Archbishop Stephen was invited to preach at St Andrew’s Church, Ramallah on Sunday 9 November 2025. His sermon follows in full

From the book of Job, chapter 19 and verse 25: I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last, after my skin has been destroyed. In my flesh, I will see God. And in St Luke’s Gospel Jesus brings us very good news. He says that God is the God, not of the dead, but of the living. And in our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he says this, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught.

It is a joy to be with you this morning. I bring you greetings from your sisters and brothers in the Church of England.  We come to stand alongside you in solidarity, our hearts cry out to God, for peace and justice in this land, and we are full of admiration and joy that you stand firm in the Lord. And our readings this morning are about joy in the resurrection, but perseverance in the faith.

And just yesterday afternoon, with the colleagues who have joined me, my wife, Rebecca, and various other friends from England, we got a small taste of what you have to live with every day. We were visiting a community in the occupied West Bank and the Palestinian Muslim family welcomed us into their home.  We were just about to sit down when we heard that the police and local militia who had been following us around all afternoon were now requiring us to move on.

As we left the home, the mother came out with a beautiful tray of breads and cakes that she had made for us. She had made them with one hand, because the other hand was so bruised from a beating she had received from settlers that she could only now use one hand. These breads and cakes were so beautiful, they were still warm, they had just come out of the oven, but we weren’t allowed to sit and eat with her. Just this simple act of kindness and hospitality was not allowed.

I imagined that maybe – do you remember the story in Luke’s Gospel of the Supper at Emmaus? On the first Easter Day, can you imagine that Cleopas and his companion invite Jesus to come and sit and eat with them. And just as they are about to sit down and eat, the police come in and say to Jesus, no, you cannot sit and eat with these people, you must leave. Sisters and brothers, I can hardly imagine what it is like for you here to live with these things every day, but with you, I want to cry out to God, this is not how it is meant to be. And with the apostle Paul, I want to encourage you to stand firm in the faith.

Indeed, in the first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul says it is the breath of life to us to know that you stand firm in the faith. So we are here to be alongside you, we are here to show solidarity with you. We are here to tell you that the Church of England and the Anglican Communion has not forgotten you. We are sorry that that has not always been the case.  We are sorry that we were slow to raise our voice in support of Palestine and the Palestinian people.  But we are here to listen to you, to learn from you  and then we will tell these stories when we get home. Because there can be no peace without justice.

Peace is not a ceasefire, peace is not the silence after the guns have finished firing. Peace requires justice, and as followers of Jesus Christ, peace requires reconciliation, where we honour one another, and where we allow each community and each person to flourish. It has been so moving just to welcome little Dina to church for the first time.  But we want Dina to grow up and be able to flourish, and all the children of Palestine, to build a different future, to build the future that we see in Jesus Christ. Because Jesus shows us how to be human. Jesus shows us what human beings are meant to be.  We are meant to be kind, we are meant to be generous, we are meant to be hospitable, and we are meant to be those who are committed to making peace. Indeed Jesus, says blessed are the peacemakers, because they are children of God. So when we hunger and thirst for what is right, when we seek the peace of God, we are most like the children of God.

So let me ask you a question, and you’re welcome to shout out the answer if you know it.
Father Fadi knows the answer, so I won’t embarrass him. So here’s the question, what did the risen Jesus first say? What were Jesus’s first words on the first Easter day?

Peace be upon you? It’s a very good answer. But no. Anybody else want to have a guess? The first words that Jesus spoke on the first Easter day.

Do not be afraid? A very good answer, but wrong. Anybody else want to have a guess. I’ll tell you. First of all, don’t look at your Bible. First of all, it depends which gospel you read.

So in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is not reported as saying anything. In Matthew’s gospel, he does say, Peace be with you. In Luke’s gospel, he doesn’t speak until the evening, and he says, What are you discussing as you walk along? To Cleopas. But in John’s gospel, we have the earliest account of the resurrection of Jesus. And in John’s gospel, the story begins by John saying very early in the morning, while it was still dark. Sisters and brothers, we need to persevere in the faith. We need to persevere in the face of suffering, we need to persevere in the face of persecution, we need to persevere against injustice. St John tells us that the whole Christian story is like a battle between light and darkness. Therefore, in the Bible, all the really important things happen in the night. Jesus is born in the night. When Jesus dies upon the cross, we are told there was darkness over the land. And even the resurrection happens in the night. Jesus rises from the dead in the darkness of the night. He is the true light of the world. He is the one in whom we find hope. He is the one who can help us persevere in our faith.  

So Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb while it is dark and she finds the tomb empty. She goes into the tomb, she comes out of the tomb. She runs to get the disciples. The disciples run to the tomb. They go into the tomb, they come out of the tomb, they’re men, they’re running around like, you know, not doing much good, just running around. Mary waits. Mary stands in the dawning light of the first Easter day. She sees someone who she thinks is the gardener. Actually it is the gardener. Jesus is the new Adam tending to a new creation.

And then he speaks to her and the first words he says are, does anybody remember them now? 
‘Don’t touch me’? ‘Why are you looking for …’?
No. Why is it we forget these words?
Father Fadi obviously knows them, so we’re not going to ask him.

The first thing that Jesus says is Why are you weeping? Why are you weeping?

And I think it is so beautiful that the first thing that Jesus says on the first Easter day is he reaches out to our sorrow. Why are you weeping? What is the sorrow in your heart? How can I be alongside you and reach out to you in your sorrow? And then he says, Who are you looking for? Who are you going to follow? And then when Jesus says her name Mary, she recognises him.

Dear sisters and brothers, we are here to say to you, tell us why you are weeping. Tell us your sorrows because we wish to be alongside you. We see Jesus in you, and your faith gives us great heart.  And we promise that we will tell your story and we will do what we can to faithfully follow Jesus and build His kingdom of justice and peace in our world and here in Palestine. Dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast in the Lord.