The Bishop of Bathurst on the Referendum

Posted on September 5, 2023 
Filed under Australia

From Bishop Mark Calder on the referendum:

“I do not think it is the role of bishops or church bodies to encourage people to vote one way or the other, either in general elections or the upcoming referendum.

However, it is appropriate for me to urge us all to engage in the process carefully and prayerfully, seek out accurate and helpful information and then trust our wise sovereign Lord for the outcome.

To this end, I distribute a reflection from the Rev’d Neville Naden who many of you will know. And I share again, a statement arising from the national Anglican bishops’ meeting in March. I trust both these brief pieces are helpful and I commend the coming weeks and the outcome to your prayers.”

– Bishop Calder’s statement, and the two documents he mentions, can be found on the Bathurst Diocese Facebook page.

For ease of reading, the Rev Neville Naden’s short reflection is reproduced below –

A short reflection on ‘The Voice’, by the Rev’d Neville Naden 

Not long after the last election the Prime Minister of our country announced that he would commit to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. 

This statement involved a three-pronged approach to addressing the issues of First Nations People in our country. The first being a voice, then treaty and finally truth.

It was not long after this that I received an email asking the question, ‘Is a voice to parliament a part of God’s will for this country?’ to which I replied, ‘nothing happens outside of God’s will!’

Friends, as a follower of Jesus, and as I reflect on my Christian response to the proposed voice to parliament, two things are vitally important as I reflect in this space. 

Firstly, I need a healthy understanding of the sovereignty of God. That is to say that nothing in all of history happens outside His will. God either ordains things to happen or he allows it. (More on this a little latter)

Secondly, the very thing that underpins ‘The Voice to Parliament’ is a desire that people living in this country would reconcile with First Nations People.

Reconciliation 

As I reflect in this space, I too want to see reconciliation. Reconciliation is a good thing. However, is such a thing ever possible? If conciliation never existed between Fist Nations people and the wider community, how can we have reconciliation? 

Many of my people have asked the question, ‘How can we have reconciliation when unity has never existed in the first place?’ To have reconciliation there needs to be some kind of conciliation to start with. This then beckons the question, ‘Is reconciliation possible where unity never existed?’ The obvious answer is no. Certainly not outside the church at least.

God is the only source of a reconciliation that works. This reconciliation is possible because God has initiated it. 

In 2 Cor 5:17, we have that well known verse that says, ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here’ Note the very next verse, ‘All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation’. 

True reconciliation is only possible because God makes it possible. He makes it possible by sending his Son into the world to give his life a ransom for many. 

It is this reconciliation that says, it is not what you do for me or what I do for you that brings about oneness unity. It is what Christ has done for both of us. It removes the human element.

The reconciliation that this country is trying to achieve will never be realised outside the church. Conciliation is the only possible outcome. The reconciliation that this country is working towards says, ‘If you do something for me and I do something for you, we can have a relationship.’ However, this is not biblical reconciliation.

Friends, we are called to a biblical model of reconciliation. The model that says, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. A reconciliation that says, its not what you do for me or what I do for you, it’s what Christ has done for both of us.

Sovereignty 

But what about sovereignty? Why is a healthy understanding of the sovereignty of God important in this space? 

The Bible declares that God is the only sovereign and he never gives His sovereignty to anyone. He only gives stewardship and custodianship of His creation to His created humanity. 

Someone once asked the question, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ Friends there are no good people. The only one (Jesus) who was good was crucified, buried, and risen. We are all deserving of God’s wrath. However, He chooses to have mercy on some and not others. 

When we read the Old Testament, we find in the narrative section many events whereby God is exercising his sovereignty. 

For example, Joshua 1:1-5, God says to Joshua, to get ready to go in and occupy the land that he promised to Moses. Note what He says, verse three I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.’ Here the Creator is exercising his sovereignty over his creation. The promises that he made to Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3; Isaac, Genesis 26:1-5; and Jacob, Genesis 28:10- 22, are continuing to be rolled out. Here we see God causing people to be displaced from their lands because of His plan for his created humanity. 

As we look back on the events in the Old Testament, we can see God’s footprint and handiwork all over the narrative. Once we get to the New Testament and we get to the end of the book of Acts we tend to think that God is finished with his creation. My friends, this is not the case. God is still rolling out his plan for his creation. We might not see it as clearly looking forward as we do looking back, but he is continuing to roll out His plan even when we cannot see it, nor understand it. 

Did God ordain Australia to be colonised by the British? Absolutely! If He didn’t, it would not have happened. This is not a popular thought, and I will probably get push back on this from many who cannot see God would ever allow that to happen nevertheless ordain it to happen. 

As was mentioned earlier, nothing, and I mean nothing, happens outside of God’s will. For if it did, God would not be in control nor sovereign. 

Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming referendum, we can be assured that God’s will, will be done and regardless of which side of the debate we sit, we need to be OK with that. 

It is my prayer that we, the church, will not become embroiled in such activities. We need to stay the course when it comes to our core business, that of proclaiming Christ and a reconciliation that works.

The Rev’d Neville Naden,
Bishop’s nominated representative for Bathurst Diocese on NATSAIC
Indigenous Ministry Officer, BCA

02 September 2023

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