Candlemas

Sermon for the Licensing of the Rev. John Davis as Town Centre Chaplain

           From today’s first reading [Malachi 3: vv1-5]: Thus says the Lord God: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight - indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts” (Mal.3:1-2).

           You may have heard in the news recently about the man who was demanding his kidney back from his former wife. Apparently he’d donated one of his kidneys to his wife because hers were diseased; but then they got divorced and he said “she’s already broken my heart. I don’t see why should have my kidney as well” - and was demanding either the return of the kidney or $1m instead.

           This kind of thing is a depressingly long way from the ideal of Christian marriage. And it reflects the extent to which the whole idea of commitment to someone or something is on the decline. Modern technology, the internet and so on make possible all sorts of things that our forebears could never have dreamed of; but they don’t encourage commitment to just one person, or just one role, one faith or one set of enduring values. It may not be complete coincidence that the decline of commitment, in all its forms, is now accompanied by the decline of our environment, our finances and our economy as well. For with commitment come other basic values such as trust and confidence - and without those no society can really function at all.

           The Biblical word for commitment is “covenant” - a mutual relationship and agreement entered into by God and his people and referred to in that reading from Malachi we heard just now. The covenant that existed between God and Israel was far more than just a legal contract, or a you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours kind of deal. It was like a marriage: a lifelong commitment that allowed each party to trust the other and to work together, not just for their good but for the good of those around them. What’s more, the covenant at its best allowed each party to be utterly frank with the other - God frequently lambasted Israel when he felt they weren’t doing their stuff, and Israel could do the same with God when nasty things happened to it (as you can see if you read the ferocious 89^th Psalm). Being in a covenant relationship doesn’t mean agreeing about everything: it means feeling safe to share whatever you want with each other, feeling you can trust each other and develop a relationship that isn’t just for your good but for the welfare of those outside as well.

          You may well be wondering what all this has to do with John Davis, whom I’ve come to license to a new and exciting role as town centre chaplain. Last year I sat in this church with John and heard an excellent sermon by Colin Butler, senior chaplain at MOD Stafford, in which he suggested that the best model for understanding the relationship between the country and the armed services is that of the Biblical covenant. Let me suggest that the same model could be just as appropriate in working out the relationship that exists between St Mary’s and the town of Stafford - and that the prophet Malachi’s description of the “messenger of the covenant” might be a good job description for John. (Whether the rest of Malachi’s prophecy will also apply to John, about the messenger being like a refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap, is a bit more doubtful; but I hope you’ll see what I mean).

           St Mary’s church has had a close relationship with the town around it since it was first built. When it really was a collegiate church it will have played a major role in education; the college of clergy will have offered pastoral care, masses for the dead, and much else besides; and the building itself will have been used for town meetings and other gatherings: it still is a place where, thanks to the dedicated work of the stewards, people of any faith or of none can come and sit and pray and feel at home. All those wonderful hassocks bear vivid witness to the way the church seeks to share in, pray for and support the whole life of the borough - not just the civic ministry to the great and the good, but the whole fabric of social and cultural life. In a time of recession this role may well become much more important: people who lose their jobs or their houses or their partners need to know there is one place, and one community, where they will always be welcomed and respected, because in this place and in this community we proclaim our belief in a God who died for love of everyone - not just for the good or the religious.

           Now to see this long and rich relationship between church and town in terms of a covenant is not in any way to want to legalize or even formalize it in some way. But it is to say that such a relationship works best when it’s based on a mutual commitment, whether that commitment is given written expression or just given informal but real assent. From the town’s point of view that covenant commitment might include a recognition that St Mary’s is in a special sense “their” church, not just a private building belonging to the C of E - a place and a community that exist for the welfare of the whole Borough, and that have a right to be drawn into the life of the town in a wide variety of ways. The architect Richard Rogers has written about the difference, in towns and cities, between what he calls open-minded space and single-minded space. Single-minded spaces are areas that are primarily for just one activity - like a shop, or a flat, or a cinema. Open-minded spaces are areas that are intended for a wide range of activities, and that can therefore bring together a wide variety of people who may have very different backgrounds and interests and agendas. Rogers’ point is that the provision of open-minded space - public spaces like parks, or public buildings with multiple uses like museums or the Shire Hall - is the single most important priority in creating a flourishing town or city. (It doesn’t matter how many retail outlets or high-rise offices you have: if you haven’t got spaces where people can meet and relate and feel at home, your town will have no heart and no future). And a church like this is a superb example of open-minded space: not a place where anything goes, but a safe place, a holy place in the best sense of the word - a place set apart where all of God’s people, whatever their faith or ethnicity or status or age, can come, together or alone, a place of healing and welcome, a place that tells the story (in bricks and stained glass and memorials) of the community’s past, and a place where together we can dream new dreams and create visions for the future.

           But wait a minute (you may be thinking): John is not a building. He’s a bloke. What should his role be? And what about ours? To see John as (in Malachi’s words) a “messenger of the covenant” is to say that he is, by his role, a visible sign of the covenant commitment that exists between church and town. As a former councillor and senior police officer, John gives living expression to the close relationship between the two. He can, just by who he is as well as by what he says, bear witness to the fact that towns need a spiritual dimension to their lives just as churches need a community, an “outside”, dimension to theirs. To see this relationship in terms of a covenant is to allow for real mutual honesty: there may be times when the church wants to challenge the borough, in the name of our core Christian values, not to put profit before people, or to neglect those who are most in need. And there may also be times when the borough wants to challenge the church to be more outward-looking, more actively involved in all that goes on around it. John can be a messenger, a link person, someone who brings the church to the town and the town to the church. And so, in our different ways, can we. Which brings me finally to the most important point of all.

           Today we celebrate Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. And at the heart of that story are two people, Simeon and Anna, drawn together by their shared recognition that the little baby being brought by its parents for the rite of purification is the one who brings hope and a new future for the world. Notice the details: Simeon comes from the town (Jerusalem) to the temple, reminding those inside  - Mary and Joseph - that their child is not just theirs but “a light for revelation to the Gentiles”, to all those outside. Anna spends all her time in the temple, but she speaks about the child “to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Lk 2:38). From the town to the church; and from the church to the town - between them, Simeon and Anna show us what it means to be  messengers of the covenant, witnesses to the commitment church and town need to make to one another - and, even more important, they inspire us to be messengers and witnesses too, in the name of the Lord who laid down his life to bring new hope to the world.