Sermon Safeguarding Sunday 16 November
Readings: James 2. 14-26; Psalm 91; John 15. 12-17
Theme: Safeguarding
The question of how to understand what faith is, has accompanied Christian history since its origins. The first reading from James has been a controversial one in the context of Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fide). This is one of the reasons why Luther dismissed The Letter of James, because he interpreted it as implying a form of ‘works righteousness’ for which he was so critical of the Roman Catholic Church at the time.
What is not controversial about Christian faith, however, is that our own ethical behaviour should always be a matter under review, in a Christian life of faith. Our deeds may not justify us, in terms of offering us salvation and making us aright with God, as Luther quite rightly thought, but clearly how we act and what we believe needs to be in harmony with one another, if the message that our lives and our words transmit is to be a coherent one. This is why, in the light of this requirement of coherence, it is good for us to take a time each year to review how our practices as a church cohere with good safeguarding practice.
There is obviously a particular need to do this in the current climate in which there is typically a presumption that churches are unsafe places, given the recent history of the sexual abuse scandals that even today continue to emerge into the light of day. All churches have been affected by this, and the pain, suffering and impact on the lives of those who have been victims of this abuse is immeasurable. Most public institutions have been affected by this scourge, and it is clear that as a society, we have been unable to protect young people and vulnerable adults from the predatory behaviour of the perpetrators who live amongst us. The tendency of institutions in response to the claims of this abuse has sadly often been one of closing ranks and of protecting their own reputations.
Religious institutions, like any other, require careful scrutiny and a culture of openness, if they are to be vigilant against the tendencies of some to exploit others for their own personal gratification. There is clearly a destructive cocktail of serious mental health issues, personal immorality, and societal decadence behind these patterns of behaviour that, if allowed to go unchecked, can cause untold damage to victims and to the communities within which they live.
Highlighting these issues in our own particular context, enables us to increase awareness about those who may be vulnerable and how we can foster a better culture of safeguarding in which we operate according to clear guidelines, communicate transparently about any concerns that may arise regarding our activities, and ensure that such concerns are heard and properly dealt with. Each context is different, and so as we review our safeguarding practices, it is helpful for us to underline that abuse comes in many forms. It is not only concerned with children, but it involves adults, especially the elderly and other vulnerable groups, who can be particularly susceptible to abuse because of their special needs.
The biblical witness on these matters is very clear. Abuses of power, self-indulgent behaviour at the expense of others, distrust of victims, and the concern of those in authority to protect the image of their institutions are all roundly condemned by the prophetic tradition of Israel and by Jesus in the New Testament. In fact, Jesus himself is handed over to those who will abuse him in what we may consider a divine act of solidarity with all the victims of abuse in human history.
So, if we are to treat each person as made in the image and likeness of God, then our attitude to them should never be instrumental. They should never be treated as a means to our ends, and therefore, any form of doing this by instrumentalizing them is clearly unethical and to be condemned. It is because each person is to be viewed as made in the image and likeness of God that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. The dignity which is deserved by people comes from the fact that they are children of God, and the way that we treat the ‘child’ impacts on the way we relate to the ‘parent’. Because of this, we might call abuse, in all its forms, a way of demonstrating a practical lack of faith that we are warned against in the Letter of James.
A similar attitude can be detected in our treatment of the natural environment, when we simply treat it as a resource for us to use and abuse. This is not the biblical understanding of stewardship, which is conferred on humanity so as to care for the natural environment in the Book of Genesis. We are to steward the resources of the natural world because they are a gift to all of us, and in so doing, we give reverence to the God who is our creator, as well as the creator of all of the natural world. As that part of the natural world, which is self-conscious, human beings are particularly susceptible to abuse, because our freewill can so easily be manipulated by those who seek to benefit from us for their own purposes.
So, as we reflect this Sunday on safeguarding, let us hold all victims of abuse in our prayers. They have been treated as nobody ever should be, and it is our duty to stand in solidarity with them. In doing this, we recommit, that as a community, we seek to grow in our practical faith, so as to treasure all of the gifts of God with the dignity and respect which they deserve, whether these be the natural resources of our planet’s environment, or the other human beings with which we are privileged to share this beautiful earth.