General Synod: Archbishop's sermon at Eucharist - 'Let heart speak to heart'
Photo: Keith Blundy/Aegies AssociatesTuesday 20th November 2012
In his Eucharist sermon at General Synod in London this morning, Archbishop Rowan Williams prayed for a day where “heart speaks to heart”.Readings: Romans 8.14-17 & 26-27; John 14.23-26
‘All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.’
Listen to the audio of this sermon [10Mb, 4 mins]
In a homily on the second day of General Synod, November Group of Sessions 2012, the Archbishop of Canterbury encouraged Synod members to speak to each other from the heart.
Drawing out one theme from the morning’s readings, the Archbishop focused on “our prayer for the Holy Spirit to teach our hearts.”
The heart is not simply our feelings, but instead is “about our centre, which the Holy Spirit brings to life”, said the Archbishop in the Assembly Hall of Church House in London.
Looking forward, he said: “During this day, give us the freedom and grace to act from this centre. Not from the feelings threshing around it, but from the centre – from the heart being renewed in Christ.”
“In that heart to heart, and in exposing our hearts to God, we’re asking that Christ comes to birth in us. And from the centre of myself and the centre of yourself, something will emerge that has about it a Christ-like character,” the Archbishop said.
“Teach our hearts, enter the centre of who and what we are – so that when we speak out it will be from there,” he added.
In turn, the world might look at this Synod "and see Jesus Christ.”
"This is a large prayer to ask,” concluded Archbishop Rowan, “but it is the one we have to be asking. There is really no other prayer worth praying.”
A transcript of the Archbishop's sermon follows:
Sermon at Synod Eucharist
London, 20th November 2012
Readings: Romans 8.14-17 & 26-27; John 14.23-26
‘All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.’
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
This morning is not the time for long sermons. So I’ll be brief, and pick out simply one theme from our readings; one theme that has to do with our prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit teaches us, so we’re told. And in the collect for Pentecost, we thank God for teaching our hearts by the gift of the Spirit. Our hearts: in the Bible and in Christian usage, not just a way of talking about our feelings rather than our minds, but a way of talking about our centre. Something in the centre of our being, is what the Holy Spirit addresses and brings alive. Something in the very centre of our being is what the Holy Spirit recreates in the likeness of Christ. When we ask for the Spirit to teach our hearts, when we remind ourselves that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying “Abba, Father”, we understand that what we’re trying to do is expose the very centre of who and what we are to God.
And that, quite simply, is what we’re asking at this Eucharist. God, reach into the centre of who and what we are, and as we speak and act during this day, give us the grace and the freedom to speak and act from that centre. Not from all the feelings and ideas that may be threshing around alongside that and around it, not from the instantaneous reaction of the moment, but from the heart – the heart being renewed in Christ.
“Heart speaks to heart” – Cardinal Newman’s metaphor and motto. And that’s what we’re praying, I dare say, for our debate today. Not, please God, just for an exchange of ideas; not just for a rival taking of positions. But somehow, that from the centre of myself and the centre of yourself, something will emerge that has about it a Christ-like character. Because in that speaking of heart to heart, and in that exposing of our hearts to God in prayer this morning and for the rest of the day, what we’re asking is that Christ come to birth in us, and that what the world sees when it looks at us is Jesus Christ. By the end of today, whether the world will look at the General Synod of the Church of England and say “That looks like Jesus Christ” is a large prayer to ask. But it’s the prayer we have to be asking, because there is probably no other prayer worth praying for this Synod, or for the life of any church, any community, any disciple.
So let that be our prayer: teach our hearts. Enter into the centre of who and what we are so that when we speak and act, it will be from there that we’re seen and heard, in the renewal of our hearts in the likeness of Jesus Christ.