Pastoral Letter 38

Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,

Grace and peace to you all.

Tomorrow is the day when we will reopen our church doors for worship after eight long months. We will have our first service, as a trial just for us, and the following Sunday, 29 November, we will formally start worshiping together and invite our neighbours to join us to celebrate St. Andrew’s Day, as well as the first Sunday in Advent.

The COVID-safety plan has been put in place, we have registered as required for COVID-safe with the NSW government, made all the necessary arrangements and precautions and we are ready to come together for Worship. Unfortunately, we will not have Morning Tea this Sunday, but 29November, being St. Andrew’s Day, we will have a COVID-safe Morning Tea. If you will not be able to come, please join us at the same time following the Order of Service, please light a candle, have a small roll and a cup of wine or juice.

Naturally, tomorrow’s Service will seem to us to be a little strange, compared to what we used to do before the COVID. The church premises will be cleaned and sanitised Saturday night, ready for use on Sunday. Please be aware that upon arrival, the door rosters will check your temperature and register your name and details, as required by the government. Hymn Books will not be handed to you and you are required to sit on the allocated seats. The seats that are marked by stickers are the ones not to be used to keep the distancing restriction. You will not find Bibles on the pews. We are not allowed to sing in a large group, so we will sing alternate verses of the hymns in groups of five. Mark will be playing some of the hymns on the organ and some hymns will be played as videos on the screen. The same will apply for responsive readings.

Communion will be served by the Elders. The piece of bread will be given to you, similarly the wine, in a disposable cup. After the service, the people rostered on duty will clean the church and wipe the seats, door handles and those areas where we have touched. Saturday week, the cleaner will come in to clean and sanitise the areas again and make it ready for the following Sunday.

As we plan officially to restart our service on St. Andrew’s Day, the Church Council has decided to drop Invitation Notes in the mail boxes of our neighbours, as we have done a few months ago, at the time when we were partially in lock down. The notes will be ready on Tuesday and we will start doing the mailbox drop Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. If you can help, please let me know.

As we are coming to the end of the year and Christmas, we will do our traditional Exodus Foundation Christmas Appeal. By clicking the website link below, you can see the complete list of Christmas food and gift collection.The Foundation will be happy to accept new toys, gifts and food as per the suggested list: Christmas puddings, UHT custard mince pies, bon bons and serviettes, potato chips (large packets), sweets, tea/coffee, fish and meat (ring pull cans only), beans and spaghetti (ring pull cans only) and cups of noodles. Another option is a store gift card.

Visit the website is billcrews.org. On the right-hand side check ‘give hope’ for the complete list.

So, please bring your gifts to the services on Nov 22 and 29.

In the meantime, please continue to pray, remembering those who need our care, support and love.

Here are some prayer points for this week:

1. Pray for our Service tomorrow as well as the services during the Advent and Christmas Season.

2. Pray for Armenia and Artsakh. Though the conflict is stopped, there are many unresolved issues.

2. Pray for world peace and ask for God’s blessings.

3. Pray for Win. She had a cataract operation and she is at Longueville Private hospital. No visitors are allowed.

Krikor

Christ the King

Ezekiel 34:11-24

What happens when leaders become abusive bullies? What happens when CEOs of large corporations lie to their workers about the state of their pension plans and betray the public trust? What happens when televangelists, manipulate their audience and use the money given to them by the public for such trivial items as luxury cars or fancy restaurants, rather than caring for the poor, the sick and the needy? What happens when political leaders become self-serving autocrats, using all kinds of underhanded, back-stabbing tactics to abuse their people and rule them with terror?

The answer to these questions is simple and clear. Corruption, which wears down the trust we have, wastes our taxes that have been earmarked for important community projects – resulting in poor quality services or infrastructure, effects on the economy, impedes economic growth, creates chaos and encourages revolt, forcing the leader to stand down. And as a result, people lose hope and life becomes difficult and painful.

Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. It is a day that focuses on the end of history when Christ shall gather all the nations together in His presence. In the presence of Christ our Shepherd-King, there will be a judgement of each one of us individually and collectively as nations. This judgement shall have its consequences for everyone. That is one of the central themes running through today’s gospel and first lesson.

In our passage from Ezekiel today, we have both law and gospel; both condemnation and compassion; both judgement and grace. The prophet Ezekiel likely speaks this oracle around the time when his people were returning back to the Promised Land, after their Babylonian exile. In the oracle, Ezekiel states that God will remove the abusive leaders—likely referring both to the Israelite leaders and foreign leaders. God will confront and judge these vicious leaders based on what they have done. According to Ezekiel, they were self-serving and ruthless. They had failed to care for the poor, the weak, and the sick.

In contrast to these abusive and vicious leaders, Ezekiel preaches a message of gospel, compassion, and grace to his people. The language Ezekiel employs is most gentle and comforting. When we read it and hear it, we’re most likely reminded of the twenty-third Psalm and Jesus’s words in the Gospel of John. The words provide us with a beautiful picture in our mind’s eye—namely, that of Christ as the Good Shepherd, Christ our Shepherd-King.

When I read and hear these words from Ezekiel, I am reminded of two inspiring pictures:

1. The first picture that comes to my mind is the picture of a shepherd and his sheep. That is an interesting picture, because contrary to what many people might think, the shepherd is not leading his sheep by chasing them from behind. No, rather, he is leading them by going ahead of the flock and they follow him. This picture certainly reveals the great truth of Jesus’ words in the Fourth Gospel where he reminds us that the shepherd knows and loves the sheep and the sheep know and love the shepherd—therefore they trust and follow their shepherd wherever the shepherd leads them. As Christ’s people, we can trust and follow Him where He leads us—since we know that He wants what is best for us. He is the Good Shepherd, who gives His life for His sheep and friends.

2. The second picture that comes to mind when I read and hear Ezekiel’s prophecy is that famous one depicting Jesus the Good Shepherd tenderly holding a lamb or carrying on His shoulder. This picture reminds me of how Ezekiel describes what God our Shepherd-King will do to show His love for his people—Ezekiel, quoting the Lord says: “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.” This must have been a very hopeful, joyful, comforting message for those Israelites who first heard it as they returned from exile to their homeland. They were in need of care, love, and support.

Today, people—including us—need to hear this message too, because it speaks to so many people in the world today. In a world where two-thirds of the population live in great poverty; where they lack most, if not all of the basics of life; such a message can give them hope for a better future and a good life. Whether it’s the lost youth on the streets, the ones who have been led astray by such false religions and gods of wealth and fame, the ones who are suffering from injuries due to abusive relationships, the ones who are weakened by illness and disease—Christ our Shepherd-King is seeking and longing to save them all. The incredible thing is that He’s working through us, His people, His church to be His hands and feet; to share His love and saving, healing presence with everyone—especially those in greatest need like the street children in our cities, the earthquake victims, the Christians in some countries are being killed and oppressed by government-supported militias, people who are forced to leave their home and land to find refuge in some other places and many more in all corners of our troubled world.

In the closing verses of our passage today, the prophet Ezekiel proclaims an oracle that looks ahead into the future when God’s Messiah will come and reign as the Good Shepherd-King. He states: “I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David.” As Christians reading this passage, we believe that it refers to Christ, and again we think of the words of Jesus in John 10:16, where He says, speaking of “other sheep,” that is, people from every nation gathered by Jesus, who listen to his voice: “So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” The mention of this “one shepherd,” in both Ezekiel and John points to a time of unity, reconciliation and peace among all the peoples of the world. Originally, Ezekiel’s audience likely thought and believed that this referred to their immediate or near future situation—wherein God would unite all of the divided and scattered Israelites from all corners of the then known world to bring them together, to be reconciled with each other and live in peace.

For us Christians today, on Christ the King Sunday, we likely are more inclined to think and believe that this reference to “one shepherd” describes Christ our Good Shepherd-King—whom one day we believe will gather Jews and Gentiles from every corner of the earth together and bring history to its final conclusion. He, as the Ruling Messiah will usher in the age to come, an age of eternal peace, where all evil and hatred, suffering, abuse and war shall end. An age that we all long for today and hope to inherit in the future, thanks to God’s all-encompassing love and grace. So, take comfort in God our Good Shepherd-King who remains forever the righteous Ruler over us all.

Amen.