Sunday before Lent
Listen to audio version
Readings: 2 Corinthians 3: 12 – 4: 2 and Luke 9: 28-36
Writing in Church Times last week, the free-lance journalist Abigail King was writing of the social and spiritual characteristics of ‘Generation Z’ – people born, as I understand the term, between 1997 and 2012. She writes as one of them. Various studies of ‘Gen Z’ or ‘Gen Zee’ as I think it’s normally pronounced – suggest they shun the status quo of their parents’ generation and have a general distaste for national pride. But 62% identified as spiritual in some regard. ‘Young people’ she says ‘are open to the idea of faith.’
This should be good news for the Church, but, Abigail continues “For our parents’ generation, church was on the table, but faith was squarely off it. But now, as Gen Z looks for something bigger than themselves of which to be part, faith has come on to the table – but church has fallen off it.”
Most of us, I hazard a guess, would be happier talking about church than faith, but for Gen Z, Church is seen as outdated; it has become an example of the failing institutions and traditional styles of leadership with which Gen Z have come to doubt.
You may not think that I am selling Church very well on a day when we welcome Evelyn for Baptism – Evelyn who, I think, comes into the category of Gen Beta. But permit me to repeat one or two more of Abigail King’s observations. She says that Gen Z struggle with the concept of ‘sin’ and ‘salvation’. In fact, the church has become synonymous with guilt. It is not seen as a place of community or inclusion, but of ostracism and hypocrisy.
Now certainly in recent months, the Church of England has had a bad press, and I’m sure you won’t need to be reminded of the reasons. But it would be a tragedy if Gen Z as a whole tarred all church congregations and communities with the same brush. Because beneath the national headlines, faithful, loving, welcoming church congregations are to be found in parishes throughout the country worshipping and witnessing to God and serving their localities.
So we are delighted to welcome Evelyn, her parents, wider family and supporters today, as they take this step of faith and commitment on her behalf. As we’ve said, she isn’t Gen Z, of course, but we hope and pray that her experience of church will be one of love and encouragement, helping her to grow in the faith and become a mature Christian, wherever she may be living in the future.
Now there is quite a bit of difficult church-type language in the ceremony that is to follow, with which Gen Z might well struggle, so I apologise in advance for that. We shall pray that God will deliver the candidate – Evelyn – from the powers of darkness, and make her shine as a light in the world. Not that we think Evelyn is different from any other candidate who comes for baptism – or christening, but just recognising that as human beings we can’t hack it on our own, but need the grace of God’s goodness in our lives, to fully put on that ‘armour of light.’ Evelyn obviously can’t make the baptism decisions for herself at her age – nearly six months – so parents and godparents speak for her. In the promises they are asked quite serious stuff. “Do you reject the devil, and all rebellion against God?’ ‘Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil? ‘Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?’ And if some of that Church-speak sounds a bit mystifying or even threatening, we just need to accept that there is much evil and wrong in the world, and that we are all asked to do is to give up what is wrong, do what is right, and believe what is true.
But the baptism ceremony isn’t just a private occasion for the family. The decisions and promises the parents and godparents make should be ones we all renew, not just on this Sunday before Lent, nor just every Sunday, but every day, dedicating ourselves to God’s service and to pursuing what is just and right in the lives we lead, the decisions we take and in the priorities that we make.
And as a church community, we too have a responsibility in welcoming all those baptised here and nurturing their faith. Churches have a significant part to play in the life of their communities, and in maintaining places of prayer and worship, such as Little Malvern Priory, even if we think institutional religion is being elbowed out of society too much these days.
I think it was the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung who said that the vast majority of people who went to his clinics were there, and were unwell, simply because they didn’t really believe in anything. Now people are driven by many things – religion, of course, but also family, good causes or charities, or – say – the desire to protect the environment. Carl Jung was speaking nearly 100 years ago, but today, still, many people don’t seem to have anything to give their lives purpose or direction. So it is encouraging if those studies into Gen Z have revealed that many younger people are open to the idea of faith, and think of themselves as spiritual.
It’s sad when people grow up with no mainstay in their lives; with no sense of direction. We all want our children to grow physically and mentally, but I would also say that it is important for them to grow spiritually. You might wonder what I mean by hoping a very young child will grow spiritually. I think I am saying that we would want our children, grandchildren or great grandchildren to be aware of something greater and more important than themselves in life; that they be encouraged to wonder at the world and the created order, to respect and be interested in other people; to take notice of what is beautiful – to understand that the world doesn’t just centre around them. And with encouragement Evelyn will one day start to think about God, and hear the stories of Jesus, and, we hope, start on a journey of faith which will shape and support her growing-up.
So we are delighted that Georgie and Luke have brought Evelyn to be baptised. Only about one in ten children born today are presented for baptism; such a change from, say, 50 years ago. It is one of those stages in life, one of those rites of passage that families enjoy, both a thanksgiving for the gift of a child, and a time for looking forward to how this young life will develop. And we meet with Lent about to start on Wednesday; a time to remember that despite what we sometimes see around us, God saves the world, God sustains the world, and leads us to new life in Jesus – a hope we as Christians must share with those around us, and demonstrate by the way we live our own lives.