In Sydney we watch the impact of the current economic reality in Europe from a comfortable distance. In a Christmas Sermon that ‘raised eyebrows’ in the UK, Dr Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury, asks questions that are just as relevant to us in considering the choices we make as individuals, as a community, and as a country.
“Very near the heart of Christian faith and practice is this encounter with God’s questions, ‘who are you, where are you?’ Are you on the side of the life that lives in Jesus, the life of grace and truth, of unstinting generosity and unsparing honesty, the only life that gives life to others? Or are you on your own side, on the side of disconnection, rivalry, the hoarding of gifts, the obsession with control? … What we say or do in our response to Jesus is our way of discovering for ourselves and showing to one another what is real in and for us … the truth is still an uncompromising one: if you cannot or will not respond, you are walking away from reality into a realm of trackless fogbound falsehood.”
The full Christmas Sermon is available on the The Archbishop of Canterbury web site.