Sermon from Sunday 16 February

 

Reading(s): Luke 6.17–26. This sermon was given by Keith Atton at St Mark.

Sometimes our readings make me wonder “what can I say?” Today is the opposite, we have trusting in God, we have the resurrection and we have Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. I wrote a sermon combining the last two but the resurrection works better in the Easter season so it is saved for another day; I decided to do something that is in the news at present.

There was something I read once which suggested that Licenced Lay Ministers (LLMs) should not preach theology but leave it to the ordained and concentrate on the gospel message related to the world. I don’t think it is necessarily a choice like that but I do want to relate what I say to matters that are of current concern. I guess that is why one Sunday morning, arriving long ago to take Matins in our small secondary church in Kent, one of the congregation said to me, “I see we have the political parson this morning”. Of course, he was wrong on both counts – I was not a parson and I try hard to ensure what I say is not party political. But always I want to reflect on how Jesus' message of love and forgiveness can be applied here and now, without necessarily giving a definite answer but maybe just questions to wrestle with.

Archbishop Welby has left his office of Archbishop. Many members of synod did not wish to hear from Archbishop Cottrell this week. I think I understand why Archbishop Welby and Archbishop Cottrell acted as they did on cases of abuse, even although they appear now to understand how wrong they were to do so. Indeed, I wonder if they have taken the compulsory safeguarding course for clergy and LLMs which was brand new when I had to take it two years ago so that my license as an LLM with permission to take services could be renewed. Jesus spoke of forgiving seventy times seven and in Luke’s sermon on the plain his disciples were told to forgive (Luke 6 v37), but when is that the right thing to do when the offense is not against you but against another person, or, indeed, even worse, against a vulnerable person? I note that Catherine Pepinster, a Roman Catholic, who contributes regularly on “Thought for the Day” as she did this week and in newspapers, has suggested that the Archbishops had been too forgiving or at least that is what the sub-editors made of her article in “The Times” and “The Telegraph”. The version in “The Independent” is much more questioning. Had the Archbishops been too forgiving? And you may forgive, but should you make sure those who have done wrong cannot be in a position to repeat the offense? And does anyone have the right to forgive an offense caused to another person? Does the victim not have the sole right to give or withhold forgiveness?

As the headteacher of a Church of England Comprehensive School, I came across cases where abusers got away with their abuse. In one case the girl did not disclose what had happened but the social worker was 99% sure of what had happened and he was sure that the mother knew too but did not want to see one of her sons sent to prison. In another case the girl did make a disclosure to a teacher but then withdrew it. I and the social workers believed this was because she was put under pressure by her grandmother, who the girl and her mother lived with and who exercised powerful control over the family; the grandmother did not want her son to go prison again. In neither case could anything be done to protect the girls. My staff had passed on the information to those who had the power to involve the police; they chose not to do so. Were they right, because there was no prospect of a successful prosecution? What more, as a Christian, should I have done to care for the 15 year old girls?

As a teacher, as a headteacher or now as a school governor, it is easier; we just have to pass the information on to those who can action it, but for those higher up the chain of responsibility, it is even more difficult. How can they be sure, especially if there is no corroboration? The truth is not easy to find. All relationships between those who have very different ages are not necessarily abusive, surely. One particularly difficult area is grooming which is in the news again now. It is difficult for those who can take action to do so when abuse is most likely being prepared for by actions which could be described as grooming but when that abuse has not yet taken place. It is difficult for those who have the power to take action when the advice they are given by lawyers is that the case is not strong enough. In among these difficulties, how can Christians provide loving care?

I quote a local Rector, “the gospel of the crucified God … calls us to love the unlovable and forgive the unforgivable”; this is a challenge we as Christians have been given; I ask myself, could I have succeeded where our leaders in the Church and elsewhere have failed?