A few weeks ago I went to Canterbury for a conference
marking the 800th anniversary of the issuing of Magna Carta in 1215. I never studied Magna Carta at school, so I
have had to read up on it and it has caught my imagination. While I was there I took the opportunity to
see the grave of Archbishop Stephen Langton, who was influential in it coming
to fruition. His grave is not easy to
find, hidden in a chapel in the south transept.
Langton was a scholar, who was part of a school of thought in Paris that
was involved in disseminating ideas about what it means to be a good king, what
just rule should look like. He drew on
his biblical study of the prophets calling kings to account. He was also familiar with charters of earlier
kings which set out rights and responsibilities for good government. Langton was instrumental in mediating between
King John and the barons in bringing the king to see that the charter had to be
issued. His thinking is reflected in it.
Stephen Langton’s tomb is interesting because of a twist of
history. Originally occupying the
central position in the Chapel of St Michael in Canterbury Cathedral it got
moved because a wealthy woman wanted the spot for her tomb, so Langton was
moved under the altar. The East Wall was
rebuilt and the chapel shortened bizarrely leaving his head in the chapel and
his feet poking through the wall outside.
You can see this in the two pictures on the back of the service
sheet. Having your head in the chapel
and your feet outside is a good model of this church’s ministry in the heart of
this city centre. It is a good model for
a church named after John the Baptist and also in this anniversary year for
Magna Carta and we think about the church’s influence on it.
A lot has been said about Magna Carta over the last few
weeks, not all of it accurate. It is
important because it is a marker on the long journey to democracy, but it is
not a very democratic document, not exactly the charter of liberties people
credit it with. What it did establish
was that the king was subject to the law and that taxes should only be levied
with the agreement of what became parliament.
Justice is bigger than the individual monarch or ruler, bigger than
whoever happens to be in power at a given time.
As a charter, the 1215 Magna Carta was abandoned within months, but it
came back and became an important bargaining chip for the young King Henry III and
his advisors when wanting to persuade the barons to fall in with him rather
than the French prince who was after the throne. It was revised to remove the difficult bits
and the fourth edition, issued in 1225, is the one that really sets the tone for
the future. As a principle it proved
inspirational around the world, not least for the American Bill of Rights.
In negotiating Magna Carta, Archbishop Langton knew how to
keep his powder dry until the moment was right.
He kept his distance formally from earlier charters, though he may well
have provided much of the thinking and encouragement for it. He struck decisively just before Runnymede,
getting protection for the church set out clearly. Although this had already been agreed in a
charter the previous year, he was skillful in how he brought it in. He is a good example of how to do
politics. He knew what he wanted, he had
a vision of what good government should look like, and he knew to keep his cool
until the time was right. He had his
head in the chapel and his feet outside.
The Church of England can learn a lot when engaging in politics.
Having our head in the chapel means that we put prayer and reflection
on life and faith as our number one priority.
It takes precedence over everything else, and it shapes how we approach
everything else. It sets our
agenda. But it does not exist in a
fantasy world. Our feet are to be
outside, where life is real and where it makes a difference. Anyone who thinks the church shouldn’t be
involved in politics hasn’t read the bible.
They don’t understand what it means to be named after John the Baptist,
who was hardly silent on calling rulers to account for their actions and abuses
of power. John the Baptist proclaimed
the Kingdom of God and was not afraid to say uncomfortable things to miscreant
rulers. Those who want churches to be
quiet usually don’t like what they are saying, which it has to be said is not a
view that David Cameron has taken. He is
happy if he disagrees to say so and then the onus is on those who challenge him
to come up with the arguments to back up whatever campaign they are launching.
Many of the issues that we face today are actually very
difficult circles to square. For some
things there are no easy answers. How
Europe should respond to boatloads of migrants crossing stretches of water is
not straightforward. We can begin though
by remembering that they are people who are desperate and have made incredible
journeys in the pursuit of a new life away from horrors unbearable. We have been reminded again what comes of
what some of those horrors are with the events in Tunisia and France. Many have been trafficked, some even phoning
for help from inside a lorry outside our city.
The root cause of their migrating lies in the countries they leave. Many of the ethical issues that we face today
don’t lend themselves to easy soundbites, which makes communicating difficult
in a media dominated age. We saw this
with the mitochondrial DNA debates earlier in the year. Anyone who aims to speak on behalf of the
church needs to work on how they are going to present their case, what the
person who led my media training a number of years ago termed as ‘the
Sun-reader’s headline’. Having our feet
outside means we have to do a great deal of research before commenting and the
communicating needs to be clear what we see the central issue as being, finding an
accessible way in. It doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t comment but making sure we have something valid to say and that it is
said clearly matters enormously. And we
won’t have anything distinctive to say unless it stems from a faith that is
rooted on prayerful reflection; head in the chapel and feet outside.
These last few days have seen some atrocious acts and it is
natural to feel nervous. One danger is
to blame all religious people for violence and want a ‘neutral’ world. That is a delusion. There is no such thing as neutral, nothing
comes values free. When we proclaim
justice we base this on what we see as being true, right, how things should
be. That is always based on an
underlying belief about who we are, who you are and how we should live. If our faith doesn’t give us that it is in
the words of the Epistle to James useless.
Faith without works is dead. But works without a faith, without a
guiding philosophy, is routeless and directionless. It floats free. Faith that is true will be just, will be
honouring and will be life-giving; it will bless.
Sitting, as this church does, in the middle of the city
square we have a special vocation to proclaim faith as the inspiration for
life; that blesses and proclaims justice.
We are called to follow John the Baptist in prophetical witness that calls
to follow God, prepares for his Kingdom.
We are called to have our head in the chapel and our feet outside.
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