BREXIT
He (Elisha) picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. (2 Kings 2.13)
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5.1)
‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ (Luke 9.62)
SOME OF us are still reeling from the shock of last week’s referendum result and consequential “Brexit”. Others are no doubt celebrating what they see as a triumph for democracy, maybe some even dubbing it pertinent to the notion, “freedom”. Either way, our calling as Christ’s disciples is not related to such claim, except in that, no matter what political system we find ourselves living with, be it oppressive or liberative by nature, we are free.
We are free because “Christ has set us free.” He wants us to be free for freedom’s sake. True freedom is realised when the choices we make, in freedom, bring us in full flow straight to the heart of God. Desiring consciously what we intuit unconsciously brings into the stream of God-consciousness and there we find ourselves to be totally free. This is the meaning of all the Law, the Prophets, the books of Wisdom and the New testament itself. All Scripture, all history points to this, and Christ is its fulfilment.
However, such freedom can only be so if we have also the freedom to reject it and choose the way of self instead. Many do. The whole Euro debate centred on ideals of self, revolving one way and the other on arguments about economy and immigration. How can Britain get the best deals for herself and best protect her borders so that whatever wealth she can muster for herself may not dissipate? These are selfish concerns that so easily “submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
What would a prophet like Elijah or Elisha say into this time, in this place? What would Jesus prophesy? What will a prophetic church do?
She must pick up the mantle that has long since fallen, put on the cloak of Christ and make lucid once again God’s freedom song.
“Oh won’t you help to sing…?”
Tonnau Duw ('God's waves') Fr Tim Ardouin 