staple food stuff sustains our physical life. Plus giving a nod to manna, the bread from heaven, that God provided for the Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness.
Church intolerance
In thinking about gluten intolerance, it made me wonder if some suffer from ‘church intolerance’. People may be very spiritually aware and seeking – but don’t come anywhere near a church. I believe there are parallels between the two conditions.
Perhaps they used to partake of church when they were younger, but now they find they can no longer stomach it? Maybe words on a Sunday not being followed up by actions during the week gives a headache? Or clergy child abuse scandals and their subsequent cover-ups make them sick? Or a rich church in an area of social deprivation makes them queasy? Perhaps just a lack of spiritual depth in what they perceive of church – and that they can get something more substantial elsewhere?
It might even be that they don’t really know what’s wrong. It’s taking time to diagnose the problem. They’re uncomfortable without really knowing why.
Packaging
To push the analogy further maybe the packaging that we put around what we do as ‘church’ is unclear and confusing? The person looking in can’t readily tell what’s contained inside so they don’t risk trying it. So does our labelling, our menu, need to be clearer? If they ask a churchgoer what goes on at church do they get a reliable answer that they can trust or do they feel the churchgoer is bluffing, unable to explain convincingly?
Supermarkets and restaurants increasingly cater for gluten intolerance – so should we better cater for church intolerance? Should we think about alternative forms of church? Some which are similar to the regular versions of what we have now, some very different? What would that look like? Does the building itself put people off or is it the old hymns with the odd words? Would a service be better on a day other than a Sunday? Is a sermon an outmoded way of putting a point across?
Isaiah
Well, perhaps. But unlike gluten intolerance, which seems relatively recent, church intolerance goes back millennia – way before the buildings and services that we have now. And, when you think about it, it’s not people of no faith or of other faith who have the hardest things to say about it. We see the harshest words coming from the prophets in the Bible… You could take your pick from Amos, Malachi or Isaiah.
Here’s a typical example from Isaiah (chapter 1): “I cannot bear your worthless assemblies…They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.”
If Isaiah was in Heywood today, where would he go to worship? And, of course, the prophets are just channelling the heart of God. At the risk of some heresy, if Jesus returned and was here over the weekend, would he go to church or to the synagogue – or would he too be ‘church intolerant’ and take a walk in the local park instead?
Attitude
The Church of England is investing a great deal in Resource churches and church plants at the moment. That of course, is good to see. But if we’re to provide something palatable to those who don’t normally come to church, then to learn from the prophets, perhaps we should spend less time worrying about what the music is like, or what day of the week the service is, or whether there’s a multi-media presentation instead of a sermon, or whether it’s in a café or a hall rather than a church building. Perhaps it’s not format or location that needs looking at but attitude?
You may have come across a Lutheran minister in the US called Nadia Bolz-Weber. She’s covered in tattoos and swears like a trooper…The church which she founded is called ‘The House of Sinners and Saints’ and is made up mostly of young people, a third of whom are from the LGBT community – and there is even a ‘minister of fabulousness’ who is a drag queen.
Yet they don’t dumb down. There’s real substance. The liturgy is traditional and sacramental, with ancient plainsong and old hymns. The congregation sings those hymns unaccompanied rather than rely on a choir or organist. Nadia once estimated that she spent 20 hours a week on a 10-minute sermon. They share as much of the service as possible and young, radical Christians come in their numbers every Sunday.
“We don’t do anything really well,” Bolz-Weber says, “but we do it together.”
Authenticity
So, maybe it’s less about format and more about authenticity? More about us all recognising that we’re both sinners and saints. More about demonstrating spiritual depth and inner transformation despite outward appearances. Not kidding ourselves that we’re perfect. Psalm 51: “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”
And maybe it’s about being more honest, fair and just? The old word for this is ‘righteousness’. As Martin Luther King Jr was fond of quoting from Amos: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.”
And maybe it’s more about how we act and behave towards each other? As the old chorus goes: “Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Is that how people know us?
Fabulousness
As I look at you today, I see many of those positive aspects at play. I implore you to take that with you wherever you go next. Because surely if people could clearly see that at work within all our churches wouldn’t that be appetising? If they could see people who stand for something, who are honest in their imperfection, who show love for another. Wouldn’t that be a meal that everyone would happily sit and eat together?
As we think about the future, God calls us all, he equips us all. If, like the boy in the story who brought the loaves and fishes we all brought the little that we had – our gifts, our abilities, our love and, yes, our fabulousness too – then there would be more than enough to share around. No-one would need to hunger. All would be fed and with plenty to spare…. ‘I am the gluten-free bread of life.’ Amen
‘I am the gluten free bread of life’ was delivered by Ian Banks at St James, Heywood on Sunday 11th August 2024. Sadly, St James will close at the end of this month. The sermon was based on John 6:35 and was originally inspired by a post from Pastor and Comedian Jane Voigts.
- Bolz-Weber, N. (2014). Pastrix. Jericho Books.