As we celebrate 40 years of
the Uniting Church on this day I want to pick up on a core theme that emerge in
the early days of the Uniting Church and relate those themes to three statements
found in our readings.
That theme was the expression
of the mission of the church as worship, witness and service.
These three expressions of
our life as the church and in particular as the Uniting Church were grounded in
the life of Jesus Christ and it was to be through engaging in these three
things that the Uniting Church was to live out it’s life as God’s people.
It is an opportune time for
this congregation to be revisiting these fundamental themes of what it means to
be a church as together you are standing on the cusp of change. As I leave the Presbytery has engaged with
you to reflect on who you are and what God is calling you to do and be as a
congregation.
So let us consider these
three themes.
The first is worship and in
Psalm 122 we read these words:
I was glad when they said to me,
‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’
This Psalm was a Psalm of
ascent. It would have been sung as
pilgrims travelled from their villages and towns to Jerusalem for the
festivals. Worship for the Hebrew people
was more than the gathering in the temple or synagogue but flowed out into
their meal sharing and their home life. It shaped who they were.
In this particular Psalm of
ascent there is a sense of joy and even happiness about engaging with God. In some of the other Psalms of ascent other
emotions are reflected: sorrow, lament, confession. Worship encompasses the fullness of life.
As a small congregation your
gathering for worship is a fundamental act of mission which should also ground
you in a life lived to the glory and praise of God. As we are gathered into worship we are
gathered as people who have been worshipping God through our not only our
devotional lives but also our daily witness to others and service of those
around us. And as we are sent out at the
end of the service we are constantly commissioned to be God’s people in the
world.
Be glad as God’s people to
come together for worship, be glad in the good times and in the hard times, be
glad that God is a faithful and steadfast God and worship God together. Be open to the changes that might come and be
committed to support one another in your worship.
The second theme is
witness. In Jesus prayer in John we
read:
As you, Father, are in me and I am in
you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent
me.
Jesus prayer of John 17 is
prayed in the context of worship. The
disciples had gone to Jerusalem for Passover.
Jesus had washed their feet and prayed with them. He was teaching them and serving them and it
was in the context of this pray that Jesus indicates that their behaviour would
become a witness.
The unity of the church would
help people believe. Now the reality is
that we have been on a long journey since that night of division and
disunity. I have never been a part of a
congregation growing up, as a teacher or as a minister in which there was not
conflict. From childhood I was aware of
the division between the denominations and did often wonder whether I was in
the right or real church. Despite this
problem I believe God continues to use our broken witness as sign of hope in
the world.
And whilst unity is one
aspect of witness as people of faith every time we allow others to know that we
are followers of Jesus we become his ambassadors in the world. We have a task
through our words and actions to point others to Jesus, to help to know of
God’s love through our imperfect witness.
Once again as a small
congregation the imperative is not just for worship but that your daily lives
and your life together might draw others to a greater commitment to Jesus. Last Sunday we had the exciting event of
baptising 2 and confirming another 4 people.
On that day it was more than 20% of the congregation. We should not underestimate the possibilities
of what God could do in and through this small community of faith and we should
be each of us active in our inviting others to share with us and praying for
others to come to know Jesus and the one whom he called Father as we know
Jesus.
Lastly, the third theme is
service:
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’
For the sake of the house of the Lord
our God, I will seek your good.
This may seem an odd choice
from the readings to highlight service but in these words the Psalmist reminds
us our actions in God’s name are about others.
For the sake of our friends and relatives, for the sake of the house of
the Lord and of the city. The focus of
faith is found not simply in gazing at God but in our serving others.
In the book of Hebrews the
writer encourages acts of service and love and throughout Jesus ministry we are
made acutely aware of Christ’s service of those who were sick, who were demon
possessed, who were ostracized and estranged.
Jesus came seeking and
serving the lost sheep and we are invited to share in this ministry of healing
and giving hope to others as well.
As a congregation thinking
about your own life I have never been strong on saying we have to do these
things together and start programs or projects.
Rather my views has always been to encourage each one of you to serve
the people around you and to be involved in organisations which inflame you
with a passion to serve.
Worship, witness and service.
Ground in God’s love shown to
us in Christ we share in his life of worship, witness and service.
So as you face the future the
coming days, weeks, months and years I encourage you to ground your life in
Christ on whom the church is founded and participate in the worship, witness
and service of faith just as God has called you to.
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