No . 138 The Trusty Servant to be curious about everything , and knew that we were surrounded by intellectual treasures , physical and personal – and yet , on the other , we were never allowed or encouraged to believe that made us any more special than anybody else . A happy balance indeed .
It is a balance , too , which is apparent in today ’ s first reading , from the Second Letter to the Corinthians . Throughout St Paul ’ s language is of a sense of real abundance – indeed , he uses that very word . He speaks , also , of “ bountiful ” giving matched by “ bountiful ” reaping ; of overflowing and surpassing ; of cheerfulness and generosity and multiplication . It is a passage of absolute excess , exhorting the reader not only to give as greatly as possible , but to be excessively glad in doing so . And yet – and yet – the opposite is there , too . St Paul speaks of poverty and emptiness – he writes about real , raw need . They are themes reflected , of course , in the words of the Magnificat which was just sung by my far more gifted successors in Chapel Choir – lowliness against strength , reduction against exaltation , emptiness against plenty . And they are themes reflected in the life and ministry of Our Lord – born a prince , but on the very periphery of society ; a King , murdered by politicians ; a man with and of everything , most comfortable alongside those with nothing .
The reason for this balance – perhaps a seemingly less happy one than I experienced at school – becomes clearer in our second lesson . It is about equalization . In his First Epistle , John outlines the love of God in terms which are , for want of a less corporate way of putting it , about levelling the playing field . Anyone who loves , he proclaims , knows God . The language here is not of contrast , but of communion – not of emphasising difference , but of emphasising universality . John writes of “ us ” and of “ everyone ”; he writes of the shared experiences of all created people , both in never having seen God , and of knowing and being known intimately by God . Love is the way that we strike a happy balance between abundance and austerity – between too much and too little , between rich and poor , even in a world as bitterly divided as the one we inhabit now . Not just any love – not lip-service love , not limited or labelled love , not love between people who the Church decides are the ones who really understand love – but the utterly sacrificial , equalizing , open-toall , come-and-get-it love of God . A love which , as that magnificent hymn puts it , is “ broader than the measure of man ’ s mind ”, despite our efforts to “ magnify its strictness with a zeal God will not own ”. And that love is not just to be shown between us and God , of course . If you love God , says John , you have to love each other in the same way too .
Equality , then , at the heart of all this – a word which , ironically and painfully , today may conjure images of something itself divisive . But this is the love we are called to emulate and echo . Here , too , Winchester may just be onto something good . One of its core values , I understand , is conversation – a value of essential equality , founded as it is in a relationship where all parts are valid , all voices necessary . That conversation rebounds not just off the walls of the school , but in its relationships outside , too – partnership here , in my day and seemingly today , is about equality over paternalism , about listening over talking , about learning in both directions . And , of course , it reverberates through the increasingly diverse nature of the school ’ s pupil body in a return , perhaps , to our Founder ’ s intention – not least through scholarships and bursaries which so many of you here today will have supported , and without which I , and many others , would never have made it past the Porter ’ s Lodge . In a world of so much division , this is an approach that proclaims unity ; in a world of so much pain , this is an approach that might just bring healing . Giving , after all , is Godly – and so too is equality .
Where does this leave us , then ? I promised to mention the angels and saints I sit among today , and perhaps that is where to end . The generosity demonstrated by the Goddard Society members is about the happy balance between much and little which brings about the equality we see in the heart of God . It is generosity which , enabling as it does the gifts of this place to be shared more widely , and enabling as it does also the gifts of new voices to resound within these magnificent walls , cannot be praised too highly .
Greater voices than mine will thank you today – but thank you . And yet , of course , our generosity can never be enough until the love of God , and the happy balance at the heart of God ’ s relationship within Godself , and with us all , is reflected in every corner of our communal life , and in every relationship across Creation . What an impossible , intoxicating , exhilarating , extraordinary calling – to love as God loves . What a thing to recommit ourselves to this afternoon , in this place which means so much to us all . In the words of St Paul , “ thanks be to God for his indescribable gift ” – and thanks be to God , also , for yours .
Amen .
Goddard Day takes place in Winchester every September and allows the school to show its appreciation to those who have pledged to leave a legacy to Winchester College in their Will . For more information about membership of Goddard Legacy Society , please turn to page 46 .
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