We pray: may the words of my mouth and the meditations
of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, our rock and our
sustainer. Amen.
Eight years
ago, almost to the day, I was here at East Taieri church with my family
celebrating, along with 10 others, the end of internship and the beginning of
this new life as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PCANZ. There was a great deal of celebration at the
graduation service, that is for sure, and anticipation - but also a reasonable
dollop of apprehension, the ‘can I do this’ question not far below the surface. I had a parish who had been waiting six
months for me to graduate – I wouldn’t be surprised if Opoho Church had been
going through the same emotions – anticipation with a touch of apprehension,
wise people that they are!
Ministry has
been an incredibly rich journey for me and I wish that same blessing on all of
you who are taking this new step in your ministry journey.
I am guessing
that, as someone who is winding down in ministry, it is my task tonight to
impart some crucial wisdom that will guide you on your way? Practical hints, pitfalls etc. Well don’t hold your breath on that. I would not be so crass as to tell you how I
think you should do it – you have had enough of that I suspect for a while –
but I would be keen to share some thoughts on the wisdom of God in our lives –
on how that shapes and forms the ministry that each one of us is called to.
Our scripture
readings tonight have a very strong parental focus. In Proverbs we are given a loving parent’s
advice on how important it is to gain wisdom and insight as the people of
God. As
my parent has taught me, so I teach you – let your heart hold fast to my words,
keep my commandments and live…… and it is all in the present active
tense. The wisdom of God is not
something we learn at a course and then get signed off on – it is a living
growing challenging companion that will accompany each one of us as we walk in
faith wherever it is that God takes us. At our peril, we are told, let us not forget
wisdom, nor forsake her, for wisdom will keep us and guard us – we are to love
her and spend time with her. Powerful
and sage advice from a father to his children – learn wisdom and insight as the
people of God.
A long time
passed and a child was born – a child who became the Word and dwelt among
us. A child who knew love and fear, who
became a refugee with his parents, who grew up in troubled times and who knew
the call that God had placed on him. We don’t often sit for any time in this youth
period of Jesus life – keen as we are to get to the years of active ministry –
but, tonight especially, it seems appropriate to pause and acknowledge the
preparation that Jesus made for his journey to ministry and beyond. We hear that God’s wisdom was already upon
him at this early stage for Luke’s gospel says that the ‘The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and
the favour of God was upon him.[1]
We come upon him in the temple - he had
stayed behind to learn and listen and question; seeking wisdom, hearing God’s
word, being taught in God’s ways. The
parents were understandably not best pleased to find him missing – but once
they had found him, were amazed at his understanding and his learning. And we are told that Jesus went back to
Nazareth with them, increasing in wisdom and in years, and in divine and
human favour.[2]
So what is this wisdom that Jesus teaches and exemplifies?
If you were prepared to sit here for say a couple of days we might make some
inroads into the depth and breadth of God’s wisdom made known in Jesus Christ –
but let us not do that –instead a couple of thoughts that might resonate for us.
First of all Jesus learned to listen – he listened in the
temple, he listened to the call on his life, he listened to the one who tugged
on his robe and he who spoke to him from the cross beside. He listened and learned from the
Syro-Phoenician woman, he listened to the repentant tax collector. Above all his listened to his Father, his
anchor and his peace: in the midst of the multitudes crowding in on him, when
he was drained from preaching and healings, when he was frustrated with teachings
that seemed to fall on deaf ears, when he was struggling with obedience. He listened, always he listened.
It is certainly one of the first things I learned in
ministry – to zip it. Not all the time –
not physically possible for me – but I found that in the listening to the
stories of the people, both whanau and strangers, I was allowing room for God
to shape the wisdom of response. Vulnerable pastoral encounters, especially,
became experiences of deep nourishment when I learned to let God’s voice take
charge – for the wisdom of Parent, Son and Spirit surpasses
anything I could bring to the table.
So
Jesus learned to listen. But he also learned
to ask questions in his preparation for ministry. Questions that opened up the word, made
people think and ponder the truth of God.
Questions that would encourage discussion and help seek new pathways of
faith together. And whenever he was
asked a question that would shut down the discussion, or be about point
scoring, right and wrong, he simply answered the question he thought they
should have asked. I like that as a child he asked
lots of question as he sought wisdom for the journey – and so we too should
continue to ask questions and not be too perturbed if we can’t find answers to
everything we ask, maybe because we haven’t quite got the question right yet or
perhaps that we aren’t ready to hear the answer Jesus gives us.
A growing and
discerning faith community is one that is continuously seeking the wisdom of
God through teaching and listening and questioning. As we grow and mature and learn as followers
of Jesus, as we teach and as we listen and as we question, may we always seek
the wisdom of God as our truth and as our way in Jesus name. Amen.
I would like to
leave you with a psalm that I have written – although it is about the ending of
my full time ministry, I hope for you it speaks not just of the blessed reality
of the incredible journey that is the ministry of word and sacrament but also that
the discipleship we all live under has no beginning nor ending – it is who we
are in Christ.
It is called A Retiring Offering
There is
nothing new under the sun, say I.
It is just
retirement, people do it all the time.
Why dwell on
it, say I.
You
are unique in my eyes, says God.
It
is a moment on our journey together.
Shall
we honour it together?
It is good to
give thanks, say I:
thank
you for opportunity and trust
thank you for commitment and passion
thank you for learning and growing
thank you for the opening of heart and
mind
thank you for giftings and grace to
endure
thank you for encounters and encouragers.
You
are welcome, says God, for each moment of thanksgiving is a blessing to be
shared.
It is good to
lament, say I:
for
doubt that has paralysed
for opportunities lost
for shallowness of insight
for lack of courage
for failing to trust your promises
for moments lost to memory.
You
are well loved, says God, for each moment of lament binds us more closely
together.
It is good to
celebrate, say I:
the friendships and the companions
the achievements and the failures that
were steps on the way
the laughter and tears of
relationship
the shaping and refining
the ah-ha moments
the family alongside on the journey.
You
are the celebration, says God, for each moment of love, grace and truth is a
light to the world.
Shall
we continue on our way, says God?
I am looking
forward to the journey yet to come, say I.
I
hope you are as excited as I am, says God.
I pray so, for there is much yet to do……
Margaret Garland
No comments:
Post a Comment