Praying Together 28th April 2024

The rules of grammar define that a conditional statement takes the form ‘If P, then Q’. In other words, if something is true, then something else is also true. No buts, no exceptions.

Today’s Epistle reading from 1 John ends with such a conditional statement.

‘If you love God, then you love your brothers and sisters’. You cannot have one without the other. If you do not love your brother and your sister, you cannot claim that you love God. No exclusions.

It is essential to understand and accept this, in particular that there are absolutely no limits to the definition of ‘brother and sister’. Who is my brother and sister? Paul answers in Galatians 3:28. ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female: for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Which makes it difficult – impossible – to explain why, for two thousand years, some (but certainly not all) who claim to be ‘Christian’ have persecuted people who are different because of race, culture, tradition or anything else. From the Crusades, through slavery, pogrom. sectarianism, the denial of civil rights and ongoing racial hatred to this day when parents see their children die in war and those who seek refuge from injustice and threat are turned away as unwanted immigrants. Closer to home, we see the growing need for food banks; and we are only just becoming aware of the frightening level of domestic violence in our society.

Loving brother and sister is not just saying the right words – it demands both practical and economic help, even to the point of discomfort and changes to personal status quo. We must stand up against any failure to love, in ourselves, our church, our community – and so doing won’t make us popular in an increasingly populist social agenda. We are the bleeding-heart liberal targets so disdained by the gutter press.

Those on the political extremes of society – increasingly at the moment the extreme right – search for justification of their prejudice. They disparage anyone who tries to exercise love in action using the term ‘political correctness’, or the neologism ‘woke’ – the actual definition of which is ‘being alert to injustice and discrimination in society’. Yes, sometimes the pressure for equality and inclusivity goes to ridiculous lengths which are beyond that definition, such as denial of platforms for those with whom they disagree and the Bowdlerism of ancient hymns, songs and poems; but before dismissing them it is always illuminating to place oneself in a situation of personally silently experiencing that discrimination for years. How would you feel if you were marginalised and/or excluded through the use of careless language, even if unintentional?

People say ‘Yes, that’s all very well, but when does ‘loving brother and sister’ go too far?

Ask the man nailed to a cross.