Pastoral Letter 87

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

Grace and peace to you all.

I write this 87th Pastoral Letter with great joy and some relief, as we come out of lockdown with real hope that we are at the end of the dark tunnel. With the full vaccination rate surpassing 75%, we are relieved that we are on track to go on with our normal life, knowing that the virus will remain with us always, causing problems, pain and even death. But we will live with it, as people have done with previous pandemics. Things are looking much more positive than what it was and with God’s help we will get over it and thank God for that.

Starting last Sunday at midnight, some shops and stores opened their doors, as well as pubs and cafes to welcome people, especially those who were the first out to have a drink, purchase a dress, a gadget, or something they needed or even for the sake of buying and feeling satisfied. On Monday morning, when I went to Woollies in Glenrose Shopping near our home to get our groceries for the week ahead, it caught my attention the long que of people who were waiting for their turn to have a haircut, after several months not being able to, just to give an example. The signs of getting back to normal life are clear and I hope this time we will not go back and face another devastating lockdown. Thank God.

We have been waiting for this to happen for a very long time, which means we will be able to reopen our doors for worship and to come together to have our face-to face services and greatly missed fellowship and weekly programs soon. 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. The Elders and Council have decided to 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.

We will keep you updated with our plan, as we move toward normal times. 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. You will find more details and dates in the October-November Newsletter. Please accept our apologies for not having it ready earlier.

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. Thanks to Mark for suggesting hymns every Sunday. Except the last two, all the hymns are his suggestions. Thanks Mark, much appreciated.

As I said in my Pastoral Letter last week, I have decided, and the Church Council has agreed, to take two weeks leave in early November, just before we reopen our doors for face-to-face worship. I will be on leave for two weeks from 2-17 November 2021. I am looking forward to a short break. During my leave I will do some gardening and some things that need to be done at our place, as well as anxiously waiting for the arrival of the twins.

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 21st 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.

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

Krikor

MESSAGE

Serve! Not Be Served

Mark 10:35-45

A well-known pastor was invited to dinner in the home of a very wealthy man in Texas. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area.

Pointing to the oil wells, he boasted: “Twenty-five years ago I had nothing. Now, as far as you can see, it’s all mine.” Looking in the opposite direction at his extensive fields of grain, he said: “That’s all mine.” Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged: “They’re all mine.” Then, pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed: “That too is all mine.”

The man paused, expecting the pastor to compliment him on his great success. However, the pastor, placing one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointing up with the other, simply asked: “How much have you invested in that direction?” The man hung his head and confessed: “I never thought of that.”

It is a striking story. A story which shows the present mentality that someone’s success is measured by accumulated wealth, acquired possessions or titles gained. This attitude has been cultivated in the human mind and even in the Christian environment. However, it was not the attitude of Christ, or the one He desires us to have.

If we look at the response of Jesus to the brothers James and John in our Gospel reading today, we can understand the attitude Jesus desires from us in respect to wealth, possession, title and honour. In this case the honour of being seated on His right and left.

It is interesting to note that James and John, who walked with Christ for some time, at this particular point in their journey, are still not grasping the significance of Jesus’ life and work. They looked at the Kingdom in terms of greatness, positions, authority or dignity. In other words, they were seeking some visible sign of success.

Jesus’ answer to James and John, as well as to His disciples today, is that we are no longer to measure success in the manner in which man is accustomed.

To James and John, Jesus contrasts the ideals of His Kingdom with those of the empire in which He lived. Rather than seeking lordship over others, Christ’s disciples are to commit themselves to the service of others. And He offers Himself as an example: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This is not the only time Jesus offers Himself as an example. At the Last Supper, following the washing of the disciples’ feet we read Jesus’ words in John 13: “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done for you.”

This example of Jesus about servitude contrasts the example set by people generally today. Today people concentrate on material possession and lordship. Though wealth and possessions are not necessarily bad, the danger is that the more we focus on the things we want for our lives the more difficult it is to see and serve the needs of others.

If we read the first verses of this chapter, there we will see a rich man asked Jesus how he could have eternal life. When Jesus told him to follow the commandments the man replied: “All these I have kept since I was a boy”.

If we look to the rich man’s request and to the request of James and John, we can clearly see a similar trend. The comparison of the two conversations with Jesus the “Good Teacher” goes like this.

  1. The man asked: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
  2. Whereas James and John said (without a question): “We want you to do for us whatever we ask”.
  3. Jesus asked the man: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments …..”

The man said: “All these I have kept since I was a boy”.

  1. Jesus asked James and John: “What do you want me to do for you?”

James and John said: “Let one of us sit at your right and the other on the left in your glory”.

  1. Jesus said to the man: “One thing you lack. Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. Then come, follow me”.

The man was sad because he had great wealth. Then Jesus told the Parable, about the difficulty of entering into the Kingdom. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

  1. Jesus said to James and John: “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?”

James and John said: “We can” – OK, but the places are for those who deserve. Do you deserve it? You will drink the cup and be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.

  1. The disciples said: “Who can do all this?”

Jesus replied to them that what with man is impossible, is possible with God.

  1. Then the disciples said: “We have left everything to follow you”.

Jesus said: “If you have done that then you will receive hundred times more possession here and then eternal life.”

  1. James and John firmly state their views saying ‘we can and we are ready to be honoured’.

So, if securing eternal life is what we want, then a lot must be done and sacrificed in order to do so.

Because Jesus said: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant”.

We should note that Jesus did not ask the man to give up his riches because having them was a sin. He asked him to give them up because they stood between him and what Jesus wanted of him; his service to others. He asked that James and John give up their desire for glory and honour in exchange for what he wanted of them and the other disciples, their service to others.

If Jesus were talking to us today, what might He ask us to give up so that we might be better able to serve others?

The reality was that James and John weren’t the only disciples to miss the meaning of Jesus’ life. How sad it must have been for Jesus. But how much sadder is it that two thousand years later the world, even the church, still doesn’t get the message? And if we’re not getting the message, how can we pass it on to our children, who are the church of today and tomorrow.

In Isaiah 49:6 we read: “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the end of the earth.” This was a promise made to Israel originally, and later spoken by Paul and Barnabas at Antioch (Acts 13:47). But when spoken by Paul and Barnabas, it was more than a promise, it was a call; a call to carry the light (Christ) to the entire world. The light is carried by living Christ’s message, loving as Christ loved, by serving as Christ served.

God will continue His work and advance His Kingdom by touching the hearts and minds of men and women who are willing to serve him.

The question is: “Will we join those who are a part of that work as Christ explained it and set the example for it?

Will we be the church, the body of Christ, that works?

Or

“Will we become members of an exclusive ‘club’, serving only those needs that will advance our personal kingdoms.

I am not sure if the Uniting Church is becoming a light to shine in the world, not only in its backyard.

We, here at St. Andrew’s, with our limited resources we try our best to be a light and a helping hand extended not only in our neighbourhood and giving to different charities and missions, but also, we have opened our hearts and the little we have to support and help those who are in need and less fortunate, locally or globally. As the scripture says, even the little we give values a lot for God, like the two small copper coins of the widow as we read in the scriptures.

Bringing our offering, giving to the poor and the needy, extending a helping hand and praying for those who need our prayers, is ‘service’ in God’s dictionary. Power, authority, position and being in control is gained by humbling ourselves; serving others, drinking the cup that Jesus drank and being baptised with the baptism He was baptised. If we are willing to do and act in a similar way, God will raise us and give us the right to sit by Jesus’ side.

I read in the Daily Bread daily devotional some time ago about a couple who were journeying in Norway on their 50th wedding anniversary. They stopped in numerous towns and villages, often visiting churches. Among them was a 12th century church that their guide described proudly as “still a working church.” they asked, “What do you mean?” She referred to the days of the state church, when the state-appointed pastors simply collected their pay checks, but no one attended the services. But this church had been faithfully holding worship services and actively serving the Lord for almost 1,000 years!

They immediately thought of the seven churches of Revelation to whom Jesus said: “I know your works”. In that list the church of Thessalonica was commended by the apostle Paul for its “work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”.

They thought of their church at home. For more than 130 years it has been faithful in preaching and caring for its congregation and community. It is truly a “working church.”

What a privilege it was for them to be part of a local body of believers, where they can grow and serve the Lord!

The church is a living body and must have working parts. The church, including the Uniting Church, is invited to be a “working church” for the glory of God. I do hope and pray that we, the Uniting Church is, and its members are still on the right track and deserve the rightful positions in the Kingdom of God.

As we make our personal decisions, let us remember the words of Jesus: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

We all are called ‘to serve not to be served’.

Amen!