Sermon
Preached by Rev Coralie McCluskey
at St Peters Tewin
Sunday evening - 3 October 2004
Team Ministry
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<>May the words of my lips and
the meditations of all
out hearts be acceptable unto the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Firstly may I say what a pleasure it is to be here at
St Peter’s this evening for this Choral Evensong as it marks the
beginning of a
new way of working for God’s church in this area and it is great that
there are
representatives from all five churches here acknowledging that – although we are many we are one body –
called by the one God to take up our Cross and follow Christ.
Secondly I must admit to
feeling somewhat in “the dock”, it must be
something to do with
all those people dressed in cassock, surplice, stole and academic hood
– but
it’s not the first time I’ve felt uncomfortable in the last few months
and is
probably the reason I’ve decided to reflect for a moment on psalm 142.
This simple psalm is a deeply felt prayer of lament from
a man who has been forsaken. Persecuted
by people who are mightier than he and brought to the verge of despair
by their
malicious plots, he offers a fervent and moving lament which arises out
of the
most intense physical and mental suffering, to the God who is the only
refuge
left to him after even his friends have turned their back.
Now we don’t really know the
circumstances
the psalmist found himself in although we may picture as many scenarios
as
there are people here, but what we can feel is the affliction of his
soul and
his attitude of mind which give the psalm its particular character, a
lament
from one who has been forsaken by men. In the midst of his isolation
the
worshipper reaches with trembling hands and with a heart full of
childlike
trust for the one support left to him and which he has never lost sight
of
during the whole of his suffering and that support is God.
It may be an exaggeration to compare the pain of this
man to the way I have felt recently but when I write my best selling
novel, The transformation of an assistant curate
into a team vicar, amidst the hilarity, the falling shelves,
whether to
turn the garden over to two pigs and a goat and become a truly self
sufficient
country parson, there probably will be that feeling of being totally
overwhelmed by uncertainty, loneliness, despite a large family and
offers of
support, of the enormity of it all, far removed from that reasonably
controlled
and comfortable environment I enjoyed.
I am sure that I am not alone in feeling
uncomfortable or anxious at the moment as we all face a new beginning
and
inevitably change. All five churches
that will become part of this team ministry have their own distinctive
character, a way of doing things, of being church, allegiances and care
for
particular, ministers and inevitably the “what we have now is fine why
change
it?” feelings.
New beginnings will always carry a level of fear, a
feeling of being out of our depth, never being able to quite access the
props
and familiar things that make us feel safe. Giles
Fraser, my favourite columnist in
the Church Times, wrote a good
piece querying the comforts of a small world. Entitled,
Don’t be afraid
of the
depths, he considers how parochial his life has become even
when I go abroad, he says,
I find myself among the same company.
Now it’s difficult to admit I
know that in a world where there is such
diversity of cultures and peoples, that we live and move in such very
small
circles, commonly reluctant to “step outside our comfort zone.” Direct quote there from the new 14plus album
Step up to the microphone on sale as of Saturday night!
We socialise with the same people, go to
the
same places, do the same things and probably, like Giles Fraser, quite
like it
when we are recognised. It makes us feel
both safe and, I hesitate to say this, special. It’s
been good for me to walk around
Datchworth, without the collar and
not be acknowledged, I’ve smiled at everybody and said good morning,
and
they’ve probably gone away thinking there’s a mad woman on the loose,
keep the
doors and windows locked. The vastness
of the world outside our own small circle can be both terrifying and
exhilarating.
Being part of a team ministry is both a source of
anxiety and excitement (terrifying and exhilarating), you may feel that
it
would be better to stay as we are, doing what we have always done, the
same
faces the same hymns, controlling out relationships with one another
and with
God. But we have a wonderful opportunity
to step out of our comfort zones, to trust in the sustaining presence
and love
of God, to build the kingdom
of God in our
communities. As Giles Fraser says, to be a Christian is surely to live almost
permanently outside one’s comfort zone. Amen.
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