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Today is Safeguarding Sunday. It’s a day to remember that defending the rights of the vulnerable is integral to Christian faith and teaching. It’s a day when the Church pauses to do two things that should always walk hand in hand: to lament where harm has been done, and to recommit ourselves to being places of safety, truth, and healing.

And our readings today are not gentle. They don’t offer us cheap comfort or soft words. Instead, they speak honestly about judgment, accountability, upheaval, and hope. And this is exactly what safeguarding requires of us: truthfulness about what has gone wrong, and courage to rebuild what is right.

Compromised

In our first reading, the prophet Malachi is addressing a people whose moral and spiritual life has become compromised. Religious leaders have failed. The vulnerable have been neglected. The community’s worship has become detached from righteousness. Into that reality Malachi speaks a fierce promise: “The day is coming, burning like an oven… but for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”

This is not a threat. It is a hope: a hope that God will burn away injustice, will expose what has been hidden, and will make space for healing to take root.

For many who have survived abuse or neglect – especially abuse perpetrated by a church or within a church – the language of fire can feel painfully apt. It names the destruction that wrongdoing causes. It names the heat of trauma, the burn of betrayal.

But Malachi’s point is this: God does not allow harm to have the final word. God acts. God exposes. God restores. And God’s judgment is not destructive toward victims – it is healing, like the rising sun warming the cold and burnt places of the heart.

On Safeguarding Sunday, Malachi reminds us of three truths: God sees what is done in darkness. God stands with the harmed, not the powerful. And God’s desire is not simply to punish wrongdoing but to protect, to heal, and to renew. Safeguarding began in the heart of God long before it became a policy in the Church or in places of work.

Shaken awake

Psalm 98 is a psalm full of noise – joyful noise, loud praise, a world shaken awake with music. But notice why creation is singing: “For the Lord comes to judge the earth; he will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.”

In Scripture, judgment is not primarily about condemnation – it is about making things right. It is God choosing the side of the vulnerable. It is God holding perpetrators accountable. It is God restoring dignity to those who have suffered.

That is why the rivers clap their hands and the hills sing for joy – not because judgment is frightening, but because judgment is good news for those who have been wronged.

On Safeguarding Sunday, this psalm invites us to ask: Do we rejoice in the work of justice? Do we believe God’s concern for the harmed is so deep that all creation sings when God acts? And can our churches model this kind of joy-filled commitment to protection, truth, and fairness?

Psalm 98 places safeguarding in the context of worship. God is praised not simply for being powerful or loving, but for being just. A church that sings this psalm with integrity is a church that says: “We welcome the light that exposes harm, because God’s justice is our joy.”

Don’t be dazzled

In Luke’s Gospel, the disciples marvel at the beauty of the Temple, its stones and decorations. And Jesus responds with a sobering warning: “The days will come when not one stone will be left upon another.” He is saying: “Don’t be dazzled by structures, systems, institutions. They are not the measure of faithfulness.”

For a church reflecting on safeguarding failures, that warning hits hard. Jesus refuses to let us hide behind the grandeur of our buildings, our traditions, our good intentions. He asks us to choose truth over image, integrity over reputation.

Then Jesus speaks of turmoil – wars, earthquakes, betrayal. And he promises that his followers will not be spared difficulty. But he gives two commands that are essential to safeguarding:

Firstly, stay awake. Not awake in fear, but awake in discernment. Safeguarding is never a one-time action – it is a constant posture of alertness, humility, attention to power, attention to silence, attention to what is uncomfortable. Jesus calls the Church to wakefulness because harm often grows in places where people are spiritually asleep.

Secondly, do not be afraid. Jesus does not say, “There will be no danger.” He says, “In danger, I will not leave you.” For survivors, this promise matters. For those committed to safeguarding, it matters too. Jesus walks with the truth-tellers, the protectors, the ones who stand against abuse even when it is costly.

And then Jesus adds: “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” Safeguarding is endurance work: ongoing, imperfect, sometimes exhausting, always vital. It is part of discipleship. Part of faithfulness. Part of taking up our cross.

Gospel imperative

Taken together, these three readings give us a profoundly biblical view of safeguarding. From Malachi, we learn that God’s heart burns for justice and breaks for the wounded. From Psalm 98, we learn that God’s judgment is a cause for joy because it restores what has been lost. From Luke, we learn that safeguarding is a form of discipleship grounded in truth, endurance, and courageous love.

Safeguarding is not a bureaucratic requirement. It is a gospel imperative. It is what happens wherever God’s people take seriously: the protection of children, the honouring of the vulnerable, the listening to survivors, the rejection of secrecy, the transformation of power, and the creation of a community where every person can flourish without fear.

Safeguarding is not a distraction from mission; it is mission. It is what it looks like to welcome Christ, the true Sun of Righteousness, into our churches and our lives.

So what?

So, what does this mean for us as a church today? Well, we must be a place of honest light. Not defensive. Not protective of reputation. Not afraid to name past failures. God’s light is not harsh. It is healing light – light with wings.

We must be a place where survivors are listened to, believed, and supported. This is at the heart of God’s work. And it is at the heart of Jesus’ ministry, who always centred those pushed to the edges.

We must be a place of humility. Jesus warns that even the most impressive stones can fall. We cannot assume, “It could never happen here.” Instead, we say, “We will do whatever we can to ensure this is a place of safety.”

We must be a people of endurance. Safeguarding is not solved by one on-line training session, one special Sunday like this one, one policy review. It is slow, faithful, sometimes unseen work. But Jesus calls endurance ‘holy’.

But importantly, we must also keep joy alive. Psalm 98 reminds us that the pursuit of justice is ultimately joyful. We do this work not only because harm has happened, but because goodness is worth protecting.

Fragile

Malachi ends with hope so gentle it almost feels fragile: “The sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.” God’s justice is not cold. God’s truth is not cruel. God’s light is not violent. It is the rising sun – the warmth that thaws the frozen, the light that reveals the path, the dawn that says, “There is a future, and it is full of healing.”

On this Safeguarding Sunday, we place ourselves, as individuals and as a church, beneath those healing wings.

We ask God to make us diligent. We ask God to make us compassionate. We ask God to make us brave. We ask God to make us true. We ask God to make this a place where every child, every adult, every vulnerable person, every survivor, every soul finds safety, dignity, and hope. And we trust that the God who judges with righteousness and comes with healing will not leave us to do this work alone.

We’ll finish with a blessing:

May the God who brings light
to what has been hidden
shine gently upon you.

May the Christ who heals
the wounded and the weary
wrap you in courage and peace.

May the Spirit who guards
the vulnerable and the small
guide your watching,
steady your steps,
and keep you faithful in love.

And may the Sun of Righteousness
rise over you with healing—
today, and all your days. Amen

‘Healing Wings, Honest Watchfulness’ was delivered by Ian Banks at St John and St Mark on 16th November 2025, Safeguarding Sunday. It was based on Malachi 4:1-2a, Psalm 98 and Luke 21:5-19

Reference:

https://safeguardingsunday.org