Bishop Jonathan preached on Racial Justice Sunday at St George’s Church in Beckenham at the invitation of Fr Jeremy Blunden.
Read his sermon below:
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It is very good to be with you this morning and to share in your worship on this Racial Justice Sunday. This day has a particular resonance this year, as we approach the 30th anniversary of the murder of Stephen Lawrence on 22nd April, and the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush on 22nd June.
Our three Bible readings today each speak to us powerfully and in complementary ways about the theme of Racial Justice, and it is important that we should hear them all together – despite their being somewhat longer passages than we may be used to on a Sunday morning!
The first, from Genesis chapters one and two, takes us to the foundation for our Christian understanding of who we are as human beings. That yes, we are part of the great web of creation – but that uniquely we are made in the image of God. That means in essence that we are made for relationship with God and made also to represent God here on earth. Now of course that concept, taken together with the theme of humanity being given dominion over the earth, has at times itself been abused – but the fact of that misuse should not prevent us from re-appropriating and rejoicing in this fundamental truth: namely that we human beings, all human beings, regardless of who we are, are made in the image of God and are called to reflect his likeness in the way we relate to others and care for the world which God has given us to share.
It has been a tragic and at times downright evil part of our history that we have lost sight of this core truth at the heart of our faith – and have allowed ideologies of superiority and privilege to underpin and justify structures of racial injustice – most heinously in the form of the slave trade. Even long after the abolition of slavery, we have continued to collude in allowing these ideologies and the power structures that go with them to perpetuate deep-rooted racial injustice, privilege and exclusion within our society and yes, within our church. We need to name and own up to that reality – right up until today and right here in the life of the Church of England. And that is why we need to go on marking Racial Justice Sunday as a sign of our commitment to repentance and change. And in Scripture and Christian tradition, this remains our foundation and our starting point: that all human beings without exception are made in the image of God.
Our second passage, from the letter to the Romans, takes a slightly different tack. It focuses on the twin reality of the painful struggles that we face in the present and the glorious hope that we have of “the freedom of the glory of the children of God” that one day we will enjoy. Saint Paul is intensely realistic. He does not deny how difficult things can be and are at times, and that painful reality is part of the experience of countless people who share daily the experience of racial injustice and social exclusion – experiences that are very hard for someone like me, a privileged, white male, even to begin to understand. A day like today, Racial Justice Sunday, gives us an opportunity to pause and to reflect, to listen and to learn, to stand in solidarity and to weep with those who experience these things each and every day. And we need to do that time and again, lest we forget and simply get on with our lives.
But the other crucial reality here is the hope of which Paul speaks, the glorious eschatological hope of the full reality of the kingdom of God. That hope which draws us into the future and calls us to labour for change, so that the world we live in more fully reflects the world as God intends it to be – which is what the kingdom of God is all about. It is this hope that can keep us going, that can enable us to pick ourselves up and re-enter the struggle, when otherwise it would be tempting just to withdraw and lick our wounds. Sometimes of course, it can be hard to keep that hope alive, in the face of constant setbacks – and that again is why we need each other, to support and encourage one another, so that when one falls there are two more who can help them stand.
Racial Justice Sunday is both a protest at injustice and a celebration of the hope that sustains us, of the coming of the kingdom of God and the glorious liberty which will be ours as the children of God. We are waiting for creation itself to be set free, for our final adoption as the children of God. This hope is the unique thing that we have as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ. It is what sustains us when otherwise we might give up and call it a day. It is what we have to offer to world that right now seems to be a pretty dark and bleak place. We need to celebrate that hope and have the confidence to hold it out to the world, inviting others to join with us in working for the coming of God’s kingdom of justice and peace.
And that brings me to our third and final reading, from the Sermon on the Mount. Most often I guess this passage is read at Harvest Festival or perhaps as a reminder about the futility of worry and anxiety. But for us today, the key message of this passage is in verse thirty-three: “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
If you will permit me a little personal reflection, it was this theme that led me to accept the invitation to become the Church of England’s Lead Bishop for Safeguarding three years ago. I accepted the role because I felt a deep sense of call to share in the work of seeking justice and healing for victims and survivors of abuse and of making the church a safe, healthy and nurturing place for all in the present and future.
Now I have faced many challenges and disappointments in this, and there are of course those who have been disappointed in me. We have not achieved as much as I would have hoped and there is still much to do. But by the grace of God and with the help of many others, including victims and survivors, we have been able to make a difference in some areas, including our work to prevent abuse and to improve the Church’s response in the future.
The reality is of course that there have been over the years a great many reports and reviews about the evil of abuse and the needs for better safeguarding – just as there have been many reports and reviews about the failures of the Church over racial justice. It can feel at times that much of this has been a waste of time – and some people as a result have given up on the Church. But what I would like to say is that the imperative to seek the kingdom of God – the coming of God’s reign of justice and peace for all – remains as clear and as strong as ever.
These key principles need to undergird and shape everything we do:
• We are all without exception made in the image of God and made to reflect his glory.
• We long for creation’s final redemption when all will enjoy the glorious liberty of children of God.
• As we long for that day, we strive with all our strength for the coming of God’s kingdom of righteousness here on earth as it is in heaven.
As we prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, I hope and pray that we as a Church and as a Diocese will renew our commitment to the cause of racial justice and strengthen our work to address both the effects and the causes of racial injustice and exclusion.
To do that we need your support and your prayers, to help put good intentions into effect, so that we can all play our part in serving the cause of God’s kingdom of righteousness in our Church, in our nation and in our world. Will you pledge to join me in this sacred work?
Amen.
The Rt Rev Dr Jonathan Gibbs
Bishop of Rochester