Reflection 10th
January 2020 Covenant Sunday
I may have
said before, but a standing joke amongst many ministers is “They didn’t
teach us about that in college”. And it is true, all ministers encounter
situations in ministry that we’ve not encountered before, (though I’m sure the
same applies in all walks of life.) But I can definitely say they didn’t teach
me how to be a minister during Covid at college.
The last nine
months have been very much learning on the job. Thankfully, early on I
developed the pattern of the weekly Order of Service and Reflection. And many
of you have told me how helpful you find these which is a relief.
Nonetheless I
must admit to finding ministry in this way to be strange to say the least. Not
being able to lead worship in the way I feel called to doesn’t sit well. Similarly,
not being able to meet with you whether after service, or at a coffee morning or
at a discussion group, doesn’t seem right.
With this in
mind, last Sunday I felt down hearted. When all this started last March, I
didn’t think (who did?) that we’d still be facing such restrictions in January
(and for a few months more I imagine). But then in one of those “God moves
in mysterious ways” moments, I received an email from a friend.
My friend
emailed me to ask whether I’d been listening to the morning service on Radio 4
at ten past eight. I hadn’t, but my friend told me that the service had
included this piece from Cardinal John Henry Newman:
“God has
created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me
which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it
in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a
bond of connection between persons.
He has not
created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an
angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if
I do but keep His commandments.
Therefore, I
will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness,
my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am
in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He
is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may
make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He
knows what He is about.”
The timing by my friend could not
have been better as I was already starting to think about our Covenant Service
and what I would say.
Cardinal Newman’s words seem to be an
excellent tie into our Covenant service. That reminder to us of what it means
to be a servant of Christ. A reminder that in serving Christ we can find
ourselves in situations we wouldn’t have planned for ourselves. That in serving
Christ we can find ourselves being led to do things we wouldn’t normally do. That we can be serving Christ without knowing
it.
Our Covenant Service contains these
words
Christ has many services to be done: some are
easy, others are difficult;
some bring honour, others bring reproach; some are suitable to our natural inclinations
and material interests, others are contrary to both; in some we may please
Christ and please ourselves; in others we cannot please Christ except by
denying ourselves.
Yet the power to do all these things is given to us in Christ, who strengthens us.
The words of the
Covenant Service can speak to us in different ways at different times of our
lives. The words remind us that as followers of Jesus we are not promised that
all will be well. The words remind us that there will be times when we feel as if
we’ve been shunted into a siding off the mainline. But the words remind us that
at all times we are bound to Christ and, that in the highs and lows, Christ is
with us giving us the strength to go on. Perhaps to enjoy and perhaps to
endure. Perhaps to laugh and perhaps to cry.
You may remember that
older versions of the Covenant service used a phrase “put me to suffering”. To
modern ears it was very problematical. We think of suffering as to feel pain or
grief. Or to endure something. Or to sustain loss. But there is a Biblical
meaning that is now archaic in modern English. To suffer can mean “to
permit” or “to allow”
Think back to the
King James Bible and Matthew 19 when Jesus chided the disciples for preventing
children coming to him:
14 But Jesus said, Suffer little
children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of
heaven. Matthew 19:14
KJV
In that older English
Jesus was saying permit the children to come to me or allow the children to
come to me.
“put me to suffering” then is more about asking God for his help so that we might permit ourselves or allow ourselves to be fully disciples of Christ. In the good times and the difficult times.
We are
saying to Jesus if my following You and Your purpose for my life should lead to
joyful consequences and victories to me, I will gladly accept that please
ALLOW it. But if following You and Your
purpose for my life should bring painful consequences and seeming defeats, I
will bravely accept that too, please ALLOW it.
I am no longer my own but
yours.
Your will, not mine, be done in all things,
“Therefore, I
will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. He knows what He is
about.” Cardinal Newman
Thank you David - encouraging and uplift as ever. Blessings Patrick
ReplyDelete