Should the Church embrace death and suffering?

Edited sermon from Sunday 18th March asking the question whether the Church should be willing to embrace death and suffering.  Built on the fact that Jesus did and death was not the end.  Continuing reflection on God’s Church.

23 Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
John 12:23-26
As you look back on your life I wonder what you see, feel, remember.  Recent losses and troubles may colour your perspective a little and it can be hard to push back.  But as you cast your mind back, and allow yourself, just for a moment to view the spectrum of your life with all its ups and downs, its bright colours of happiness and joy, muted colours of sorrow and trouble what is the overriding feeling?  As you remember the people – the boyfriends and girlfriends who broke your heart in school and it felt like the end of the world, your children as they chased each other round the house yelling, the year the Christmas turkey landed on the floor when being lifted out of the oven, the wedding day, the promotion at work, the day you bought your house, the person who led you down a dangerous path, the criminal who broke your life somehow, the friends who helped you love yourself, the bullies who tried to crush you…so much life.

Life is not just something that happens to us, life is something that happens within us and through us.  Our actions impact not just on us, but on those around us. The very fact that we exist changes the very fabric of the world.  We might feel insignificant – about all there are billions of people in the world.  And in the billions of people who have ever been we have Jesus.  Born in a stable to teenagers, in a little country in the Middle East, with no wealth, no social media, no printing presses or Rupert Murdochs.  Insignificant yet not.

Jesus was an ordinary person, with admittedly extraordinary parenthood.  He was relatively popular amongst his own kind, and still people wanted to introduce others to him. The Greeks that had arrived in the run up to the Passover couldn’t fully participate because they weren’t fully converted to Judaism but they were open to God.  And Jesus, in the way he does so wonderfully, takes this request and sees it as the divine sign that the time is now.  Although Jesus had some interactions with Gentiles, the majority of his mission had been with Jewish people.  This request from the Greeks shows that the message of God was spreading, and Jesus knew he would be lifted up and draw all people to him.

When we study the story of Jesus in the Gospels we see plenty of opportunities for Jesus to take different paths.  In today’s story he could have gone and met with the Greeks and perhaps started something there.  Instead he chose to embrace death and suffering.

It was a conscious decision to embrace death and suffering. This is not a path we are programmed to embrace.  If anything we avoid it or circumvent it.  How many movies and stories are written about the elusive fountain of youth?  How much has the legal institution grown through the compensation market where we get restitution for everything – including train delays of more than 30minutes.  Imagine if the broken down vehicle or the driver who caused a traffic jam on the M8 had to pay compensation to all drivers caught up in that…we’d all drive a lot more carefully! We don’t like suffering and if we have to suffer, someone else has to pay.

Jesus embraced death and suffering as part of life.  And we know that he didn’t do it with a devil may care attitude.  He wasn’t suicidal.  He wasn’t an idiot.  He wanted to live. He had the same innate desire that the majority of us have – he wanted to live.

Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”?

The author of Hebrews writes:

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered  and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him  and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

The key element of this passage is the recognition given that Jesus wept, suffered, pleaded and yet remained obedient despite everything. And because Jesus remained faithful, eternal salvation is for all who will look up and acknowledge him.  We can look at Jesus and think what he did was easy for him.  But it wasn’t.  And you know what that should encourage us.  We should be able to look at that and draw strength.  Embracing death and suffering is not easy and it shouldn’t be easy.  But sometimes it is necessary.

We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus gave.
No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!’

The church often behaves as if it should be protected somehow from death and suffering.  And I am not talking about the literal death of loved ones, although we need to do more talking about that sometime.  I am talking about the wilderness period that the Church finds herself in.  We shy away from it and go off to talk to the Greeks about the love of God. We can keep doing what we are doing and we might find an equivalent to the Greeks, but what if like Jesus we need to see the bigger picture.  It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t care for the Greeks and certainly they were open to knowing God.  And it would have been new territory for Jesus but it wasn’t enough.

Jesus draws people to him.  Jesus says he will draw all people to him. People will come because they want too.  They are intrigued, they are curious, they are open and they come because they see something in Jesus that calls out to them.  Is that why there is so much faith outside the church?  Jesus does continue to draw people to him, but when they come to Church what version of Jesus do they find?  A welcoming Jesus, a hostile Jesus, a bland Jesus, a powerless or a powerful Jesus, or dare I say it – will they even find Jesus?

Stay with me.  What if we see death not as a final destination but actually a valuable part of the circle of life, even for the Church? What if, instead of pursuing the fountain of youth, we actually allowed death to happen?  Jesus trusted God his Father and boy, it was hard.  It was a dark time but was it worth it?  Absolutely. What if we need to let go and allow death to happen in the Church?  What would it mean for us?  What could it mean for us?
It’s a brave new world!

I don’t think I know the answer but Jesus took that lonely walk to the cross, knowing that God his Father was the primary mover. He believed that God had a purpose for him and enough faith to get through the suffering and ultimately death.  And we know that the reward was worth it both for him and us.  For Jesus to be able to continue on the path he had to pray, he had to stay in close communion with his Father and he had to have faith that God knew what he was doing.

Does the Church have the willingness to lay it all on the line and embrace death and suffering for the glory of God?  Or are we fighting death with every breath we have? Are we drawing up plans that fit the model of management this world understands?  Are we fighting to survive or are we willing to glorify God whatever the cost? What if we are so stuck on the ‘Greeks’ that we are missing the bigger picture?

Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.  We are the bride of Christ, and we are promised a new heaven and a new earth.  We are held by the God who created the world, who loves us so much that he found a way to reconnect us with him, but until the final consummation of that we walk in a damaged and hurting world.  Yet we are the one people who shouldn’t fear death or even suffering.

Perhaps, instead of chasing our tails, we need to stop doing what we are doing and start what we should be doing.  Perhaps we need to let death happen, and trust God to bring life.  Now I am not advocating that we shut the doors here or that we dress in black and mourn the death of the Church like the Victorians. What if death meant that the Minister was a leader not a manager?  What if death meant that instead of trying to keep three congregations in Blantyre, we simply worked together to keep the church in Blantyre?  What if death meant that worship on a Sunday morning was less about the minister and more about all age participation?  What if re-birth meant we walked the streets of our parish every week, praying with people in the street, or getting involved with local activist groups or helping the primary school rebuild their garden?  What if death meant a fresh start, a Spirit-filled experience?

What if we took the time to really think and pray, to dream and to grow?  Jesus spoke of death not as a final destination but as a new beginning.  Whenever he spoke of his death he spoke of life almost in the same breath.  I will die but three days later I will rise again.  The seeds are planted in the ground and they grow and become fruit full of seeds.  What if we were willing to serve Jesus even if meant that embracing death and suffering?

However, we must keep our eyes on the prize – to receive the crown of life.  We don’t do this for nothing nor for personal gain.  Through our faith, through our life, through our example we can see the fruit of the Spirit blossom in our homes, in our churches, in our work places, in our schools, in our communities and even in our world.  That is our reward.

But we are not going to push through the wall if we don’t push through together, knowing that ultimately Jesus right in the midst of it pushing with us.  Like a seed striving for the light, pushing through the dark soil, let us be the Church of God’s people, willing to push and strive, that all people get the opportunity to be drawn to Christ.

Hitting the Wall- Give in or Push Through

This is a slightly edited version of the sermon preached in Blantyre Old on 11th March 2018, using readings from Numbers 21 and John 3.  It left many pondering and reflecting, even one who wanted me to cheer up!  It is not all doom and gloom because God is present in the wilderness and at the oasis.  Thanks for reading and may God bless you and yours. (PS this is twice the length of my average sermon!)

To be honest I am not sure where to start this week.  These past few weeks have been really challenging for me and I am currently in turmoil.  And the passages today, as we spin ever faster towards Holy Week leave me wondering if we have forgotten who we are about.  Are we like those Israelites in the desert moaning and complaining, wishing we had stayed in a place where conditions were pretty horrible but somehow better than where we are?

They had escaped extreme poverty and bullying, being slave labour under a Pharaoh who was getting crueller by the day.  But the trek to the promised land was proving long and difficult.  They weren’t interested in what lay ahead but caught up in the misery of the moment, and were looking back with rose tinted glasses.  They became inward looking, focussing on all what was wrong and missing the fact they were free.  Of course, the journey was hard, the food repetitive and the circumstances somewhat less than ideal.  They had run out of patience  and weren’t willing to spend time in the desert, roughing it.

I wonder if the Church is in the wilderness, roughing it having escaped the heady days of forced attendance and participation where belonging to the Church, especially as an Elder, could help land that decent job.  We remember days of Sunday Clubs numbering in the 100s but forget that in the main church for children was super boring.  We remember days of young women’s clubs in a generation where often the escape to a church women’s group was the only escape in a hard life of housewife and child rearer.  We remember days when churches were full but faith was not necessarily the reason.  Of course, there were good people in the Church, just as I am sure there were Egyptian leaders who were good and kind as well.  But from around 1963, and to a certain extent even earlier after the Second World War, Christianity began its downward spiral.  People became more confident in themselves and turned their back on the Church.  Arguably, a lot of people didn’t turn their back on God but on the Church, and a more recent study called the Invisible Church suggests there is still a high proportion of people who have faith in God but not part of the Church.

The Israelites spent a long time in the wilderness, around 40 years.  Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness and the Church is naïve if she thinks she won’t spend time there.  But we can chose how we embrace the wilderness experience.  We can be like the Israelites and moan and complain.  We can look back and only see the good, filtering out the negative – kind of like we do when we speak about the dead.  We can turn it all on God – why have you abandoned your Church Lord?  Why are we flailing around in the dark?

Yet perhaps we need a wake up call.  It makes uncomfortable reading that God sent the snakes into the camp.  I want to push back against it and yet I am called to trust in God’s sovereignty.

My children don’t like it when I punish them, and I sure didn’t like being punished as a child.  There are punishments I will never forget, which by today’s standards would be totally deemed inappropriate yet even 30 years ago weren’t.  Some of you will even know what it felt like to have the belt or the ruler over the knuckles.  And remember the phrase ‘wash your mouth out with soap’ – I know that one.  Jessica read that as I typed it and was totally disgusted!  Understandably but back then…

So we have to take everything in context – the Israelites were being particularly obnoxious and ungrateful to their God, even if we can sympathise with their circumstances.  However, God doesn’t leave them wallowing in their pain and suffering, but comes with forgiveness.  It requires Moses to make the bronze snake and the people have to make a conscious decision to look up at it.  The Israelites could choose to be stubborn and remain downcast and not look, or to look up and be healed.  In the story we see a forerunner to Jesus, but Jesus comes not just for the Israelites but for the whole world.

The whole world – I love this.  Our God comes not just for Jews or for the Romans or for British people or white people – but for the whole world. And if there is any verse that your average Christian or RE pupil might know – it would be the one ‘for God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son that whosoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life.’

My concern is that we have, in the western world in particular, deemed that God is for the people in the Church only.  We measure the success of a congregation by the number in our pews on a Sunday morning.  We measure success through our financial ability to pay our way.  What we do meets the needs of people already in the Church and limits anything that means taking risks, spending money or doing things differently.   Suddenly God loving the world becomes much smaller in our understanding and the Church turns inward.

We need to remember that God’s church is thriving in the majority of the world and the exception to that is the Western world.  The secular movement or humanist movement is fast taking over the western world, and with that comes reluctance to submit to any sovereignty or authority.  If we are truly honest with ourselves, the majority of the public put up with public figures such as politicians as long as they are not interfering too much in their day to day life.    Yet one of the fastest growing social groups at the moment is Slimming World – and people will go faithfully week by week and any time of the day, following a way of life that is collaborative, collegiate and requires accountability.  If they can’t make their regular meeting, they will go to another session, even looking up one up in a town they might be on holiday in.   Even long after a person has met their target weight they will continue to attend.  Someone even kind of apologised to me for joining it because she knows I can’t align with their understanding of food.

Now Slimming World may come and go but it will arise again in another guise, for it follows on the back of Rosemary Conley and Weight Watchers.  And perhaps, from that we can take comfort that the Church may be different but the underlying message will be the same, for the message of the Gospel is timeless.

But where these weight based agencies have grown and changed over the years, the Church could be accused of stagnating.  We have hit a wall.  I have hit the wall. How does the Church engage in a world that has moved on and the Church is still behaving like it is the 19th Century?  In 2015 I was included in the statistic of the Church of Scotland that said 4.8% of ministers were under the age of 40. I have moved into the next category but in 2015 just slightly less that 18% of ministers were under 50.  So guess where the other 75% is found?

If God truly loves the world then I believe that has to include our growing secular, atheist, agnostic, humanist culture.  But how are we going to reach them, and how are we going to reach them if we ourselves can’t commit to God?  How can we preach a message about God’s love if we don’t truly believe that God loves us?  People are not converted through words but through our actions, our presence, our energies in making God’s kingdom apparent here. Yet we say that Church doesn’t need us.  God doesn’t mind if we don’t get involved with the Church, and we can spout many a good reason, especially as the world gets busier and busier.  But we are so programmed to have Church on a Sunday morning that to not have it would require notifying Presbytery.  The most successful service time at the moment is a Saturday evening, when a number of the Catholic Churches in the area hold a service.  Their services are numbering in the region of 200 – is the worship any less on a Saturday night than on a Sunday morning? Sunday morning worship still happens, but there is a choice.

However, the problem I am struggling with, and I see replicated across the Church of Scotland is that we are not embracing alternatives.  With the few exceptions up and down the land we are stuck in a rut.  Regardless of what I offer here, the uptake is so low.  Messy Church is excellent but to be honest it is failing at reaching new people.  With the exception perhaps of three families who are not already connected with Sunday Church currently it is having a limited appeal, and we are no where near measuring up to other local Messy Churches.   Pancake Praise was a bust – people resorted to phoning people to come to that.  And even our support of Sanctus has dwindled to the sacred few so much so one minister wondered if we should continue with it.

And so I have hit a wall.  And by that, I am thinking of the wall in a marathon race – that moment where you can either throw in the towel and sink to the ground knowing that you gave your all and you have nothing left.  Or you hear the cheers and support of the crowd, the other racers who gently encourage you and you push through the wall and finish the race, not necessarily with class but at least with integrity and sheer determination.

Paul talks of us running the race, and for me, Jesus had to push through the wall in the Garden of Gethsemane.  By that point he was exhausted – mentally, physically and potentially spiritually.  He prayed in the garden, he prayed his heart out pleading for a way out, to be able to sink to the ground and call it quits.  But with God the Father by his side, and with a clear sense of identity and belonging, he is able to push through the wall, and continue to the finish line.

I am at the wall and I can see it standing right in front of me.  The wall is imposing, terrifying and to be honest, the thought of turning away is so inviting.  I could slink off into a new area but what I the Lord revealed is that the wall surrounds the Church.  Not just Blantyre Old but the wall surrounds the Church.  I can put off dealing with it by moving to a different place, but I would hit the same wall.  

This is the verdict: light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

The wall is still there but now I see more clearly.  I still don’t know who to push through this wall, but I have realised something – I won’t get through this wall without you.  Jesus could have left his disciples in the upper room and said he was going out.  Jesus could have left his disciples in a safe place, but he doesn’t.  They have to be there, they have to be a part of the whole experience for it will shape them.  It was such a hard time, but at no point are they excluded from it.

God has journeyed with me so long and his grace and patience beyond my comprehension.  Like the disciples who can’t keep watch in the garden, I hear God shake up my selfish demon and speak directly to my heart.  He challenges the narrowness of my vision and reminds me that this journey of faith is not about being comfortable.  Remember those Israelites – it was a long walk.  Remember Jesus.  Even Peter, or Paul or John exiled.

There will difficult decisions to make in the future – Strathaven has voluntarily gone from 4 churches to one, Larkhall has gone from 3 to 1 not quite voluntarily in all cases, and Blantyre will be facing the proposal of one church with two places of worship.  And that is on track to happen in the next 7 years. The Church of Scotland anticipates a drop of 20% of available ministers in the next 5 years.  Given there are approx 750 ministers now… And then what happens after that…what happens from 2023-2028.  I know that sounds a long time away but that is ten years.  What will happen to the faith of our children – what will the faith of Kieran and Jessica who in ten years time will be 21 and 18 be?  And what role will you have played in nurturing their faith and the faith of all our children? We put so much effort into making sure our children get to take part in sports or uniform organisations – yet what effort are we putting into helping them develop their faith?  What effort is the Church putting in?

I don’t believe it is all doom and gloom – after all Jesus went to the cross, but he didn’t stay dead.  He rose again to new life – we are the Church of the resurrection – death is part of our journey.  The wilderness is part of our journey. The wall is part of the journey.

But I reiterate this – I cannot push through this wall without you.  I need you to be the church, to speak fondly and lovingly of God, of your Church and to get involved.  If you are not willing to step up and work for the future of the Church in Blantyre, there may come a day that the Church closes her doors here permanently.  Over the years we have downsized the number of churches and we will go to two church buildings at some point.  But in ten years will even those doors be closed?  After all – whoever saw the day when there would be no banks in Blantyre…

Yet we worship a God who so loved the world he sent his one and only Son that whosoever believes him will not die but receive eternal life…. Pray for God to show us the way, just as Moses did on behalf of the Israelites, and he responded.  Pray that God will show us, each of us, how we can encourage, nurture, develop the faith of those around us that we might truly be disciples not just consumers.  Pray that God will help us step into our community and parish and engage with those who know nothing of him or us. Pray that we find a way through the wall and be the Church in the 21st Century whatever that might mean...

Pray that in 450 years time someone will remember us in their history books or memory archives and say of us ‘they found a way through the wall and God’s people thrived in Blantyre and beyond.’ Amen.

Including children in worship and communion. My General Assembly speech

Moderator - Rev Sarah Ross, 338, minister, wife and mother of two - Kieran and Jessica, 9&7. I want to comment on 10 (of Mission and Discipleship) because I think we need to do more about the discipleship of children.  We know from the Ministries Council that the call to God's service is often heard in the teenage years. I was 14 at the time that I heard mine. However, Moderator I was at that time in the Salvation Army.  And with them I got to do everything including taking a full service. I sang badly, prayed public ally, read scripture and uplifted the offering in regular Sunday's. I went to church three times a day plus open airs and midweek clubs. I returned to the CofS at university and was struck by the 15 minute church time given to. Children. And the fact they weren't even allowed in church worship on Communion Sunday. The minister of the day heard my plea to at least let the children watch Communion.  The reason I asked was because the Salvation Army don't celebrate communion.  My first communion was at the age of 20 and it was terrifying (heart out of the chest). I don't want any child to feel that. Plus when I went forward for ministry I was informed I couldn't because I had no real understanding of sacraments nor were they sure I'd cope with Presbyterian governance.  (They may have been right about that) 

Moderator - how will our children have faith if we persist in excluding them.  I even have a question for children during baptism.  But why I am standing here is to say that the statistic recorded in the council of assembly supplementary report re the number of children at communion broke my heart. Off 54579 children only 3090 participated in communion. 30 years or so after the General Assembly agreed to children at communion is 5.7% of children acceptable? Or will we be told that 51,000 are babies? ;) 

As a young person said earlier this week the young are not the church of the future they are the church of now. 

Finally, my daughter turned 7 on Sunday 22nd May and she wanted to go to church.  And her brother thought communion on her birthday was the best gift the church could give.  Please fully disciple your children before they leave malnourished in faith. 

A sprinking of perspective? Reflections on the General Assembly 2016

The General Assembly of 2016 has almost drawn to a close - tomorrow is Friday and as I am going away for the weekend to recover I thought I'd share some thoughts tonight.  It has been a great week with a good atmosphere although not without its pain and challenge.  The worship has been excellent and the singing heavenly.  The Right Rev Russell Barr has navigated us well through the week and we have enjoyed the humour as well as the "head in hands" moments. 

I have tried to value the whole experience though I must admit it always takes a couple of days to orient myself - the number of people including stewards and others means somewhere around 850 people are around although more than will pass through the halls and when you spend most of your working life on your own or in small groups it can be somewhat overwhelming.  However, catching up with friends and making new ones, sharing ideas and moans are all part of the experience.  And reminiscent of Jesus in Jerusalem there is the crush for coffee in the Rainy Hall, the quiet of the courtyard and many languages as ecumenical partners and overseas guests share with us. 

I guess what strikes me most about the General Assembly is how much is about managing the institution and keeping the show on the road.  Starting with worship certainly centres us in the why we are here but generally we celebrating the work done and looking forward to what might be done, focussing often on the how and the resources needed rather than the why (with the exception of facing the fact we are becoming the church on the margins).  There have been some u-turns on the floor of the General Assembly as Councils and Committees feel the people power of the Commissioners.  And difficult decisions have been handled gracefully but unlike previous years there hasn't been the same repeated call to prayer.  Speakers have been varied with some regular contributors and some very random contributions.

I have enjoyed the General Assembly without a doubt and grateful for the experience.  How much will impact on the local is yet to be seen but for me the timely reminder that I am part of something greater than the local has been important.  Next year we celebrate 450 years of a church on the site of Blantyre Old.  We are in the early stages of planning our celebrations and that is right to do.  But as I listened, pondered and reflected I realised that there is more to celebrating what has been, there is what we are now and what we will be. 

And so it is my intention to work towards becoming an eco-congregation because the World Mission reported reminded us all about creation and the importance of looking after the world not just for our sake but for our global brothers and sisters.  I want to work towards Fair Trade status because Church and Society reminded us that where we put our money, our investments, our business can change the world for the better no matter how small.  In line with the Ministries Council developments in ministry I want to strengthen the parish grouping, look at youth ministry and figure out what a hub ministry might look like in my locale.

If my first time at the General Assembly since 2013 helps me to consider again what it means to be church locally and globally then surely that must be a good thing. And to practise what I preach I must once again challenge myself to reconsider the discipleship of our children and whether we really are doing enough. 

Sometimes we get so caught up in managing the institution even at the parish level we lose perspective.  I appreciate that we can't do everything but as one speaker said "we can't do everything but everyone can do something".  Always at the heart of what we do is the one true God - three in one - and as the Archbishop of Canterbury put it (paraphrased) - we worship and witness the same God.

Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:62

So let's look forward together and get a little perspective.  After all this is God's church and we are his children. 

May God bless you with a sprinkling of perspective and a lot of love.

 

Pentecost Warmth

This past week has been a beautiful week where we have been able to enjoy a brief summer.  Of course we hope it is only a taster of what it is to come. 

Perhaps it is part of living in the UK and in Scotland in particular that when the temperatures rise we wish we could have a national holiday.  With the sunshine comes much joy for many – the sky is bluer, the colours are brighter, the atmosphere warmer, the songs of the birds are sweeter and the laughter of children rings out as they play out doors. 

Many I’m sure remember the days when the sun came out like this and washing lines up and down the street groaned under the weight of fresh washing.  If the wind was blowing gently it was a perfect drying day.  Beds were stripped, curtains taken down and every nook and cranny checked for anything that could be washed.  In Scotland at least a sunny day was measured by how much washing could be done!

Pentecost is rather like that first warm super summer day.  Pentecost, for the Church, is when the warmth and cleansing power of the Spirit arrived.  The disciples had been very sad, missing Jesus and wondering what would happen next. It was such a hard time for them living in limbo.  The days would have seen dull by comparison with what had gone before. 

And then the Holy Spirit arrived – the sound of the rushing wind – clearing away the cobwebs and stirring up the souls.  And then the warming flame of the Spirit resting upon each person brightening the world around them, opening their minds and hearts to the presence of God within.  From that experience, that encounter with the Spirit they left their locked space and went out into the world full of hope.  Like stepping outside on a bright warm day after the bleakness of spring showers the disciples stepped excited and hopeful. 

Sunny days always encourage us to enjoy life, even to take chances.  There is something about being warm outdoors that brings the adventurer to the surface – a barbeque perhaps, a game of football, or even just sitting to read a good book.  The disciples stepped out and shared the good news of Jesus with confidence, with knowledge and in Peter’s case with authority.

For me Pentecost is like that heat wave that hits and inspires hope and joy in each person.

The Church needs Pentecost and she needs reminded of Pentecost just like we need reminding that summer does exist.  The Church struggles at times to find a way forward and often locks herself away.  The Church worries so much about getting it right or raising enough money to pay the bills.  The Church worries about whether there will be enough Christians left to fulfil God’s mission.  Rather like the disciples in the upper room before the Spirit arrives we worry.  What does Jesus mean by this?  What will happen next?  Will we still have a church in 20 years?

Pentecost reminds us that God is in charge, and that it is his Spirit that is our advocate, our truth-teller, our guide.  Sometimes people pray that the Spirit will come but the Spirit is already here.  The Holy Spirit has arrived and perhaps what the Church needs to do, what we need to do is welcome her, nurture her and trust her.  Hard to do when she is something we cannot see – in John’s Gospel we read:

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

The Church needs to hold onto the Spirit of Pentecost especially in the bleak days. And in our own bleak days when the world seems devoid of colour and we are not sure why we are here or why we bother – know that the Spirit of Pentecost resides within each of us.  And that just as a summer’s day dawns bright and early, so too will the Spirit shine on and give us light and warmth if we let her.

(Reflection used for an afternoon service on Pentecost Sunday)

The problem with unwritten rules...

The greatest difficulty with moving the church forward is the unwritten rules.  There seem to be so many of them and I don't know what they all are. I constantly bang into them and realise that my ability to see God in all things and all situations I struggle to deal with the sacrosanct. Can't use the communion table for anything but communion, can't use the sanctuary for non worship events, only ministers and those suitably trained can preach, lead worship - honestly put the children in control of worship and we might actually get the point of worship!

The institution is full of written laws that by their very nature mean we have unwritten rules - the interpretation of them.  And the biggest unwritten rule because it stems from identity is that of the minister.  I remember during training going to a wonderful bible study but because I was the minister I had to read it out loud. It is the privilege of the minister to read God's word out loud. So much has become the ministers job - just read a parish profile and it will tell you what is expected of a minister. And I know as my diary starts filling up with all good things that meet the list in the parish profile that other things I am expected to do will fall.  And as much as I am loved in one camp I am failing in another.

We don't need any more rules - written or unwritten.

What if we follow the teaching of St Paul - one body but many members? Keep Jesus as the head - most definitely - but if Jesus is the head then surely the minister is just another part of the body not the whole of it?

What if we started to pull together as one body, sharing our resources and building together? Then I believe people would want to become part of the church again because everyone would have a purpose and a sense of belonging. Jesus engendered that feeling in his disciples and certainly not everyone got on board but to still have 11 out of 12 at the end of those three years was pretty impressive. Maybe change, maybe embracing the body of Christ, maybe moving away from the rules (written or otherwise) and living with hope, faith and love we can change the church and the world.

Is it time to stop worrying about who is the pulpit and start concentrating on who is in the pews (so to speak!)? Have we been looking at this back to front? As a minister on ministries council I know that there is much good happening but I wonder, dangerously perhaps, is focusing on 800 people rather than the 44000 (or whatever our current membership is not forgetting the regular non members) keeping our vision small and missing the bigger part of the body?

Do congregations want to be empowered? The unwritten rule is they don't - most want to be consumers! Is that another unwritten rule that needs challenged?

Thoughts for another day perhaps.

What do you think ministers are for and what can you do to change the rules...?

Peace
Sarah

Is there a better way for ministry and ministers?

There has to be a better way to be church!

I was at a Ministries Council overnight conference this week and politely people ask you over breakfast – “How did you sleep?”  Please tell me I am not the only person who wants to respond – “with my eyes closed!”  I can’t help it – the quick answer, the smart alec answer is always there on the tip of my tongue and I physically had to stop myself saying that out loud. 

But sometimes we have to speak honestly.    Part of the conference was about clergy self-care, and how we get ministers to look after themselves, especially in an environment where there is more work, less people.  Well, as the day went on I was getting more and more wound up, especially when people with influence said “it’s an impossible job” and we just accepted that with a laugh.  Basically we get on with it, and know that God is there for us. 

Well – me being me decided that wasn't fair.  And reminiscent of my children I spoke up and said something along the lines of “That’s not fair.  It’s not fair to keep piling work on us, tell us we have an impossible job and then expect us to do more! What is Ministries Council doing for us, what practical support can be given?”  I said a few other things as well but I won’t bore you with that and I am part of the Ministries Council so I am speaking to myself here as well.  The words that spilled out weren't thought out, they were words that poured out from frustration, a desire to be heard and for something sensible to be done.  And a number of people came and told me they agreed with everything I said!  It isn't fair.  We all know this but seem at a loss to do anything.

I sometimes wonder what ministry has become.  “They” can’t fix things because it is impossible so to do so nothing is done.  Are we going through the motions of ministry because we have been told that’s what we should do, and that’s what we see our colleagues doing?  Have we given up on providing real solutions because Scotland is too big, because ministers are office holders, because we dare not interfere, because it means money?  Am I destined to spend the next 30 years in ministry (God willing) constantly disappointing people because I can’t be everything, do everything that my congregation, my presbytery, my church expect or desire?  I am not sure I can live with that.  Is there a better way?  

I want to believe so.  I want to believe that the Church could do so much more because we remember we are God’s people, and the building, the institution are not the Church, merely vessels and resources.  There has to be another way – where we shake the very foundations and re-create for the 21^st century.  We need to localise practical, paid support.  We need to stop piling on work and design functioning resources, accessible by all congregations.  We need to start working together in clusters that share, support and encourage.  Those that hold the power need to stop hiding in their corners and start working together deliberately, with a shared vision that supports ministry across Scotland.  And we need to stop hiding behind “aye beens”, excuses and fear.  Building resilience in our clergy and helping us take responsibility for our self-care are valuable options but if predictions are correct even that won’t enough.  What point is there in an institution if all it does is demand more and give less?  It’s not fair and it’s not dealing with the problem. 

And yes I am an idealist, I am naïve, I am an optimist and I believe there has to be more.  And ministers we need to work together, fight together and get out of our own little boxes and pull together. 

Then I believe we can actually do ministry – all of us – not just ministers.  Jesus said “Go into all the world and make disciples”.  I want to make disciples not property experts.  I want to make disciples not fundraisers.  I want to make disciples not conflict managers.  I want to help the poor not take money to fix the roof.  I want to be a minister of Word and Sacrament. 

There aren't easy solutions but if we believe we are the family of God then miracles are available. 

I hope you are not offended by this and maybe you think I am wide of the mark, or neurotic.  Or just maybe now is the time to take a stand and do something revolutionary.

With man this is impossible.  With God all things are possible.

Is there a better way?  God, I hope so.  Amen.