Welby, the wedding and the Gospel

My colleague Charles Gardner has written a splendid piece on the Royal wedding, eulogising the sermon from Bishop Curry that made such a great contribution to the union of Harry and Meghan. It was a powerful message delivered with great skill and passion that captivated not only the congregation in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, but countless millions watching the service around the world.

At the risk of being a spoilsport and dubbed a ‘prophet of doom and gloom’, I want to offer a few thoughts to go alongside what Charles has written. I too watched the wedding on TV and I was delighted with the charismatic message delivered by the Bishop. And I was really pleased that he did not only speak about love in a sentimental, romantic context, but he spoke about the love of God and got some Gospel into his message.

I applauded him for taking the opportunity of presenting the Gospel in simple words that would have communicated clearly to probably the largest congregation any preacher has ever faced. It was certainly good for Christianity.

Changes in the Church

My concern was not with the message but with the whole event and with the enormous changes that are taking place within the Church – especially the Church of England as our state Church. The last time a prince of the realm wanted to marry a divorced American lady whose ex-husband was still living, it resulted in the abdication of King Edward VIII. 

My concern is not with the message but with the whole event and the enormous changes taking place within the Church.

That was the 1930s and much has changed since then. But Harry and Meghan’s wedding could not even have taken place 10 years ago, when Dr Rowan Williams was Archbishop of Canterbury and Prince Charles wanted to marry Camilla Parker-Bowles whose ex-husband was still alive – something that was directly against the teaching of Jesus (Luke 16:18).

I remember discussing it with Rowan at the time. He was steadfastly against allowing a full Anglican wedding service and Charles and Camilla had to go to Windsor Town Hall and have a civil ceremony, after which they went to St George’s Chapel for a blessing.

Now, everyone is so delighted that the Royal family have accepted a beautiful, racially-mixed young lady into their midst that no one takes any notice of her divorce. I believe it is right under exceptional circumstances that the Church should offer a full wedding service where someone has been divorced – I have done this myself – and I don’t know the circumstances of Meghan’s former marriage, so I’m in no position to make any comment on this. My concern is really with Archbishop Justin Welby who has said publicly that it is his intention to make the Church of England ‘more inclusive’.

Gospel Truth?

It was Welby who advised Harry and Meghan to have Bishop Curry as their preacher, knowing full well that Curry is an advocate of same-sex marriage and the propagation of the LGBT code of immorality. I know that the Archbishop sent out guidelines to all CofE primary schools last year urging teachers to encourage the children to cross-dress in preparation for living in a gender-free society. 

What message is the Church sending to the world?

So, I wonder what Welby’s next move will be in undermining our Judeo-Christian heritage? How far does he intend going in promoting the LGBT agenda, destroying biblical truth and promoting an apostate Church?

Yes, it was a lovely wedding and only the British could put on such an amazing pageant in such an historic setting, blessed by perfect weather. It was great to have a national celebration in the midst of the dark Brexit-laden days we are enduring. It was great for the public to enjoy such a celebration and it was good for the national image worldwide. My only concern is: what message is the Church sending to the world? Does the Church of England even know the truth of the Gospel it is supposed to proclaim?

Royal wedding cleric challenges two billion people on faith

Many of us had just about given up the fight. We had unfurled the white flag of surrender to godlessness and immorality. We’d reluctantly come to accept that the Western world recognises neither God nor the Bible.

Then a black American bishop shook the airwaves with a thundering sermon on the burning love of God supremely manifested in the sacrificial love of his Son. This was a love so strong that it changed the world – and is still able to do so.

Comparing that love to the harnessing of fire that powers the modern world, Bishop Curry passionately challenged two billion viewers to see what the Christian Gospel can do to change our broken society into communities that love one another and work for each other’s benefit.

Love Stronger than Death

Taking his text from the Song of Solomon, he showed how romantic love between a man and a woman is God’s idea, but that it is not something sentimental – it is as fierce as fire and stronger than death, and was ultimately demonstrated on the cross of Calvary, where Jesus died for our sins.

True love involves pain and sacrifice. It’s “’til death us do part”. God himself is an incurable romantic – from the beginning to the end of his book, the Bible, we see that he pursues us as the ultimate Bridegroom seeking the perfect Bride.

Yes, there was great anticipation for this Royal Wedding; the courtship of Harry and Meghan had all the ingredients of a fairy-tale with the handsome young prince falling for the beautiful Hollywood actress. But they were both from broken homes, and Meghan was divorced. It seemed a bleak scenario reflecting much that has already gone wrong in our society.

Many of us had just about given up the fight, accepting that the Western world recognises neither God nor the Bible.

And yet no-one saw it coming – certainly not the liberal elite who have persuaded themselves that God is dead, but not even evangelical Christians, including myself, were prepared for this. Broadcasters and their interviewees couldn’t stop talking about it afterwards – not the dress, but the ad-dress – as expressions like “electrifying” and “blown away” were bandied about.

Apparently there were some 40,000 Tweets per minute on the subject, most of which reflected an undeniable joy which made me realise afresh that people really do want the Gospel after all. It really is good news for a world gone mad with political correctness. People genuinely warmed to a heart-stopping explanation of what Jesus came to do.

False Motives or True

Don’t get me wrong. I’m fully aware of what the bishop didn’t say, and what he is alleged to believe, for example, about same-sex issues. Some might even question his motive but, like the Apostle Paul, we should be thankful that the Gospel was preached and made millions sit up and take notice – even in faraway Argentina, I’m told.

“The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached” (Phil 1:18).

In my opinion, Bishop Curry is way off track with his unbiblical views on LGBT rights (which he did not address at the St George’s Chapel ceremony) along with his reported statement that Trump voters “cannot credibly call themselves Christians if they support policies such as tax cuts for the wealthy”.¹ But he undoubtedly has the gift of summing up the Gospel in less than 14 minutes!

The Prophet Isaiah foresaw this kind of surprise (at how the Gospel would become known, for example) when he wrote: “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord” (Isa 55:8). In this context he explains that just as the rain and snow causes the earth to bear fruit, so his word will not return to him empty, but will accomplish the purpose for which he sent it.

People genuinely warmed to a heart-stopping explanation of what Jesus came to do.

The same passage urges us to “seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near.” When you know that what you are hearing is the truth, don’t let the moment pass. Call out to your Creator, who knows you intimately and who loves you with an everlasting love.

“Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isa 55:6f). If you do this, your world will never be the same. For “you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands” (Isa 55:12).

Changing the World

Is the Gospel making a comeback? You bet it is. Speaking of the end times and the signs that would immediately precede his coming again, our Lord Jesus told his disciples: “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:14). And as St Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, reminded his hearers of the words of the Prophet Joel, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21).

Too many have been switched off by soothing ten-minute homilies that neither challenge nor inspire.

It was predictable that the Windsor Castle chapel message would be hijacked by the diversity, equality and inclusivity brigade – he did, after all, touch on areas that suited them like black civil rights, in itself perfectly in order as Meghan is descended from slaves. But then, as I have already suggested, the Gospel has always been misused.

However, the essence of the Bishop’s address was the love of God that brought peace and harmony even to slaves in their desperate predicament – that the Gospel is what mends a broken society. After all, it was the Gospel that emboldened William Wilberforce to campaign against slavery. Campaigns in themselves will not change the world; that will take men and women who have fallen in love with the man who changed the world, our Lord Jesus Christ.

You might also be interested in our editorial this week, on the same topic.

References

1 Daily Mail, 21 May 2018.