THE Church of England must “walk the talk”, the Archbishop of York said in a Christmas Day sermon at York Minster, in which he urged the whole Church to “come again to the manger, strip off her finery, and kneel in penitence and adoration. And be changed.
“Don’t just talk about justice, don’t just talk about joy, don’t just talk about service, don’t just talk about love. Show me.”
The Church needed to look at the vulnerability of the Christ-child, he said, “at this emptying out of power to demonstrate the power of love; for it is in this tiny, vulnerable child we are invited to see God.” It must embody and demonstrate love by its actions, he said, and “do it right now”.
He continued: “This is what we learn at the manger in Bethlehem: to put the needs of others first — for those who are cold and hungry and homeless this Christmas. Those who are victims of abuse and exploitation. Those who, like the little Holy Family, have to flee oppression and seek refuge in a foreign land.
“We, the followers of Jesus today, and all of you who have found yourself in this cathedral church this morning, we have nothing to boast, except what we see and receive in Jesus in this manger. And is this not a message for the world as well, in all its need, confusion and sadness.”
The story of those who encountered the embodiment of love in the person of Jesus Christ and were changed by it included “peasant fishermen, religious officials, political zealots, Roman centurions, tax collectors, prostitutes, small children, and, very especially, those who know their need.
“And we can come, too. Whoever you are, however hard life has become, however difficult it is, however much you feel you may have messed things up, however broken it is, absolutely all are invited. The door is open.”
Earlier in the sermon he had reflected on some of the songs of protest about “the inadequacies of those who talk a good game, but whose words are never embodied in action; who don’t, as they say, ‘walk the talk’” — alluding to Eliza Doolittle in the musical My Fair Lady as one “utterly exasperated by the empty promises of her would-be lover”.
The Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, who led the calls for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation (News, 15 November), and who is now questioning Archbishop Cottrell’s moral and ethical authority to lead the Church after his handling of the David Tudor sexual abuse case (News, 3 January, 20 December), dismissed elements of the sermon in a social media post as “empty words”.
“I have no more words than that to describe their meaning,” she said.