NPPB 2021 - Tom Wright

[Music] life after covid will be rather like life after a war after the chaos how we supposed to get back on track in 1945 my dad came home after five years as a prisoner of war life was anything but back to normal there were huge social upheavals austerity and rationing with the order of the day my dad did three things he got a job then a year to the day he bought a car and he proposed to my mother and the rest is well our family history times were tough but he put down those three markers as signs of hope new possibilities a way ahead it's not quite the same of course but i suggest three markers to put down for life after covid these markers all speak of hope replacing despair indeed hope replacing just drifting wondering vaguely if things will pan out these three markers are things we can do as individuals but that it's good to do together those of us who follow jesus want to help our whole society to do them it's no good just waiting for things to happen we need to be taking positive action these three point the way the first marker may sound negative but it isn't the first marker is lament the call to lament is deeply rooted in the biblical tradition jesus himself shared this tradition lamenting over his people and over his own upcoming death you might suppose that lament is purely about looking back weeping and wailing in despair at what's happened but in the biblical tradition lament grows out of the belief that the creator god not only made his world wisely full of strange glory but that despite its sorry state he is planning to put it right to sort it all out so lament is a way of looking at the whole picture in the light of god's rescuing purposes that the picture which includes the pain of the world the wrong thoughts and actions in our own lives and institutions and saying plainly in god's presence that things shouldn't be like this that we know god knows things shouldn't be like this and that we are sad and frustrated about it be blunt say it tell it like it is we in the church need to do this as much as anyone the bible society did some good stuff on this in their webinar last february lament is therefore paradoxically one of the roots of hope instead of looking at god in the old 18th century way as a distant uncaring bureaucrat lament looks at god in the biblical way as the creator who is at work restoring and repairing his wounded world and this kind of lament like all genuine prayer is a way of becoming more fully human reflecting the image of the loving god at the place where the world is in pain we don't have to pretend it's not painful god didn't pretend it wasn't painful when he became human and died a cruel and unjust death but once we face up to the pain and hold it in the presence of the god who raised jesus from the dead lament can become the source of fresh and creative hope [Music] the second marker is urgently needed just now it's easy to say but hard to do it is forgive many people are angry right now anger against politicians for not calling it right last year for decisions which we reckon had bad results anger against those who have made a quick buck by exploiting the panic anger even against some aspects of the medical profession for all we remain enormously grateful to them for so much and many people are just angry because they had been led to believe that our society was moving towards utopia and they feel let down but anger is never a good basis for hope and restoration our society has forgotten about the importance of forgiveness it's central to early christian teaching as in our reading but as a culture we have swapped the old high ground of christian ethics even if we weren't very good at it for a harsher blame culture we all assume we have the right to be happy and undisturbed so if anyone makes us feel ill at ease we cast ourselves as victims we don't want to give that up which is what forgiveness would do because it means we can look down on those we deem to be the bad guys we like feeling morally superior signaling our virtue by signaling their wickedness we try to erase them from history or from public life today in order to create the illusion of a trouble-free world that is a parody of christianity it highlights human sinfulness but without offering the remedy namely forgiveness but if you don't forgive personally societally you not only keep the supposed wrongdoers in the wrong you shape your own inner world with a hollow resentful self-righteousness which doesn't do us any good we need to learn both to lament and to forgive for our own sakes and for the sake of wider society and the best way to learn how to forgive is to receive forgiveness yourself that's what the living god offers each one of us through jesus this is perhaps the most distinctive christian contribution to public life the offer of free forgiveness through jesus death on our behalf produces the joy of being forgiven and the chance to celebrate that in all areas of life the lord has forgiven you says paul so you too must forgive now please note forgiving people who have done wrong or receiving forgiveness ourselves does not mean condoning the wrong far from it this isn't about tolerance it isn't going slack on moral demands it says clearly that was wrong but i'm not going to allow it to shape the person i'm becoming or the relationship we might have from now on true forgiveness always looks to amendment this may mean probing back to discover what went wrong personally or as a society and resolving not to do it again and that applies to everything from the world health organization investigating the source of the coronavirus to local authorities asking what went wrong in care homes but that hard and demanding work is best done not from a finger-pointing blame-finding point-scoring stance but on the basis of lament and forgiveness once we learn those lessons as a society as a church as individuals we may also learn the third lesson which is rebuilding this isn't just about let's get back to how it was before nor can it be the romantic dream we heard this time last year when people said things like how nice not to have cars and airplanes polluting our world hoping that we'd all learn lessons of kindness and mutual care well wouldn't that be nice but as usual things are complicated many have lost jobs precisely in areas involving flying or driving and when times are tough those with muscle can easily push their way to the front but the kind of rebuilding we find in the bible and in the early christian practice was always about putting the needs of the weak and the poor at the top of the agenda that's why saint paul insists on compassion kindness humility meekness and patience one of the greatest early theologians saint augustine constantly urged the rich not to do big showy public works but to care for the poor had he lived in our day he would have included the refugee the dispossessed those without access to proper health care and so on now as with forgiveness this doesn't mean being naive or supposing that all who ask for handouts are equally deserving there are big political issues involved but we mustn't use that as an excuse for doing nothing or letting powerful lobbyists call the shots jesus taught us to be wise as serpents shrewd in figuring out what's really going on and innocent as doves not suspicious we have often preferred the shrewd analysis to the innocent generosity but as the pandemic has coincided with other seismic shifts in our political landscape we must clearly name the rebuilding priorities and hold one another to them now obviously this means strengthening and re-equipping the health service obviously it means more support for education the next generation will need to be able to think quickly and wisely and act decisively in complex and demanding circumstances the followers of jesus were the first in the field in care of the poor in public medicine and in education we still have plenty to share in collaboration with wider society not least the constant reminder that those are the priorities they remain the central blocks for rebuilding we urgently need mps and local councillors to get together with local churches as we are doing today to figure out what's needed at every level and how to rebuild appropriately in our different contexts as we go to those tasks we don't leave behind lament and forgiveness without them hope degenerates into mere arm-waving optimism we are called to be a people of hope and lament and forgiveness will ensure that the rebuilding isn't just about a return to greed and vanity but a project of genuine hope in and through all this the challenge of a postcovered world should draw out from jesus followers and all who still look to us for a lead a different view of god and the world from the one into which western society has drifted it's been easy to imagine god as distant uncaring leaving us to our own devices but if we discover the reality of lament and forgiveness and healthy rebuilding we will discover the truth that the living god comes to dwell in our midst by his spirit to share our lament to assure us of forgiveness and to give us the energy and direction to rebuild whatever you do says and paul do it all in the name of jesus giving thanks to god through him that ultimately is my prayer for our country at this extraordinary moment

Channel: Christians in Parliament

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Length: 11min 53sec (713 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 25 2021