Isaiah 61.1-4,8-11
1 Thessalonians 5.16-24
John 1.6-8,19-28
A few weeks ago the PCC met to try to think about the future of St. John's and work on the process of discerning the road that God is calling us to travel to the future he has prepared for us. Most of you will already know that as part of that process it has been decided that from February we would, once a month on the first Sunday of the month, have a different form of service – a more informal service which we hope might be encouraging for those who are already part of the family of the this church and provide an easy and welcoming 'way further in' for those who are on the fringes.
During the discussion at the PCC one of the things that emerged from our thinking was the need to explore further not just what we wanted the church to be and do but what God's purpose was for us. A few years ago there was a lent discussion course entitled "What on earth is the church for?" and remember hearing that rephrased as "What is the church on earth for?" That is the question the PCC was asking. Why has God called us to be his church in this place. What is the mission he expects us to undertake?
As these thoughts arose during our discussions I was reminded that Jesus himself began his ministry with a very clear idea of what it was that God intended for him to do. He expressed that mission when he preached at the synagogue in Nazareth and chose as his text words from the passage we read as our old testament lesson this morning –
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour …
And one can see clearly that in His ministry of preaching, teaching, healing and deliverance He fulfils the mission that God the Father has entrusted to him. During that ministry he called disciples to learn from him and sent them out to do the things he did. His disciples became his Apostles, a word which means "one who is sent". In our Christian life together we stand in continuity with those first disciples as part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and the task which is entrusted to us is the one which Jesus undertook in his ministry, for which He commissioned those first apostles and which they have passed on to us.
A few years ago it was fashionable among young Christians to wear a bracelet or a pendant with the letters WWJD on them. It stood for "What Would Jesus Do?" The young Christian, faced with a dilemma, was supposed to ask themselves "What would Jesus do in this situation?" It's a powerful question and far larger than simple personal ethics. It's a question which challenges us a Christian Community. If Jesus were physically present among us here and now in Stansted what would he do? And what does he expect us as his disciples to do?
John the Baptist was, of course, not a disciple of Jesus but his herald and forerunner. And yet in many ways it is John who shows us very clearly the way in which we as a community need to make following Jesus the centre of our life together. In our Collect today we prayed:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
The task of the "ministers and stewards" of the mysteries of Christ is to prepare his way. Now whilst I recognise that the clergy have special responsibilities in this area I don't believe that being a "minister and steward" of the mysteries of Christ is something which is solely for the clergy. All Christians are called to such ministry and stewardship. Just as John knew clearly exactly who and what he was so we need to know who and what we are. Sometimes I come across Christians who think the Church ought to be supported because it is somehow a good thing in itself. But the Church never exists for itself – it exists for Jesus and without him there is no point to its existence. Like John we do not proclaim ourselves but cry out "Make straight the way of the Lord"
Yet we do that in some very down to earth ways. The doctrine of the incarnation which we celebrate at Christmas is central to the Christian faith. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. God was man in Palestine. The Christian faith calls us not simply to hold that the doctrine and teaching of Jesus is a good idea but to live it out in the place where we dwell amongst the people that surround us. In his letter to the Thessalonians St. Paul gives a series of terse but practical commands:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.
It's about living trustfully and expectantly but also realistically in the light of who Jesus is and what he has done. Not to quench the Spirit but to allow God to have his way in us and through us and among us. Not to complain but to be thankful. Not to do evil but good.
I've a feeling that 2009 is going to be a difficult year for many people – perhaps for many of us. In all times but especially in "such a time as this" the world needs to hear the message of hope promised by Isaiah, heralded by John and made present in the life and ministry of Jesus. I believe that God is both calling and enabling this church, this benefice and this congregation to play its part in proclaiming the message of salvation in the difficult times ahead.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has written:
The Church of God has to be the salt and light of the world. We are the hope of the hopeless, through the power of God. We must transfigure a situation of hate and suspicion, of brokenness and separation, of fear and bitterness. We have no option. We are servants of the God who reigns and cares. He wants us to be the alternative society; where there is harshness and insensitivity, we must be compassionate and caring; where people are statistics, we must show they count as being of immense value to God; where there is grasping and selfishness, we must be a sharing community now.
In the early Church people were attracted to it not so much by the preaching, but by the fact that they saw Christians as a community, living a new life as if what God had done was important, and had made a difference. They saw a community of those who, whether poor or rich, male or female, free or slave, young or old— all quite unbelievably loved and cared for each other. It was the lifestyle of the Christians that was witnessing.
The proclamation of that message, not just by what we say but by who we are, is the mission entrusted to us and all God's people.
So may the God of peace himself sanctify us entirely; and may our spirits and souls and bodies be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls us is faithful, and he will do this. Amen.
