A Sermon preached on Ash Wednesday February 10th
at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17,
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10, Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
Some of you know
this – from having seen my books at home: I’m a Science Fiction fan. Just
recently I’ve been reading some novels by Stephen Baxter. He’s a proponent of
what is called “Hard Science Fiction,” not because it’s difficult to read, but because
he uses – and explains at great length – real scientific theories – hard science
so to speak. And the background to the last novel I read was quantum physics,
or mechanics as it is often known. Which leads us directly to the passage from
Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Corinthians – really? Yes bear with me a
little longer.
Quantum mechanics is
the science of the very small – the principles that explain what goes on at atomic
and sub-atomic level. And scientists such as Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner
Heisenberg and others discovered that at that level different rules seem to
apply. The description of nature
becomes probabilistic – not pre-determined. It is not possible to know the
values of all of the properties of the system at the same time – Heisenberg's
uncertainty principle. An experiment can demonstrate either the particle-like
properties of matter, or its wave-like properties; but not both at the same
time. As you can hear there seem to be a lot of paradoxes and both/and
descriptions in quantum mechanics. One of the most famous is the thought experiment
– we also might call it a parable – of Schrödinger’s cat. In Erwin Schrödinger’s scenario a cat is locked in steel
chamber with its life or death depending on the state of a radioactive atom. According
to Schrödinger, quantum principles imply that until the box is opened, the cat is
neither dead or alive – it remains both alive and dead until its state is
observed!
Paul’s letter
contains a lot of both/and statements too: “We are treated as impostors, and
yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are
alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as
poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (2
Cor. 6:8-10)
So was Paul a quantum
mechanic? No, and I’m not comparing the mystery of the resurrection to
Schrödinger’s cat. But unlike traditional, purely empirical science – which often
treats our religion as superstition and hearsay – this branch of science is a
reminder that things are not always either/or, that not everything is
determined by abstract laws. Instead the world, at a quantum level, is “unpicturable,
uncertain and in which the cause of events cannot be fully specified.” For some
theologians the unpredictability of the quantum world is what gives God the freedom
to answer prayer, to effect change, while working within the scientific laws of
the universe in unusual ways. Others see in the uncertainty of the quantum
world the space for humans free will.[1] I’m
not entirely convinced – I think God can work at many levels, not just the
quantum level, but both through us as well as directly at all levels.
Paul’s list of
apparent paradoxes are all about perception or observation. For the world we
may seem like imposters, but we know that what and who we worship is true. For his
world – and increasingly ours again too – Christianity was an unknown, a
mystery, yet it is based on our relationship to God who knows and made all,
including us. And as an aside – that little phrase I use when imposing the
ashes: “Remember that you are dust and dust you will return” is not a threat,
but a reminder of our creation by God – from dust or soil in the second
creation story – and also a promise of our return. We are of course all dying, as
Paul says in Romans (6:3-5) we have been baptized into Christ’s death and yet we
are alive, we already walk in the newness of life and we will certainly be
united with Christ in a resurrection like his. That’s why we rejoice in the
Cross and are not sorrowful.
As for the paradox
of being poor, yet making many rich and as having nothing, and yet possessing
everything, this is helpfully explained by Jesus himself in the gospel passage
we also heard from this morning: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21) The riches of this
world, the treasures on earth, may seem like riches, but they can fade and
vanish, they are uncertain.
In the long run,
in the very long run, for us other things count for more and are the only
truths that are truly certain. God is certain, the God who created us from dust.
God’s love is certain as is the forgiveness we ask for and receive in today’s
service and whenever we need it. Death is certain, as certain as Christ’s death
on the cross at the end of the season of Lent that begins again today, as
certain as the dust we will return to. But our new life in Christ is equally
certain, it’s the new life we already received in Baptism when we became dead to sin and alive to Christ and it is
the promise of our future sharing in the resurrection we celebrate when this
season is over, at Easter. Christ was dead and is alive. That’s not a scientific
thought experiment or just a probability: that’s our truth and our treasure, our
certainty today and always.
Amen
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