Sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbry on 16th January 2000

I am delighted to be back at All Saints' Rome just before the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins. I wish you all a very Happy New Year with Jonathan, your new Chaplain, now in office.

The theme of our service this morning is 'Answering God's Call'. Our readings speak of dramatic ways in which two people in particular responded to that call. In the Old Testament lesson, Samuel heard a distinctive voice calling his name. In the Gospel, Philip came face-to-face with Jesus and heard him say, "Follow me." I would venture to say that few here will have heard God calling them by name, and fewer still have met Him face-to-face. But most of us will have had those special moments of encounter which are just as precious and meaningful to us as those recorded in the Bible. Certainly that has been my own experience, and these have always been moments of discovery for me.

It is for that reason that there is another text I wish to offer which is not scriptural but whose tones are clearly Christian nonetheless. Just over sixty years ago King George VI began his Christmas broadcast with these words:

"I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And the man replied: 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better than light and safer than a known way.'"

The King's choice of a text was masterly. The times were fraught with anxiety. War was about to engulf Europe and the hearts of all were fearful. It was understandable, therefore, to ask for a light. But the answer was a surprising one. No light was offered, but a hand was given: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That will be better than light, and safer than a known way."

So often we cry in vain for light. We want to know, we want to be sure, we want to find out for ourselves. But that is not God's way and certainly it is not the most trodden way of the Christian disciple. Rather than receiving a light, we are given a hand and are led by grace into the darkness with a Lord who is The Light of the World.

How relevant that verse is for us all at the dawn of a new Millennium, with an unknown future opening up before us with all those attendant fears and yearnings that every human being possesses! But there is another reason why I chose that beautiful text because it - together with this morning's readings - separates contemporary spiritualities from Christian spirituality.

We have only to enter our bookshops to see books with such titles as 'How to Know Peace of Mind'; 'How to Love Yourself'; 'The Way to Contentment'; and so on. The focus of these books is on finding one's own individual spirituality and embarking on one's own individual journey. While far from secular and indifferent to God, the search for a meaningful spirituality continues to possess humankind. You may know that in T. S. Eliot's "Journey of the Magi," the Wise Men return home and report of their new discomfort in their old world. Hear Eliot's verse:

Were we lead all that way for

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

People today "clutch" at their own gods, too: the gods of success, happiness, health, ambition, quick fixes, certitude, etc.. But today's readings remind us that the Christian God is One who searches for us. He calls us by name; He comes to meet us and says "follow me."

As we approach this week of Prayer for Christian Unity, it is good to be reminded that all Churches are united in a common task to make Christ known. The search for unity has no point to it unless its focus is a common desire to communicate God's love to all the world. Of course a united Church is crucial for mission, but that unity must also be a means to an apostolic end. We desire to offer to all a meaningful way of responding to God; we desire to offer a spirituality which is infinitely deep and rich.

And here in Rome we have a stunning illustration of such a spirituality in Michaelangelo's fresco in the Sistine chapel. In "The Creation of Adam," God and Adam stretch out their arms, one to the other, and their fingers very nearly touch. God calls man forth and man responds.

And that is always God's way. He calls us to follow Him, to know Him, to trust Him, and to grow like Him. As with the call of the boy Samuel, the voice of God began to be heard once more in the land. And Philip doubtless was a worldly person, used to the ways of the world, with its problems and its glories - yet he, too, found fulfilment in following a stranger into the future. But the Journey with Christ is often demanding, often difficult at times - and we can't help but be changed by it. Think, for example, of the young woman I met a few years ago whose spiritual journey led her from a life of prostitution to a new life of care for others. Or think of the young man I met more recently who found a rich faith for himself through the love of a Church that cared for his family when his mother died suddenly.

We are being told in Western Europe that Christianity is on the way out, that it is needed no more. I do not find this to be so. As much as they ever did, our contemporaries are looking for meaning to life, for hope for the future, and for reassurance that someone cares. I find these exciting days to be a Christian as we celebrate the enormous contribution that the Christian faith has made to our world and its potential for the future.

The Christian faith offers no 'quick fixes' but plenty of excitement on the adventure of following God into the unknown. And that makes the work of churches such as yours so enormously important. We as Christians are all called to say to people everywhere, young and old, "God knows you by name and calls you to follow!"

Item from: Lambeth Palace