{"id":8575,"date":"2000-01-07T19:50:13","date_gmt":"2000-01-07T18:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theologie.whp.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=8575"},"modified":"2025-04-10T09:16:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T07:16:35","slug":"sermon-by-the-archbishop-of-canterbury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/sermon-by-the-archbishop-of-canterbury\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Millennium Church Service for England, St Paul’s Cathedral | Jan 2nd, 2000 | <\/span>George Leonard Carey |<\/span><\/h3>\n

I can still recall, as a child, singing those words of
\nBunyan\u0092s great hymn at full volume and wondering all the time \u0091What
\nis<\/b> a Pilgrim?\u0092 \u0091What is it that you have to labour at to be a
\nPilgrim?\u0092<\/p>\n

One dictionary defines a pilgrim simply as a traveller to sacred
\nplaces but there is more to it than that. Whether the destination be
\nChaucer\u0092s Canterbury or Bunyan\u0092s celestial city, the pilgrim\u0092s
\njourney is not just about getting there. The journey itself is imbued with
\nmeaning. The signposts along the way measure more than mere miles.<\/p>\n

Nations, at their best, are \u0091pilgrims\u0092 too. In this
\nservice we have been celebrating our nation\u0092s long journey from the
\narrival of Christianity long ago to the present day. And what a remarkable
\njourney it has been \u0096 combining both glorious achievements and terrible
\nsuffering, great heroism and moments of shame. Like many an English lane there
\nhave been plenty of twists and turns along the way.<\/p>\n

The start of the year 2000 provides us with a moment to pause on
\nthat journey and to ask questions: Where we are going \u0096 both as
\nindividuals and as a nation? And what are the values we share that can guide us
\nin the future?<\/p>\n

Part of the answer to these questions was given in those timeless
\nwords of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:
\nBlessed are the poor in spirit,
\nfor theirs is the kingdom of God,
\nBlessed are those who mourn, for they
\nwill be comforted,
\nBlessed are the meek, for they will inherit the
\nearth\u0085
\nBlessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children
\nof God\u0092<\/p>\n

To our generation the phrases may be familiar but the values they
\nproclaim seem topsy-turvy. They challenge fundamentally so much of what we take
\nfor granted.<\/p>\n

Instead today we hear:
\nBlessed are the famous,
\nfor they will enjoy the praise of men <\/span>
\nBlessed are those who are
\nrich, because they will inherit the earth
\nBlessed are the mighty because
\nthey will become more powerful yet.<\/p>\n

But, no! Our Lord says, as pilgrims seeking to embrace his values
\nwe need to follow a very different path.<\/p>\n

And there are two values which seem to me to go to the heart of
\nthis.<\/p>\n

The first is love. That must be pre-eminent. We must seek to
\nreflect the love of God the Creator who has given us life and the love of God
\nthe Father who cares for all his creatures. For if God is both the Creator and
\nFather of all humankind then that has implications for our relationships with
\nour fellow human beings because they, too, are made in his image.<\/p>\n

We simply cannot under-estimate the social importance of this
\naffirmation. It means working towards a genuine pluralism which respects all
\npeople and resists intolerance, racism and bigotry in any shape or form. It
\nrelates to how we care for our children, respecting and cherishing them by
\nproviding them with guidelines for conduct and citizenship that they will make
\ntheir own one day. It means caring for the marginalised and having compassion
\non those who stray. Love, then, rather than being wishy washy and sentimental,
\nis down to earth; related to building community and to caring for one another.<\/p>\n

And then there is Faith. Faith, first of all in God, the Source of
\nlight and hope to guide the pilgrim on his way. And such faith not only
\nbelieves in the Living God but also trusts in his ability to change societies
\nand individuals. Like love it is never disconnected from the real world, nor
\ndoes it float in a nebulous ether remote from the pains and suffering of
\nhumankind.<\/p>\n

It is this faith that has encouraged many men and women down the
\ncenturies to search the wonders of creation and to harness its God-given
\npotential for the good of others. It is this faith too, that has nurtured
\nvalues such as justice, kindness, generosity and tolerance that undergird so
\nmuch of the social fabric of our land. These are things to be proud of and to
\ncherish, and we must use them to strengthen our democracy, protect our
\nheritage, and sustain us in our lives.<\/p>\n

And, as we do, so as pilgrims we will discover afresh the truths
\nunderlined by Jesus in that Sermon on the Mount. For it is the peace-makers,
\nthe humble of heart, the gentle, the pure in heart and those who hunger and
\nthirst for right to prevail, whom Jesus called \u0091blessed\u0092. Blessed,
\nbecause they reflect the character of God himself.<\/p>\n

In just a moment I will invite you to join in an Act of
\nCommitment. It is something which I am sure all of us can identify with –
\nparticularly the call to build a safer future for all children and to reverence
\nthe gift of life. As we make this Act our own and look into the unknown future
\nwe can do so confident in the God who sent Jesus Christ into the world and has
\nblessed our nation down the years. And it is in that confidence that we shall
\nfind the courage to say with Bunyan:<\/p>\n

No foes shall stay his might,
\nThough he with giants fight,<\/p>\n

He will make good his right
\nTo be a pilgrim.<\/p>\n

\n

Archbishop of Canterbury, George Leonard Carey
\nThe Press
\nOffice, Lambeth Palace
\nE-Mail:
\nneil.traynor@lampal.c-of-e.org.uk<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/noscript><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Millennium Church Service for England, St Paul’s Cathedral | Jan 2nd, 2000 | George Leonard Carey | I can still recall, as a child, singing those words of Bunyan\u0092s great hymn at full volume and wondering all the time \u0091What is a Pilgrim?\u0092 \u0091What is it that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[727,120,108,110,1669,296,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-8575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archiv","category-bes_gelegenheiten","category-current","category-engl","category-george-leonard-carey","category-predigt-ohne-spez-bibelstelle","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8575"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22578,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8575\/revisions\/22578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8575"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=8575"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=8575"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=8575"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=8575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}