Sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury - Methodist Central Hall, Westminster

I am delighted to be with you and celebrate with great joy the dawn of a new Millennium in London, our Capital. May I express my gratitude to the London Church Leaders for inviting me to address you. Also to the Revd Martin Broadbent for welcoming us so warmly and allowing the use of this splendid space. And a special thanks to Mrs. Margaret Watts (Secretary of LCL) for her hard work in making this event such a joyous occasion.

A visiting preacher to a congregation in the United States was getting the congregation moving. Towards the end of his sermon he said: 'This church has really got to walk' to which someone at the back yelled: 'let her walk, preacher!' The preacher then said: 'If this church is going to move forward 'it's got to get up and run'. To which someone again yelled with gusto 'Let her run, preacher!'. Feeling the surge of the church the preacher then said with even greater emotion: 'If this church is going to go, it really got to fly!'. To which someone shouted: 'Let her fly, preacher, let her fly'. Seizing his moment the preacher pounced: 'If this church is really going to fly, it's going to need money'. To which a voice from the back shouted: 'Let her walk, preacher, let her walk!'

We all can sympathise with that response! But as I sat there listening to the glorious vision in Revelation of a new and transformed world, it is clear that the preacher was echoing Isaiah when he said:

"Even your youths shall faint and be weary, and your young shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and never faint." Isaiah 40:30-31.

So Isaiah encourages us to wait, to run, but when the time comes, to fly.

Isaiah was announcing to the Israelites in Babylonian exile that their moment of deliverance had come. He was keen to make the point not only that Yahweh is in control of his world, but that he had taken control. It was a consoling message of hope and joy in the change that was imminent. The exiled Israelites would soon be able to return home where they felt they belonged.

In a real way, too, are in exile - far from home where they belong. In truth, none of us is where we properly belong. For where we belong is together - as one Christian church. Insofar as we do not belong to each other's denomination and are not 'at home' with one another, we are in exile. Insofar as we are not in practice the one church in theory we profess, we are in exile. And insofar as we recognise the Church of Jesus Christ in another church family and yet remain unreconciled to it; we are not just exiled from each other, but from ourselves. I believe Isaiah speaks powerfully to our ecumenical situation in this country in calling us out of our self-destructive exile into God's indescribable glory for his one, Holy, catholic, and apostolic church.

Let us wait upon the Lord. For then shall he renew our strength. He shall mount us on wings as eagles. Then shall we run and not be weary; then shall we walk and never faint."

So let us wait. For in doing this God increases our strength. We wait not to delay, but to be renewed in substance. There comes a time in ecumenism when we must wait and take stock of where we have got to; how long it has taken us to get there. How much farther there is to go. Assess our chances and encourage prudent strategies that would advance our goal. It is at these moments that we must listen to members of our own churches and take care to respond carefully and sensitively to the concerns they may have. It is at these moments that the churches in London must ask themselves, What kind of Church is God calling us to become in this kind of place? So there is virtue in waiting. In fact, the Church is perpetually the church 'in waiting'! For all the fuss and confusion that must have followed Jesus death, for all the selfishness the apostles displayed, it is remarkable that the one thing they all did together was obey Jesus' message to 'Go up to Galilee and wait'. Moments like these when no progress in discernible can seem dry periods in the lives of the churches, but they are sometimes necessary, if we must run without being weary.

Just a few days ago I was with other Christian leaders in Rome for the Opening of the Ecumenical Door at St Paul's Without the Walls. What a moving celebration it was as, with Pope John Paul II, we gathered as brothers and sisters to wait on God! What a colourful celebration it was as our diversity was gathered up together and presented to our Lord. In the Peace I embraced not only the Holy Father but the woman President of the World Methodists Conference, leaders from the Disciples of Christ, leaders of the Lutheran Churches in Finland and Baptist Leaders from the United States. It was a precious moment of spiritual unity.

Isaiah promises that in waiting we will renew their strength'. But to what purpose? Surely, in order that that we may run the race that is set before us. So, let us run. As leaders we must run up the mountain top taking our structures by the hand and ceaselessly reminding people of the promised land of unity. We must take the lead in giving latitude to our own attitude towards other denominations. We must take the lead in breaking down the prejudices that obstruct us from transforming our landlord-tenant relationships with other churches into healthy ecumenical ones. And take the lead in doing those things that encourage ecumenism to flourish locally.

Of course it will involve risk and costly humility. You may have heard about the mother who brought home just one cone of ice cream. That is all she could afford. She had tried to teach her two young boys the Christian faith, but also knew that they would only squabble over who should have it. 'OK, boys', she said, 'you know what Jesus would do, he would not think of himself'. 'Which one of you will take this?' The little boy first looked up at his mum, and then at his brother and said to him, 'You be Jesus'. Well, it is all too easy to keep asking other people to make sacrifices, but so must we.

We must run with what is already ecumenically possible under the existing arrangements of our churches and stay at it! But let me make it clear that unity is not an end in itself. Unity is crucial because the mission of the Church is more crucial! We are in the business of making Christ known, of promoting the kingdom! We are in the business not of keeping the show on the road, and maintaining with as brave a face as we can, the bureaucracy of Church life, but making disciples and helping others to know the reality of faith. And that is why I am so pleased with how we are working together on initiatives like Jubilee 2000.

And that will inevitably mean at times working with differences of view and approach. But we cannot overcome differences unless we first recognise them honestly and openly. That is true both within and between churches. It is about our understanding of God's will and how we interpret that in the challenges of our daily life.

One topical issue is the government's plans to scrap what is known as section 28, which bans the promotion of homosexuality in schools. I have honestly and openly to say that this is a matter of concern to me, as it is to very many people- not least the parents of school-age children. I condemn totally prejudice against anyone on the basis of sexual orientation. But I also resist placing homosexual relationships on an equal footing with marriage as the proper context for sexual intimacy. With or without section 28, we need to be sure that there are adequate safeguards in place for schools and pupils. I know the Education Secretary, David Blunkett, is aware of such concerns, and has been considering them carefully. On this and other issues our churches can and must work together more with confidence in a God who calls us forward in mission. Much, of course, is already happening, but we are promised a time when we will do them without reluctance or fatigue.

But, you see, Isaiah is much more confident and enthusiastic than the words 'wait' and 'run' suggest. We are called not just to wait on the lord, and to run his race, but to Fly! As our reading from Revelation tells us, a glorious future awaits the world. And I believe, as Churches in London, a glorious future of unity also awaits us. Whether we like it or not, we are the first generation of a new millennium. To us is given the privilege and responsibility to make the first difference in this millennium. We need to encourage our people to believe that making a positive difference is possible; and that urging Isaiah's vision upon our churches is desirable!

I believe there will come a time when the pace of ecumenical growth will overtake us and the slow structures of our churches will be left to cope with a new situation. As leaders, when that time comes, we must be prepared to fly, to guide our churches into this new era.

We may be no less anxious than the mother who was worried about how her son would turn out in life. She consulted her pastor. "What shall I do? I'm so worried about him". The pastor's advice was to go home and on the drawing table place three things: a bottle of London Dry, a Bible and some money. If he took the money, he would be a businessman. If he took the Bible, he would be a preacher. But if he took the spirit, he would end up a drunkard. So the mother took his advice. When the boy came home that evening, he first put the money in his pocket. He then put the Bible under his arm and drank the gin. Utterly confused, she rushed back to the pastor and told him what had happened. Ah, said the pastor 'I think he is going to be a politician!' And, if I may say so, that is not a bad profession. We should encourage our politicians in their demanding tasks, encouraging those who are Christians to be more explicit in their faith and bolder in their witness.

Sometimes we may be uncertain about where we are heading, but together, we will get there. We may be unsure about how we will get there; but the journey will be worth it. We may even be unsure how our churches will look when the time comes, but the wait will be well worth it. We will wait if we must; we will walk if we must; we will run if we must; and if we must, we will fly! Isaiah says there will come a time when our effort will seem effortless; when our best ecumenical intentions will not die of goodwill fatigue. We will make great leaps and bounds in the ecumenical cause; and all our present frustrations will seem to wither in the wind. For then we shall be mounted up with wings as eagles. We shall be running without being weary; we shall be walking without fainting."

May we wait as we should. May we run as we must. But when the time comes - and come it will - let us fly!