A sermon preached in Croydon Minster on Sunday 15th June, 2025, at the beginning of the Mayoral Year, in the presence of the Worshipful the Civic Mayor of Croydon, Cllr Richard Chatterjee.
“Blessed is the man who
trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the
Lord.
He is like a tree
planted by water,
that sends out its
roots by the stream,
and does not fear when
heat comes,
for its leaves remain
green,
and is not anxious in
the year of drought,
for it does not cease
to bear fruit.”
(Jeremiah 17.7-8)
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Ancient wisdom and
enduring truths are easily scoffed at in a society where the slogan, ‘move fast
and break things’ is in common currency.
That approach might
work for the ‘tech bros’ of Silicon Valley, but they are not words that speak
of how communities work, and certainly not communities with a millennium of
history and culture that our Borough of Croydon has.
Leadership of
communities of people, especially, ones so socio-economically and culturally
diverse as Croydon, demands other skills and gifts.
And that takes us to
tonight.
The current Archbishop
of York wrote a little book a few years ago with the title ‘Hit the Ground
Kneeling’.
That title is,
of course, a reworking of the way that leaders want to ‘hit the ground running’, and other such slogans: ‘make
a high impact’, ‘pick the low hanging fruit’.
The allure of the
‘short, sharp reset’ is seductive, but it ignores deep seated and long-standing
challenges and how people live their lives.
Of course, in political
life leaders want quick results, instant fixes and high impact, largely because
that is what the voters want: we’re all complicit!
And for many people
things need to change.
For people in our
Borough who are in sub-standard accommodation; those who are fearful of crime;
those who always seem to come out at the bottom of the pile; those who find themselves
in ‘a strange and foreign land’ (Psalm 137) those working in voluntary
organisations; those who need some beauty around them: things need to change.
And it’s tempting, in
the face of that, to want to ‘move fast and break things’ or ‘hit the ground
running’.
Of course, in the face
of the challenges we have, we can’t ‘move slowly and do nothing’.
Change is needed; transformation
of society is needed.
So what about ‘hitting
the ground kneeling’, what does that
actually mean?
What the Archbishop was
saying is that so often we are in too much of a hurry to take time to ponder,
reflect, think, seek out wisdom and, actually, to pray.
When you run around too
much you are prone to tripping over; when you are kneeling before God in
prayer, you can only be lifted up.
Might the motto for the
political life of Croydon, our nation, our world, be: ‘Move wisely and heal
things’?
This service tonight,
at the beginning of a Mayoral Year, is a moment for our new Civic Mayor to ‘hit
the ground kneeling’, in other words to begin his Mayoral Year in prayer,
seeking out the depths of God’s wisdom.
God’s wisdom runs deep,
like underground watercourses; and it’s trees that put roots down deep that
draw on that refreshment and renewal:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by
water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat
comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year
of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (cf Jeremiah 17.7-8)
When any of us,
especially those in political life, is faced with the crisis that blows up out
of nowhere, the pressing issue that needs solving, the people or person who
needs seeing to, the tyranny of the diary, the imminent deadline for a
difficult decision; then tap into the deeper wisdom of God.
Tonight, in the
timeless phrases and cadences of a service that Archbishop John Whitgift
himself would have recognised, we are also deeply mindful of the contemporary
needs of our Borough that would have been bewildering to people 50 years ago,
never mind 500.
Tonight’s service is a
chance to go deep, to be renewed in what motivates and inspires service to a
wider community of people, and the ability to look beyond ourselves.
By the way, there is no
better place to start on that than by reading again our two Bible readings this
evening: take the order of service away with you; read the readings again as
you start your day, and use them as a measure and challenge to how you live
your life.
That is a good exercise
for us to do at all ages and stages and settings of life, whether in the
workplace, at school, the council chamber or Town Hall: where do I find wisdom?
How am I equipped for service? How do I see the world beyond myself and my own
ambitions?
The two reading tells
us that there is an authority and wisdom beyond ourselves that comes from God,
and in obedience to that wisdom we are commissioned to make it practical in how
we serve and honour all people.
After the prayers that
follow this address, in which we pray for our civic life, we will be invited by
our new Civic Mayor, to make an Act of Commitment as citizens of this Borough
of Croydon, to join him in reaffirming our determination to build a community
of respect, tolerance, courtesy and love so that all in our Borough may
flourish.
I hope that everyone
here, regardless of personal faith, belief or political conviction can share
those words and put them into practice.
May we all, drawing on
the wisdom of God, hearing the call to service and in the spirit of this
evening, ‘Move wisely and heal things’.
