Delivered on Sunday 20 May 2007 in St George's Chapel

Luke 24:44-end

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind)
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me but the
Elephant Is very like a wall."

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho! What have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he,
"The Elephant Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt around the knee,
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he; "
'Tis clear enough the
Elephant Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can, T
his marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail T
hat fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each of his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

So wrote the nineteenth century American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816%u20141887). His parable is a fair warning of the difficulties of perspective. People see things from various perspectives; it is not typically their lot to view situations in their entirety. In the parable the various men encounter the elephant from a range of perspectives and then make various conclusions: the elephant must be like a wall, snake, speak, tree, fan, and rope. They are all correct in that each of them has picked up on one aspect of an elephant, but none of them have the complete picture. But Saxe had a particular opponent in view when he wrote the parable; it was not a general observation about perspective - his last verse sharpens his focus.

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

Ah, it is - as we might have guessed - theology or religion into which Saxe hopes to plunge his knife of condemnation. And there is no doubt that in at least one respect he is right (and I shall return to this). But there is also no doubt that the point he makes was also known to Jesus himself. Jesus knew that there would be disciples who had not seen him but who would still believe. Why else would have said, as John records, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe"? The resurrected Jesus knew that his appearances to the disciples would not go on for ever, so just before his ascension he instructed them to preach the gospel of repentance and forgiveness to all the nations. That story is presented very carefully by Luke. In his first volume - the Gospel according to Luke - he tells the story of the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In volume two - the Acts of the Apostles - he explains how the instruction given by Jesus to his disciples is brought to fruition; he tells the story of the journey of the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, the centre of the ancient world.

And the short passage we heard today, telling of the commission and the ascension is the bridge between those two volumes. The disciples are given a task - if you want to see how they got on, read volume two. But Luke is a born story teller and he fashions this episode with great care; the language is deliberately; he wants us to look forward to the age of the Church but in a special way. He does this by using the same language as he did in his very first Chapter when the angel Gabriel visited Mary to let her know that was to bear the Son of God. The angel Gabriel had been sent by God to deliver a message; the disciples were now being sent by Jesus to deliver the gospel. Mary was promised the Holy Spirit; the disciples are asked to stay put until they received the Holy Spirit. Mary was overshadowed by power; the disciples will be clothed with power. Zechariah on hearing the promise of Jesus' birth sings out 'the dawn from on high will break upon us' - salvation will come from heaven; and now, Jesus will conclude his earthly ministry as he ascends into heaven. So why has Luke wanted his language and imagery to match up? Because, the first story announces the birth of Jesus, the beginning of his ministry on earth; the second announces the birth of the Church, the beginning of his ministry in heaven and the Church's ministry on earth.

But what about Saxe and the elephant? Does he criticism not stand? Is it not the case that because believers have not seen Jesus they 'rail on in utter ignorance'? As I said I think Saxe is right in one respect but his mistake is in his use of the word 'utter'. He says we 'rail on in utter ignorance' - the claim is too great. If I say that I know the English language it does not imply that I know every word in the English language, there are some words of which I am ignorant. Similarly my claim to know God does not imply that I know everything there is to be known about God. It would be impossible for the finite mind to capture God who is infinite - but it is not impossible to know something of him. And what we know of God has been passed on to us through the same mission Christ gave to his early disciples. We have not seen Christ but we are part of the chain of witnesses that go to make up the history of the Gospel.

On this rather strange Sunday - the one between Ascension and Pentecost - we like those first disciples, recognise that we too share in that mission. But it is a mission we can only share when empowered and enlivened by God's spirit. And like the men of Indostan we will never have all the answers but we will know something - and that will be enough. Our task is not to run around trying to tie up the loose ends - our task is to live out the faith, and to speak confidently and yet humbly about what we know of God made known in the person of Jesus Christ.