Being with, rather than for

Imagine the scene, it is one of the bigger, must go to events of the year at the Mansion House; maybe the annual speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. All the invitations have been sent but all the usual invitees make excuses and will not come. Instead, the Lord Mayor of London instructs his staff to bring to the banquet all those who are rough sleepers in London.

This scenario would seem to be a fairly close equivalent to the story of the Great Dinner which Jesus told, set as it was in his own day and culture (Luke 14. 15 -24). Imagine what the event would be like were that scenario to happen? Would, for example, the Chancellor have felt able to deliver his message of austerity if his audience had been made up of those at the sharp end of those policies and decisions?

Jesus' story, as with many of his parables and messages, reverses what we normally expect in real life. Essentially the great and the good exclude themselves from the Kingdom of God, while those we least expect to find there are welcomed with open arms; the last become first while the poor are blessed. 

This is actually the logical implication of Jesus' incarnation. In Jesus, God comes to be with human beings in the challenges and stresses of our human existence. Those who view themselves as fundamentally AOK - usually, the great and the good - don't see the need for someone alongside them in this way and therefore can reject Jesus, his invitation and welcome, just as occurred in Jesus' own day and time.

Those who do acknowledge their need to have God alongside them, however, find another strange reversal occurring. Rather than coming alongside to help, Jesus comes alongside to share and to learn. The incarnation is an affirmation of those in distress and difficulty. God, in Jesus, essentially says to us that we are valued and valuable. 

All too often we exercise our power and position by seeking to help others out of their predicament, as opposed to truly being with them in it and learning from their experience and perceptions. This is what Jesus wants us to realise and experience as a result of his stories and sayings.

Sam Wells, Vicar at St Martin-in-the-Fields, puts it like this, through Christ’s birth ‘God said unambiguously, “I am with. Behold, my dwelling is with you. My name is Emmanuel, God is with us.” … God … in becoming flesh in Jesus, has said there will never again be a for that’s not based on a fundamental, unalterable, everlasting, and utterly unswerving with.’ We celebrate this good news by: ‘being with people in poverty and distress even when there’s nothing we can do for them. By being with people in grief and sadness and loss even when there’s nothing to say. By being with and listening to and walking with those we find most difficult rather than trying to fob them off with a gift or a face-saving gesture. By being still with God in silent prayer rather than rushing in our anxiety to do yet more things for God. By taking an appraisal of all our relationships and asking ourselves, “Does my doing for arise out of a fundamental commitment to be with, or is my doing driven by my profound desire to avoid the discomfort, the challenge, the patience, the loss of control involved in being with?”’ (A Nazareth Manifesto: Being With God)

If rough sleepers were to be invited to the Mansion House and the Chancellor were to genuinely spend time with them seeking to learn from them and their experiences, then very different Government policies would result. What those would be I could not predict, but that is the path onto which we are called both by Jesus' incarnation and this parable, where the King comes to be with those in distress.

At St Stephen Walbrook we have an example of this occurring in our own history through the founding of The Samaritans. Samaritans do not provide their callers with information and advice. Instead, they simply come alongside those callers and provide a listening ear. They describe what they do like this: 

‘When you talk to us, we will give you an opportunity to talk about any thoughts or feelings you have, whatever they may be. Sometimes people need to cry or show how angry they are at life, or go over their thoughts and feelings several times to make sense of them, and that’s fine. We're there for as long as you need us. We won’t make decisions for you, and we'll support the decisions you make. You are the expert on your own life. Our advice or opinions are not important. We won’t talk about ourselves, even if you ask us to. We’re there to give you time, space and support – you don’t need to ask how we are, or give us time in return. We don’t impose any personal attitudes or beliefs on you.

By setting up Samaritans in this way Chad Varah made Jesus' parable reality. The call on our lives as Christians is to do the same.

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Björk - Prayer Of The Heart.

Walbrook Ward Club Dinner

The Walbrook Ward Club Dinner was held at St Stephen Walbrook this evening. I was there at the invitation of the Club's President, Alderman John Garbutt, and we enjoyed a meal in the stunning surroundings of the church followed by an organ recital given by the excellent Joe Sentance.

The Ward of Walbrook is one of the smallest Wards in the City of London but is in an important position at the heart of the City encompassing the Mansion House, St Stephen’s Church, the Grocer’s Hall, the Old Stock Exchange Building at 125 Old Broad Street, and some of the banking community including The Bank of England.

The Ward Club of Walbrook is the second oldest in the City being founded on 4 December 1809 at the Bay Tree Tavern in St Swithin's Lane. It's purpose is to promote friendly and neighbourly exchange.

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Charles-Marie Widor - Toccata.

Making a family out of strangers

At the invitation of John Garbutt, Alderman for Walbrook Ward, I attended last night's Limborough Lecture which was held at St Stephen Walbrook and was followed by supper at The Mansion House in the presence of the Lord Mayor of London.

The annual Limborough Lecture is a part of the Company Year for the Worshipful Company of Weavers, the oldest recorded Livery Company, and stems from a legacy provided by James Limborough, a prosperous member of the Court of Assistants in the eighteenth century, to fund a series of lectures "to promote useful religious knowledge and real wholeness of heart and life".

This year's lecture was given by The Ven. Paul Taylor, Archdeacon of Sherborne, and was entitled 'Making a family out of strangers'. This title is the strapline for St Michael's Camden Town, a church which has been brought back from the brink of closure through its open door policy. Archdeacon Paul began by telling the story of St Michael's revival before using it as a paradigm for the openness to the other - those who are different from ourselves - which he argued is desperately needed locally, nationally and globally today. 

In doing so, he also referred those present to the recent pastoral letter from the Bishops of the Church of England which is entitled 'Who is my neighbour?' There the Bishops state that the starting point for the Church of England’s engagement with society, the nation and the world is that: "Followers of Jesus Christ believe that every human being is created in the image of God. But we are not made in isolation. We belong together in a creation which should be cherished and not simply used and consumed." The hope of the Bishops is, "that others, who may not profess church allegiance, will nevertheless join in the conversation and engage with the ideas" shared in this letter.

St Michael's Camden Town is also the location for a colossal art installation entitled HS by Maciej Urbanek, measuring over 60 square metres and covering the entire west wall of the huge Victorian Church, which could be one of the world’s largest photographic works. This installation, which covers badly damaged plasterwork in a church still in need of a great deal of restoration, appears to the viewer to be a vast explosion of fabulous silvery light. However it is made from the most humble of materials – dustbin bags which the artist has arranged, lit and photographed such that a mundane material is transformed into a grand, majestic artwork. While not referred to in the lecture, this artwork relates to Archdeacon Paul's theme because, as Fr. Philip North, then Team Rector of the Parish of Old St Pancras and now Bishop of Burnley, has explained: "For us as Christians, the fact that ordinary dustbin bags have been used to create something so overwhelmingly beautiful is a metaphor for God’s work in taking ordinary human lives and making them extraordinary."

Paul Taylor has been Archdeacon of Sherborne since 2004. Prior to coming to the Diocese of Salisbury, Paul had spent his entire ministry in the Diocese of London. He was ordained in 1984 and served his curacy in Bush Hill Park, near Enfield. He was Vicar of St. Andrew’s, Southgate for nearly ten years and then for the following seven years, Vicar of St. Mary’s and Christ Church, Hendon. Paul was also Director of Post Ordination Training in the Edmonton Area of London Diocese and Area Dean of West Barnet. Beyond his work in the Archdeaconry Paul is particularly involved in developing the Salisbury clergy Wellbeing programme and also chairs the Salisbury – Evreux link.

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Paul Mealor - Love's As Warm As Tears.