6 November 2022

In the name of the living and loving God, creator, redeemer, and sustainer.  Amen.

Words from today’s psalm, “Keep me as the apple of an eye: hide me under the shadow of thy wings.”  What a lyrical verse that is!  How does it resonate for you?  For me, it speaks of preciousness and protection.  Sight is vital, it is precious.  Being such an important yet vulnerable part of the body, the eyes need protection.  What happens if something gets into your eye?  Your eyelids automatically close.  You can’t see clearly?  Wear glasses?  It’s sunny?  Wear sunglasses.  Sight is paramount.  For people of faith, spiritual sight is just as important as physical sight.

In preparing this sermon, I have thought a lot about the nature of sight, and one of the things being eye contact.  Are you a fan of eye contact?  Does it depend on the situation?  Does too much of it makes you feel uncomfortable, or too little leave you feeling ignored or undervalued?  Studies have shown that there is a ‘preferred gaze duration’ of just 3.3 seconds.  It may not surprise you to know that females use it more in interactions than males.  Sometimes it can be easier to share sensitive information in a configuration where eye contact isn’t so forced, such as the awkward teenage conversations with parents during a car journey!

Eye contact is a vital part of our interaction with each other; you are saying “You are here with me, you are seen, you are valued, you are important to me.”

In 2010, The Museum of Modern Art in New York hosted an exhibition called ‘The Artist is present’ by the Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic.  For hours each day she sat, sharing a minute of silence looking into the eyes of complete strangers.  She wore a long, thick red dress which reminded me of a cassock.  It certainly looked like it was a spiritual experience, and after all, we describe the eyes as windows to the soul.  There is a very moving clip that circulated on social media where she unexpectedly looks up into the eyes of Ulay, her former partner and fellow artist whom she hasn’t seen for over twenty years.  During the minute they share together, they do not break eye contact; there are tears, sighs, smiles, and nods of recognition; so much is said without using words. 

The 3.3 seconds of ‘preferred gaze duration’ shows that after a while we become uncomfortable with holding eye contact.  Why?  It shows that we are vulnerable, exposed, and it is hard to admit this.  We are all fragile, vulnerable in some way, shape, or form.  But some are more so than others.  And this is where safeguarding comes in.

But what is it?  In broad terms, you are guarding / keeping the safety of all of your people, but particularly those who are vulnerable.  We have a Christian duty to look after those who are more vulnerable because of age, disability, illness, finances, employment, relationships, a combination of these factors or other circumstances.  We need to be trained to spot signs of different types of abuse and know how to report matters to the safeguarding teams in our churches.   

The Christian charity thirtyone:eight promotes safeguarding in Christian organisations,  believing it is at the heart of the Christian way of life.  ‘As God stoops down to lift up those who need his help, so too must we draw alongside the vulnerable among us.’ 

How does the phrase “Keep me as the apple of an eye” fit in?  If you use the phrase ‘so-and-so is the apple of my eye’, you are saying they are precious, important to you.  We are all precious to God, all apples of his eyes, but if we think about the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd leaves the 99 in search of the precious 1 who is lost.  The Beatitudes talks about the comfort of mourners, the blessing of those who put up with persecution for the sake of their faith.  Safeguarding is a gospel imperative.

The phrase originates from the Bible and is found in four places – Deuteronomy, Zechariah, Proverbs, as well as today’s psalm.  In biblical times, the pupil in the eye was thought to be a solid, round object, like an apple.  The word for ‘apple’ in this phrase is a translation of the Hebrew ishon, which is from the word ish which means man.  Therefore, the ishon of the eye is ‘the little son or little daughter of the eye.’  When you look at someone and make eye contact, you can see yourself reflected in the pupil of their eyeball as a little person.  If we were to see God face to face, what would our reflection be like?  Would you like what you see?  If not, what are you going to do about it?!

The second half of the verse: ‘hide me under the shadow of thy wings.’   Whose wings are we talking about?  Well, it could be a parent bird looking after their young, guarding them from prey.  This image is used frequently in the Hebrew Scriptures, and it is probably a reference to an eagle or vulture, so the wings would offer considerable protection.  In the Lament over Jerusalem, Jesus uses the image of a hen: ‘How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!’  It could also be the wings of angels, who have varying roles in the celestial sphere including protection. 

The psalmist is asking for protection from God.  Why do we need protection?  Because of the enemies within and without, the visible and invisible.  We all need to hide under the shadow of God’s wings, but those who are more vulnerable need it more than others, and perhaps more frequently than others.  The hen stays alert to keep watch over her young, the apples of her eyes.  We need to use our eyes and hearts to keep watch so that we can offer the protective shadow of our wings.

Micah 6:8 asks: ‘…what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’

• Do justice – get it right, act properly, justly, not avoiding so because it makes us feel uncomfortable.    

• Love kindness – showing kindness, care, compassion to everyone, regardless of whether they have earnt it, because that is what God’s grace is all about.

• Walk humbly – acknowledge the frailty of the human condition, that we don’t always get it right, and in terms of safeguarding it is important to admit when we get it wrong, and to be transparent and honest about it.

These are not passive concepts, but active instructions.  Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly.  Why?  We are made in the image of God; we have been given a job of caring for God’s creation; safeguarding is part of the deal of stewardship. 

When I attended a recent safeguarding course for leadership, the superb facilitator asked us how many of us groaned when we heard the word ‘safeguarding’.  Former training focused mainly on rules and regulations, and the Church has recognised that this has deterred volunteers from offering their time and talents to working with certain groups within the community, particularly children.  This is a huge shame, and everyone ends up losing out.  I urge you to complete the online training courses and if you need help, just shout. 

What was refreshing about this course was that it wasn’t just about HOW we go about the business of safeguarding but WHY we do it.  The theological imperative is just as important – if not more so – than the procedures.  Yes, there are policies, paperwork, and posters, and they are necessary and important, but the focus must ALWAYS be on people, because it is about people not policies, people not paperwork, and people not posters.

Sadly, rigorous safeguarding procedures do not completely prevent terrible things happening, but they should help people to feel empowered to know that we are trained effectively and then supported to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.  Amen.