Pastoral Letter 83

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

Grace and peace to you all.

The news is getting brighter by the day, as some Covid rules and regulations have been eased, with the promise of further easing coming soon. Those who have been fully vaccinated, will get out of the lockdown and move around with some restrictions, once we hit 70% of the people fully vaccinated, most probably in mid-October, which is not far away. This is promising and gives us hope to regather soon to have our church services, though without singing and wearing masks. Now five people are allowed to socialise outside, within the social distancing rules. This is promising. But there are some questions and so many things to be clarified, before the lockdown is raised.

During the week we have received the following correspondence from the UCA NSW and ACT Synod Associate Secretary, Bronwyn Murphy for Government Roadmap and Vaccinations, which reads:

There have been a number of recent questions raised by congregations seeking guidance from the Synod Office about whether a Congregation has the right to exclude unvaccinated people from their premises or meetings. This is being considered by some as they think through their responsibility to protect the health and safety of people at church. Situations being considered may include worship, church meetings, op-shops, soup kitchens, etc and can involve Ministers, church members, volunteers and third-party hirers.

This is a complex issue without straight forward answers.

Based on current laws, it would be considered discriminatory to exclude someone because they have not been vaccinated. As the Government advises further on this, the Synod Office will ensure you are informed. 

As the Government has not made a ruling on this yet, we are not in a position to provide specific guidance at the moment. In the meantime, the NSW Government has released the updated Road Map to Freedom.

https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/roadmap-to-freedom-unveiled-for-fully-vaccinated

From our reading, it may be that only those adults who are fully vaccinated will be able to attend worship in person in many LGAs – and only when the double-dose vaccination levels have reached 70%.  Hopefully this will be clarified as the Government further refines the roadmap.

We realise this leaves a lot of unanswered questions, but we will continue to update you as further news comes to hand.

We urge you all to continue to be vigilant in abiding by the Government restrictions in an effort to minimise the spread of the virus and to protect your church members and your local community.

We are so thankful for your patience and faithfulness through this extraordinary year.

Let us keep praying with a positive mind and look for the good to come. In the meantime, please let us know if you have been fully vaccinated or if you have an exemption not to be vaccinated for our records. Thank you to those who have already notified us.

As the lockdown goes on, please pray and join the rest of the members on Sunday morning for worship from home following the attached Order of Service, light a candle, sing along to the hymns chosen and read the Bible Readings and the Message.

Continue to pray. 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 for those who are under stress because of the COVID-19 restrictions and are struggling financially.

3. Pray for Lebanon as people are in desperation and pray for peace to prevail in the world.

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

Krikor

MESSAGE

Humble Yourself and Be a Servant

Mark 9:30-9:37

Greatness is a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than all others. Application of the terms “great” and “greatness” is dependent on the perspective and subjective judgements of those who apply them.

We ask the question: “Who is the Greatest?”

The answer to this question is probably “The one who has authority, power, dominion and the final word.” Today we can say the President, the Queen, the King, Prime Minister, Party Leader, the Pope, Bishop, CEO of a company. In other terms an athlete, an Olympian, it could be swimmer, runner, tennis player, boxer … Muhammad Ali was and is called the greatest. Ali was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet, and philanthropist. Nicknamed ‘The Greatest’, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century and is frequently ranked as the best heavyweight boxer of all time. He won the heavyweight title on February 25^th, 1964 and is the only one to win the title three times. In the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ali with hands trembling from Parkinson’s disease, lit the cauldron to signify the start of the Olympic Games. Because of his accomplishments, the world calls Ali ‘The Greatest’.

A writer, a musician, a painter, an actor, a public servant, a missionary also could be called the greatest.

We can give many more examples.

But what the world calls great and what the Lord calls great, are often two very different things.

While Ali became great by winning the Heavyweight title three times, God isn’t impressed by such accomplishments, and He does not measure us with that same measure. God desires good things in our lives, and He gives His many blessings to us; yet He is more concerned with our character than with our trophies and great names. While He enables us to do great things, He desires that we would do His will. He desires that we would understand what being great really means and what lasting accomplishment is.

People are strange: they want the front seat of the bus, the back seat of the church, the centre of attention, the best service; the best in everything. People want to be great or the greatest.

In today’s reading we see Jesus and His disciples going to Capernaum, probably to Peter’s house, when they begin discussing among themselves the question: Who then is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?

Why did they ask this question, and what did they mean by it?

The word greatest here literally means greatest, largest, oldest and strongest. It was a term that implied a higher position as a result of age, ambition, or power. By adding the words in the kingdom of Heaven (or kingdom of God) they were asking Jesus which one of them was the most spiritually mature, and thus the worthiest of occupying the highest position of power next to Christ.

Mark tells us that they were actually arguing about this, and we can be sure that each had their reasons and their agendas for thinking that they were the most spiritually mature.

Peter was the spokesman, and he would surely be the greatest. But John was His favourite, because he usually called himself the disciple that Jesus loved. Andrew was the first to follow Jesus. And Judas, the man with the money, no doubt he thought he was the greatest.

The disciples were waiting for Jesus to settle this dispute for them. And Jesus was going to try to teach them that the way to climb the ladder in the kingdom was not up, but down.

But human pride always wants to clear its own path to greatness. Pride is a dangerously deceiving attitude that can even poison the pure water of spirituality. It is too easy to think that our service to God earns us some special place of honour with the Lord, as if the more we do, the more valuable and important we are to Him, and the higher and better we are than those around us.

The words of Jesus registered in the gospel reading suggests two things.

Firstly – “To be the Greatest” you need to be a servant

If we want to reach the greatness that God has for our lives, we need to learn to serve. As humans we always have a desire to be first, don’t we? We’ve all done it. Wanted to have our way, our will, or our needs met first.

Jesus said that he who seeks to be the greatest shall be last and shall be the servant of all. But what does it mean to be a servant? Servant means, “A person working in the service of another”.

The President takes a pledge to serve the public but has great power.

A maid takes a job to serve her employer, but does not have great power, or influence, or wealth.

The servant puts others interest before his/her own. We need to put others needs before our own. We need to lead and serve. If we want to be “The Greatest”, we have to learn to serve.

Christ is our leader, but He came to serve, He became to be a sacrifice for us, He, “The Greatest” to ever walk the face of the earth and knows what it means to serve. We can follow His example.

It is not what we eat, but what we digest that makes us strong.

Not what we gain, but what we save that makes us rich.

Not what we read, but what we remember that makes us learned.

Not what we preach or pray, but what we practice and believe that makes us Christians.

Secondly – “To be the Greatest” you need to humble yourself

Mathew 23:11-12 – “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus says that he who humbles himself will be exalted and he who exalts himself will be humbled.

Let’s not be like the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, who were so religious and pious that they didn’t even recognize that the saviour they had been waiting for more than two thousand years…had come and was teaching in their midst.

Let’s not be like the Pharisees with their long prayers that don’t come from the heart! Let’s not be so foolish to think that God is impressed with our religion…but seek a relationship with Him.

Let’s not just go to church on Sunday and leave every week the same way we came.

The disciples meant to use the word greatest in the sense of being most important, but I believe Jesus wanted to use it in the sense of being grown up. Jesus uses a child to teach them how to grow up spiritually.

In the Matthew version we read: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”.

Jesus drops a bombshell.

What He tells them can be divided into two parts:

• The necessity of humility to enter the kingdom and
• The necessity of humility to grow in the kingdom.

The necessity of humility refers to the change that should happen in the person. In this case, it means to change or become like a child. The literary meaning is to stop and turn around 180 degrees, in other words to turn away from sin. The Bible calls this repentance, which is necessary for our salvation.

Also, the necessity of humility refers to growth.  Jesus tells them that they have to become like a child before they can grow up in God’s kingdom.

What did that mean to them?

Children were the most powerless members of ancient society. It was only as they grew in age and stature that they became able to be heard and given rights as members of the community. Apart from the love of their families, they had no power or privileges. No power or rights, no voice in the home, the city, or the nation. Their primary duty was to respect and obey their parents and elders on whom they depend on to survive.

Jesus is saying here that spiritual life begins with a change in direction in our hearts and minds. We cannot keep going in the direction of our own choosing and expect to meet God at the end of our journey. If we are going to come to know God, we must turn around and go the other way. And when we turn, we find that we are no longer walking alone. Like a child, we walk with someone who can lead us, take care of us and nurture us. If we depend on God, we grow great in God’s kingdom and we get our growth from Him.

A famous actor was an after-dinner speaker at a big function and when he stood up to speak, he invited his audience to choose a poem for him to recite.

There was a long silence until a retired clergyman raised his hand and asked for Psalm 23.

The actor was slightly taken back but agreed to do so provided the clergyman would recite it after him, which the clergyman reluctantly agreed to do.

The actor recited Psalm 23 and received a standing applause. When the clergyman recited the Psalm, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

The actor came over to the clergyman and said in front of all the guests. “Do you know the difference between his version and my version? I know the 23rd Psalm but he knows the Shepherd”…

Steven K. Scott is the bestselling author of The Richest Man Who Ever Lived and The Greatest Words Ever Spoken and Mentored by a Millionaire. After failing in nine jobs, he started reading a chapter of Proverbs every day and the wisdom of the Scripture changed his life. Scott and his business partners have since built more than a dozen multimillion dollar companies from scratch, achieving billions of dollars in sales. He is a popular international speaker on the subjects of personal and professional achievement and the application of biblical wisdom to every area of life. In his book ‘The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived’, Scott reveals the unique ways Jesus lived as a human, so you can experience the most authoritative, inspiring and practical model of personal success.

As he started work on this book, he says six ‘M’ words came into his mind that became the core or the essence of the book. These are: Meaning, Mission, Message, Manner, Method and Mission accomplished. According to Scott, Jesus as the ‘Greatest Man Ever Lived’ set a meaning for His work, went on missions, at least 26, to give His message, with a unique manner, which was totally different than the norm and in perfect harmony with His mission and message. He used several methods to achieve His goals and accomplish His mission. He gathered 12 men to follow Him and go out into the world to preach the gospel message, which changed the whole world. And in doing so, He crossed all barriers and obstacles to finish His great work. He overcame all the obstacles and literally accomplished His mission in the world.

So, Jesus, as the greatest man ever lived, did what He did, but all was done by humbling Himself and taking the form of a servant and by doing that, God the Father exalted Him. He was the greatest man. 

If we seek to be “The Greatest” we need to get to know Him, the Shepherd, and follow His example as a servant leader, as a man of Godly character, and as one so humble that while He is Son of God, He gave Himself to the humility of the cross for you and for me.

Amen!