An invitation to introspection

Easter Week saw His Grace, the Most Reverend Howard Gregory, Archbishop of the Church in the Province of the West Indies and Bishop of the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, addressing the Synod of the Anglican Church. It was a most pertinent word to Church and nation, guided by the text from the Prophet Nehemiah in Chapter 2:17-18.

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace.” I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me and also the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us start building!” So, they committed themselves to the common good.

The theme of the Synod was itself an invitation to introspection as much as it was a call for action and change to one of the oldest institutions in Jamaica. One hundred and fifty two years ago the church ceased to be a chaplaincy to the plantocracy and sought instead to operate independently of the political powers that be. The theme states, ‘A Renewed Church for A Time of Critical Social Change’.

The preacher grounded his reflection further with reference to Moses who in Deuteronomy 30:15-20, reminded the people of their covenant with God. He observed how Moses reminded the people from whence they came and their obligations under the covenant. “At every step of the life of the covenant community of faith there seems to be a call to renewal as faith can become routinised, lacking in zeal and passion, and lose its holistic and life-giving potential.

There is a recurring challenge within the prophetic tradition of the need to examine the extent to which the routine and aesthetics of worship become the pre-occupation and concern of the faithful, rather than worship that is inseparably bound up with participation in God’s passion for compassion, justice, and care for the hungry, the poor, naked, and all who are marginalised.”

It is worthy of note that a prophetic word is one that has relevance. It always applies to a particular people at a particular time. And note that it is always inseparable from God’s care and compassion. This age-old prophetic call to compassion, justice, and care for people is sadly lacking in a world where too many are preoccupied with being known as prophets and apostles who bear signs of prosperity indicated by the bling of American televangelists who have become the standard of what it means to be prosperous.

Bishop Gregory did the unusual as he affirmed the place of advocacy on the part of the church. It is a timely call to religious groups and individuals alike. “And here, I want to underscore a feature of Nehemiah’s life and response, to which the privileged citizens of Jamaica within the church and the nation need to awaken. And I do so by drawing on a contemporary formulation. In a book entitled Beyond the Offering Plate: A Holistic Approach to Stewardship, edited by Adam J. Copeland, he engages the subject of stewardship beyond the traditional three ‘Ts’ – time, talent, and treasure. And so he speaks, for example, of “stewardship of the privileged positions of status and power which we occupy in society for the benefit of the less fortunate, through advocacy on their behalf and engagement in activities that seek to empower them and promote the common good. Here, I believe, is a stark contrast to the sense of entitlement which many in privileged positions in our society emanate today.”

In a Jamaica where it is increasingly popular to see and hear some from the space of church calling for others to support some denominational doctrine and even wanting the government to legislate in the interest of some political concern presented in the name of God; it is refreshing to hear the most senior Christian cleric in the Caribbean advancing the cause of advocacy for the less fortunate, the disempowered, the weak, and indeed for the common good.

We do well to reflect some more on the text and lessons from Nehemiah whose people were exiled and enslaved. The sermon known as ‘The Bishop’s Charge’, pragmatically declares the place of a holistic approach. “He posited the notion that the failure of the people to keep covenant with God was the reason for their exilic experience. Therefore, the physical condition of Jerusalem was inseparable from the spiritual, social, emotional, and psychological condition of the community, and he offers the perspective that the physical reconstruction of the city and the spiritual renewal and reconstitution of the covenant community must go hand in hand.”

Just look at the relevance of Nehemiah as we reflect on Jamaica at this time. The dramatic swiftness of the word filled the air as the bishop noted, “The rich and those making their wealth could have argued that their prosperity would trickle down to the poor who were complaining, but that was not the reality facing the people, even as it is true today where that philosophy is enunciated. Just listen to the kind of oppressive behaviour that was being manifested, and I read from a section of the text…” He then read from Nehemiah 5:1-5. The potency of the text was palpable!

(To be continued).

Fr Sean Major-Campbell is an Anglican priest and advocate for human rights. seanmajorcampbell@yahoo.com. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com