Children of God


Sermon for an induction on November 10th. Readings were:
Luke 18.15-17 , John 15.1-5 (the readings used at Prince George's baptism!) & Isaiah 11: 1-6

So here we are at the start of something. The start of a new ministry. This is the start of a relationship between Gary & this United Area, and especially between Gary & the churches at Market Lavington, and Devizes . It is also the start of Gary’s relationship with the South Western synod. One of the great joys of a new start like this and welcoming any minister in an induction is getting to know him or her better.

So what do we learn about Gary from his choice of readings? The gospel readings from Luke and from John were the ones he chose – the same ones chosen for the baptism of Prince George a few weeks ago. At first this worried me: are we dealing with delusions of grandeur here, Gary? Are you introducing yourself to us as the heir to the throne? Maybe ‘Prince Gary’ has a bit of a ring to it?

But my fears were dispelled when I looked again at the readings.

Jesus talks about a kingdom, it’s true, but he demonstrates the values of the kingdom of God, not the hierarchies of our world. In a society where children did not count for much until they reached adulthood (and where women were second class citizens all their lives), Jesus offers a new way. The great and powerful are loved by God, but so are the smallest and the least – the heirs of the kingdom are not those who are specially high born, but each one is welcomed by God in Jesus as if she or he was royalty.

I don’t know how many of you saw the footage of the Pope, in the middle of giving an address to thousands in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, being interrupted by a little boy in a yellow rugby top. The Pope made no attempt to shoo the boy away, but patted him on the head, chatted to him at one point, and just carried on whilst the boy hugged his legs. I’m sure the security guards do not operate with the instruction ‘do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to these little ones too’ – but it was a great reminder that God’s love is for us all.
Whatever you think of Pope Francis as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, you cannot fault his humanity and his grasp of God’s truth that this boy was not an unwelcome intruder but a welcome guest.

So we welcome Prince Gary, as a precious child of God and an heir, with us all, to God’s kingdom.

The baptism service for Prince George was not televised, of course, but we have been offered ‘highlights’ from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s address, and it seems that Justin Welby focused on the reading from John. He apparently said that those who take the journey of baptism must look in 2 directions – to the world, sharing the life of Christ with all; and to Christ, who says ‘abide in me’.

That’s also pretty good advice for churches and minister in a new ministry.
Jesus reminds his followers ‘I am the vine and you are the branches’. No new ministry can bear good fruit if we forget to remain centred on Jesus Christ. It is the love of Jesus flowing out through us that drives our mission in the world. It is the love of Jesus flowing into us that keeps us close to the life and love of God the Father. It is the love of Jesus that keeps us united together as branches of the one vine – whatever our differences as church members, churches, denominations, we are one in Jesus, the true vine.

But if we’re all one in being heirs to God’s kingdom and we’re all one in Jesus the true vine, is it wrong to induct Gary here as a leader?

If I say ‘yes’ we’d have to stop the service right now, wouldn’t we? But of course I’m going to say ‘no, it is not wrong to induct a new minister to lead you here’.
The Isaiah reading looks to the time when God’s kingdom will come in all its fullness – a fantastic time when all normal natural laws will end, when ‘The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid’. God’s kingdom is so unlike the world we know that Isaiah says ‘a little child shall lead them’.

God is not looking for Princes of the church to lead his people. Jesus himself refused to use the political or hierarchical power of his day to fulfill his mission. God’s leader is one who knows they are just a child of God. Just a precious child of God. Just a chosen, beloved, child of God. Because every child of God is an heir of the kingdom and a servant of Jesus Christ. And as long as Gary remembers that that is who he is – it gives him the authority to lead in the way Isaiah envisions, through the Spirit of the Lord.

So we welcome Gary as one who will help others to hear God’s word, to know God’s love and to heed God’s spirit. Then together we will be parts of the true and living vine.

The Archbishop of Canterbury apparently concluded the sermon for Prince George in this way: 'For life to be complete, the living and trusted love of Jesus Christ is the foundation. That is something we grow into, live out, hold onto, and which finally carries us home. With Christ and his love as our centre, all the needs we meet are faced, all the hopes we have are shaped, and all the possibilities of our life journey are fulfilled.'
May this be so – for George, for Gary and for us all
In Christ’s name.
Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Faith and Guidance

Genesis 12: 1-9; Romans 4: 13-25   It’s been quite a week for politics. Whatever your party affiliations, there has been a lot of unpredictability and upheaval  - there are going to be 3 by-elections very soon - and we might all be left feeling breathless and wondering ‘what happens next?’.   We might wonder what guidance we might expect our political leaders to seek. And we might, this week, have had our own moments of wondering where to turn for guidance or direction in the turmoil of life.    So it’s rather helpful to look at the story of Abram.   Like all good stories this one is long and multi-faceted and well worth exploring.   Just before the part that we heard, we are told (in Genesis chapter 11)  that Terah, the father of Abram, took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (son of Haran, who had died) and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram’s wife, and set off from Ur of the Chaldees for Canaan. But when they reached Harran they settled there, and there Terah died, leaving Abram as the h
Read more

Abraham and Isaac - a good question!

Genesis 22: 1-14       Matthew 10: 40-42 Isidor Rabi, who was born in Austria in 1898, moved to the United States as a child and won the Nobel prize for physics in 1944. He was once asked by an admiring friend, “Why did you become a scientist, rather than a doctor or lawyer or businessman, like the other immigrant kids in your neighbourhood?” Rabi responded: “My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: ‘So? Did you learn anything today?’ But not my mother. She always asked me a different question. ‘Izzy,’ she would say, ‘did you ask a good question today?’ That difference – asking good questions – made me a scientist.” I think we could say that living in a relationship with God – which for us means following Jesus Christ – is based on the same principle. Did you ask a good question today? What might our ‘good questions’ be as we read the scriptures today? Let’s look closely at the story of Abraham, bei
Read more

Epiphany 2: Nathanael... & Jacob

Genesis 28: 10-22 (not the lectionary reading!); John 1: 43-51 I love the Sundays of Epiphany – starting with the visit of the Magi (which we celebrated last week) and then moving on to other stories of God’s presence on earth being revealed to people. I think what I most love is the idea that we don’t just pack away the Christmas decorations and forget about God’s love being incarnate in Jesus, but we allow the story of Jesus’ coming to earth to open our eyes to other ways in which God’s love is present to us.   What can be better to start the new year than a series of reminders that God is with us and that we can expect to meet with God in 2024.   Today we heard two very related Biblical stories of God’s presence.   The first is the vision given to Jacob, when he saw angels going up and down a ladder between earth and heaven.    You might think that Jacob is a specially holy person to be given this vision: nothing could be further from the truth. Jacob is the twin who was born holdin
Read more