Introduction
Captain Jack is a sexy, confident individual who uses his physical appeal to great effect. When the Doctor and Rose meet him, he is a conman who cheats and lies and puts himself first. But after travelling with them, and coming particularly under the influence of the Doctor, he is inspired into selfless, heroic action. In fact, as they say their goodbyes, something surprisingly intimate takes place.
We are shown that Jack is able to rise above his nature; before, he was only looking for money and revenge, but the Doctor's influence shows him that there is another way of living, one where he puts other people first and himself second. In doing so he finds real love and a purpose in life.
In this latest series of Dr Who, perhaps more than in any of the previous ones, the tragedy and comedy in the episodes come from the exploration of relationships. The science fiction elements are there, but they serve as a context in which relationships are worked out and resolved. The focus of the show is the effect the Doctor has on the people he meets and how he inspires ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
In fact, the character of the Doctor has developed, over the 40 years the show has been televised, into a truly messianic figure who functions within our present-day folk culture as a surprisingly Christ-like figure. These are stories of a being who:
And it is because the Doctor is so clearly a folk messiah of the 20th and 21st centuries, that we've chosen some extracts from the latest series to try and see some themes emerging from this modern morality drama.
Acts of the Apostles
If the focus of the Dr Who series is on people who are transformed by their encounter with the Doctor, the focus of the book of Acts, from which today's reading came, is on people who were transformed by their encounter with Jesus of Nazareth and who, in turn, empowered others to change their lives and live in a transformed way, constantly inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit of God. Acts is a collection of stories about people - people who brought hope out of despair, who brought order out of chaos, who found the courage to lead others towards an understanding of what their encounter with Jesus truly meant.
Change Your Life
Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven."
Peter's call to "change your life" echoes through the ages and has deep resonance with us. In our world people long to change their lives. Recovery groups help people overcome addictions to drink, drugs, sex, gambling or food. The self-help shelves of bookshops are bursting with volumes all promising to help us change. Jack, in this week's clip, is someone whose life changed for the better when he found companionship and love. Our lives have changed through finding the same things in God and in the church. In many ways the Christian Church was the first recovery group. Through our relationship with God and each other we find that we can change our lives. We learn to live in a different way, leaving behind selfishness and self-centredness. We learn to love - and that is not always easy. In the Church we are challenged to love people we don't like and, even more difficult for some of us, to learn to love ourselves. Peter's call to us to "change your life" can be answered in the context of the Church where Jesus gives us the will, energy and determination to change.
Receive the Holy Spirit
"Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away--whomever, in fact, our Master God invites."
Peter's sermon continues with the words "receive the Holy Spirit". This follows on from his call to "change your lives" so the two ideas must be linked. We can only change our lives properly if we invite the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Spirit is that part of God which makes God's own self present to us. Once we invite the Spirit to dwell within us we are strengthened to be committed disciples. Some churches see this invitation to the Spirit to dwell within us as a special sacrament - called confirmation. But this sacrament is, at its heart, only a request to the Spirit to come and change and renew us. The Spirit helps us to pray and quickens our conscience. The Spirit helps us know what to do in various situations. All this helps us to change our lives. Some Christians act as if this invitation to the Spirit is something that happens once and then is never repeated. Yet we continually need to invite the Spirit to dwell within us, to remind ourselves that the Spirit is within and that we need to depend on the Spirit acting within our lives. Then, and only then, will we be able to successfully change our lives.
A sick and stupid culture
"Peter went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, "Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!"
Peter describes his culture very succinctly in today's reading! This is significant as most of us cannot see the bad points of our own culture. If we go to America, for example, we find it easy to see both the good and the bad points of that culture as it is both similar and radically different to our own. However, it takes longer to see the bad points in our own culture as we are used to them. We see them as normal. The ability to critique one's own culture is important. We learn to see things with the eyes of God and realise that true Christianity is always counter-cultural. Christianity points to eternal values which are at odds with the passing values of our world. This means Christians will always have a difficult time in working out how best to use the culture they find themselves in and, at the same point, stand in radical opposition to it. We walk this fine line in MCC. We reach out to particular sub-cultures in the North West and there is much in the lgbt culture we want to affirm and support. Yet we also stand in radical opposition to various parts of that culture - the bitchiness, drug taking, abuse of alcohol and the use of people as mere objects. In many ways our own culture is sick and stupid. We act as salt to preserve the good parts of it but also need to point out which parts are poisonous.
Conclusion
Clearly the people liked what they heard and saw of those early Christians and the transforming lives that they led, as the reading goes on to tell us that thousands joined their communities after Peter's sermon, and that their numbers were continually growing.
As a church, we seek to transform lives through an encounter with Jesus, and by the actions of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We may also be surrounded by a sick and stupid culture, but we remain open to change and recovery from past damage through the love we share for one another and the support we give to one another.
In our modernfolk tale, Captain Jack's dishonesty was met with the Doctor's total honesty, openness and integrity. Jack's dislike of himself was met with sincere affection and trust from the Doctor. As a result, Jack was liberated to become the whole person that he was waiting to be.
Of course, folk tales are always a simplification of what life is really like. But they usually contain a germ of truth which catches our attention. And it does seem that people need to hear about forgiveness, transformation and liberation, time and time again, whether through their scriptures, or through their folk tales, in order to feel reassured that their lives are liveable, that the world can be made tolerable, and that sometimes we can reach beyond the mundane and do something extraordinary.
Amen.
(Philip Jones)
This
sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester.
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