Who Do You Say I Am—in England?

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM--IN ENGLAND?

A teaching assistant accused of looting. An 11 year old girl appears in court and admits breaking windows in Nottingham. Teenagers appear before Magistrates with no parent in attendance. Magistrates ask, "Where are their parents?" Two girls interviewed by the BBC at 9.30 a.m. in the morning, drinking Rosé wine stolen from a shop the night before. They say, "It's about showing the police and the rich people that we can do what we want." In Gloucester Park the Fire Brigade are pelted with missiles whilst putting out a fire -- and people ask, "Why is this happening? What's wrong?"

A BBC website offered up 10 reasons: Welfare dependence, Social exclusion, Lack of Fathers, Spending cuts, Weak Policing, Racism, Gangsta Rap, Consumerism, Opportunism and Social Networking.

David Cameron tells parliament about "deep moral failures" in our country, and I want to say, "The one under-lying reason for this week's riots is Sin; and sin is humanity's rejection of God. It's because men, women and children have forgotten who they are, and it's because we have forgotten who God is. It is because human-kind does not know the answer to the question that Jesus asks: "Who do you say I am?"

(From a sermon by Warner Pidgeon, Have you forgotten who you are? 8/12/2011)