Sermon for the 13th of July - Fourth Sunday after Trinity
You may have read recently that a bishop stated that the church needed to prepare for serious armed conflict.
Right Reverend Hugh Nelson, Bishop to the Armed Forces said
“The church must do everything we can to pray and work and advocate for peace” but added that we “must also face the reality and put in place - or at least begin to have conversations about putting in place - plans about how the church might need to respond if there were to be a serious conflict.”
To quote Matthew 15: Let anyone with ears, listen.
I wonder whether the nation, or indeed members of the church are listening.
Or perhaps, like the people of Israel in today’s reading from Amos, and Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, they ignore the message.
Amos is thought to have been active around 760 BC. He was a foreigner from Judah and a relatively prosperous man, living in adjoining Israel, so wasn’t into prophesying for financial reasons. He was a herdsman and as a dresser of sycamore trees, had land. He decried the cultic practices of Israel and how they had turned away from the God of Moses.
The high places Amos said will be made desolate and sanctuaries laid waste.
Within forty years, the Assyrians had conquered Israel.
To update Amos in contemporary language, he might say:
Drones will attack your critical infrastructure. Power stations and water supply will be destroyed. Hypersonic missiles will turn your cities into fireballs. Your churches will be laid waste. National institutions will be subjugated. Women will be forced into prostitution and children carried far from their parents.
In today’s geopolitical context we know that elements of this nightmare are a reality for the peoples of Ukraine and Gaza.
The UK government has recently completed a defence review; I will not refer to that but rather, given today’s reading from Amos and the Bishop’s comments about the need for the Church to be prepared for UK involvement in a serious conflict, I wonder what our Christian faith is asking of us.
You may be surprised to hear that the General Synod, currently meeting in York, a city, has long established links with the military, opened on Friday with a presentation from Brigadier Jaish Mahan to consider the very real threat of global conflict and the way the Church might respond.
The Brigadier is Deputy Commander of the 1st (United Kingdom) Division, one of the UK’s two combat divisions, and for the past year they have had the responsibility of leading NATO’s Allied Response Force, which Mahan explained meant “being ready to intervene in any crisis that requires a military response”.
Brigadier Mahan who is a Christian, acknowledged that some might be “uncomfortable with a close association with the military.” He explained that his personal opinion was “that the world, whilst wonderful on many levels is still fundamentally broken, in its truest sense far from Eden, and will remain that way until the Second Coming.”
He mentioned how Russia’s industrial complex has geared up to produce more weaponry in a year than the entire combined annual weaponry output of NATO countries, and how in countries bordering Russia, there has been a step change from the previous status quo.
These Scandinavian countries have a strategy for total defence, for safeguarding the homeland. Just one example was how the government of one such country had written to owners of SUVs (Sports Utility vehicles- with their higher clearance) stating that in the event of conflict the government might need to requisition them. They received only one negative reply – on medical grounds. This is an example of how seriously the threat is being taken.
You will see on front of the Order of Service a photograph of an Army chaplain. This is a reminder of the role of chaplains on the ground with armed forces, at sea and ashore, and also with the Royal Air Force.
Brigadier Mahan spoke of the comfort and encouragement that chaplains provide to those on active service. Brigadier Mahan's full briefing can be seen here: https://youtu.be/KrNDR-r3eT4
In the last week, over 500 armed drones have attacked Ukraine each night – at least 500 per night.
I wonder, does the UK have the anti-missile systems in place to neutralise such attacks if they came our way?
The government has spoken of increased investment in defence. The church also says we must be prepared for serious conflict.
The Church Commissioners in the reports on their investments make many statements regarding Socially Responsible Investment.
Given this, we might wonder what is the Church’s investment policy regarding defence companies?
Here it is:
The Church’s investment policy states, inter alia, that it excludes companies based on their involvement in ethically problematic business models and activities, such as amongst others, indiscriminate weaponry, firearms and defence.
Their Stewardship report for 2022 shows that it excluded 80 defence companies of ethical grounds. A year later this had increased to 93. They don’t list the names of the excluded companies.
Given current geopolitical uncertainties, I wonder if the Church of England’s investment policy of excluding defence companies can still be termed Socially Responsible?
I will conclude by returning to Brigadier Mahan’s presentation to Synod, he finished with two challenges, or requests for Synod.
They are also challenges and requests for us too and I will finish by sharing them with you:
The first is to continue “to pray for and support those men and women and their families that put themselves in harm's way to protect our nation”.
The second is to take seriously the risk of “expanded conflict” and the need for the Church to be prepared for the “complexity of challenges”, which would necessarily follow.
I would add a third. To be supportive of those who provide and manufacture the equipment that is destined to protect and keep us safe.