Cathedral Safeguarding Sunday Sermon

Malachi 4. 1-2a, 2 Thessalonians 3 6-13, Luke 21 5-19

 It is no coincidence that Safeguarding Sunday – today, and the season of safeguarding falls in the bigger season of the church year called kingdom season culminating in the celebration of Christ the King next week. The season reminds us that we are people of God’s kingdom not just for the future but right now. The season includes our times of corporate remembering as we did last Sunday. It is the time when we can refocus our vision on being re-membered with God. We are called by God into the family that is God’s kingdom. This is the reason safeguarding in the life of the church is so important. We are called in all our diversity into a family of faith each a beloved child of God. We have responsibility for one another as beloved children of God. I am conscious that preaching about safeguarding may trigger experiences of pain for some of us here today. If that is the case please do talk with someone at the end of the service – someone you feel safe talking with. Remember we are all beloved children of God, nothing can ever change that.  

We don’t need a season to remember we are called by God, we live it and are remembered every time we worship. We re-turn to God in our confession and in receiving God’s forgiveness are drawn back into the relationship of love. In the peace we share with the people around us not because they are friends or family but because they are beloved children of God and reflect something of God’s love to us, a precious gift from God to be treasured and loved. We re-member every time we celebrate the Eucharist together, we are the body of Christ, often broken but in that brokenness held by Christ who was broken too for the sake of loving us through all our joy and pain.

This is why safeguarding in the life of the church is so important. It is not just a duty we have to comply with, it is an act of ministry which we are all called to share in. When safeguarding failures in the life of the church hit the news we bare a corporate responsibility as the body of Christ and a corporate wounding for the pain victims and survivors live with.  

The readings we have listened to this morning are stark reminders not about how the world will be in the future but how it is now. We live with the realities of people fighting, of self interest taking precedence over community care. These were the realities in Jesus’ life time in Paul’s lifetime and in the time of Malachi. Human beings can do awful things to one another, and that is even more awful when abusive behaviours are cloaked in the church. It is abuse for the individual and it is an abuse on the purpose of the church, to be a sacred space where we encounter God in safety. It is wrong.  Each reading though contains hope for the kingdom of God. Each one tells us something of God’s story with humanity. Each one ends with a but….

Malachi says ‘for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.’ We who worship God and live in God’s plan will be people of hope bearing God’s healing love.

Paul writes ‘brothers and sisters do not be weary in doing what is right.’ We who worship God and live in God’s plan will be people of hope bearing God’s justice 

Jesus promises ‘by your endurance you will gain your souls.’ We who worship God and live in God’s plan will be people of hope bearing God’s presence in a hurting world.

We are called to be people of hope bearing God’s healing love, justice and presence in a hurting world.

This doesn’t mean putting up with what is wrong. Nor is it some ‘day-dream’ panacea. It means we hold on to Christ through everything recognising that our faith means we believe God is present with us. God does not turn God’s back when we are hurting. When we turn to God in all the pain of abuse God is already there. I do not pretend for one moment it is easy, it take enormous courage especially for victims and survivors. It takes time.

 In the summer I was chatting to a group of people outside the cathedral. A number of them said they had been damaged by the church, they couldn’t trust the church. I knew that to be very true because I too know people who have been damaged by the church institution and individual church communities despite all the safeguarding protections we have in place. Humans still hurt humans. However I could say to the group this place is safe, you will find a welcome here. I knew I could say that with confidence and with conviction, not because everything is perfect but because this cathedral is committed to being a place of safety where all are welcomed and everyone is valued. I thank God for that. The welcome offered is a sign of ‘doing what is right’ as Paul put it – behaving in a way that demonstrates God’s loving justice and the gospel values of genuine inclusion.

The church is the community of God’s people living God’s love through worship and mission. It must be a place of safety for everyone. Our commitment to safeguarding is a commitment to creating spaces for God’s healing, justice, hope and love. This is kingdom living for this season, this day and tomorrow and the next… for every day. So we will endure in the cause of God’s justice for a healing church where all are welcome and everyone is valued.