Pastoral Letter 220
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and peace to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The 17th Assembly, the triennial decision-making meeting of the national council of the Uniting Church in Australia, will take place from 11-16 July 2024 at Novotel Paramatta on Burramattagal land Western Sydney and it will be live streamed.
The theme for the 17th Assembly is “Threads of Love, Weaving Christ’s Love Across Cultures and Boundaries“. Inspired by the honoured Tongan tradition of weaving the fala (mat), the theme speaks to our God-given call to weave Christ’s love into the world by building bridges across social and cultural divides. According to the President Elect Rev. Carrisa Suli, each strand of the fala (mat) is important to each other in the same way that the Holy Spirit gifts and empowers all members of the Church to confess Jesus Christ and serve Him. The phrase “Threads of Love” is a reference to Paul’s Letter to the Colossians (3:14) and spotlights the transformative power of Christ’s love as it overcomes cultural boundaries and unites us in God’s service.
The President-elect is further inspired by the story of the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well in which Jesus traverses cultural and religious divides to engage in deep theological dialogue with the woman, who in turn is transformed by and becomes a beacon of Christ’s love. Carissa’s hope is that the theme inspires us to acknowledge and honour our shared humanity in God our creator, and to act upon our common duty to shape a world that mirrors the love and unity Christ has for us all.
The opening Worship and Installation of the President Rev. Suli will be held on Thursday 11 July at 7:30 pm in the St. Stephen’s Uniting Church, 197 Macquarie St. Sydney. I will be taking a part in the service of the Installation.
We are now just four weeks away from our traditional annual Market Morning, which will be held on Saturday 3 August 2023, from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. It’s time to bring in our donations and let people around us know that we are happy to receive goods for Market Morning. Please be available the week commencing on Monday 29 July for setting up the hall. Our aim this year is “everything should go!”.
Please save and put in your diaries two important dates in August. The Documentary “The Golden Chain of Mercy” will be World Premiered in Sydney, in Event Cinemas, Top Ryde, on the Opening Gala Night of the Armenian Film Festival, Friday 16 August 2024 6:30 pm. Then it will be rescreened, again in Top Ryde, on Sunday 25 August 2024 3:00 pm (time to be confirmed). Our church, a small part from our Sunday worship and the voices of some of us are in the film. I am sure you all are excited to see the film. I am pleased to let you know that the UCA is actively on board and supporting this project.
Please continue to pray for those who are going through difficult and tough times, seeking God’s presence, help and healing and let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
If you are not able to join us tomorrow for worship, please light a candle, have a small roll of bread and a small cup of wine and worship with us following to the attached Order of Service.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for the UCA 17th Assembly to be held 11-16 July in Sydney and the new President Rev. Suli.
- Pray for the sick, the poor, the refugees and those who feel lonely.
- Pray for world peace, especially for the Middle East, Palestine and Israel.
- Pray for the days ahead and the uncertainties that we have.
- Pray for the Documentary Project and its successful outcome.
Best Regards
In Christ
Krikor
MESSAGE
Sent Out!
Mark 6:1-13, Luke 10:1-11
Our Gospel of Mark reading points out that there were twelve disciples whom Jesus sent out. But in the Gospel of Luke, the number is seventy-two or seventy according to some translations. We always talk about the twelve, but we know that there were a lot more disciples than just the original twelve.
So, we have the twelve and additional disciples ‘sent out’ by Jesus to take the Good News to the people. In the second reading we heard that Jesus sent out seventy disciples. However, depending on the various Greek source, there are two differing opinions as to the number of new disciples. The New International Version of the Bible indicates that there were 72 sent out; the New Revised Standard Version says seventy. Noted theologians consider the seventy sent out by Jesus to be the New Testament equivalent of the seventy leaders appointed by Moses in the Old Testament. Regardless of the number, seventy-two, seventy or even just twelve, the point is that Jesus sent out His dedicated followers to do their task, as we, the church, should do today.
If you look at the meaning of the word ‘disciple’, the dictionary defines it as: A follower, a pupil, one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines or teachings of another. One who is sent. So, the disciples were the chosen ones who were sent out for a mission. By sending the disciples out, Jesus transferred His Spirit to them, so they would be equipped for leadership in the new faith. The twelve or the seventy were to be the hands, feet, legs, hearts, and minds of Jesus. That is still true today. For Jesus to complete His mission in today’s world, He needs hands, feet, legs, hearts, and minds; He needs willing hands, willing hearts, willing minds and willing spirits. Jesus still gets His work done today through His disciples. These were not religious professionals or rabbis, but common ordinary people.
We have to note that Jesus sent all His disciples out two-by-two. Today, we think of Jehovah’s Witnesses going out two-by-two knocking doors. Why two-by-two? It gives courage, confidence and strength to go out with a partner. Jehovah’s Witnesses are effective because they are trained and then they are sent out together. Something we can learn from. Going together was an effective way of evangelism two thousand years ago and still works today.
Jesus sent them out but at the same time gave these new disciples the following warnings:
1. The work is urgent. There is not time to waste, for the harvest is ready.
2. It won’t be easy. In fact, sometimes you’ll feel like you are like a lamb hunted by a wolf. Sometimes when you think the ‘harvest is ready‘ it won’t be — there will be some who will be less than welcoming.
3. You don’t need to take much with you. No cash or credit cards. Not a change of clothes. Not an extra pair of shoes. Not your cell phone, your new used car, or your Facebook page.
4. You’re not in charge of how people respond. You are just the messenger, the one speaking on behalf of Jesus. You do not have any say about where and when you go. You will stay until it is time to go.
5. You need to anticipate rejection by the world which is essentially hostile to the love of Christ. If a village does not return peace, you must brush the dust off your sandals, leave and go somewhere else.
6. You will need to be able to simply accept the gifts of those who welcome you. You will eat what you are served; usual dietary rules are to be abandoned, if you are a vegetarian, you may have to eat meat.
7. You will have a companion with you; you will never be alone. You will have each other to help keep your eyes on the goal; help each other when things get tough.
8. You have a simple message; you are to declare peace wherever you go. You will be sent out with a declaration of the Kingdom and God’s salvation and authority. It is a message of blessing.
What a simple message! We don’t need to make things far too complicated.
It is good if a new worshipper finds way into the church through website, advertisement, curiosity or invitation. If a new worshipper is welcomed at the door; and kindness is extended and hears the Gospel preached simply, is also good.
All of these unique gifts – welcoming, inclusion, true preaching of the good news of Jesus and friendship, are like what the seventy-two, seventy or the twelve offered so long ago. People are reached in the same way: with kindness and with a message of peace. It is not fancy, but it is still very effective.
Jesus wasn’t going to send His disciples into places where He himself was not intending to go. In Luke 10:1, we read: “He sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He himself where He was about to go”.
Just like today, Jesus sends us into places and situations where He wants us to go and where He Himself plans to be present. And He knows where the need is the greatest. . . where the harvest is plentiful (Luke 10:2).
In Jesus’ day as in our times, people understood when the fields were ripe for harvesting. Ploughing, planting, watering, caring for, weeding are all different activities before harvesting. Harvesting means that the plants are ready to be gathered in, or picked off the tree, or reaped from the field. Jesus was saying that people were ready to be harvested, gathered in.
Jesus knew there were people ready to belong to the kingdom but what was needed were more disciples. Jesus believed that people were ripe and ready for the gospel, ripe and ready for the Kingdom, ripe and ready to hear the love of God. The time was right; the people were ripe. We dare not wait a moment longer. Sometimes it is a lot easier to tell when a real harvest is ready to be brought in than it is to tell when one is ready to hear the message. Perhaps this is why Jesus says we should be generous in our sharing. “Just go and do it,” Jesus seems to be saying. And leave the results up to God.
The same is true today in the twenty-first century: there are people all around us who are ripe and ready to hear about the love of God. But the labourers are few. Jesus calls us to be on our way, to be the hands, hearts and heads of Jesus, into a world around us.
From the Scripture, we heard that Jesus was sending and is still sending people out into situations where others may attack. Lambs never feel safe and secure when wolves are around to attack them and eat them up; Christians never feel safe and secure among folks who may be hostile to the gospel, who may be resistant to having Christ rule their lives with love and compassion.
We can derive some basic principles of evangelism from this gospel lesson:
1. The disciples were to reach out to people who knew their need of God and their need for the ways of God.
2. The disciples had an attitude of compassion and not criticism nor condemnation.
3. The disciples were not religious professionals but common ordinary people.
4. The disciples prayed to the Lord of the harvest to give workers who would do the work of harvesting, not people whose primary passion was working to maintain the church.
5. The disciples were sent out two-by-two.
Our prayer is for other workers who will ‘encourage’ us to recognize that all peoples’ lives need to be ruled by the love and compassion of our Lord. And amazing things can and does happen!
We, the church, are called to be faithful servants of God and we are sent out as disciples of Christ to proclaim the good news to those who are lost and are looking for something or someone to rely on.
It is our duty and the privilege to be His disciples who are called and sent out to do what we are supposed to do for the glory of God.
Amen!