Words of Wisdom Assembly presentation

Transcription

1 Words of Wisdom Assembly presentation You will remember that over the last few weeks the theme for assemblies has been words of wisdom. Wisdom is profound or deep insight and we d like to begin with some of our favourite examples of what we call anti-wisdom; quotes which are humorous on the surface but are often also quite wise if you examine them closely, precisely because they seem so simple-minded. First up, on the gullibility of young and old alike; Geoffrey: A pastor walking down the street noticed a small boy trying to press a doorbell on the other side of the road- but the child was very short and couldn t reach the button. Briskly walking across the street he reached the boy, gave the doorbell a good solid ring, turned to the little boy and asked "And now what, little man?" The boy replied Now we run! My particular favourite; If a man stands in the middle of the forest speaking and there s no woman around to hear him- is he still wrong? Geoffrey: And one which genuinely conceals some profound insight; You can't have everything... Where would you put it? Geoffrey: Voila. On a more serious level, we thought it would be wise to share some words from each of the three Abrahamic faiths; that is, in chronological order: Judaism (that s me!), Christianity and Islam, Take a guess... Geoffrey: All three of these major world religions are united by their belief in one God and each one has a holy book- its divine scripture, which followers of the religion believe to be the words of God. Jews have the Torah or Old Testament. Geoffrey: Christians believe in it but add to it the Gospel or New Testament alongside it. And Muslims likewise accept the Torah and the Gospel but consider the Qur an to be the final message. We re sure you ve all heard at least some religious passages before but few of you will ever have had the opportunity to hear the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in their original languages- that is, Hebrew for the Torah, Greek for the Gospel and Arabic for the Qur an. And fittingly, our first quote is about the importance of God s word.

2 [Geoffrey s First Passage] The first passage is from the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus fasts for forty days in the desert and during this time the devil tempts him to break his fast with bread. His response is enlightening: ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν γεγραπται ουκ επ αρτω µονω ζησεται ο ανθρωπος αλλ επι παντι ρηµατι εκπορευοµενω δια στοµατος θεου Jesus answered, It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (New Testament, Matthew 4:1-4) What Jesus highlighted was the importance of God s word. God did not just create a human body and He did not just create a soul; He made a union of the two- so being nourished with the word is just as important- maybe even more important- than chasing that next pot noodlewe need both. Jesus was quoting from the Old Testament, which recounts the history of the Jewish people. An important figure in it is Abraham. He is forefather of the Jews through his son Isaac and is also father of the Arabs through his other son, Ishmael. In this way he is an ancestor of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them all, which is why Judaism, Christianity and Islam are known as the three Abrahamic religions. Abraham is renowned for being a true believer in the one true God, and was prepared to sacrifice everything for what he knew was right and divine. Geoffrey: This common origin for all three religions is celebrated in the Qur an. This forms our next passage. [Hamza s First Passage] The following verses are addressed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and remind him of the Prophets sent before him who also received inspiration or revelation from God. You will recognise some of the names in the translation. See if you can in the Arabic.

3 Verily, I have inspired you (O Muhammad) like I inspired Noah and the Prophets after him. And I inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and his sons and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon. And unto David I gave the Psalms. And Messengers I have mentioned before unto you, and Messengers I have mentioned not. And to Moses God spoke directly. Messengers, heralds of good news and warning, that mankind should have no excuse against God after the Messengers. And God has ever been most mighty and most wise. (Qur an, 4: ) The gist of this is that throughout history God has sent Prophets to show humankind the right way to live. Geoffrey: The right way to live, according to all three Abrahamic religions, boils down to three interlinking facets; Faith, Action and Accountability. [Will s Passage] As a quotation to illustrate the importance of faith, I ve picked this one from the Book of Deuteronomy, in which Moses is addressing the Israelites for the last time. He says this: כ י ה מ צ ו ה ה ז את א ש ר אנ כ י מ צ ו ך ה י ום ה וא ל א ב ש מ י ם ה וא ל אמ ר מ י י ע ל ה ל נ ו ה ש מ י מ ה ו נ ע ש נ ה ל א נ פ ל את ה וא מ מ ך ו ל א ר ח ק ה ו י ק ח ה ל נ ו ו י ש מ ע נ ו א ת ה ו ל א מ ע ב ר ל י ם ה וא ל אמ ר מ י י ע ב ר ל נ ו א ל ע ב ר ה ים ו י ק ח ה ל נ ו ו י ש מ ע נ ו א ת ה ו נ ע ש נ ה כ י ק ר וב א ל י ך ה ד ב ר מ א ד ב פ י ך וב ל ב ב ך ל ע ש ת ו ה ע יד ת י ב כ ם ה י ום א ת ה ש מ י ם ו א ת ה אר ץ ה ח י ים ו ה מ ו ת נ ת ת י ל פ נ י ך ה ב ר כ ה ו ה ק ל ל ה וב ח ר ת ב ח י ים ל מ ע ן ת ח י ה א ת ה ו ז ר ע ך For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it... I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. (Old Testament, Deuteronomy 30:11-19)

4 Now, this quotation is very interesting, largely because of the way it clashes with our everyday conceptions of religion. Today, just as in Moses time, we tend to think of religion as something remote, separated from our everyday lives by ritual, something restrictive or requiring far too much effort; something in the heavens or beyond the sea. And the powerful message of this passage is: it isn t. It s right there, right here in fact. If religion if faith is inaccessible to you, then you re doing it wrong. In saying this, Moses hints at one of the most important principles of theology, which underpins the existence of every religion: that over and above the bare requirements of survival, there is a basic human need to be a part of something larger than oneself. There is, if you will, a God-shaped hole in your soul. And you ll always find something to fill that hole, whether with religious belief or with something else. Everyone in this room, religious or otherwise, believes strongly in something, associates themselves with something. It might be a political ideology, a charitable cause, a country, a culture, a football team. But ultimately, to a greater or lesser extent, such systems of belief are unsatisfying; not only because they don t include God, but, if you prefer, because they lack the ethical frameworks which religions have spent generations, centuries in our cases, (millennia in mine just sayin ) a great deal of time, in any case, honing, and they lack the purpose, and indeed comfort, which, in my opinion, faith in God can best provide. But that s not all Moses has to say; he goes on to make an even more important point on the nature of ethics. Ethics, Moses says, are a matter of hachayim v hamavet, life and death. In saying this, he hints at our next point, that action is as important as faith. And this is where I turn you over to Geoffrey. Geoffrey? [Geoffrey s Second Passage] Action versus faith. The long held debate in Christianity. Is it good enough to simply have faith in God, or must we back up our faith with the things we do? Surely we can t live up to the examples of Abraham or John the Baptist? But is Faith strong enough on its own? James, the author of this passage certainly says that of course we must back up what we believe: τι το οφελος αδελφοι µου εαν πιστιν λεγη τις εχειν εργα δε µη εχη µη δυναται η πιστις σωσαι αυτον... θελεις δε γνωναι ω ανθρωπε κενε οτι η πιστις χωρις των εργων νεκρα εστιν αβρααµ ο πατηρ ηµων ουκ εξ εργων εδικαιωθη ανενεγκας ισαακ τον υιον αυτου επι το θυσιαστηριον... ωσπερ γαρ το σωµα χωρις πνευµατος νεκρον εστιν ουτως και η πιστις χωρις των εργων νεκρα εστιν What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?

5 ...You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did- when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?...as the body without spirit is dead, similarly faith without deeds is dead. (New Testament, James 2:14-26) James bluntly states here that faith needs action, that it is dead without it. Now this doesn t mean we must all be the next Mother Theresa, but we have to show our faith through something, whether it is charitable work or more modest deeds. In fact, neither faith nor action is more important, but both must go hand in hand, otherwise neither works. Faith without action is lame, and action without faith is blind, to shamefully misquote Einstein. This quote links us to faith and action in how we live- even in a-non religious way. We need to back up what we believe in- where would we be if people did not actually put their beliefs into action? Where would love be without...passion? This idea not only includes the atheists among you but it backs up the ideas set out by James, too. [Hamza s Second Passage] The final aspect is accountability- that humans are responsible for how we act, that we will be judged for it and that we will be rewarded or punished accordingly. The next passage is about life after death. It is only though this belief, that every human will stand in the court of God and be held accountable that true and meaningful justice can be imagined. Life after death, where all wrongs are righted and all rights rewarded, is the answer to the problem of evil which many of you will know about from your Religion and Philosophy lessons. But lifeless bones coming back to life seems quite far-fetched and this doubt is something the passage answers.... Does man see not that I have created him from drops of fluid? But behold, He stands forth as a shameless contender. And coins parables for Me, and forgets his own creation. He asks: Who will give life to bones when they are crumbled to dust? Say: He will give life to them who created them the first time! And He is well-acquainted with every creation!...so isn t he who created the skies and the earth able to create the like of them? Of course! For he is the All-Knowing Creator. His sole Command, when He intends a thing, is to simply say, Be! and it is. So glory be to him in whose hand is the mastery of all things, and to Him you will return.

6 (Qur an 36:77-83) For there to be life, there must be God. And for there to be meaning there must be a purpose, a final destination, towards which we must strive through our actions. Life after death takes no great leap of the imagination if you consider the miraculous nature of your own existence. Despite being a collection of lifeless atoms you are a intelligent and conscious being- those of you still awake. When you consider that life after death is just a repeat of the original creation, it is decidedly more believable. These three themes were common to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. That s not to say there are no differences between us. Because when all s said and done, the Lord s covenant was with the Children of Israel, no Jesus, no Muhammad- Geoffrey: Ye of little faith! Christ was crucified for our sins, Jesus the divine son of God- Blasphemy! God is one, not three, and He has no child, His last Messenger was Muhammad- Heretic! We could continue and we probably will after the assembly- Geoffrey: Wait till you get them started on Israel... Palestine! -but the point is that while respecting our differences, Jews, Christians and Muslims- in fact people of all faiths, and indeed of none- can work together for a better world. Geoffrey: Thank you.