Bishop Ceirion H. Dewar FSHC@BishopDewar
A MAUNDY THURSDAY APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
My dear countrymen,
I want to speak to you simply tonight.
Not as a formal address, not as something that is polished or carefully staged. Just plainly, because something about this moment doesn’t feel right!
His Majesty, King Charles III, has chosen not to issue an Easter message this year, and perhaps that will seem small to some. It may seem like just one of those things, easily overlooked.
But I don’t think it’s small, because Easter is not small.
And when something as central as that passes without a voice from where we have come to expect one, it leaves a concerning quiet behind.
I think many people can feel that, even if they can’t quite put it into words.
So, I’m not writing to you to complain, I’m writing because I don’t think we can just leave that space empty, or this silence unanswered. And more than that, I don’t think we should be waiting for someone else to fill it.
Tonight is the evening of Maundy Thursday. We’re not at the celebration yet. We’re not at the victory.
We’re in the upper room. It’s quiet there. There’s a table. Bread is being passed. Wine is being shared.
And then, Christ does something that nobody would expect. Christ kneels down and starts to wash the disciples feet.
It’s such a strange image that you don’t really stop and think about it. The one they call Lord…is there kneeling.
No performance, no announcement, just serving. And I think that’s where this really meets us.
If we’re truly honest, a lot of people are feeling like something has truly shifted in this country. Something has thinned out. Not just politically or culturally, but deeper than that. Like we’re rapidly forgetting something we one knew.
And the instinct is to look up for answers, to wait for leadership, to hole that someone will say the right things that then steadies us all.
But Maundy Thursday doesn’t point us in that direction. It brings us back down to the floor.
To Christ, with a towel in His hands.
And it asks something of us that is much closer to home. Will we follow him there? Because this doesn’t begin with institutions finding their voice again…
It begins with people…
Ordinary people, who decide, either quietly or boldly, to turn back to Christ.
To pray again, to take their faith seriously again, to live that faith, and not just talk about it.
In that decision, is where things are either lost…or found.
And there’s something else about this night that we shouldn’t ignore. Even as Christ kneels, everything is already starting to fall apart.
Betrayal is happening, denial is coming, the Cross is getting ever closer.
Christ knows it…and still He stays. Still He serves. Still He gives Himself. That matters!
It means that Christ doesn’t walk away from us when things are uncertain, or messy, or even failing…Christ remains!
Maybe this Easter, that is what we as a people need to hear the most right now!
That whatsoever has been neglected…whatever feels like it’s slipping…it’s I not beyond being restored.
But not by waiting. Not by watching.
But by returning! Personally, quietly, honestly!
So tonight, I’m simply making an appeal. Don’t wait for someone else to speak. Don’t assume it’s someone else’s responsibility.
If something has been lost in this nation, then it will be found in the same way that it has always been…one life at a time…yours included!
Come back to Christ! Or come to Him for the first time!
Take it seriously, because He is not an invented idea from the past…
He is present…
And He is still calling.
The night will soon be deep, the garden still lies ahead, but He hasn’t gone anywhere.
And if we turn to Him, and I truly mean turn, then there is more hope than we think…
Much more!
May God meet you where you are tonight, and may He draw this nation back to Himself, not beginning with the crowds, but with our hearts!
Grace and peace be unto you.
Bishop Cei Dewar
Missionary Bishop
