Of recent years I have watched the Annual National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast, and this year it was held, as usual, in Westminster Hall, 7on July 7th. 650 parliamentarians and church leaders gathered for worship, prayer and to listen to the speaker, Clare Williams- Sarpong, from the Oxford centre for Christian Apologetics. She spoke on the theme “Hope for the Future”, with the story of Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus as the reading. I have attempted to give you a flavour of some of the event and some of the things she said in this TFTD.
In her talk Clare Williams highlighted how Jesus responded to Bartimaeus’ need, as he called him to come near to him, restoring his dignity and asking what he wanted him to do for him. Jesus didn’t assume blindness was Bartimaeus’ only problem, – he saw his cry for help from a place of poverty and exclusion.
She brought this up to date, highlighting the longing in people’s hearts today for hope, with 66% of the population reported to feel pessimistic about the future and 1 in 4 adults feeling lonely.
She spoke about the reaction of the crowd to Bartimaeus, their desire to silence him, to shut him down. They were turning to Jesus but they didn’t behave like him – they were cynical and they didn’t believe in Jesus’ hope for Bartimaeus.
Linking this with the call to go into politics, Clare Williams said there is a duty for politicians to remain positive for those they serve, although politics alone cannot solve the problems we see in society. Every ideology in the end crumbles as it can’t control the dark side of the human heart. We ask too much of politics. “Politics is a good servant but a terrible Saviour ” was one of the really memorable things she said. In a universe made by God hope isn’t just optimism. Christianity takes hope seriously- Jesus challenged political power and religious leaders and brought hope to those on the margins. Through his death he chose to do something about the human condition through his sacrificial death.
I felt there was real inspiration and challenge in what was said for the politicians who attended, directing them to the hope that comes from the life, teaching and sacrifice of Jesus. It is heartening to know that there is this annual recognition of the contribution that Christianity makes to the national life of the United Kingdom.
The link to listen is below.