Dear Friends,
In the last few weeks we have witnessed one of the greatest natural
disasters recorded in human history. The figures of the dead,
dying and homeless are continually being revised upwards. As
I write, the current figure is that 150,000 have been killed
as a result of the tsunami, and thousands more are critically
vulnerable due to injury, disease and the lack of adequate food
and fresh water. The number who have been rendered homeless is
in the millions.
It is an event which has affected a vast area of the world, encompassing
the whole rim of South Asia, and even the eastern coast of Africa.
Many of us know, either directly or indirectly, people who have been
affected.
I have been particularly concerned about friends in Sri Lanka where
I used to live. Just before Christmas I received an e-mail with Christmas
greetings from Rev. Amal Fernando whose house I shared for a couple
of years. He is now living in the coastal town of Moratuwa, just
south of Colombo, one of the areas devastated by the waves. I had
to wait a week before I read in the Church Times a comment from the
Bishop of Colombo that none of the clergy had lost their lives.
One aspect that has been very poignant for us is the timing of the
disaster just after Christmas. All of us engaging in honest reflection
will acknowledge how difficult it has been to reconcile the cosy
experience of Christmas with the devastation that followed the next
day. With hindsight we can see that as we sang well-loved carols,
enjoyed Christmas food, exchanged presents, all the while the pressure
on the ocean floor was building up to breaking point. And now we
are all painfully aware of the appalling destruction that has been
unleashed as a result of the tsunami, and the continuing plight of
the survivors, both physically and emotionally.
Where is the promise of Christmas in all this? How can we speak of
the one called Emmanuel, “God with us?” The age-old question
of theodicy confronts us starkly – how can we reconcile our
understanding of God in the face of such suffering? There are no
easy answers.
What I want to suggest in this newsletter is that the celebration
of Christmas in no way sidesteps the issue of suffering. Rather,
through the incarnation, God enters deeply into the suffering of
our world. In the current church season of Epiphany which follows
Christmas, we can begin to see this in the reflecting on the presents
that the wise men brought. They gave not only gold and frankincense,
but also myrrh - myrrh for one who was to die. The whole context
of Jesus’ ministry is the way he entered into our plight and
took suffering upon himself in order to change our situation.
As we think more deeply about the Christmas story, we can begin
to see how it was set within a world of suffering. We can be easily
tempted to reduce the scenes surrounding Jesus’ birth into
an adorable tableau of children transformed into shepherds
with tea towels on their heads. And yet in the wider context of
Jesus’ birth,
we begin to acknowledge the brutality he confronted as
an infant and the vulnerability he faced being brought up within
a poor family.
- Think of the hostility directed towards
Jesus, through the fear, the selfishness and the rage of Herod,
as he responded so brutally to the threat of the news of one
who was born to be king. He unleashed a wave of darkness as
he sought to annihilate the light. We very rarely observe it,
but Holy Innocents Day is on 28th December, just three days
after Christmas, when we think of how Herod sought to slaughter
all those who might be a threat to him, all boys under two
years old.
- Think, also, of how the Holy Family had
to travel as refugees to Egypt, in fear for their lives. They
knew the distress of homelessness and being out of contact
with loved ones. Jesus was born to a people whose national
identity stemmed from their deliverance from slavery in Egypt,
but they were now ruled by a king who drove Jesus and his parents
back to Egypt as refugees.
- This context of suffering also surrounds the mission and
ministry of the Church. On 26th December, the day after Christmas,
we think Stephen, the first martyr, stoned to death by the
mob for his faith.
- Also, at this time of year, on 29th December, we commemorate
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in
the Cathedral on this day in 1170, for daring to take a stand
against the King to protect the rights of the Church.
All these
events, which we traditionally think about in the week just after
Christmas, point to the fact that the Gospel is worked out and
lived in a context of suffering.
The famous passage that is read from the beginning of St. John’s
Gospel at Christmas underlines this truth. “The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us” – despised,
tortured, dead and buried flesh. We are a resurrection
people, but we cannot truly understand the resurrection
without Good Friday. Christ entered into the suffering
of our world. On the cross, God’s Son was torn
from his father’s arms. It is this that was anticipated
in the gift of myrrh that the wise men brought.
God continues to enter into our suffering. This is
the message of the incarnation, of the events leading
from Christmas, through Good Friday to Easter. In this
we see how the plight of humanity, is met by a response
of great compassion in Christ.
This same principle, of great need leading to great compassion
is still at work. We are called to join in this worldwide of
movement of compassionate action that we are currently witnessing.
From the United Kingdom alone, at the time of writing, over £100
million has been given by the public - the biggest ever response
to any appeal by a huge margin. Across the world, individuals and
nations have been responding with unparalleled generosity; pledges
to the relief effort by governments and the general public have so
far reached nearly £2 billion.
It is vital that we continue to keep this relief work
high on our agenda, otherwise we may witness what Christian
Aid calls a “social
tsunami” - social dislocation, accelerating rates of poverty,
and surges in disease and crime. We can play our part in seeking
to transform adversity into hope, and hope into action.
To do so, it helps to have a personal focus. For our
parish this may be channelled through the link with Sri
Lanka that we already have. Four years ago, when I ran
the London Marathon, £500
of the funds raised went to support projects in the Diocese of Kurunagala.
Just last year we sent another gift of £400, arising from our
pilgrimage to Canterbury. Sri Lanka has been one of the worst affected
countries. The death toll now exceeds 30,000, with over one million
rendered homeless. The Bishop of Kurunagala, the Rt. Revd. Kumara
Illangasinghe, is also the Chairman of the National Christian Council
of Sri Lanka. He is quoted in the Church Times, describing the relief
and rehabilitation of people in the affected areas as “a gigantic
task”.
Returning to Amal Fernando, when I finally heard from
him, this was the e-mail he sent:
“Many thanks for your concern & e-mail. Sorry I could not
reply to you earlier as I'm busy working with displaced people. Hope
you shared some things with your congregation. Yes, you can help
us. The Diocese is also involved. In my mother parish we have a camp.
So I am assisting them to co-ordinate. We hope to resettle families
after the government takes the policy decision. I'll be in touch
with you. In our camps there are infants - 12, 18 days & few
months old. I hope to concentrate on those families.
Remember our country in your prayers.”
In terms of practical action by our parish, for two
Sundays this month we will be holding a retiring collection
after our Sunday services, and this will be forwarded
to the Disasters Emergency Committee. (I recognise
that many will have already given by phone or internet,
and to do so directly has the advantage of being able
to use Gift Aid. We have links from the front page
of our web site to the Disasters Emergency Committee.)
I would also be open to the suggestion of any fund-raising
event in the next few weeks through which we could
send money to the relief work being done by the contacts
we have in the Anglican Dioceses in Sri Lanka and by
Amal Fernando. Locally, there is also another initiative
to help Sri Lanka. Dr. Yvonne Davies has family connections
with Sri Lanka, and she has arranged for Air Lanka
to fly out medical supplies to Colombo. If you would
like to contribute to this appeal, please take tablets,
dressings, plasters, bandages to the surgery at New
Ash Green.
Last year the headlines were so often dominated by war and violence.
My hope is that this year the headlines will be dominated by
compassion. Let us play our part in this.
Your friend and Rector,
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