Words for Worship

Ministry Today

Space – the final frontier?

 

Texts:

Psalm 8

Matthew 28.26-20

It was a strange phenomenon, but one of the things that can make you homesick is the night sky. For when I was in the south Atlantic it was the sight of the Southern Cross high in the heavens that reminded me I was far from home. But space embodies another longing. For surely the intrepid Apollo astronauts must have felt a spectrum of emotions on their journey to the moon. But I would have thought loneliness could have been very strong when they looked back at the blue planet and realised everything worth travelling into space for was cradled back there.

 

Now while none of us will be shot into space, the sense of travelling into a totally alien atmosphere is less unlikely. Therefore, we all can take comfort that God’s presence doesn’t stop at low earth orbit or even amongst the nearer stars; because it stretches to the universe’s end and beyond. And that is pretty wonderful. Here to read confirmation of that wonder is…………………(Psalm 8)

 

A House of Commons select committee this week chided the government that they needed a space policy. For, apparently, we are being overtaken in this technological area by even china and India. It seems then that a sky rocket with a union jack on the side is as far away as its last appearance in the comics of my boyhood. However, one thing is certain, humanity will continue to venture into space and journey out to whatever lies beyond.

 

And all that begs the question does the Christian church need a space policy? Now at first appearance, even asking this question seems to be the first sign of lunacy. Yet as humans do go out they will take their beliefs with them. And let’s be honest the thought of Mars is probably no more alien to us as was Boadicea’s Britian would have been to the Palestinian apostles. But they went out bravely; they went out faithfully; in fact they went out into the unknown dutifully. And here to read their orders is………………. (Matt. 28.16-20)

 

HYMN……………….

 

There is a story told of Yuri Gagarin after he returned from being the first man to orbit the earth. He was called to Soviet Premier and asked when he was up there did he see God? Oh yes I did comrade Chairman! Ah - replied the life long atheist – it is just as I feared. The cosmonaut then went on a world wide tour and visited Rome. There he had an audience with the Pope. When you were up there did you see God? -queried the pontiff. Oh no your holiness. Ah it is just as I feared.

 

And the moral of that tale is that space more than anything else tests humans’ faith. Certainly, for some, the findings of the literary studies into the Bible or the science of evolution have been their faith’s downfall. To others the atrocities of Auschwitz, the soviet gulag or the First World War destroyed their belief. To even more, the thousands of daily human tragedies. But in general, space travel which had not resulted in the meeting of God face to face has eroded faith. Glen, Gagarin and Armstrong have done more to liquidate the three tiered universe of hell below and heaven above and us in the middle than a whole waffle of theologians and philosophers. Although, it has to be said, I would be pretty suspicious of a divine who lives just a hundred miles above our heads.

 

But you know religious faith particularly Christian faith is something different - it is not found at the end of a telescope or down a microscope. In truth, it is rarely if ever the fruit of intellectual argument. For faith is something less earthly, less cerebral and something more eternal. Rather faith comes not from our own searching but in being open to God, to surrendering to Christ’s call and being filled with the spirit. In other words, faith is a gift bestowed from outside by a God who is desperately searching for us. All we have to do is not to reject it or resist its inflow or give it a cold welcome. Because it is through faith that God bestows his glorious knowledge upon us. And in not hindering ourselves being crammed full with it we become a little lower than heavenly beings. Now there is upward travel for you!

 

Possibly the most famous lines in science fiction also made the split infinitive acceptable in the English language. And, of course, it is the prologue of Star trek which tells us that the mission of the Star-ship Enterprise is to bold go where no one has gone before. Well, grammatical correctness aside, those very words could have been a summary of Jesus final commands to his now apostles. Commandments whose huge significance is recognised by them collectively being called the great commission.

And in a way, the vast unexplored region of space reminds us of the continuation of the great commission into our today and its commands being laid at our door. It reminds us that out there is a cosmic tract where Jesus word needs to venture into. Put directly, we need go back out into the future boldly and with faith. For in a week where Scotland’s underage drinking and sexual health has been castigate as the worst in the developed world, surely here is the space that Christian views must boldly go. In a week where it has been discovered that so many British young children are suffering problems by having too little time with their parents, here is a space that Christian views must boldly go; in a week when a girl is banned by the English high court from wearing a ring as a sign of her Christian morality, here too is a space that our Christian views must boldly go. For, in the political, moral and intellectual life of our nation, Christ’s commands demand we use the faith we have been given and express what that faith tells us in our hearts. Since, in the end, in these days where there is a near vacuum of spirituality and where the oxygen of religiosity is leaking away, a quiet and undemonstrative faith is practically no faith at all. Because faith like every other gift is given not to be shoved in that back of a cupboard but instead it is given to be used. Or putting it harshly - use it or lose it.  

 

Before we get to the ‘boldly going’ bit of Star Trek’s ‘bit over the top’ preamble, sonorous American tones tells us that space is the final frontier. Well, maybe it is and maybe its not. For, frontiers are always boundaries where we know not what lies beyond. And from that perspective we all face frontiers in our lives. These can indeed be tests of faith when either we face them ourselves or when someone else crosses them and goes beyond our ken. How then do we approach a frontier with not just faith but a bold even outspoken faith? How do we prevent frontiers breaking our faith?

 

There is a strange phenomenon in space called a black hole. It was discovered by Professor Steven Hawking. And I use the word discovered loosely for he found its existence initially using only pure mathematics. It was much later that his faith in own mental reasoning pay off and astronomer observed this phenomenon for themselves. But again I use the word ‘observe’ loosely. For the one thing a black hole cannot do and that is to be seen. And to explain that I need to give you a bit of physics.  A black hole arises when a star at the end of its life collapses inwards creating a very powerful gravitational pull. So strong in fact that even light cannot escape. The net result is we cannot see or know anything at all of what is going on inside a black hole. It is therefore a piece of our universe in which a frontier prevents us direct knowledge of what is beyond. Yet if we are brainy enough in maths we can know because we would have faith in what we already know.

The apostles that day on the mountain must have felt that they were trying to peer into the black hole of the future; for they had lost sight of the risen Jesus as he crossed the frontier – for they had been required to step out boldly– for they had been commanded to cross into the unknown.  

Now that was a frightening vista indeed!

Nevertheless, they crossed the bar in faith; faith in the timeless truths of their scripture that God’s love is not a bounded entity – faith in their experience of their Lord who promised to be with them to the end of time – faith that beyond their events horizon things were Ok for Jesus had come back and told them so.  And as a result their subsequent journey proved what Augustine of Hippo would later proclaim – understanding is the reward of faith. So do not seek to understand in order that you might believe - but believe, so that you may understand.

 

In this short series of services with the theme of transport, I have seemed to have always quoted the lyrics of a pop tune. Well, why break the habit? And the most famous space song must he Rocket Man by Elton John. It goes something like this.

I miss the earth so much
I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

 

And all this science
I don't understand
It's just my job
Five days a week
A Rocket Man
Rocket Man

 

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home

 

A song then that somehow expresses the vast loneliness of space that can be a trial to faith. Yet underneath that is the sense of a lack of understanding lessens us as human beings. Indeed the inference is - it is in understanding that we are glorified and able to cross future frontiers.

But the psalms and Matthew say differently. It is in faith that we find understanding even of the unknowable. It is in faith that we can boldly go where no man had boldly gone before.  And it is in faith freely given by Christ that we can cross the leading edge; we can pass through the outer limits and we can tread onwards into the sanctity of space. For it is not in orbit but in faith’s universe that we will truly see the face of God, touch it and know that by his starlight - we are home.

 

Amen

Offering

Hymn………………………………..