Readings: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-31, 35-42
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.
Paul, called to be
an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, …
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ….. I give thanks to my God always for you.[1]
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ….. I give thanks to my God always for you.[1]
I give thanks to
my God always for you. How tempting to
stop there. For what more does one say
at this almost time of parting; when a ministry is completed, when there will
be, by definition, some adjustments, some new ways into how we live our faith
in this place? And what does it mean to follow Christ in times of change and
how can we use this moment as opportunity to grow, to find the good and the
encouraging in the midst of the farewells and, let’s face it, the odd tear?
Imagine for a
moment the fishermen that Jesus called to follow him. Even though they were people of faith, attending
the Synagogue, reading scripture, believing in God, there came this abrupt and
momentous change in their lives when Jesus appeared among them calling for them
to follow. They left all that they knew
to explore their faith in the company of man called Jesus. And we need to
remember that they left important parts of their lives behind: family, work
that supported that family, everything known, everything familiar to come and
see where Jesus would lead them. For
them the change was really radical, for us this change is expected and accepted
as the ebb and flow of parish life.
But for all that, it
is helpful to recognise and use this time of transition to pause and reflect on
what has been in order to learn, to grow, to better equip ourselves for the
future!
So here are some
thoughts from the last few years, drawn out of the words Paul wrote to the
Corinthians about strength and grace, of peace and gifts.
One thing that has
stood out for me over this ministry has been the absolute importance of making
this a safe place for all people. Not
safe in the sense of shutting out all that disturbs us but safe for us to be
able to explore, be on the edges for a while until we are ready to move closer
(or not), to re-engage with our faith, our God without being cornered. You would have heard me say more than once of
a person who came tentatively to a service, first time back in any church in a
long time (no surprise that they sat close to the exit door), just waiting for
a repeat experience of the judgement and bias that drove them away – and it
didn’t happen. This is a place of love in
action, where thoughtful words, unconditional welcome, listening without
presumption are touches of healing and peace.
May you continue to be a people
and a church where God is allowed to be who God needs to be to each of you and
to all of you.
Another big thing
is your engagement – with ideas, with people, with issues, with community, with
determinedly walking in the way of Christ.
It blew me away when I arrived to discover that more than three people
would turn up to anything outside Sunday morning service! You are a family of thinkers, carers,
workers, writers, players, laughter makers.
You have questioners, ponderers, peace makers and healers. You have founts of wisdom, listeners,
talkers, organisers, creators of new things.
You are blessed, we are blessed.
Yet in the midst
of all of this richness, we remind ourselves of the basics of being loving
community in the way of Jesus. We think
anew what it means to truly be a welcoming place – that no-one would stand
alone, un-greeted, un-welcomed; that no-one would be turned away or made to
feel uncomfortable, that each one of us would know ourselves responsible for
this thing we call ‘the hospitality of Jesus’; each one of us to lift our eyes
and see where our ear, our smile, our touch is needed. Here at worship, in our
church, in our homes, in our workplace, in our community – always looking to
where the grace of God, having been given to us in Jesus Christ, is being made
known in our word and action.
It’s all too easy
to leave it to someone else, tell ourselves we are not good at this, worry that
we won’t know what to do or say – but I say; do it anyway, say it anyway,
remembering that we are not doing this alone, but in the loving guidance of God
with us. Remember last week’s story:
‘Don’t ask me to …..’ says the reluctant disciple. ‘Oh but I will’ replies Jesus.
Whether it be the
greeting of and getting to know new people at church (just not all at once
please) to the phone call or popping in to those who are alone, to being aware
of others needs over yours, to accepting and asking when you need help, may the
strength of Jesus Christ be among you all as you care for each other.
And then there is
the place of relationship in our journey as a faith community and as a people
of God. We are different because we have
known Jesus. We are set apart to live
out our faith in relationship with God and each other in a certain way. We are more than an interesting club with
Jesus as our logo. We are bound, in all
our wonderful diversity, as one people, walking a broad path of love, justice,
mercy, grace. We are covenanted to following
a man whose wisdom made the way of the world seem foolish, who compassion for
the least and the lost turned our hearts and our heads to a new and better way,
who pursued relationship with the least and the lost, the challenging and the quarrelsome.
That is our path
to follow but, much as some rather loud voices in our world would like to claim
it so, we don’t know it all, nor do we get it right all the time.
For it is a difficult
journey asking much of us. We certainly don’t get it ‘right’ all the time in
our relationships, we still find some people difficult to get on with, don’t
understand their point of view or their approach, others get right up our noses
at times, yet others are so easy to get on with we create a zone of exclusion. All
very normal human traits but, as the people of God, we yearn for and choose to work
a new and better way: for kindness, justice, respect, love to be woven in to
each word and action even when it is hard to do. We must learn to trust each other’s good
intentions and seek ways of understanding each other, even when it might mean
difficult truths – because this community is sacred, this community is, in
Jesus name, the living embodiment of a love that transforms not just us and but
also the world. May you continue to be
grace and peace to each other and may your relationships grow in strength, in
trust, in hope and in love, in Jesus name.
And finally we
have those words from the Gospel reading.
‘Come and see’ says Jesus when the disciples ask where he is
staying. ‘Come and see….’
Come with me and
you will see ….what? Those first
disciples hadn’t clue – yet they went with him.
They had no strategic plan for convincing the world that this was the
Messiah, yet they believed in him. They
had sorrow at leaving and excitement at what was to come. They had hope for the future, because they
trusted in Jesus to guide them to the promised land and be with them in all
that they encountered. May you - and I -
be excited by the invitation to ‘come and see’ where it is Christ is leading us
in our futures.
.
To the church of
God that is in Opoho, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be
saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…..
I give thanks to my God always for you.[2]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…..
I give thanks to my God always for you.[2]
Amen.
Margaret Garland
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