Sharing God's gifts

Today we’ve spent the day thinking about God’s gifts and celebrating some of the gifts and talents that we have in this church. The shape of the church is changing perhaps more radically than it’s done for many, many years. Change always breeds uncertainty, and perhaps a tendency to become defensive...

And in times of change and reflection I think it’s good to think of the many gifts that God gives to us. As part of my diocesan role I run training courses and speak to groups about lay ministry – this evening’s service is being led largely by members of our own lay worship team here.

One of the challenges that I still face is that people see lay people leading a service simply because the Vicar isn’t available or there isn’t a Vicar, but that is simply a product of our church culture – we have cultivated a culture of clergy led services and too often ignored the gifts and talents of people in the church...

An insurance agent stopped by a large church in the hope of selling some insurance. She greeted the Verger at the door and asked to talk to whoever was in charge.

The Verger said, “Not me; I only hand out the news sheets. Let me take you to the minister.”

The insurance agent then asked the minister if he was in charge. The minister said, “Not me; I only preach and teach. Let me take you to the church wardens.”

The insurance agent then asked them if they were in charge. ‘Not us; we just look after the church and make sure people are welcomed and everything runs smoothly...’

By this time the insurance agent was quite frustrated and wondered aloud, “well, who IS in charge around here anyway?”

At that point the lady who served the coffee piped up and said, “That’s me; NOTHING happens around here until I make the coffee!”

The reality is that a church is made up of many different people involved in all kinds of different roles – some are obvious and very public, others are often hidden behind the scenes, but as Paul teaches us in the Bible, all are absolutely crucial....

So today we celebrate all that has gone on in this church since it opened it’s doors back in 1881, and we look forward to all that will happen in the coming years. At a time when we hear so often of churches struggling, it’s great to remind ourselves of the vision of people building churches in the hope of making the kingdom of God more apparent to more people.

But that vision isn’t one of the past – when we talk of churches struggling, we become associated with struggle; when we worry about money, we become associated with an organization that’s failing; when we bemoan the lack of people in our churches, we become associated with a group that doesn’t value the huge contributions made by some of those people who are in our churches.

And when we worry about the future, we associate ourselves with people who have no hope, and we detach ourselves from Jesus who, from humiliating torture and a mock trial and death on a cross, rose to signal the beginning of a new world – a world where death could be conquered, a world where everyone had hope, a world where everyone is offered peace, a world where everyone is loved by God...

Today is in many ways a random day of celebration, but celebration must be at the heart of our church and our lives...

In the readings for this evening (Acts 11:1-18 & John 17:1,2,6,17-23) there is a common theme running through them about unity, and about the need for unity in a church. In many ways it should perhaps be an obvious quality, but human nature means it’s rarely as simple as that !

In the reading from Acts Peter explained to some of the early Christians that he had been given a vision from God. Twice he had ignored the vision but the third time he’d listened – and that vision had led him to realise that the church was for all people. It wasn’t just for Jewish people who had come to know Jesus, but for non Jews as well....

It was a new church already – a church where nobody was to be excluded, a church showing mercy and love to everyone, even those we find it difficult to like, let alone love...

At that time it created a church with two cultures with the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians and things haven’t got any easier. A glance around the world today and the different churches within it reveal a hugely diverse church of many cultures and ideas...

But still, we are called to welcome all, to love one another, to worship together, to encourage one another, to be family, to be church together...

Unity isn’t about being the same, it’s about being united by the love of God for us and all people...

And in our gospel reading that theme is continued as Jesus’ desire for unity is expressed... And as we look at the early followers of Jesus we will know that Jesus had no great idea about his disciples all being the same. He chose a diverse group and continued to build that group. He chose unlikely people who would sometimes argue with him and certainly with each other...

In that message I think Jesus told us that unity isn’t about agreeing all the time – different personalities and cultures and styles of worship as well as theological differences will make that unlikely, but in our differences we are still called to be united...

United, first of all, not on agreement, but in love – love for God and love for one another...Too often the church is broken apart by people failing to work at loving one another, and sometimes it really does take work – it isn’t something that comes easily with some !! But if love isn’t at the very heart of our message of good news for all people then we’re not offering a message from Jesus...

We can’t compartmentalize our lives into church and other things. Discipleship is bigger than that... We are called to be a loving community – loving God, loving our neighbour whoever they may be, and importantly as well, loving ourselves...

And so we are to be united in love. And we are also to be united in mission. We are united in being sent out to share God’s love... I mentioned earlier about churches often becoming defensive when they sense struggle, and a common feature in churches lacking confidence is to close the door and work at what we have inside – to think more about preservation than about mission...

It’s a natural instinct but it’s wrong. Mission is, as Archbishop Rowan Williams once described, ‘Finding out what God is doing in the world, and joining in...’ Our church doors must be open to welcome people in but open as we seek to go out into the community as disciples of Jesus...

And so we are united in love and mission, and finally (for now !), we are united in a relationship with Jesus. All over the world today millions of people have been involved in or will be involved in acts of worship, in prayer, in reading and listening to the bible, in singing songs of praise and thanksgiving and in joining together to celebrate the love of Jesus, who lived, died and rose again, for every one of us...

Christianity is demanding because as a Christian we are challenged to respond to a love far deeper than any other love – the love of the creator for his people...

A boastful parishioner said,  “I’m a millionaire, and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I can still remember the turning point in my faith, like it was yesterday:-

I had just earned my first wages and I went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I knew that I had only a small amount and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all. So at that moment I decided to give absolutely all I had to God. I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.”

The congregation applauded, and as he took his seat a little old lady rose and said, “I dare you to do it again!”

God calls us to be his church today. He trusts us to be his ambassadors. He loves us whatever we do, or fail to do.... As we celebrate today his gifts, may we pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us and on this church that we may commit ourselves to living for his glory and for the extension of his kingdom..

To finish I’ll read one short piece which reminds us that however insignificant we may feel at times, however incapable or unworthy, God has called every one of us – the reponse and how we use the gifts of God are up to us...

“There is an old Christian tradition that God sends each person into the world with a special message to deliver, with a special song to sing for others, with a special act of love to bestow. No one else can speak my message, or sing my song, 
or offer my act of love.
They are entrusted only to me.” (John Powell
Through seasons of the heart)