Norwich Cathedral

May I begin by thanking all those who have made our visit here over the past few days such an enriching one. Travelling around the diocese has opened my eyes still further to the beauty of the Norfolk countryside, its towns, villages and churches - to say nothing of the warmth of its people. What we have experienced here has been very special and I want to record my thanks to the Bishop and Mrs Nott and all who have made it possible. In the last three days I have glimpsed a diocese in good heart with some of the most glorious buildings in the country - lovingly maintained with dedicated clergy and congregations determined to keep the mission of Christ going for many years to come.

I am so delighted too to be with you for this special celebration in which we rejoice at 900 years of Christian witness and service both in this Cathedral and as the Diocese of Norwich. As we look back so we can join our prayers to those who have gladly served Christ and his Church, each in their own generation: those members of that great cloud of witnesses whom we commemorate today. I have been reminded that that cloud includes many saints from this area: not only St Julian of Norwich but, as I was reminded at Burgh Castle yesterday, the great Abbot Fursey, the 140th anniversary of whose birth we shall be celebrating next year. Conscious of them we come together, not only as a diocesan family, but with other Christian friends and representatives of the wider community as well.

Living stones. That is what Peter in the Epistle called his readers. It is an excellent description of every member of Christ's Church. Look around you at the stones used for this great building. The new stone from Caen is a wonderful sign of continuity with the original foundation of this place of prayer. It reminds us too that the majority of the stones used in building the cathedral were hewn from some vast quarry in Normandy and individually placed in its construction. Some are prominent, some are not. Some are large and obviously strategic, others are small and seemingly insignificant. But each one is necessary and vital for the building as a whole.

Living stones. It is a peculiar image because stones are not alive. But Peter uses it deliberately to make two very important points - that the Church of God is something he is building and that in that process each person has something very distinctive and crucial to offer.

In our day and age we are being asked to address a very important question. What is the Church for? The answer is not as obvious as you and I might think. Most of us here have grown up in the Church. We know its glories and its faults and we take it for granted that, of course, everyone knows what the Church is for.

But do they? Some people think it is a religious club for people who need religion. Some believe that it exists simply to spread a moral message - thou shalt be good. Some would argue that its function is to sing its hymns and say its prayers. Some years ago a well known member in the House of Commons was heard to exclaim: 'If the BCP was good enough for St. Paul, then it's good enough for me'.

On this anniversary of the mission of the Church in this area it is no bad thing to ask: what are we here for?

St. Peter gives us three good answers.

i) The Church is called to be a people built on Jesus Christ. We are living stones built on a foundation. He is the corner stone. Let us never forget that the Church of Jesus Christ is that company of people from every nation and race called to follow him. That understanding of the Church is a challenge to denominationalism; because the Church of Jesus Christ transcends all our denominations. In recent weeks I have been in two Nordic and Baltic countries ratifying the Porvoo Agreement. linking together the Anglican Churches of these islands with the great Lutheran Churches of many of the Nordic and Baltic countries. In November we shall conclude these ratifications with a third great act of celebration - this time in Westminster Abbey. The agreement brings our churches together in a way that has not been seen since the Reformation. It is a wonderful and historic step forward and is something your own Dean played a significant role in bringing about.

But we should never forget that in our rejoicing to reach agreement with other Christians we are doing nothing more than what our Lord has already achieved. He has no second class churches and no second class Christians. All those united with him belong to his people. This unity also needs to be worked out relationally as well as in schemes for unity.

Well, we know that sometimes the Church gets in the way, and I would be the last to claim that there is such a thing as a perfect clergyman or a perfect church. All of us can at times be poor representatives of Jesus Christ. But I also want to say to them: 'Yes, it is easy to complain about being let down by men and women. But, you know, the Christian life is not about Fr X and that churchwarden Mr Y. It is about following Jesus Christ. Sometimes the Church does get in the way of God. Never mind. Come to him, the Living Stone'.

Today on this anniversary I remind you that we are all members of the Church. We are called to be the people being built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ - that foundation which does not come from us but from God.

ii) The Church is a people who are being fashioned into a building. Look at the passage 'Come to him, to that living stone and be like living stones built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood'. Archaeologists years ago found a stone in the ancient temple of Persepolis with this statement carved on it: ' I am a stone in the Palace of Darius, the King of Kings'.

I have sometimes wondered if Peter is saying something like this: 'I am Petros, one of the unprepared, undressed stones lying in the quarry. Jesus Christ came and took this stone and began to fashion it according to his likeness. For 30 years now he has been at work, fashioning me so that I may fit into his perfect building.'

You see, St Peter was enunciating an important truth. The work of the Church is not done when a person is baptised and confirmed. It is not complete when we take office in the Church. It is far from finished when we become deacons and priests, readers and churchwardens, or even bishops and archbishops. Our Lord wants us to be true examples of his flawless handiwork - that holiness of life which is characterised by true integrity and transparency of life - that sacrificial and glad offering of our talents given humbly and truly - that willingness to go to the second mile for others and to put up with hardship, long hours and ingratitude for his sake.

Christopher Gray's ministry was just one example of a person dedicated to serving Christ. There are many other clergy and laity ministering up and down the country of whom we can be justly proud. And Peter is pointing us to something that for me is very reassuring. The Church, this side of heaven, is never perfect but is that curious body which Bishop Geoffrey Paul used to call 'that glorious ragbag of saints and fatheads who make up the one, holy and catholic apostolic Church'. Yes, you and me. We are called to love this ragbag and seek to make it more like the people of God and our Lord wishes it to be.

iii) The Church is a people who are called to be a Royal Priesthood. Here we find one of the most awesome metaphors for the Church - a people and a priesthood which Peter describes as both 'holy' and 'royal'. Let us savour that image for just a moment. Peter is not for one moment asking the Church to do something with his priesthood but to 'be it'. He is telling us what we are. We are a 'royal priesthood'. We are right, of course, to think in that context of worship and the daily offering of prayer and praise as part of our priestly task, but it is by no means the whole. For Peter does not stop there. The royal priesthood, does not exist for itself but for God and his world. As his nation, his priesthood, his people we have one clear and definite purpose: 'That we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light'.

The verb he uses to express the work of the Church is a strong Greek word which means to 'blazon forth', 'declare', and 'set forth'. How do we do it today? There are a million and one different ways in which we can 'declare' the marvellous works of God. Yes, we do so in the faithfulness and regularity of setting forth the glory of God in public worship. Let us never be ashamed of that. It is one of the chief ways in which people are drawn to God and it must be done with excellence. Our hymnody and preaching, the beauty of our liturgy and the warm welcome of people to our services is what the Church has done down the centuries and must continue to do.

But in declaring his praises we should also build on that foundation or regular worship - through bible study and discussion groups; through Alpha courses which are proving to be so effective at present, through being hospitable and using meals in ways encouraged by my own initiative 'Food for Thought'; through work among young people and by experimenting with them in finding new ways of using our liturgies; through the occasional offices of the Church; through the religious orders which have given so much to the work of the Church in Norfolk; through our ministry to the bereaved and those who need the pastoral offices of ministry; through the faithful ministry of lay people at work - in these and so many other ways we 'declare' the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.

As we seek to do so, sometimes our hearts will despair as we feel the indifference of our society and its carelessness about the things of God. I am well aware of the huge burden of historic buildings that many Norwich congregations feel and managing the tension of mission versus maintenance is a major struggle for many of you. Such burdens may exacerbate the feeling that the task is not worth the candle. But it is. Should we ever be tempted to think that our world is so grown up, so mature, so good that it does not need the good news of Jesus Christ we have only to read our newspapers to see the evil that is around, the spiritual emptiness of too many of our young people, and the insecurity and pain that result from the lack of firm moral guidelines to realise that our mission is not finished. We are here to 'declare' and 'blazon forth' the love of God. The work must go on, and will go on through the labour of faithful men and women like you and me.

So today we give thanks as we look back and commit ourselves afresh to the work that God called our forebearers to do. We are living stones committed to Jesus Christ, being fashioned into his building and a royal priesthood to declare his praise. 'Who is sufficient for these things?' can only be our cry. And, yet, the history of the Church is that story of God's grace in taking ordinary people like you and me and making us extra-ordinary vehicles of his grace. We know as Julian of Norwich knew so clearly that we can trust the faithfulness of God and we can exclaim with her: 'But all shall be well, and all shall be well - and all manner of thing shall be well'. Diocese of Norwich - you are setting out on another 900 years of witness for Christ our God - be encouraged, be faithful, be Living Stones.