In touch	Check-in	Intercessions
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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

All’s forgiven?

'The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.' 2 Samuel 12:13

Context

• Three young girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, Merseyside, as they attended a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga holiday club. Eight more children and two adults were injured, with some still in a critical condition. Locals have been cleaning up after riots and looting that followed the attack.
• Charlotte Dujardin has withdrawn from Great Britain’s Olympic dressage team following the publication of a video showing her using a whip on a horse that she was training. It is suggested that Ms Dujardin’s career will have been seriously affected, having previously been in great demand.
• Steven van de Velde is a Dutch athlete who is competing with his partner Matthew Immers in the Olympic beach volleyball competition. Van de Velde was sentenced to 4 years in prison for the rape of a 12 year old British girl. At the time van de Velde was 19. Having served 13 months of his sentence he was released and returned to the Netherlands. At the time of his sentencing the judge suggested that his sporting career was over. This was not the case, although his appearance in Paris was greeted with booing. With van de Velde having completed his sentence, Paula Radcliffe wished him ‘good luck’ - for which she had later to apologise.
• Linford Christie's British 100 m record stood for 30 years until it was broken by Zharnel Hughes last year. A recent documentary allowed Christie to tell his story of a life that has left its scars. Linford Christie has lost his record, but he still has his two gold medals from Olympic and World Championships.
• Immediately following the 27th June debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party made much of President Biden’s apparent doddery demeanour. The President subsequently withdrew from the 2024 Presidential election race. The presumptive Democrat candidate is now the 59-year-old Vice President Ms Kamala Harris. The previous jibes about Mr Biden’s age have now been turned back on Mr Trump who will, at 78, be the oldest ever nominee for the US Presidency. The Democrats can smell blood.

 

Reflection

King David was suckered by his prophet Nathan into a display of righteous indignation at what was in effect the story of his own wrong-doing. David might have expected that the judgement against him would be his death. However, while his own life was saved, his family would suffer, which was perhaps worse. There’s the old adage that when you point a finger at someone there are three fingers pointing back at you. David pointed a finger at the hypothetical rich man in Nathan’s story, without realising that he was pointing at himself. There’s possibly a degree of schadenfreude to be had about the current situation in American politics, but it should act as a warning to us all.

David survived, Steven van de Velde has sort of survived, so will Charlotte Dujardin survive? How we deal with forgiving ‘sins’ does not always seem fair. The British Olympic Association (BOA) has tried to hold a zero tolerance line with athletes who have taken performance-enhancing drugs. The Court of Arbitration for Sport – a higher power – has prevented the BOA from doing so. This means that drug bans cannot permanently exclude any athlete from Olympic competition. Paula Radcliffe’s wishing ‘good luck’ to a convicted rapist illustrates that we can hold the view that, once punishment is served, a person is free to carry on with life. The negative reaction to her comment suggests that it’s not as simple as that. One wonders what the BPOA’s public position would be if Mr van de Velde had been British rather than Dutch. How do we compare taking performance-enhancing drugs to rape?

Following the recent attack in Southport, which has led at the time of writing to 3 young children having lost their lives, punishment rather than rehabilitation will be in the minds of many members of the public. The perpetrator is reported to be aged 17. What would God say into this situation?

Questions

• Are there ‘crimes’ from which people can never be rehabilitated?
• How do our views on rehabilitation fit with Jesus’ response to Simon Peter to forgive ‘seventy times seven’?
• Do you know how your church would deal with a newcomer who had signed the sex offenders register?

 

Simon Carver is the Free Church Ecumenical Chaplain at St Albans Cathedral and a recently retired Baptist Minister living in Watford who takes a particular interest in film, sport and politics.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

We were all shocked last Monday when someone attacked a children’s dance class in Southport with a knife, killing three children and wounding several other people. Taylor Swift, whose music they were dancing to, has said on Instagram, 'I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.'

Where was God? Why does he let these things happen?

We can expect our friends to ask us questions like these, so we need to be doing the hard work of thinking about them. The truth is that evil exists and Jesus calls us to pray 'your kingdom come' – which suggests  that if we don’t pray, we’ll see less of God’s kingdom.

The people in this week's Gospel reading (John 6:24-35) were following Jesus because he had just fed them all with bread and fish – and they wanted another free lunch. Jesus challenged them to think about why God fed them; what did it mean that they had been given bread out of nowhere just like their ancestors were fed manna in the desert?

For us, there are many situations that might make us question God’s presence and care. However, Jesus never promises that we will be comfortable as Christians. Instead, Jesus promises that there will be troubles and we need to receive life from him. He challenges us to be part of what God is doing in the world.

It is right to question how Monday’s attack happened. Not to accuse God of neglect or to say he missed something but, as God’s people, we need to know that people sometimes choose evil and that we need to be part of God’s solution here on Earth. Father, let your kingdom come.

 

Steve Taylor shares the job of joint-vicar of St James Alperton CofE Church near Wembley with his wife, Ali. They share their home with their two children, two cats and numerous fish.

 

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