Sermon - Fr.Gerard 23 02 25  

Well as, Lord Acton, wisely observed Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely   

Unlike some centres of worship, the liturgy here at Christ the King never overlooks the wonderful treasures of The Old Testament and what a belter we have this morning for our opening reading. This a timeless passage, which let's be honest many individuals, no matter what rank of authority they hold, both inside and outside religious circles, could do a lot worse than reading the Books of Samuel 1 and 2 in their entirety, as these contain a much-needed wakeup call, as sadly all too often we as: a community, a society, and a nation, have become blinded by our own self-importance, we have been obsessed with empire building, chasing power, fame and glory, and as a result, mental health breakdowns, marital affairs, and a total disregard towards others, quickly becomes the order of the day. A completely messed up world, where anyone and everyone can fall into the corruptive temptation of the devil, for while in today’s set passage of scripture, our hero of the hour, David appears to behave in a moral commendable manner, this is shorted lived, for as the narrative of Samuel 1 and 2 gradually unfold – the fallen nature of humanity once again raises its ugly head, for just like his predecessor, King Saul,  King David becomes so close to losing it all, when the temporal pleasure of this world, such as the sight of a petty lady in the bath, causing him to ignore God’s moral guidelines blatantly, and instead, he becomes overshadowed, by a self – delusional attitude of power,  of ‘I want, I shall have, and blow the consequences! Now, recognising the symptoms of a disease can be easy, but coming up with some practical, lasting solution is, my friend's, quite another matter. 

However, as my dear friend, Fr Iain Forbes, once asked me, Gerard, how you eat an elephant- simply, he smiled Father, just start with one mouthful at a time. Wonderful advice, which recently came floating back into my memory, when I came across seven bitesize mouthfuls, written by a young Hindu man studying his craft of Law in South Africa, who perhaps like 19th-century politician  Lord Acton, whose words I used to launch this sermon, was so deeply troubled as he witnessed the current and direction and flow which the world at large was frantically heading towards at such a fast pace, he almost felt divinely moved to publish his profound observation in his weekly newspapers, under the two rather intriguing and alternative titles of either: the Seven Blunders or Seven Social Sins of humanity. And just in case you haven’t guessed the person in question was Mahatma Gandhi, a man of openness and great integrity, for as history shows us throughout his lifetime, he personally and politically constantly fought against the ever-increasing corruptive attitudes of those in authority,  not unlike our friend Mr Trump to boost his ego, but to somehow create a level playing field where all manner of traditions and customs might just have a chance to flourish,  but best of all when my ancestors, in the Lancashire cotton mills, were struggling with the increasing price of raw material coming from American, he ventured up -north to offer them solidarity, braving the elements in nothing more than his skimpy attire. So, he certainly gets my seal of approval. 

Anyway, by more pressing matters, how, when viewed through a Christian lens – can Gandhi’s Seven Revelations help us strip back the corrupted nature of power which is strangling our world? Well firstly, Gandhi, invites us to totally review the whole notion of Wealth Without Work- now as people of faith, as disciples of Christ, don’t we have a moral and spiritual duty to call it out, when people are just getting richer and richer, simply because they know how to play the system, they have the power the know-how to offset taxes,  and as result the widening gap between the haves and the haves not’s, powerfully expands evermore. So, how do we diminish this corrupt mindset that shamefully declares ‘greed is good’, well maybe we have to fight fire with fire, and hit these people, these companies where it hurts – namely their pockets, our liking someone on a particular social media platform, purchases goods from a certain supplier, may seem harmless enough, but if we all make a conscious effort to be selective, who and what we support, who knows, collectively over time, we may just cause a few to hold a moral mirror up to their current state of play. 

Next, something which could quite easily be used to describe the lust desires of King David, Gandhi draws to our attention – the power imbalance of Pleasure Without Conscience. We, unfortunately, don’t need to think too long and hard for modern-day examples of this Gun-Ho cohesive behaviour which ultimately is going to damage both victim and perpetrated alike, but the divisive way by which the Northern grooming gangs went to great lengths to suppress their own sordid personal gratification, really does cause a devastating blow which covers the whole of society, for surely it begs the question how have we as: a Church, as parents, teachers and all manner responsible adults, let the most vulnerable member of society,  become so belittled that they have lost sight of the scriptural fact that everyone is made in the image and likeness of God and therefore, they must be treated, viewed with the upmost respect and love, and not a throw away commodity. Clearly, all of us need to do lots of work, regardless of who or what status we have in life.

 Knowledge Without Character is another value lesson which Gandhi throws into the mix, as recently a technically minded volunteer within the chaplaincy team over at St. Peter’s Hospital, where I serve, was, deeply surprised that I wasn’t jumping for joy when she showed me an A.I. app on her mobile phone, that could write all my sermons at the click of a button. Power, you see today, can unwittingly steer us down a particular corrupt pathway – under the pretext of being a labour-saving device. Yes, my sermons, at times, may seem a bit random. Still, The Church hasn’t invested time or energy prayerfully discerning how God wants me to bring others to him, just so I can press a few buttons and present a perfectly inclusive sermon as an inspired Word of God – you see, I value you, souls, too much for that. So, yes, we all live in a technical world- but let's not allow it to corrupt our God-given natural ability to receive direct heavenly insights for our beloved Lord and Creator.

 Once, again our friend Gandhi seems to hit the power-driven corruptive aspect of humanity firmly on the head with his next foundational stone of Business without Ethics, well where do we start, from Waterboard Directors, taking huge bones, while raw sewage blatantly flows into our waterways; to Amazon delivers drivers having to pee in a bottle during their shift, as their frantic job sheets -  doesn’t appear to factor in the very human reality that we will need a toilet break throughout the course of the day. This, my friends, is not an easier straightforward nettle to grasp, for let’s be honest, do we want to pay more for water or for the convenience of having items delivered to our door? Probably not. So, what is the answer, Father? All I can say at the moment is, looking back upon our spiritual ancestors, Saul and David, life seemed to get a whole lot worse when they tried to deal with life head-on – rather than seeking God for guidance, therefore, my take-home message on this score is simply the Arrow Prayer ‘God have mercy on me a Sinner’. 

Now make no mistakes, the coercive, corruptive presence of the devil’s power, is very good at infiltrating huge sways of our susceptible society, as Gandhi’s next concern points out – namely -Science Without Humanity, for just because with have the scientific ability to do something, chop things off, and add things to our bodies, the untimely destruction of life both in the womb and when our earthy bodies starts to wear out – doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question the Ethical repercussion of Power. 

All of this feeds into Gandhi’s next bone of contention, Religion Without Sacrifice, do we simply go through the motions, week in, week out, or does our Christian faith, cause us pain, cause us to make difficult decisions, which affect many aspects of our lives, once again something meaty for us to prayerfully reflect upon to discuss with each other over refreshments. And finally, a real hot potato that can and does apply to each generation dominated by the allure of corruptive power, Politics Without Principles, need I say anymore!

Amen.