The following is part of a sermon preached by Abp Rowan Williams at a recent induction in Bradford

Our Reading from the Gospel of Luke gives The Nazareth Manifesto.

You will remember that He came to His hometown of Nazareth and to the Church to great acclaim. “All spoke well of him and were amazed of the gracious words that came from his mouth.” Jesus got the sort of reception that every incoming Rector coverts from his new Parish!

But the story of Jesus returning to his hometown is instructive. Because the warmth of the welcome soon disappears and the toast of the party soon becomes an object of hate and focus of synagogue rage. What on earth was it that turned the people against Jesus and so very quickly? Why did they so decisively reject the prophet whom they had so enthusiastically welcomed?

It is Jesus who is the author of the famous saying “A prophet is without honour in his own country.” The truth is that everybody loves a prophet until they hear what he has to say! The church itself enthuses righteously about the need to speak and act prophetically. But the moment anybody begins to do such a thing the majority run for cover! In Jesus’ case they were even more sinister – they tried to kill him. What did he say that was so offensive?

The mood changed when Jesus began to tell them that God loved those who lay beyond the walls of their own community. The people loved Jesus until he started to talk about the foreigners and how God loved them too. The wealthy loved Jesus until he starts to talk about the loving the poor. The whites loved Jesus until he starts talking about loving the blacks. The blacks loved Jesus until he starts to talk about loving the Asians. The world loves Jesus until he starts to talk about caring for the environment for future generations. The citizens loved Jesus until he starts to talk about loving the asylum seeker.

We all love Jesus when he gives us what we want. The sticking point comes when Jesus challenges us to reach out to those on the edge, to those beyond the boundaries of our own community and self interest.

…Although you come to this City with all the privileged opportunities of the Rector, with all the access to people in positions of power and influence you must never forget that to follow in the footsteps of Jesus means to walk the edge and to speak prophetically not least about the poor, the least, the last and the lost. More and more do I come to see that one of the unique pieces of ground which the church inhabits is that no man’s land between the privileged and the poor. With two hands we are able to hold together the powerful and the powerless and to mediate between the two. That is the role of the prophet to interpret the one to the other. It does not always make for easy listening!

The church is called to be prophetic both as a community and through its individual Ministers who are anointed for such a task. The ministry of Christians in the city to asylum seekers is a case in point. In this city Christians are responding pastorally to the needs of those asylum seekers who are being made destitute by Sections 55 and 57 of the Nationality Act. Christians are also speaking out prophetically against these Sections calling on the Government to act humanely especially given the plight of Iraqi refugees over 100 of which are destitute in this city tonight. Surely the current conflict and the hopes that Iraq might be led into the path of democracy and peace we should be treating these refugees as compassionately as possible so that we might set a good example which they can in turn take back to their own country.

As Jesus found in Nazareth prophets are not always popular people. Yet we need prophets today.

We have focus groups that but where are the prophets? We have spin-doctors but where are the prophets? We have pollsters but where are the prophets? We have image consultants but where are the prophets? We have politicians and church leaders but where are the prophets?

As Jesus showed, the prophet has to endure the changing mood of the crowd, the rage of the mob to protect their own interests. Who has the courage for that sort of mission?

Kier Hardy one of the founders of the Labour Movement wrote words strangely powerful and relevant 100 years ago, “The outcast in his lonely broodings and his fits of remorse will get nearer to the heart of God than will those who observe all the rites of Christianity but are strangers to its spirit.”

The blessing that comes to us through standing with the poor is not derived from some self-righteous satisfaction of having done good. Rather, it is because in standing with the outcast and the poor we come dangerously and safely close to Christ Himself who said “In as much as you have done to the least of these my brothers and sisters you have done it to me.” This is the doing of God’s Will on earth as it is done in heaven. This is our mission: the earthing of heaven. This is the truly prophetic voice.