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[Archbishop of Canterbury] Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally preached on June 21 at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in the Palestinian Christian town of Birzeit in the West Bank. She is on a five-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land to show solidarity with Palestinian Christians. Archbishop Hosam Naoum, bishop of the Diocese of Jerusalem and primate of the Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, is accompanying Mullally on her Holy Land pilgrimage. He presided over the worship service at St. Peter’s. Before she began her sermon, Mullally thanked St. Peter’s rector, the Rev. Fadi Diab, and the congregation for their hospitality. She said she would use her role as archbishop to seek “the peace you desire and the freedom you deserve.” In her sermon, the archbishop spoke about living faithfully in times of fear, trusting in the promises of Christ, and Christian hope as an act of resistance. “And your faithful, hopeful resistance is also visible as fathers and mothers navigate the web of checkpoints daily to provide an income for their family, or to get their children to school to provide for their future, or as you gather to break bread together week by week in this church,” Mullally said in her sermon. “All these acts of faithful resistance point to our hope in Jesus Christ and reflect your ongoing struggle for freedom and dignity.” The following is a transcript of Mullally’s introduction and sermon. Mullally’s introduction: I am grateful for your hospitality today. It is a privilege to spend time in solidarity with you and learn about your lives here in Birzeit. It is an honour to spend time with Archbishop Hosam this week, to meet Father Fadi and clergy from the surrounding area, to gather with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, to pray and worship, and to learn about the life of the Church in this place. I am aware that I have certain freedoms that many of you do not enjoy, being able to cross borders and checkpoints, spending time in neighbouring communities, and going to Jerusalem. I am deeply humbled by this opportunity to join you in prayer and fellowship. I recognise the costliness of life for you and your families, and the costliness of following Jesus here in this land, which was our Saviour’s home and is your home. Thank you for the openness with which you have welcomed me. I will not forget what I have seen and what I have heard. I could not forget it. I will carry these encounters with me as I return home. I will use my role as Archbishop to seek the peace you desire and the freedom you deserve. Mullally’s sermon: Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19.14) Our scriptures give us a lens through which we can see the world and reflect upon our lives. There are two important themes we might reflect on in our readings today. The first is fear: how do we live as people of faith in fearful times? The second is hope: how do we live as those who trust in the promises of Christ and bear witness to hope? The Psalmist writes to people living in fearful times. They are experiencing the trauma of oppression and exile, of families being separated: “I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s children” (Psalm 69.8); and there is a profound sense of abandonment: “Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress – make haste to answer me”. (Psalm 69.17) In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is speaking to a community living in fear: his own people living in an occupied land and under foreign rule. Matthew writes for a community that knew uncertainty, insecurity, and pressure. Jesus speaks these words: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Jesus tells his own people, who are living in fear, that they are valued in God’s eyes. He reminds them that they are precious in God’s sight; that the hairs of their head are counted; that they are known and loved by God. I think these words are even more powerful when heard against this backdrop of fear. They are spoken not to those who are secure and comfortable, but to those who are anxious and burdened. I can only imagine how these words may sound to you today as you live with the realities of life under occupation here in Birzeit, and when your fellow Palestinians still strive for freedom and dignity in Gaza. I wonder how these words of Jesus sound when you have felt that the eyes of the world, the international community, and even parts of the wider Church have turned away from you. Yet Jesus speaks these words to you now: you are precious in God’s sight; you are known, seen, and loved. I hope that, through my visit, you may also know that you are not forgotten by the wider Body of Christ. The Church is called to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep. The Church stands with you in your right to live in freedom and dignity. How then do we continue to live faithfully in times of fear? Jesus speaks truthfully about the cost of discipleship. At first, Jesus’ words sound surprising: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” This seems the opposite of what we expect from the Prince of Peace. Jesus is not glorifying conflict. Rather, he is speaking honestly […]

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