Pastoral Letter 250
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.
Now we are already in the second week of February and back to our normal programs and activities. Last Tuesday we kicked off with our first Movie/Pizza Night of the year 2025. We watched a great and touching Australian movie called “Lion”, based on a true story. This was our 123rd movie since we started back in December 2011. We missed only 15 Tuesdays during both COVID lock downs in 2020 and 2021. The second movie of the year will be on Tuesday 4 March and the film will be “Ladies in Lavender”. Come, join us, enjoy delicious Pizza, Ice Cream, a great movie and a good fellowship around the table. Time4U will commence this Wednesday 12 February and followed by every second Wednesday of the month.
On Friday, 7 March 2024 at 10:00 am, we are invited to attend the World Day of Prayer, which will be held again at St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, down the road, 1 Chritina Street, Longueville. This year the program is prepared by the women of Cook Island. The theme is: “I made you wonderful”, based on Psalm 139: 1-18. Following the service, morning tea will be served.
We move forward with great hope and being confident that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. We continue to pray for all those who need our prayers, remembering those who are facing many challenges, such as natural disasters, hunger, homelessness, uncertainties and so many other things
If you are not able to join us tomorrow, please light a candle and join us following the attached Order of Services.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for the church in general and the Uniting Church in particular to be faithful in ministry.
- Pray for people of Middle East and Armenia, as well as the region, where the situation is uncertain.
- Pray for the displaced people, the homeless who need shelter.
- Pray for those who work to help those who suffer and need support.
- Pray for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the struggling, the stressed and those who are less fortunate.
- Pray for our church and our future plans as we seek God’s guidance.
In Christ
Krikor
MESSAGE
Called to Serve!
Isaiah 6:1-8 and Luke 5:1-11
In today’s readings we have two examples of ordinary people coming face to face with the power of God.
Firstly, we have Isaiah’s powerful and compelling vision of an encounter with God in the Temple, in which God’s might and majesty are powerfully displayed. Isaiah must have been completely overwhelmed by the otherness of God. God is the Holy One and this holiness is the very essence of His divine being, which causes human beings to tremble before Him as they worship Him. In coming face to face with God’s power, His moral perfection, His love, His faithfulness, Isaiah’s human failings were thrown into sharp contrast, and he realised his own unworthiness. What an awesome and terrifying prospect to be forced to measure our imperfections against God’s perfection.
Secondly, in the Gospel reading we have a further demonstration of the power of God, but this time it is a power veiled. It is also more firmly rooted in normal human experience.
Earlier in his Gospel, Luke had written about Jesus teaching in the synagogues of Galilee and healing the sick. As one of the people that Jesus healed was Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, it is clear that Simon already knew something about Jesus. It is highly unlikely that after a frustrating night trying, without success, to catch fish that Peter would obey a total stranger who had the temerity to sit in his boat and ask to be taken away from the shore!
After Jesus had taught the crowds from the boat, the carpenter’s son told the professional fisherman how to catch fish! Such was Jesus’ authority that Peter obeyed. He displayed his trust in Jesus in doing so, but even he was amazed by the sheer quantity of the catch.
Just like Isaiah, Peter, when faced with evidence of God’s amazing power, even though that power was veiled, experienced a deep sense of unworthiness. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man”.
Both of these manifestations of God’s power are followed by an invitation to serve God.
In Isaiah’s vision God said, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us” and Isaiah’s unhesitating response was, “Here am I; send me!”
In the Gospel story, Peter after witnessing the miracle of the big catch of fish, realising who he was, he said: “I am a sinful man”. Jesus said to Simon Peter: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” The immediate response, not only from Peter, but also from James and John, was to bring the boats to shore and then to leave everything to follow Jesus.
We, too, have been called by God. If we have not, then why are we here in church today?
Our call may not have been dramatic and awesome, like Isaiah’s vision in the Temple. It may have come at a time of frustration and disappointment like Peter’s. It may have been the still, small voice after the earthquake, wind and fire that spoke to Elijah. It may have been the blinding light of revelation that utterly transformed Paul’s way of thinking. But in all probability, it was not like any of these, because God knows each one of us completely and recognises us as unique individuals and so the way He calls us will be unique and tailored-made for us.
If we recognise that we have been called by God and we are ready to respond to that call what does that imply for us?
What does it mean to be a disciple?
The word “disciple” comes from the Latin discipulus meaning pupil, or learner, and might be used to refer to the pupils of a Rabbi, in the Hebrew world, or of a philosopher in Greek world. Since pupils often adopted the distinctive teaching style of their masters, the word came to signify the adherent of a particular outlook in religion or philosophy.
However, when we talk of Jesus’ disciples, we usually mean rather something different. The disciples in the Gospels were people who gave Jesus personal allegiance, which was expressed in following Him and giving Him exclusive loyalty. In some cases, at least, it meant literally abandoning home, business ties and possessions. In all cases it meant readiness to put Jesus first, whatever the cost.
So, what about us?
What kind of disciples are we?
What about the church today?
Do we have a purely academic interest in the words of Jesus, or are we prepared to put Him first in our lives?
Are we ready to fish for people?
The evidence of the empty pews in the churches suggests that perhaps we are not.
Christ did not come to set up a comfortable club which exists entirely for the benefit of its own members. He came to build a church that was to be His body on earth, to be God’s agent for the healing of the whole of creation. Far from existing solely for the benefit of its members, the Church should exist mainly for the benefit of its non-members!
As Martin Luther said: “A faith that gives nothing, costs nothing and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”
If we want to be Jesus’ disciples, we must accept His supreme authority as Lord over every part of our lives. If we are not willing for Him to be our Lord, He cannot be our Saviour.
To be true disciples, we must accept the values of our Lord and to recognise that these are not the values of the world around us.
We live in a society that says, “Me first”, and “Look out for number one”; Jesus requires us to look out for others. Our culture is strong on rights, but much less strong on responsibility; Jesus asks us to take responsibility for protecting the rights of others, especially the poor, the weak and the vulnerable. Our society and I am afraid even the church worships wealth, status and celebrity; Jesus, values humility and service.
Jesus’ call to us is also a call of love. Jesus loves us and laid down His life for us and obedience to Him means trusting in that love. We must trust ourselves to a God who demands all, but who loves us more than anyone could love us and who longs only for our highest good.
We can kid ourselves that we can get by with less than total and uncompromising obedience. We can delude ourselves that modern culture is so different from the first century that we can weaken this demand on us and reinterpret the teaching of Jesus so that we skilfully avoid its direct and disturbing challenge. We can fool ourselves that when Jesus said, “Love your enemies”, what He really meant was “Don’t take active revenge against someone who has wronged you”; that when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God” what He really meant was “Although there will be many other things you must seek first in order to exist and have a normal life, make sure that you do not leave God’s kingdom out of your life altogether.” It is really tempting to accept this comfortable, weakened version of Christ’s teaching, but in our heart of hearts we must know that this does not wash.
Christ’s way is hard and challenging; we will not always succeed in following it; there will be temptations and distractions, and we may lose our way for a time, but these are not reasons for us not to try.
Winston Churchill said: “Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts.”
Do we have the courage to answer Christ’s call in our lives?
We are called to serve!
Let’s learn from Isaiah and say: “Here am I. Send me!”
Let’s learn from Peter and leave everything an follow Him.
Amen!