Serving together

For New Year’s Eve 2023. Text: Colossians 1:9-20

Fireworks above Paisley Abbey

Paisley Abbey. © david cameron photographer licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence

Today, starting in about an hour’s time, TV screens across the world will begin to show fireworks being set off, first in the easternmost territories of the Pacific ocean, then westwards all around the world as the spinning globe turns once more on its axis, taking us into what most of the world counts as the two thousand and twenty-fourth year of the current era. It’s a festival that brings together people of many religions and ethnicities, a celebration that knows no boundaries other than those of time zones, a rare moment when the whole world can party together in recognition of our common humanity.

Last week I explored what it meant for Christ to come as a light into the darkness, and for us to welcome Christ into our individual lives, bringing light into whatever dark situations we and our families may find ourselves in. This week I want to widen our horizons and think about what it means to welcome Christ into our church community, here and around the world. So I’m going to ask you to spend a few minutes sharing your ideas and experiences with the person next to you.

Later, I will invite you to share in the covenant prayer, an annual act of commitment that started with the Methodist church but now used by many different churches. It’s a prayer said, not at home as individuals, but together as a community. Many people each making the same promises, and being accountable to each other for living up to the promises that we make. Paul wrote his letter not to one person, but as it says in verse 2, to “the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Colossae”.   So my first question for you to spend two minutes sharing with your neighbour is:

Does your experience of being a Christian feel more like a personal journey, or of being part of the journey of faith of the whole Church?

The nature of Christian churches does, of course, vary widely, and those different types of congregation will be held together by different common purposes. Consider these different groups and what it is that binds them together:

  1. A traditional Orthodox, Catholic or Anglican church centred around the weekly or daily liturgy of the Mass or Communion service.
  2. A village church centred around the activities of the village: farming, school terms, summer tourists, annual fairs and shows.
  3. An inner-city church responding to its deprived neighbourhood through foodbanks, counselling, teaching and other ministries, that involve most of its members in some way.
  4. A small house church that centres around regular gatherings for prayer, worship and Bible study.
  5. An intentional community of Christian families living together, each with its own daily work to bring money into the community, but sharing most of their resources and often eating together.
  6. A ‘gathered’ urban church where people come from all over the city to share a particular style of worship and preaching.

So my second question to discuss in pairs, as we prepare to renew or covenant with God, is this –

  • Which of these have you experienced in your Christian journey? And which is most like St Peter’s as it is, or as you would like it to be?

None of these types of congregations with a common purpose come about overnight, as Christian culture like any other is built up over the years as people come together and find common purpose. Working or worshipping together slowly builds connections. It also builds confidence in each other as members of the church come to see each other first as strangers, then as people with something in common, then as friends and finally as part of the one body.

In verse 18 of the reading from Colossians, Paul says something important: “Christ is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy”. Great though it is to have a committed Rector like Julia, and for all the benefits of our Church of England’s system of bishops and parishes, we must never forget that the Head of the Church, ultimately, is not an Archbishop or Pope, but Christ himself. If a Church splits over some issue of doctrine or practice, what matters is not so much which side has a better argument, but whether they can continue to accept each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, engaged in different forms of ministry.  As Paul puts it in verse 20, “God was pleased … through Christ to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven”.  That ministry of reconciliation is also ours: to be reconciled to other Christians whose idea of what a successful church looks like is different from our own, in order that together we can act as Christ’s family in the world, doing his will to the glory of God. And also to be reconciled to the people around us who for whatever reason may feel that the church is  ‘not for them’. So the last question for you to share, before we sing our next hymn, is this:

  • What might a ‘ministry of reconciliation’ look like in our community?

O God beyond all praising

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “O God beyond all praising” by Michael Perry. Its two long (12-line) verses are set to a tune from Holst’s Planets Suite, better known to the words “I vow to thee my country”. The first verse gives the reasons why God is worthy of praising – his many gifts, blessings and mercies – and something of how we go about praising him – “we lift our hearts before you, and wait upon your word, we honour and adore you”.

The second verse starts by asking Jesus (presumably, as he’s addressed as Saviour) to accept our love and service, which are also forms of praise, for it’s not all about words and loving actions towards others in God’s name are part of our praise.  Importantly, we praise God “whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill”, because with God we, like God himself, should make covenants (unconditional promises) rather than bargains of the “If I… then you must…” sort that feature in the ‘prosperity gospel’ of some sects. 

The last pair of lines is also important, to “make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise”.  A duty and sacrifice in the sense of keeping that promise to make the time and effort to praise God, but a joyful one in that we should feel better for doing so.

The Bible in a Year – 22-23 May

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

22-23 May. Jeremiah chapters 30-33

The prophesies in these chapters summarise the bittersweet message of Jeremiah: the bad news is that God’s punishment on them can be put off no longer, for such blatant sins as sacrificing children to false gods and setting up idols in the Temple could not be pardoned even by the all-loving One.  The good news, that he would not visit their sin on future generations, who would be allowed to return and rebuild.

 

So sure of this is Jeremiah (chapter 32) that he spends his own money on the apparently foolish act of buying agricultural land outside the city, even as the enemy army is besieging it and even as he himself is being held in custody for the crime of speaking against the king.  And so sure is he that he has the deeds to the land put in a safe place in front of witnesses, as proof to future generations that his prophecies had come true.  It is not enough to know what God’s will is in a certain situation: to prove it, we need to act, even at a cost to ourselves.

 

The other point to note is the frequent reminders of God’s covenants – the one with all humanity that the established order of earth and sky, day and night and the seasons would never fail, and that with the descendants of Israel (Jacob) that he would always love them.  God makes a further promise in 33;14-18 that there would never fail to be a descendant of David on the throne of Israel – a promise which taken literally is of course no longer true, but in Christian theology this has always been seen as a reference to Jesus, who since his resurrection has been reigning in spirit not only in Israel but over all the earth.

The Bible in a Year – 11 May

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

11 May. Isaiah chapters 54-58

Once again we are presented with a full five chapters of Isaiah, when even a few verses from almost anywhere in them would be enough material for a reflection.

 

The broad brush approach is that in these chapters God promises to the small number of Israelites who would return to Jerusalem that although they may have felt like widows or childless women (i.e. lacking support and with no hope for the future), in fact in the fulness of time God would provide them with many descendants – not just in the literal sense, but as God’s promises of mercy and redemption would be extended from Israel to the rest of humanity.  The covenant first made with Noah (one family) and that with Abraham (likewise) would be renewed with this small band of people.  Every time God brings judgement, he leaves room for a small number of faithful people to be the seeds of new life, both physically and spiritually. It was only with the death and resurrection of Jesus that the promise could be fulfilled, but like so much of Isaiah there is a message both for the people of his own time and for future generations.

 

In and among these great promises, though, are some passages condemning the leaders of Israel for their idolatry and other sins. Isaiah saw that even with God’s promise of starting with a clean slate and the offer of forgiveness, it would not be long before people started to live in a selfish, greedy and godless way.  Such is fallen human nature. The true remnant were those who returned in humility, willing to live by the law of love and not just the ritual law.

 

Such is the overall message. But I also want to pick out one of the many sub-themes running through these chapters.  “everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (55:1). “Is not this the fast that I choose: … to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house?” (58:6,7)  “If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness” (58:10).

We don’t need to interpret those verses as a parable or metaphor. They are a clear command: generosity, hospitality and sharing are at the heart of God’s kingdom.  It is no coincidence that one of the clearest signs of revival in a church today is when its members get involved in local food banks, “junk food” projects, or soup kitchens; or in the Fairtrade movement which seeks to ensure that people across the world who produce the food an other goods we consume are fairly treated, well paid and enabled to build up their own communities.  For food and hospitality are at the heart of what it is to be human, and what it is to belong to God. Be generous to those in need, and he will be generous to you.