Pastoral Letter 88

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

Greetings to you all.

I am sure you had a more relaxed week as we come out of lockdown, with the full vaccination rate reaching 83% and the single dose rate to 93% in NSW. Shops are open and people are moving with more freedom. The good news for places of worship is that starting from this Sunday, vaccinated and unvaccinated are welcome to attend Sunday Service, respecting the social distancing regulations and masks on. Singing is not allowed; only ten singers at the front for leading the worship. From the 1^st of December, singing will be allowed in places of worship.

As I have indicated earlier, we will celebrate St. Andrew’s Day together at the end of November and go into Advent season preparing for Christmas and New Year celebrations. We will reopen our doors on Sunday 21 November as a start and the following Sunday 28 November, there will be an official celebration with singing, inviting our neighbours to the service, followed by special Morning Tea with free Sausage Sizzle from 10:00 am till 12:00 noon. Things are looking much more positive than what it was since the end of June.

As you I will be on leave for two weeks from 2-17 November 2021, but you can still contact me anytime for any urgent matter.

After a successful Lower North Shore Zoon Study Series with Rev. Dr. Kenneth Bailey “The Good Shepherd” which was over five weeks in July and August this year, with the initiative of Crows Nest Uniting Church, we will have an Advent Study Series “Signs of the Times: Christ and Climate” led by Rev. Dr. Clive Pearson. The study will be hybrid – face-to-face at Crows Nest Uniting Church and on Zoom. If you wish to join, make an effort to attend live or on Zoom, whichever suits you.

We will keep you updated with our plan, as we move toward normal times. The Church Elders and Council will meet next Wednesday, and we will let you know our future plans in detail. Please pray and be patient, as we look forward to better days and back to our regular programs. Always remember that God is good and is always with us, leading us on our way forward.

In the meantime, please join the other members tomorrow morning in worship, following the Order of Service, light a candle, follow the order and play the first hymn video clip before the Call to Worship.

Here are some prayer points for this week:

1. Pray for tomorrow’s service and join in prayer with all the churches, praise, and worship God.

2. Pray as the COVID-19 restrictions are easing with a quicker pace and we look forward to reopening our doors on the 21^st of November.

3. Pray for the poor, the sick, the vulnerable, the struggling and the stressed.

4. Pray for Lebanon as people are still in desperation and need help.

5. Pray for the Lower North Shore Zone’s Advent Study Series commencing on 11 November at Crows Nest and via Zoom.

Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.

Krikor

MESSAGE

Cheer Up! Jesus is Calling

Luke 12:22-34  –  Mark 10:46-52

Today’s message is entitled: “Cheer Up! Jesus is Calling“.

For two thousand years God has been calling us, the humans and His church, to be in the wealth of His Kingdom. He is calling us to take heart, stand up and be courageous to choose Him to be our hope and salvation. God, the Omnipotent, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Protector and the Saver of the world has been calling His people not only to worship Him, but to believe and to trust Him, that He is in control, He is and will always be with us to provide our needs and care for us. He has shown and expressed His love and compassion with the ultimate sacrifice of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Our second reading, which is from the Gospel of Luke, says not to worry about your life, what to eat and what to wear because God feeds us and provides our clothing and if we seek His Kingdom, we will have treasures in heaven.

Our third reading, which is from the gospel of Mark, says that Jesus was heading to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Everyone crowded around the divine “teacher” to hear what this holy Rabbi had to say. But only blind Bartimaeus seemed to “see” the significance of the moment.

1. Bartimaeus could see: That Jesus was the Christ.

When the blind man asked who it was that was coming his way, they replied: “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Bartemaeus must have heard many stories about Jesus. He believed Jesus to be the Christ. He knew that Christ would have the power to heal blind eyes. When he cried “Son of David, have mercy on me”, he was declaring his faith. A faith on the One who had come to heal the sick, be with the rejected and the marginalised and save God’s people.

2. Bartimaeus could see: That this was his only chance.

Jesus is not just a way, a truth, a life. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life. If he let this moment go, the opportunity to have his blind eyes healed would be forever gone. He knew that this was his only chance to receive mercy from the One who had come to give sight to the blind, to make the lame to walk and accept the one, who was rejected by others.

3. Bartimaeus could see: That the crowd was wrong.

The crowd around him rebuked Bartimaeus for calling out to Christ. A few days later, another crowd would be saying: “Crucify him, crucify him.” The people who were following Jesus that day were wrong to silence him.

Bartimaeus would have to stand against the flow of the crowd. He cried out louder to get Jesus’ attention and he did get it.

4. Bartimaeus could see: That he would have to make a fool of himself in the eyes of the world.

He made a decision to become a “fool for Christ.” If we make a decision to follow Christ, others will make fun of us and rebuke us. To receive God’s mercy, we need to act not like what and how the world acts or responds to our actions, considering our actions, foolish actions. The Scripture makes clear that if we want to follow Jesus and decide to obey His commands, the world will hate us, reject us and persecute us. We will be fools for Christ.

5. Bartimaeus could see: That there was no turning back.

When it was told that Christ called for him, Bartimaeus took off his old beggar’s garment, and left it behind. He knew that once he came to Christ, he would never have to be in bondage and beg from the world again. He took the step and called on Jesus, the Son of David and he made sure that Jesus would hear him, and he would get what he needed. In his case, it was his eyesight. He knew that it was his only option, if he needed to get what he wanted.

6. Bartimaeus could see: The obvious.

When Christ asked Bartimaeus: “What do you want me to do for you?”. He replied: “Lord, I want to see.” This was an obvious answer to an obvious question. He was blind and he wished to see the world and the people around him. Naturally he wished to see his family members with his eyes.

7. Bartimaeus could see: That he was born blessed.

Throughout the dark days of his life, Bartimaeus must have often wondered, “Why was I even born?” His life was just a matter of surviving from day to day. But everything changed on that day that Christ passed his way.

What can we learn from Bartimaeus?

First, we must learn to take advantage of the opportunities God provides us. When Bartimaeus knew that Jesus was close to him, he shouted out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Bartimaeus sensed that he had an opportunity to get help and he acted upon the opportunity

There’s an important truth that we must understand at this point. Opportunities only become real opportunities when we embrace them as opportunities. If we refuse to accept it, the opportunity will be missed. An opportunity must be seized, grabbed, accepted and taken.

Second, we must learn to ignore the negative voices that rattle around us. Mark said: “Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet.” For the crowd, Bartimaeus would never be anything more than a blind beggar. In their eyes, he would never be anything but poor. The crowd thought that their question was fair: “Why would this Rabbi want to waste His time with such an outcast?”

But Bartimaeus persisted. He would not give up. “He shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Bartimaeus was not going to let a bunch of negative, critical bystanders rob him of his dream of sight.

And third we must learn to exercise the faith available to us. Notice, Bartimaeus’ boldness grabbed Jesus’ attention. His boldness and enthusiasm were almost impossible to miss. His faith was and he knew exactly what he wanted. For that reason, he did not hesitate to speak to Jesus about it.

If we compare Bartimaeus with the Rich Young Ruler, about whom we read in the same chapter of Mark, we will see contradicting individuals when it comes to deal with the call of Jesus.

I. The Rich Young Man 17-22

The rich young ruler had great wealth, he lacked nothing, all of his worldly needs were met but he wanted eternal life. He wanted what money could not buy. He came face to face with Christ. He asked the right questions and appeared to be on the right track as he was keeping the commandments. But the test came. Go and sell all your possessions and give to the poor and follow me. He went away a changed man. Unfortunately, he failed the test and went away sad. He came face to face with Jesus and walked away sad.

II. The Poor Blind Man 46-51

Bartimaeus a blind poor man, heard that Jesus was coming; he knew that this was an opportunity of a lifetime; he cried out, literally screaming, “Son of David, Have Mercy on Me.” He acknowledges Christ for who He is and recognizes himself as one in need of mercy. On the other hand, the rich man identified Jesus as “Good Teacher” and assumed himself worthy of eternal life. The blind man only asked for Mercy. When the world tried to stop him, he did not care what the people thought, he knew he was a poor old blind man and Jesus was the Messiah. His persistence and humility gain him access to Christ. Jesus healed him and he begun rejoicing.

III. The Irony

A. Both were changed, we can’t meet Jesus and stay the same.

The Rich man had passed up the gift of eternal life for fear of losing earthly possessions and the Poor man went away Rich, having eternal life. The Rich Man went away poor, and the poor man went away Rich.

B. The Rich Man went away spiritually blind, and the blind man received his sight.

The Rich man obviously did not grasp the significance of his rejection, spiritually he was blinded. But the Poor Man though blind was able to see the opportunity and received his sight because of it.

C. The Rich Man went away Sad, and the Poor Man went away Happy

The Rich man went away sad, because of the choice that had to be made, not willing to give up what he had for what he could gain, and the poor man went away happy, having had nothing to begin with, and now having more than he had ever had in his life.

We see people do this day in and day out, hanging on to their misery when joy is readily available. They want to hang on with what they have, which is not eternal, while what God offers is something that lasts forever.

This is the testimony; God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I am sure we are looking for something in our life.  

Today, God is looking to seek and save that which is lost. He is saying Cheer up! I am calling you.

Will we hear His voice and call upon the name of the Lord to be saved?

Our prayer should be: “Lord, open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you.”

Amen!