Pie in the sky......

17 years ago yesterday I was ordained as a Deacon in the Church in Wales. Most days it doesn’t seem very long ago !! But one of the things that has been striking has been the amount of change in the church even in that relatively short period. 

One of the changes is in the number of clergy – when I was ordained there were something like 800 clergy in the Church in Wales, now the number is somewhere just over 500. When that number is split up between full time and part time clergy, it is the full time clergy that has seen by far the biggest drop in numbers, actually the number of part time clergy has risen in that time… 

There are a number of things we can do about this. Firstly, we can ignore it and pretend nothing has changed – it’s certainly what a lot of people want to do, but not really an option that’s open to us. Secondly we can pray for more people to enter the ordained ministry. Thirdly we can perhaps rejoice that there are actually fewer clergy and adapt accordingly !!

And that might seem a strange response – to rejoice that there’s fewer clergy, but one of the great problems that the church has had over many, many years is the idea that the Vicar should do it… Whatever it is, the Vicar should do it… And there’s another problem, some of us clergy have lots of opinions and there are places where people actually listen and do what they’re told by the Vicar, whether that is the right thing to do or not… 

Much as it would be nice to be listened to on everything (and it doesn’t often happen to me !) it isn’t a very biblical model – in fact the biblical model would be much more about different people having different gifts and using those gifts. It would be about people working together, not to build churches, but to extend the kingdom of God – and that is a far more healthy and dare I say it, far more interesting and exciting role for us as Christians… 

Today we celebrate with Ian and pray for his future ministry amongst us and wherever else he might be led and each of our readings help to focus on our own call to ministry as well, because ministry is not just about clergy (wonderful though we may be !!!), it is about all of God’s people…

In the reading from Deuteronomy (15:7-11) there are laws being set about the way debts were cancelled every seventh year but one of the things that really struck me about this passage was that last verse, ‘Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “open your hand to the poor and needy neighbour in your land.” 

We’ll all have seen the devastating effects of the recent fire in London but also hopefully noticed the way that people have joined together to help those who have been so tragically affected… The same has happened with the recent terrorist attacks where people have come out to hold vigils, to offer prayers, to offer support and to join together with people of different religions and races and backgrounds to just show genuine human compassion. 

There is a lot of work to do for us as Christian people today in terms of showing God’s love all around us – sometimes it seems too big a task, but those are usually the times when we try to work out what we can do ourselves rather than allowing God to lead us in the direction he wants, enabling us to be the people and the community that God really wants us to be. 

We listen to God, we pray, we study the bible and we work ever mindful of those words about how much there will always be to do in terms of looking out for those in need. 

And that need is not always just a physical need by any means – that need is very often spiritual and our psalm (69:13-19) reminds us of our need to call on God in every situation, knowing that he will be listening, knowing that he will always protect us. 

And in our new testament readings I think we are drawn more to the absolute fundamental of our faith – the need to focus on Jesus… In church life and as individuals it’s very easy to get bogged down, with all of the best intentions – we get bogged down worrying about money, worrying about our church building, worrying about a lack of clergy, worrying about a lack of people, worrying about all kinds of things…. 

And when we worry I don’t think it makes our faith look very attractive – natural it may be, but actually it’s a jolt that reminds us that we’re not inviting God into our situations as much as we should be… But when we invite God in, it doesn’t mean we will have wonderful peace or walk around with scary beaming smiles all the time. It doesn’t mean we won’t get cross or fed up sometimes, but it does mean that we’re recognising that in every situation God is with us… 

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is a great letter – he had been involved in founding the church in Phillippi and whilst his work there certainly wasn’t easy he treasured the people and the work and here he was now, writing a letter from prison, a letter that is full of hope and joy and encouragement. He might have been sitting in a prison cell, but he wasn’t beaten or broken… 

Far from it – instead he wrote about joy and he reminded the church there to constantly focus their attention on Jesus, trying to follow his example of life, a life where he emptied himself of power and came humbly and ready to accept whatever the world might throw at him – and didn’t the world do just that. 

He led this incredible life, teaching and preaching and showing compassion and love and demonstrating how God can transform lives that are broken in whatever way. He travelled with little material comforts or money, and of course he accepted arrest and torture and even death…  

There’s one of the most famous bible verses of all from John (3:16) which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” and the passage goes on, “Indeed God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.” 

Sometimes we take a pretty narrow view of the world, restricting things to our own family or group of friends, and we even do this in church life sometimes as we tend to work in isolation very often, but God has a much bigger picture for us to look at – he sent his Son into the world not to judge or to condemn, but to save the world – not to save a bit of it, not to save the people who look and act like us but to save the whole world… 

And I think Paul, writing in a very different time and place, understood this vision – he was urging the people of Philippi to be like Jesus, in other words to be really good news to the people around them… Being like Jesus is being good news to people everywhere… 

And then we have the gospel reading (Mark 10:35-45). It’s about James and John, two of Jesus’ closest friends – and they ask if they can sit alongside Jesus in his great kingdom… Why not ? They were some of his best friends and they’d been pretty loyal to him so surely they deserved a perk… 

Except they were looking for the wrong thing completely – they were looking for some sort of reward other than the incredible reward of a life in eternity loved unconditionally and absolutely by the creator of life – a reward that wasn’t theirs any more than it is anyone else’s !

And then Jesus just gave that wonderful little talk about service – about how he had come to serve and not to be served and to give his life as a ransom for many…. 

Today we celebrate with Ian and we give thanks for his ministry to date and his ministry to come, but we remember the ministry that we all have as well. To work with Ian and others to help build God’s kingdom… 

And so, we look out for need around us and we try to help by being as Jesus to people; we challenge ourselves to focus more closely on Jesus and trying to live like him and we remember that even Jesus came to earth to be a servant…. 

Sometimes us clergy get a little bit above ourselves (I know it’s hard to believe !), but that gospel passage reminds us that we are called to be servants, servants of God’s people and working with God’s people to shine a light into a world so desperately needing light rather than darkness, into a world desperately needing more of Jesus…. 

Because, as the preacher at the ordination said yesterday, “it’s not just about pie in the sky when you die, it’s about steak on the plate while you wait” – God wants our lives to be full and blessed… And so may we pray that Ian is good news to everyone around him in his ministry, but let’s also pledge ourselves to seeking to be that too… 

Let us pray : Lord we thank you for Ian and for the ministry to which you have called him and we pray that you will keep him focused firmly on you as he continues that ministry. 

And we pray for ourselves Lord, that we may truly be good news to each other and to everyone around us, both as churches and as individuals so that, together, we may glorify your name and help to build your kingdom. In Jesus’ name. AMEN