CHURCH OF IRELAND GENERAL SYNOD SERVICE IN BELFAST CATHEDRAL

MONDAY 15 MAY 2000 (St Matthias (transferred))

Sermon delivered by The Bishop of Down and Dromore, The Rt Revd Harold Miller

If you were to choose a patron Saint for the Church of Ireland, who would it be?

· For some, the answer is obvious - St Patrick after all didn't he found it!? - and being the bishop of Down with the holy ground of Downpatrick in the diocese, I would have to agree.

· For others - it might be St Paul, that great teacher of the Christian faith whose writings, especially the letter to the Romans, led to the re-discovery of Justification by grace alone through faith alone at the Reformation.

· For those in a more cynical mood (and there may just be one or two cynics in the synod) it might be St Jude - the patron saint of lost causes!

But, by a curious quirk of history, the saint who has become increasingly associated in my mind with General Synod since his feast day moved from February to May, is St Matthias. And our readings tonight are about him on what is St Matthias' Day transferred. We might not have chosen him - the patron saint, some might think, of the National Lottery! but he has been thrust upon us, and I believe his story has some important things to remind us of as we meet this week.

First of all, the story of Matthias and his selection as the twelfth apostle tells us that there are always choices to be made. That is true in our ordinary day-to-day life, and it usually causes us very little angst. Indeed, many of the choices we make are a joy to us, an opportunity for creativity and variety, and part of the pleasure of life in the modern world. We choose what to watch on TV, how to spend our money, where to go on holidays, which dish to select from a varied menu. But, from time to time there are the bigger and more difficult decisions. That has been true for the General Synod, and sometimes we have faced the major issues head on and made a decision, while other times, if we're honest, we've taken the easy way out and been numbed into inactivity.

I wonder what you would have done when faced with the candidates Matthias and Joseph called Barabbas before you, and only one place to be filled on the apostolic band?? I reckon I would have suggested taking both and enlarging the committee to thirteen - or at least co-opting the one who had drawn the short straw. But no, there was a choice to be made! We cannot always run with the hare and chase with the hounds- and the people and churches which often make the running for God's Kingdom are the ones which are prepared to face the choices straight on and come to a decisive way forward.

Secondly, choices are made in a variety of different ways. They are often not simple. When we read this story, the part we most easily remember is the casting of lots, which was undoubtedly a vital part of the process. Casting lots was nothing new, it was a normal kind of way for the Jewish people to choose leaders. Indeed, there were good grounds in the law for doing it this way. But we often miss the fact that Peter and the others had done their honest to goodness homework in preparation. They didn't simply arrive at the time for the selection and say to the believers 'Take your pick - put all your names into the hat' or 'Anybody like to propose someone for the apostolic Select Vestry?!" They had prepared well, and there is nothing unspiritual about that. For example, they had

drawn up a clear job description - 'overseer', 'apostle'

set the criteria - one of he men who accompanied us throughout the time that Jesus went in and out among us.

make the task and purpose clear:

'must become a witness with us to his resurrection'.

They had done their short listing, no doubt thinking through all the potential contenders -and two candidates met the essential criteria - Matthias and Joseph.

In a way, we come to General Synod like that - the background work has been done and we would be lost without it. We are presented with a Book of Reports which displays evidence of a great deal of hard slog, careful thinking, and thorough preparation, and we are then faced with choices - which way forward do we take? We must make our decisions, and there are a whole variety of ways in which this can be done.

This country is not all that terribly different at the moment. In some ways, we are tired of having to make difficult choices. We sometimes want to say 'Don't addle my brain - don't ask me to make any more decisions, I simply can't cope with it'. At this very moment many politicians are faced with yet another critical stage - the choice as to whether to move forward on the basis of the recent IRA statement so that the Executive can be up and running again. A choice which I'm sure many would rather avoid. It would be easier to simply reiterate our old black and white 'Yes' or 'No' positions or to do nothing, but that is not a possibility.

We must hold those who need to make serious and careful decisions in our prayers at this time, because we know that in and behind such choices lie the very future of this land, which we long to see as a place of peace and reconciliation and hope.

Coming back to the Church of Ireland, we too have big choices to make for the future, issues where we have to come down on one side or the other - decisions which may at times be difficult and even hurtful for some people - just as no doubt Joseph Barabbas didn't feel great when he drew the short straw.

Let me point up a few which emerge from the issues before the Synod and the wider context of Anglicanism:

1. We need to make a choice as a communion about whether we are committed to a revealed and given faith in Jesus Christ, the only son of God, made known to us in the scriptures, passed down to us through the generations in the church of God. A revelation which corrects us, teaches us and judges us. Or whether we are free to create our own kind of belief for the world of today. I have heard it put it like this: 'The Church wrote the scriptures and the church can re-write the scriptures'. That was the issue at the heart of the last Lambeth Conference, and there are decisions here which we cannot avoid if we are to be faithful to the Gospel. I know which choice I reckon we must make on that score, and believe with all my heart that the Church of Ireland will remain true to the faith once delivered to the saints, but we must be aware that there are challenges to be met on this front.

2. We need to make a clear choice about what kind of church God is calling us to be in the 21st Century. Are we called, for example, to be a church which lives to itself, is proud of its history, and continues as it is; or is God calling us to dare to lose part of what is precious to us, and even of our ethos and identity so that we can communicate with new generations, touch the poor broken and hopeless of society and reach out across the denominational divides. This, of course, also affects how we select and train ordained clergy. If the truth be told, young people are not much interested in institutional loyalties any more, and we need to hear that if we are to plant the seeds of what will be God's church in the new millennium. May the Church of Ireland, along with other Christians be able to make risky choices on this level rather than holding on for grim death to things as they have always been.

We need to be clear in our choices about where political affiliations come on our list of priorities as Christians. One of the great joys of General Synod is that nationalists and unionists, orange and green, south and north, all sit down together, held in love by our common Lord Jesus Christ. But sadly, the border so often is the dividing line where our political convictions begin and end. I have sometimes read articles by clergy in Northern Ireland saying "I am a unionist, and proud to be a unionist", or in the Republic saying "I am a nationalist, and have no desire whatsoever to be British', but I can't imagine it being acceptable for a member of our church saying "I am a unionist" south of the border, or "I am a nationalist" north. We must continually and intentionally make the decision under God that our churches will be places where people of all political convictions and none, find a welcome. Places where people of all cultures can meet in the Christ who unites Jew and Gentile and breaks down the dividing wall of hostility. At times that choice and its implications will be very hard indeed, but cannot be avoided.

Choices need to be made.

But the story of Matthias tells us something else f great importance. Our choices are not to be our own but God's. 'Then they prayed and said, 'Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship'. (v24)

The very first words on our lips at the beginning of this service were: Christ is the King, O friends rejoice; brothers and sisters, with one voice, let the world know he is your choice.

That is not just a sentimental and sermonic thought. It is the very essence of what it is to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. God is not simply calling us to think in our own strength; he is not simply calling us to do the obvious and right thing, as though we were controlled only by native common sense. God is calling us to choose to enter into his heart, his purposes for the church and the world in this our generation.

Some of the most powerful and memorable times for me in the General Synod have been those precious God-given moments when a very serious and potentially-divisive vote had to be made, where we have been called by the Primate to a time of silent and focused prayer. Surrounded consciously by God's presence, we have known in an amazing way not only a clear guidance but that sense of unity of God's people, the place where he has commanded his blessing - life for evermore.

You see, in a strange kind of way the issue for the early Church as they chose a new apostle was not, 'What would I like?' or 'What is the Church's preference?', or 'What does society want?' The issue was and is, 'How do we come to know the choice which God has already made?' How do we allow the mind of Christ to be formed in us?' 'How do we become channels through whom the will of God can be released and known n our church in this generation?' That is the true task of General Synod. The words of Jesus in the Gospel make it clear: 'You did not choose me, but I have chose you'.

I have no idea why St Matthias was moved from February to May, but whoever thought of the change did well. Because it places the story of Matthias in its powerful Biblical context- between Easter and Pentecost at that point where Christ is risen and the Holy Spirit is yet to come. The casting of lots is never found again in the New Testament, because the Spirit is no longer limited to specific events - he is now poured out for all time in fullness, for all decisions, upon the church.

It is, above all, that same Pentecostal Holy Spirit, who enlightens, enlivens and empowers his people, whom we need in our midst this week if we are to make, to implement and to live out not our own choices but the choices of God himself for our church, our land and our lives. And, oddly - no, not oddly, but rightly, that has been the heart of our prayer at every Synod for generations, when we pray this Collect each year:

God, who didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by the sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and ever more to rejoice in his holy comfort.

May it be so.

And the people of God said 'Amen'.