But Friday was also the 70th anniversary of VE
Day, the end of the Second World War.
Writing an introduction for the Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial
for Friday, I found myself reflecting on what had happened then and over the
previous 48 hours. We gathered to
remember all who died during the Second World War and to give thanks for the
peace in Europe which has ensued for 70 years since. We gave thanks that we could chose our
government through free elections (as we had just done) and that there is an honoured place secured
for official opposition, for peaceful protest and free speech. We stood still shocked by the atrocities of
the Holocaust and with sorrow for all who mourn or continue to carry the scars
of warfare. In hope, with justice and
for peace our task was to dedicate ourselves anew to pursuing and maintaining
the Common Good, where all can flourish and be honoured. VE Day reminded us what government is for and
that they are accountable to the people who elect them, not just those who vote
for them.
Today is the beginning of Christian Aid Week. This places our focus on the poorest people
in the world, for whom running water, easily accessible fuel and food in the
cupboards is not taken for granted. The
world is full of inequalities and by virtue of living in this country we are among
the richest people on the planet. Forget
billionaires, they are a distraction; we have access to a standard of living
beyond the imaginations of so many. The
presence of Christian Aid Week, at the beginning of a new government term of
office, is a poignant challenge to our priorities and our focus, the scope of
our concern and compassion. It
challenges the selfishness which seems to characterize so much of our political
debate. We ignore aid and the issues of
global justice at our peril, so there is a self-interest aspect to it all the
same. But it is also important because
it is about justice and that is what should characterize us and be the primary
goal of government. The Old Testament
prophets were extremely critical of the leaders who failed to uphold justice.
So the freedoms and responsibilities which we celebrated on
Friday with VE Day and the cry and obligation for justice which we mark today
with Christian Aid Week, point to the character which is to guide and shape our
approach. This came out of our gospel
reading, with that wonderfully old-fashioned sounding word ‘abide’ (John15:9-17). The call from Jesus
to his disciples, to his followers, to you and me, is to abide in his
love. This is where we are to
dwell. Not visit, not take on as an
optional extra to enhance something else, but we are to live there. And love is gracious, kind, generous,
hospitable, open, compassionate, concerned for what makes us flourish, it is
not irritable or rude, forgives, welcomes, embraces with acceptance and
patience. It is filled with hope and not
hatred, with faith rather than fear. It
trusts in God’s providence and hold that in the words of Mother Julian of
Norwich, whose day we kept on Friday too, ‘all shall be well and all manner of
things shall be well’.
We have a calling, as followers of Jesus, to make a
difference, to be a difference. That
difference is that we abide in the love of God in Christ and live it. Easy words to say, but they have to become
all consuming and all embracing. When we
want a mission strategy, it is actually very simple: abide in Christ’s
love. Do that and we will change the
world as our second reading put it (1 John 5:1-6); people will be drawn to the living water that flows from his grace made
visible. The world will be changed
because it will find its priorities are reshaped to truly reflect all that is
captured by that term ‘the common good’.
So much of our grasping and acquiring, the dreams of yet
more riches for ourselves, are to do with not being content in who we are. When we abide in the love of Christ, we find
that we are filled with a peace the satiates, that fills that deep hunger that
is restless. This is what St Augustine
referred to in his famous prayer about our hearts being restless till they find
their rest in God. It is what the Book
of Common Prayer refers to in the alternative absolution for Evensong which
prays that we will have a ‘quiet mind’.
Not one troubled by anxiety about our worth or value, our place or one
that is disturbed by guilt and feeling worthless. Abiding in love is to know that this love is
our home and where we belong. It
embraces us and calls us the beloved. No
longer are we called ‘servants’, but we are called ‘friends’. This is because truth has been revealed in
Christ Jesus and by being truly in his presence, being present in the moment
and in the hope, we have a confidence that trusts that all is well, even when
it may not look like it. We know, deep
within our hearts, that the Christ who rose from the dead has the victory over
the worst that this life and world can throw at us, even death.
This is what inspires me and keeps me buoyant. I know that I need it refreshing and
renewing; I need to be renewed in it and that only comes through being still in
prayer, being present and attentive so that love can work within and cleanse
the grime of disgruntlement and all that makes us jaded; the myriad of assaults
that batter us and raise those doubts about whether God really does have the upper hand, which can grind us down. That is why each day
needs to begin and end with prayer, with thanksgiving and if that sounds hard
for your routine, the Lord’s Prayer carries everything that you need to pray
and that takes less than 30 seconds to say, even at a moderately reflective
speed. It praises God, it longs for
God’s Kingdom and dedicates our will to God’s will, it asks for food, for
bread, for forgiveness for ourselves and others, and to be able to stand firm,
to abide, when the going gets tough. All
finished off with a final phrase of praise and it takes less than 30 seconds to
say. It is also a prayer that reconnects
people with the hope of Christ. I used
it with a man in advanced stages of dementia on Thursday and another slipping
in and out of consciousness as he lay in his bed. It brought to both of them a moment when they
connected with the faith that held them, the place their deepest selves abide. I’m always struck by how there is a flicker of
recognition even in those who don’t respond much to anything else. When I use
it with the bereaved it often releases the tears of grief mixed with those of
hope. In that simple prayer we have a
tool for abiding that is formational, inspiring, and holding.
Jesus called on his disciples, whom he then called friends,
to abide in his love. When we do that we
are shaped to live his hope and that changes our priorities towards those of
God’s justice and peace for everyone, especially the world’s poorest. It makes us generous, people characterized by
love. All of this is fed each day
through the simplest of prayers, but not without it. Love is where we are to abide, to be where we
live and to be where we are embraced. In
turn it is the face we are to offer to the world.
This simple message is the radical justice through which we will assess our
new government and if necessary call them back to.
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