July 31st 2011

When my father died, my mother gave his heavy black cloak to the Rector of the parish. As she handed it to him, the Rector's face lit up and he exclaimed "the cloak of Elijah". Of course he was referring to the incident described in First Kings 19, when Elijah the prophet found Elisha ploughing in the fields with twelve yoke of oxen. He ran beside him and threw his cloak over him and that has ever since been a symbol of the handing on not just the responsibility but also in this case, some of what the former owner had stood for.

There are many accounts of people being called in the Bible - that is where we get the word Vocation. Several weeks ago, I referred to the call of Isaiah - there are many others: Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David and in the New Testament, Mary at home, Zachariah in the Temple, James and John in their boat, Matthew at his seat of custom, Paul on the road to Damascus. These are some well known ones - they are all called from their daily pursuits.

God does not call us and then leave us to get on with it. He is always there supporting and upholding his loved ones. He is the creator God who inspires us with new ideas. He is the son who became one with us and loves us enough to die for us. He is the Holy Spirit who fills us with the power we need to carry out the project he gives us. Those projects can be large or small. Sometimes the little ones turn into big ones to which he gently leads us. Perhaps something comes crashing down. We must learn to reach up to him and let his hand pull us out of our distress. Let us be assured that there is a purpose for each one of us as long as we live. He is there with us. In the words of St. Paul " may your spirit and soul and be body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who calls you his faithful and he will do this" 1 Thessalonians 5 : 23

July 24th 2011

In the early 70's, I spent a very wonderful time in a Deaconess community. It is situated in Northern Germany in the city of Bielefeld. It was founded over 150 years ago, originally to care for people with epilepsy. It soon developed into a community spread over a large area and containing facilities to accommodate many ministries. There was a large general hospital and several others of a specialist nature. There was a home for mentally challenged, an orphanage and a shelter for street people. There were residences for students attending the nearby university. All this and more was administered by the Deaconesses, I believe over 1000 of them, plus lay staff.

One of the founding principles of Bielefeld is their belief that everyone in the community whether staff or patient should have an opportunity to minister to someone. The reverse of this is also emphasized. Whoever has the privilege of ministering, should give other people the privilege of ministering to them. One example of this was a man who was a writer and had lost all his limbs. They had a young girl who needed help with her studies. He was able to perform this ministry for her. She in turn ministered to him by taking down his dictation of poetry and other writings. On a one to one basis there were workshops where people with various skills could create beautiful and useful things to sell. This needed the establishment of little shops. Did you ever think of a shop as being a ministry? These people did. It was their ministry to the craftsmen who made the things they sold and was also a ministry to the people who would buy them.

Someone out there reading this is going to say to me "I work in a store -does this mean I have a ministry?" Yes, it does. Try to think of it that way. Think of your customers as people to whom you are ministering. It will give you a whole new outlook on your job. There are some callings where this concept is easier is comprehend, the wide field of medicine is obvious. How about law, banking, plumbing, teaching, building? All these and many more can be real ministries. If you do not think you can really minister in what you do, then perhaps there is more thinking and praying to do.

The Deaconesses also taught - the last ministry is to be ministered to. This is often the hardest one. We have grown up in a world where independence is honoured but there comes a time when we have to reach out and say -please care for me. Remember Jesus said -"unless you change and become like children, you never will enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matt. 18:3)

July 17th 2011

Do you ever read the rubrics in the prayer book? They are those instructions printed at various points during the service and are called rubric because they used to be printed in red. You may have thought that they were just instructions for the clergy to help the worship flow easily. That is part of it. They are also are there to make the service more meaningful. At the end of morning and evening prayer, the rubric is quite insistent that the prayer of St. Chrysostom must be used. Why? Because it stresses the fact of our unity, one with another, in worship and Jesus promised that wherever two or three are gathered together in his name, he is in their midst. We will go forth from our place of worship into the world to live our lives as he would have us do. Whatever our calling we are happier and more fulfilled if we have other people around us, even more so if those people belong to Jesus and are part of his body.

We know that in the early times Jesus' followers kept together (Acts 2: 44-47) but later they were scattered to all parts of the earth and were able to spread the good news. We cannot confine our circle of friends to those who are just part of his body. We must enter with him into other spheres and help people to be conscious of his presence. It would be strange indeed if there were not active Christians in Rotary or Womens' Institute or any of our great service organization just because we insisted in keeping only onto ourselves.

Nonetheless, it is so very important for us to get together in a place of worship and raise our hearts to our Heavenly Father in Jesus' Name. As we raise our hearts, let us also raise our voices together. As our voices blend, we become even more as one so think, God will bless your joyful noise. Pray out loud with a full heart. Respond in the responses:

Lift up your hearts 

We lift them to the Lord.