We are called to live in hope
Archbishop Justin Welby recently delivered this talk to HTB Focus at Camber Sands. This is an edited extract of that important speech
Too much of our time is spent on fears and apprehensions. Fear is the weapon the devil uses against the church to turn us inwards, against one another, away from a world in need. It may be fear of Islam, or fear of another group in the church. It may be fear in our own lives, from debt, from sin, from hidden weaknesses. It may be fear for those we love the most, or even of those who should love us the most. It may come from a million other things.
Yet at the greatest crisis of his life – in fact of all history; a crisis making what we face look like a small blip – Jesus in John 15 does not speak of fear, or address fear, but of hope, holiness, love and service. The opposite of fear is hope (which in the New Testament means ‘certain and confident expectation’), and this is a time of hope, because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. We Christians are called to be a people of holy, witnessing hope. As Christians we are least what we could be when there is fear, and most what we should be when there is hope.
It is easy to look at the church and at the world and to despair. There is much temptation to do that. We must not kid ourselves, there are huge dangers, deep concerns in every direction. But our response must not be fear, but hope in Christ. Absolute realism, but hope in Christ. We know the destination of our lives if we belong to Christ, we will be with him forever; we shall have his eternal life in us.
Jesus must get the best of our time and energy and be allowed to change us beyond all recognition. I know that when the basic spiritual disciplines go, so does the joy of Christ.
Reconciliation with God through Jesus is the gospel, it is the heart and centre of our lives, and substitutes do not bear fruit. If there is no fruit, the branches are burned. The quality of our Christian lives matters very seriously to God.
Those who are at home with Jesus dance to a different tune, the tune of holiness. Whether it is how you handle money, sex or power, or how you relate to people, it is different. I have spoken before about my Spiritual Director, Pere Nicolas Buttet. When I meet him I hear the song of the Spirit, and am called back to Jesus. To be Archbishop of Canterbury is nothing; to be at home with Jesus is all and everything for ever.
Pruning is painful, but it is the pain of being loved. God may feel far away; we may lose the sense of presence. We may be called to forsake various things, in order that we may bear more fruit, more life to those around us. We may be hated by many, including other Christians, I know that. There are no shortcuts, but there is always the certain hope of bearing fruit – our great purpose in a holy life. Pruning leads to holiness.
We are called by no less than Jesus to be a holy people in a world where holiness is hard to apply in the midst of rapidly changing culture. We are called to be hopeful in a world relying on fear. We are called to be loving in a world that hates the other, because of every reason from race to sexuality to class to theology to customs and cultures.
We are not called to be a defensive or beleaguered people, circling the wagons to keep the enemy out – but going out and transforming society all over the world, not with our values but with the presence and living power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus under the authority of the Father.
We are to have love for one another (a real community). We are to bear fruit (a transforming community). We are to be secure because we are a called community. We are to deal with enmity and hostility (a persevering community).
Facing the challenges of the world, we need to see what holiness is. Our calling is to be a holy people available to God at any cost to us. Its cost is high, everything we have. Its pain is great, being pruned. But the impact is one that witnesses to the life of Christ, and brings millions to know Jesus.
The church has a calling that is the calling that we have to follow. If we respond as a holy people, we will see the renewal of the life of the churches of this land, and indeed around the world, in this generation. We will be the antidote to fear, the healers of abuse, the reconcilers of nations, the friends of the poor, the rescuers of the persecuted, the imprisoned and the hopeless.
Our task is clear, to witness that Jesus Christ, risen and alive, is our saviour and offers salvation to all. Our resources are infinite, the deep-cutting, powerfully loving work of the Holy Spirit. Our hope is certain, eternal life.