A faltering in high places
Lent 2: 24th February, 2002
Fr John Davis, Vicar of St Peter's Eastern Hill
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.... (Gen 12:4)
...join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.... (2 Tim 1:8)
Lent is a time for moving along, for travelling further on our spiritual
journey. It is not a time to be complacent and comfortable. This major
penitential season of the year is here to help us find our way. There are
plenty of obstacles, plenty of distractions. This time when the Lord was
battling the temptations in the wilderness presents each of us with our sets
of temptations too. One possible one is to give up on the whole thing as
simply being too hard. Another might be to be so aware of the failings and
shortcomings of those around us, that we consider them too poor company for us
to be keeping. But as if we should be surprised! Another temptation would be to
fail to remember that the pattern experienced in every generation and recorded
throughout the Scriptures is a recurring one of moving onwards: glimpsing
faith, hope and love, falling short, seeking grace, trying again, finding
God. Lent is a time for each of us to consider where we are within this cycle.
One of the classic journeys recorded in the Scriptures is that of Abram.
This foundational journey story is revered by Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Abraham is told to leave behind all human security – country, family,
inherited stability to go to a Promised Land that he would be shown in due
course. And blessings would flow. Our first lesson this morning simply
celebrates the obedient faith and has that as the context for our
Transfiguration gospel.
The reading from 2 Timothy reminds us that it is just not possible to live
or preach the good news of the gospel, if the hardships of being a living
human are not addressed and faced. Hardship, life and death – and the
life of the world to come. These are the basic issues. Bear them; address them,
not in our own strengths but in the power and grace of God that is in Jesus
Christ. Coming to that fundamental awareness is a spiritual journey in itself.
The immediate context of today's Transfiguration gospel is the Lord telling
his followers that he is soon going to have to suffer and to die. The forces
against him were gathering and getting stronger. The disciples could not
accept or understand this. But this was central to the Lord's own addressing,
confronting and defeating the very challenges that confront every one of us,
and every person who has ever lived. It could not be avoided. Or at least these
issues could not be avoided if the teachings and life and fact of this Jesus
were to be anything more than a passing fancy. So in this Lenten context, this
is no time for us to stop the travelling, to break off the journey. This
is no time to be dazzled into immobility by the glory and wonder of God.
But it is a time to thankfully acknowledge who and what it is that we are
following. The journey takes him and us through to Holy Week, Good Friday and
Easter Day.
This Lent, more obviously than in most, we are confronted with a particular
set of hardships and challenges that are ours as a community and a Church.
There are therefore aspects of our forward journey that are not clear and
there is a faltering in high places. Morality, ethics, institutional
structures, truth, deception, values and expectations – all these
and more are right before us.
I was away from this country in November 1975. I therefore have no
experience with which to compare the current double controversy raging
at the top of our national government and political system. The column inches
in the press devoted to the detailed dissection of every aspect are simply
staggering. The Saturday papers yesterday were starting to look like
obituaries, so far as the Governor General is concerned.
It is all deeply sad and deeply disturbing. As if we did not already know,
this is a further illustration of the collapsing of the power and reputation
of some of the most central institutions in our society: Governor General,
Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, public service, Defence Forces, Church.
Child abuse and 'children overboard'. No one is talking of anything else.
It is not at all clear how the next week will unfold. There is a widespread
cynicism and open expressions of disbelief and distrust.
Insofar as these sad events relate to the processes and operation of the
Church and its leadership in Queensland and elsewhere, there is clear
widespread public anger and open hostility, particularly relating to the
question of the ability or otherwise of a 14-year-old child to make choices.
I do not think I have seen more sustained public questioning of the
functioning of our Anglican Church. This is very distressing, and there
are many within the Church who are also questioning and wanting clearer
answers. This is going to take a long time to heal. And worse, for many
people here, is the fact that a central focus of this time of crisis and
trial is relating to the attitudes and actions of someone we know well and
have seen doing many good things over many years. The daily developments
now only seem to be making things worse. How much longer can things go on
like this, is the question.
When this first received major publicity just before Christmas, the
gravity of the matter was clear enough. I repeat what was said from this
pulpit on Advent 4, December 23rd:
It is indeed hard to watch the unfolding of the matters relating to the
Governor General – hard on many levels. We here at St Peter's know
him as a friend and a priest and bishop who has served at this altar, an
individual human just like us, and clearly at this time under great personal
stress. Our prayers go out for all involved.
It is hard too to acknowledge that our society, the Church included, has a
less than perfect record in dealing with longstanding issues of abuse of the
weak and vulnerable. These terrible things should not be happening. If the
events of the last decade or so have taught us anything, it should be that
the processes and protocols for promptly dealing with such matters must be
clear and open, just and effective.
Now, two months later, we are in an even more serious place than before.
The major shift in public expectations and attitudes that has occurred in
recent years means that a far clearer accountability is demanded of all in
authority and exercising power over others. In this, basic principles of the
value of vulnerable individuals and the value of telling the truth, even in
politics, are affirmed. So now at this stage of the double controversies,
satisfaction is demanded. Scapegoating is perhaps one way of dealing with
this – a middle ranking public servant or two, or even an ex-archbishop
Governor General might be seen by some to suffice. But a thorough renewal of
processes, attitudes and actions at every level of every institution: with
goals of honesty, fairness, compassion and integrity, would be very much better.
A new generation in the Church will need to see this through. Perhaps a new
generation within politics as well. These old ways are not good enough.
So it is that this Lenten journey has become far graver for many within
our Church and the wider community than could have been anticipated. But
difficulties are not there to be avoided or denied. Not in Church or State.
Not in an individual human life. And the biggest and most fundamental
questions of life and death do not go away. They require a context within
which to be faced. The Lenten journey of this our Jesus provides just that.
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.... (Gen 12:4)
...join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.... (2 Tim 1:8)
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