Here’s an extract from a sermon I preached in 2017 at the church of St George the Martyr in North and South Clifton. Sadly, the use of the flag of Saint George to intimidate and incite violent hatred has only got worse since then. Have a good Saint George’s Day and let friendship grow!
Happy Saint George’s Day.
What does St George bring to mind?
When do we see St George’s flag?
It’s not always a good thing because the English flag of St George is sometimes used in pretty negative ways. In 2016, we visited Nottingham Castle. This coincided with a demonstration by the English Defence League. There were plenty of English flags, on show, draped around hostile shoulders. The city was certainly quiet because shops and pubs were closed, shuttered and bolted and what should have been a busy Saturday afternoon was given over to a few angry men who took up police time, cost public money and scared away tourists and shoppers.
It was a living parable of anger and hatred closing life down and keeping people afraid and isolated.
How ironic that the flag of St George should be used to promote such a small world view. It’s ironic as well that the Royal Society of St George was founded in 1894 with the noble object of promoting Englishness and the English way of life. You can only join if you were born in England.
Poor old St George would not be welcome because he was born in Cappadocia, in modern day Turkey. Later he moved to Palestine where he became a Roman Soldier.
He was a Christian, and he protested against Emperor Diocletian’s persecution of Christians. In the year 304 CE, George was imprisoned, tortured and beheaded at Lydda in Palestine. He was the victim of persecution, not the aggressor.
In the 13th century, he became regarded as the special protector of the English. In 1222; April 23rd was named as St George’s Day.
However, we English can’t claim special treatment. George is patron saint of Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice.
He’s Patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry, chivalry, farmers, field workers, riders and saddlers.
He helps those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis.
He is venerated by Muslims as well as Christians.
But of course, what we all know about George is pure legend.
In a town called Silene in Libia, the good people were terrorised by a dragon which they tried to appease by feeding it two sheep a day. When they ran out of sheep, they augmented the food supply with maidens, who were selected by lot. One day, the king’s daughter was chosen, and apparently, she needed to be rescued when other girls didn’t, so along rode George who killed the dragon and rescued the princess.
A good story. What can it teach us? The residents of Silene were paralysed by fear, hope was dissipating and their world was shrinking along with the supply of sheep and maidens.
Feeding the dragon had fed their fears. George confronted that fear and got rid of it. Life opened up again in that town.
We live in an anxious age. War, financial crisis, health scares, immigration, house prices and internet fraud make the headlines and feed our fears.
Fear might control us. We’re in danger of making our world smaller and closing in on ourselves.
Maybe Saint George can help.
George was a professional soldier; he was trained, disciplined and practised. When he encountered a terrorised town, he wasn’t overcome by fear. He put his skills to good use.
So, what skills should we train in and practice?
Maybe skills of friendship, neighbourliness, helping others and generosity. Learning how to open up our world, not close it down.
If this seems scary, remember that feeding our fears just makes things worse.
On St George’s day, for our Turkish, Palestinian saint, let’s celebrate life in all its glorious variety and let’s follow George’s example in looking to Jesus and to others before ourselves.
Wander well,
Mandy.
Wandering Through The Land Of Nod. 
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