From Matthew 26: 1-5)
When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,
'You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.'
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the High Priest Caiaphas, and took counsel together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, 'Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people.
As we continue through Holy Week tonight we interview a Pharisee. And the most common complaint made is that Jesus didn't follow the rules. Oh yes, a touch of blasphemy too. But in the main Jesus set a bad example to the community. Rules, laws, regulations and so on keep us in order and somehow he bent, twisted and reimagined them.
It is said that the Rabbis and others built up law books to cover every possible crime under broad headings. It has always been a sadness of mine to see our own law books grow. I know why and I value its intention but the fact we need one re bullying in the Church saddens me greatly.
We are not a happy go lucky kind of church.
We are Presbyterian which is not a theology or belief system. It is a style of governance. I often say I'm not a true blue Presbyterian. But I never truly knew what I meant by it. Now I do. I'm embarrassed sometimes to be Presbyterian. I genuinely love and value my ministry in the Protestant Church of Scotland that 'eventually' welcomed women into ministry. It's the volume of rules and regulations, policies and protocols that I find a heavy burden. Everything must be authorised in some way, like we protect God, protect the interpretation of Scripture and so on.
I never truly realised that about Presbyterianism. That it is a form of governance. And hear is the beauty of it - we wrote it! Therefore, why can't we rewrite it? Why can't we follow in the footsteps of Jesus and recognise truly the flaws in our
thinking?
'Sabbath is made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath! A gift from God. For example it is not an instruction that worship is only legitimate if it happens on Sundays around 11am (plus other times in the week but only if Sunday happens first). If it doesn't happen the Presbytery clerk must be informed within 3 weeks.
Jesus sent the disciples out to preach the good news and heal the sick. Our disciples must be authorised and only then used in their own church, preferably with supervision or only as a last resort. Pulpit supply should be sought using the official lists…
And don't get me started on extract minutes, formalised (read boring) presbytery reports and the argumentative style of debate in our court system. Lord, have mercy!
Anyone else dreading the Mission Plan hitting the floor of Presbytery? The last time I was unfortunate enough to do that I was told by a Rev I should never lift my face again in Presbytery and that I'd be hated. The irony is 10 yrs or so later the very plan he so cruelly dismissed out of hand has almost arrived.
What bothers me most is that each level of our governance has its own agenda. And the thought another level see it appropriate to humiliate, or bully a lower court for failure to adhere to self-imposed deadlines strikes me as pharisaic and not Christian. Is it not more important to empower and enable? Yes push for change but at what cost? Jesus speaks of easy yokes. He wasn’t presbyterian! Yet because of those now retired having set in motion a plan under resourced we are more in need of Christ.
And maybe, just maybe we need to ask ourselves whether we need to take a stand? Where is our line in the sand? Absolutely, I believe we are
all doing our best. However, at what cost and where, o where is the compassion?
Some could say for change to truly happen, for freedom to be found, for life to be given, death and suffering is necessary. Could it be this is our time to ‘die’ for resurrection to occur? Or do we need to step back and reevaluate?
Easter blessings
Sarah
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