LOVE ALWAYS PROTECTS
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:6-7)
God is love. And the Church of God is called to love. Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Others include “peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. (Galatians 5:23)
Jesus gave a new command “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34)
The word Paul used to describe protection means “to cover” like a roof. To provide protection for all, especially the vulnerable. The word for trust infers trusting God. It literally means to believe and have faith – “a deep, personal trust and commitment”.
It is from these verses and others we can deeply lament the revelations over the recent days about what has happened in the past in the Church of England with respect to one member who was given the responsibility to minister to and care for others. His name was John Smyth. And he was a perpetrator of hideous physical beatings of young men and boys in the name of spiritual discipline.
This behaviour was never acceptable. It demonstrated the antithesis of the fruits of the Spirit. Smyth should have been removed from ministry, reported for criminality and he should have been stopped.
He was not.
In fact, a cover up by leaders allowed him to leave the UK and set up similar practices in Africa leading to even more incidences of the same practices. John Smyth died in 2018 with no actions taken against him for his actions.
Over 100 men carry the emotional, physical and spiritual scars of the abuse they suffered and which was presented as normal.
It was not.
Our prayers must firstly be with survivors of these and other abuses who by bravely engaging with investigation into these events have opened themselves up to reliving the trauma. The publication of the Makin Report and the headlines that follow serve to re-traumatise many and trigger memories and pain.
Please pray fervently and compassionately for all affected.
As I arrived at church for our PCC on Monday these matters were being discussed on the radio in the car. I felt compelled to lead us in the usual opening prayers to pray into what had been revealed, or at least gathered and reported, for much was already in the public domain and had been for many years.
As usual I consulted Evening Prayer for a scripture to use and landed on Psalm 34. As I read the following verses with survivors of abuse, abusers of power, conspirators to cover up and the shaming of the church that is the body of Christ and bearer of “Good News” in mind, I wept inside and momentarily outwardly:
I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Upon later reflection I am struck by three things:
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Goodness of God
None of what we have heard taints the goodness of God. None of it is godly or of God. It is all – the abuse, the cover up – human frailty and evil; “taste and see, that the LORD is good” (v 8)
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God’s compassion on the broken hearted
God remains faithful to the righteous, the oppressed, the vulnerable even in the face of abuse and conceit. He is “close to the broken hearted” (v18) and “his ears are attentive to their cry” (v15).
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God sets his face against evil
Life that God gives us is meant to be truthful and good; “13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (v13-14) The words of the Psalm guide away from evil. But for those who do wickedness there is judgement “21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.” (v 21).
This story, and that of others, includes evil acts and intent, coercion, cover up, collaboration, inertia and omission. All of which have led to harm.
The love that protects has been absent.
Archbishop Justin has resigned. He made mistakes. He has apologised for things he could have done differently. That was the right thing to do. He is not the only one who is accountable for what was found here and in other cases. The church is not the only agency who could have acted differently.
We must learn form these things. Repentance means to turn away and turn to.
We cannot be complacent. In the local church or across the national church.
For our part we should continue to lead diligently in these areas. The gift of leadership should be exercised with diligence (haste, earnest care or zeal) (Romans 12:8)
We have categorised the responsibility for safeguarding in the following terms:
If we take this seriously, all can help the officers with special responsibility, myself as Vicar, Staff Team and our Parish Safeguarding Officers, Jean Loh and Alison Flexman, alongside the professional support of the Diocesan Safeguarding Team, to diligently seek to keep all who are with us safe from harm as far as we are able.
The Church of England has much to change in response. The Church of England has made many changes over recent years. Let us pray that God will guide us toward ever more effective and diligent ways to protect, to create a roof of protection, for all we come across. That they may truly know the love of Christ that we are called to demonstrate “so that they will know that we are (truly) his disciples”.
If you have ben affected by any of these issues then please do contact me vicar@christchurchpurley.org.uk .
You will also find access to a range of support for those affected by abuse here https://www.churchofengland.org/safeguarding/reporting-abuse
Yours in Christ
Doug