Phillip Aspinall, newly inaugurated as Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Australia, preached on war in heaven in his inaugural sermon at St John’s Cathedral in Brisbane on Thursday night. In his reflection on Revelation 12, he talked about the dragons of 21st century Australia – figures that deceive people into patterns of thinking and acting that destroy.
The sermon text is online as a pdf file at the Anglican Church of Australia website.
Aspinall names the first three dragons as materialism, secularism and consumerism that seduce us into basing our lives on acquiring more and more possessions. Aspinall quotes George Browning from Canberra who points out that foreveryone in the world to enjoy the same standard of living as is enjoyed in, say, Mosman in Sydney, we would need 7 planet earths to resource it.
Aspinall names instrumentalism as his fourth dragon – which would have us believe that human beings can be used or disposed of to achieve whatever ends seem desirable. He’s concerned about scientific advancement without ethics and says that we need to honour human life in the deabtes about abortion and euthanasia, reproductive technologies and stem cell research.
The fifth and sixth dragons are flight companions individualism and hedonism.
“Where each individual becomes the centre, and that one’s pleasure becomes the yardstick, should we be surprised that isolationism and the fracturing of community are the offspring that soon spread their wings?”
Aspinall also names racism, sexism, terrorism and says that ignorance and prejudice maintain boundaries of isolation and lead to fear, hatred, fragmentation and violence.
And who will fight the dragons? Aspinall points us to the humility, reverence and service of Jesus in his life and death.
As people who live in Christ, what is our response to the dragons?
“In a narcissistic culture we recognize that each person is created in the image of God. In an individualistic culture we recognize that we are called into relationships with God and with each other. In a hedonistic, consumerist culture we see that we find our lives by losing them and discover fulfillment by spending ourselves in service to God and others. In a culture sick from the abuse of power we see humility as virtue. In a fragmented world and church we affirm that we are reconciled across all divisions and boundaries. Paradoxically, this mature, thoughtful, humble, discerning spirituality is the weapon that pierces the dragons’ apparently impregnable amour.”
I too have posted on Phillip’s+ Dragons. Quite marvellous imagery and most fitting for the feast of Michael and All Angels. In a strange sort of way, there is a current companion piece I have also posted on which is published research indicating religion – not secularism – breeds crime. It is written by Gregory S Paul who seems previously to have published on paleontology, in particular dinosaurs. Wouldn’t mind if people dropped by and linked to the research and gave their views on its validity.