Sermon preached by the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Christopher Lowson, at the service in Lincoln Cathedral to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. The service was attended by HRH The Princess Royal. I have the honour to preach at this service today because my predecessor, bishop Hugh of Wells, the 9th bishop of Lincoln was present at Runnymede. He left that meadow with two of the 13 copies of Magna Carta – one for his diocese of Lincoln and one for his brother’s diocese of Bath and Glastonbury, now Bath and Wells. He brought his copy back to this cathedral, where it has been ever since. Another Lincolnshire man was there – Archbishop Stephen Langton, who played a pivotal role in drafting Magna Carta and mediating its agreement, and showed immense courage and political skill in calling King John to account. Magna Carta has sometimes been open to a certain amount of embroidery, and even misinterpretation. We all remember 1066 and All That, and some of may recall that episode of H-­‐H-­‐Hancock’s Half Hour when Tony, serving on a jury, fulminates before his fellow jurors: “Does Magna Carta mean nothing to you? Did she die in vain? That brave Hungarian peasant girl who forced King John to sign the pledge at Runnymede and close the boozers at half-­‐past ten. Is all this to be forgotten?” 1 While Tony Hancock characteristically (and cleverly) took poetic licence a little far, Magna Carta has suffered from a rather romantic and over-­‐stated tendency to see it as the template of a constitutional monarchy and a democratic system of parliamentary government when in fact it was merely a beginning; and, at the time, an attempt to prevent a civil war between the king and his powerful barons. Nevertheless, with that health warning in mind, we might remember the words of Lord Denning, then Master of the Rolls, in 1965: “(Magna Carta was…) the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.” Those words encapsulate Magna Carta's fundamental principle: that the rule of the law applies to everyone, even the divinely-­‐appointed king. For this reason it has spoken powerfully to reformers down through the centuries: those who opposed King Charles I; the founding fathers and mothers of the United States; Nelson Mandela when on trial for his life in 1964; all appealed to Magna Carta. It has been evoked in recent times when the fear of terrorism has led governments to seek intrusive powers into the lives of its citizens in order to protect the state. For me, three points arise out of our celebrations today: 1. First, God is Almighty, and the place of religious faith should be protected. In 1215, when Magna Carta was sealed, the place of the Church in the life of the nation was guaranteed, with its rights and liberties unimpaired. The charter also put into words the idea that custom or common consent – today we might call it conscience – should be the final arbiter, and not simply the will of an unchecked earthly king. The judgement of the king was valid only when he acted in accordance with the will of God. 1
’12 Angry men’ Hancock’s Half Hour first broadcast in 1959 A monarch who fails to do this loses the moral right to govern. In the words of a document five years before Magna Carta, ‘…he loses the name of king.’ Today, we live in a pluralist society with people of many faiths and none and if a faith perspective -­‐ or indeed conscience -­‐ is not respected, we undermine the basis of civil society. If religious liberty is no longer guaranteed and religious faith is derided, we risk the covenant that holds our nation together. Magna Carta reminds us that religious faith is not to be regarded as a personal, consumer choice, the refuge of the feeble-­‐minded, but stands at the heart of a civilized society. 2. This brings me to my second point, which is that in our time, the power of the state needs to be moderated by a broader context. Sometimes, as now, fear of alien forces and malevolent strangers in our midst can lead to a reduction in human rights. Lord Scarman, speaking in 1974 after a series of horrific IRA bombings, echoed later by other atrocities like 9/11 and 7/7, said this: “When times are normal and fear is not stalking the land, English law sturdily protects the freedom of the individual and respects human personality. But when times are abnormally alive with fear and prejudice, the Common Law is at a disadvantage. It cannot resist the will, however frightened and prejudiced it may be, of Parliament.” We are called by God to keep building his kingdom of justice and peace; not just for ourselves, but for others too. God created and loves all his children, which means all people are of equal dignity. At times the short-­‐term needs of security can imperil the project to build, for a person of faith, a kingdom of God where all can flourish. 3. Today we are joined by some senior judges and my third and final point is that Magna Carta suggests that both Church and Law are given as positive means towards the flourishing of nation and individual. All too often, both institutions are seen as negative elements of our society. On the one hand, depriving people of their liberty -­‐ including, if necessary, imprisonment; on the other, telling people they shouldn’t do this or that, seemingly squeezing the joy out of life. But Magna Carta has a much more positive reason for the existence of both Church and Law: both are God-­‐given to create the right conditions for human flourishing: to protect citizens and to enable society to act in a way which helps communities and individuals to flourish. The chief draftsman of the charter, Stephen Langton, was born in a village 12 miles away and probably educated here at Lincoln Cathedral. He would, I think, be amazed, that 800 years and 34 monarchs later we have gathered in the same cathedral to celebrate and give thanks for his work and the influence it has had, not only in this kingdom, but in lands then undiscovered and in ways undreamt of. May we continue to live out our vocation, Church and Law alike: § to serve the common good § to defend the weak and powerless § to work for freedom and justice that all God’s children may flourish, wherever and whomever they may be.