Sermons

Seventh Sunday of Easter
Sunday 16 May 2010 at 6.30pm

Diane Flynn

Readings: Isaiah 44:1-8 and Ephesians 4:7-16

It's been a very interesting week and a half in Westminster hasn't it? The election result, then a lot of dialogue within the parties and the sudden escalation when Gordon resigned and David and Nick took over. A lot of dialogue and a lot of deciding to pull together
As they keep telling us - 'for the sake of the nation' for the 'good of the nation'. 'Common purpose' and 'common good and national interest'

And no matter what we think of what has happened and the new coalition govt, the deal is now done and we do have to trust that 'the good of the nation' is infact at the fore all the time in the coming months, when decisions are made. A group of people, joined together, supporting one another, encouraging one another- and we hope this group of people pull together to enable good to happen.

So, how does this relate to our bible readings tonight? Well I will come back to the politicians in a minute, but we see in Ephesians, another group of people, the church body, the early church community at Ephesus - we read of Paul's words of encouragement to the early Christian Church there and he gives them a picture of all being part of one body - all in unity - with Jesus as the head of that body and them as the parts of that body -the ligaments that between them, hold the body together. The body works together, supporting itself, growing and building itself up in love, as each part within the body does its work.
('From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.')

The aim of this is so that 'the body of Christ may be built up', to become united in faith and in the knowledge of God - to become mature in their faith and to become like Christ - 'we will grow up into him who is the Head - Jesus -

So Paul's words of encouragement is to help them all see that each one of them has a very important part to play in the strengthening of the church community - with their own strengthening and maturing as Christians and people of faith.

The interesting thing here is that the early church were living in times of great danger and upheaval. They were the minority in an ever changing and violent world. They were different, they stood out.

They needed encouragement because they lived in societies, which were very different with different values and morals and understandings and beliefs.

Doesn't that sound familiar to where the church is today?

We are part of a society where to have knowledge about Jesus and the Christian world is largely the minority. We say we are a Christian society- put in practise are we?

We have a whole generation now who do not hear about Christ at all, not at school or at home and who have no experience of hearing about them in their lives - for which the Lords Prayer means nothing and who actually for a lot of them would believe that they don't need God because they are managing quite well thank you without him anyway.

I see this lack of any knowledge about Christ in our pastoral links with those on the edges within the context of our occasional offices and how there are whole swathes of people to whom Christ is an umeaningful word.

WE are the different ones, like the early Christians. We are the ones who stand out, who are different, who try to live the way Christ wants us to which sometimes is very different to the society we live in.

We need those words of encouragement just as much as the early Church - to help us in our society today. We have that hope that as a body - not as individuals, but as a body, all working together, we can support and help the Church to be strengthened and be built up.

We have to do it together, or its not going to work.

a bit like the coalition govt are going to have to do - they will need to work together and support each other to enable certain goals to be achieved. And we do pray for that - for that maturity that Paul speaks of, for that binding together, to achieve the goal of working together for the goodness of the whole.

However there is a difference between the Church and the govt in the way we work - we are not working in our own strength but in Gods strength - with Jesus as our Head.

The early church was different from the rest of society in the NT and we are different from the rest of society now.

As a society and country - we have 2 very dynamic men as leaders who people are now looking to -
We have God and Jesus as our leaders - as these two readings tell us - they have always been there for us and always will be there for us.

The OT and the NT both link together to now:

OT. In Isaiah we read of God saying to his chosen and special people' do not be afraid - your offspring and descendants are going to be blessed by me - the future for the people is a love of God - they will say ' I belong to the Lord'. There is no God except me! I told you this along time ago and I tell you know: There is no other God except me, no other Rock (NIV Version).

How encouraging for us today - amongst our lives, our society, our uncertainty, we can hold onto the Rock - onto God! What security!

NT. - in Ephesians we read of Jesus ascension referred to - in order to fill the whole universe with his presence. (To fill the world with his presence). He is with God and God is everywhere and therefore so is Jesus.

We can hold onto the knowledge that Jesus has not gone

he is around with us with God, he is everywhere - we as Christians within a more secular society can hold onto our unity as a church, with Jesus as its head.

We, as a Church body want the best for our nation, the best for our parish, the best for our homes, the best for those who don't know God - we have that hope. , that no matter what is going on in the world around us - God and Jesus are at the centre of everything we do as Christians.

And he promises to bless us always
Isaiah: Gods blessing on Israel, his people- only one God.
'I am the first and the last' besides me there is no God.
There is no other rock.
There is just me, GOD

With God and Jesus as our leader, we can only win!

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay