Walk Humbly

It seemed uncomfortably apt that one of the set readings for the week following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation was this passage from Luke’s Gospel:

Then Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there, and he said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Our local church should be our house of prayer, a visible sign of God’s love and presence in the midst of every village, town and city, and I profoundly hope that that is the experience of those who attend or visit our churches in East Knoyle, Semley and Sedgehill; but too often ‘the church’ has become ‘a den of robbers’ – a hiding place for those who were stealing dignity from the thousands of people who have suffered appalling abuse over many, many decades.

As a national Church we have failed repeatedly; firstly to protect people and then to listen and respond appropriately to them. We have thus fallen a vast way in public estimation. Some people feel that in this particular case Archbishop Welby has been scapegoated. I claim no deep insight or profound understanding of this matter but I believe that he has done what he perceived to be right and necessary at this point – taking responsibility for the failings of the institution he heads, a course of action which seeks to acknowledge accountability and uphold, or in this case help to rebuild, trust in the fundamental structures of our society.

Our churches, local and national, all also bear a great responsibility now to rebuild public trust and to acknowledge how devastatingly far our flawed, human institutions have fallen short of what God’s kingdom should look like. A new humility is needed, an openness about our failings, and an active desire to do far, far better; using our deep and sincere regret to inspire new and positive practices which uphold the ‘life to the full’ which Jesus offers. A humbler church could be a far stronger presence in our country and a far truer sign of God’s love, compassion and kindness.

In the beautiful words of the prophet Micah, it is really quite simple: what does the Lord require of you …. but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?

Revd Kate McFarlane