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Sermon and Prayers
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| NUTRITIOUS FAITH My late wife was a nutritionist and hospital dietitian. I learned early what was good for me and what was not. For the most part I try to live by the axiom that we are what we eat. I have a rudimentary knowledge of good nutrition: a balanced intake of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. Proteins help to renew old tissues and build new ones; they also help to provide some energy. Fats and carbohydrates are the main sources of energy. Minerals are for teeth, bones and blood – and to some extent for the building and functioning of muscles and nerves. Vitamins help to regulate a number of body processes. Three functions of good nutrition are repairs and maintenance, achieving peak performance and fuelling with energy. The same can be said about essential nutrients for the spirit.
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First, for repairs and maintenance – renewing and restoring. We get worn down and worn out; we get cracked and damaged; we get corroded and rusty. We blow a gasket! The psalms (which were the song book used by Jesus and his friends) are full of examples of the depleted and damaged human spirit. For much of my ministry I have tried to find out why people who’ve not grown up in churches join them, and why they stay; also what puts them at risk and why they quit. What I have found is that a high proportion get into church life when they are battered, bruised, broken and beaten by something. It is also true that some leave because they badly need ‘repair’ in some situation, and they don’t find it. But it’s the former I want to say a word about. We know today that in the harsh environment of Roman rule Christianity appealed because of its concern for the battered, bruised, broken and beaten. We know that many of the early followers came from the socially marginal – nobodies who found a new identity and a new life. They found themselves put back together again. But they weren’t all poor and needy. Keith and Doreen (not their real names) are a modern case in point. Keith headed a firm of accountants, Doreen was a kindergarten teacher. Their two offspring brought them joy. Jeff was 18 and completing Year XII; he aimed to do a commerce degree and then join his father’s firm. Margaret was 16 and two years behind him at school, but already had her mind made up. She would do nursing. Jeff and Margaret were in a youth group at the local Anglican church. This wasn’t motivated by any great hunger for the holy, but because they had friends there and they quite liked the vicar. Parents Keith and Doreen were Anglicans at census time, but that was all. When the youth group planned a week-end camp, Doreen consented to Jeff and Margeret taking her Morris Minor; Jeff had his licence and was a responsible driver. But sometimes that is not enough. A vehicle coming the opposite way veered into Jeff’s path. Jeff’s reflexes were quick and it was obvious from tyre marks that he had tried to avoid the head-on. But he and his sister hit a tree. Jeff died instantly and Margaret en route to hospital. At the funeral the youth group was out in force, plus a crowd from the school. Keith and Doreen were inconsolable. Both took leave and locked themselves away. After a few weeks they decided on a trip, but it was a disaster. When they spoke to each other, conversations were angry and strident. Keith said, “We fought the whole time; it was a miracle the marriage survived.” It can be near miraculous for a marriage to survive something like this. Both parties want from the other one what neither is able to deliver. Doreen took extended leave from her kindergarten and Keith was close to quitting the firm. The vicar saw them often over six months, but the two were still in awful shape. He hit on sending a lady named ‘Clare’, who had lost her husband and baby in a road accident. Clare called on Keith and Doreen and when she thought it appropriate told them how church life and faith had helped her work through this and put herself together again. Keith and Doreen decided to try church. After all, nothing else seemed to help; surely it was worth a try! And two people with spirits broken found food that helped bring about their restoration. Nearly thirty years on, they are well-known Anglicans in another state.
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Second, achieving peak performance. In other words, being the best that one can be. When we lived in the US, my congregation added a fascinating mix of new members – many of whom hadn’t been involved with church life for years. One was a former journalist; actually a hard-nosed investigative reporter very familiar with the downside. I asked what was the attraction of church life. His reply was characteristically blunt. “Well, pastor”, he said, “I figure that if going to church does no more than get a man’s mind off himself for an hour a week, sure as hell it has to be good for you!” He was saying that this exposure to ‘the means of grace’ (as we used to put it) put a new perspective, a new sense of proportion into his life that would otherwise be lacking. To illustrate this further, let me tell you about relatives of a friend I had back then. I never met them, but the story fascinated me. They were a Lutheran pair who lived in the mid West. Shortly after marrying, they decided on a bold business venture. As they put it, their business would rest on ‘the Word of God’. I’ll explain that in a moment. They believed there was a market at the time for high quality soft toys – teddy bears and other animals. Within months demand had outstripped supply. They decided to look for married women with sewing skills, who would work at times that did not interfere with family and household responsibilities. Inside twelve months they were employing eight such people – ten counting themselves. A year later the full complement was twenty, and twelve months after that almost forty. From the outset this couple had built into their schedule a period at the start of each day for reading scripture together. He was convinced that what we call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7) contained all the ethical guide-lines one could ever need; in terms of our bread of life metaphor, everything needed for ‘peak performance’ as human beings – for being the best that you can be. This is what they meant by resting their business on the Word of God. As it expanded, they included their management team in these morning meetings. When they got to the end of Matthew 5-7, which would take some weeks, they would go back and start again. Employees were consistently invited to make suggestions, and were included in a profit-sharing scheme. Twenty years on, there was a stable work force of forty and not one had resigned or been dismissed. The business continued until what we call ‘globalisation’ began to defeat it. The flood of foreign-made soft toys, which could be produced more cheaply, finally beat them. But the story always appealed to me as one in which a company of people achieved peak performance by a daily serving of the Jesus ethic.
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Third, fuelling the body with energy. One of the delightful surprises for ayoung minister comes in getting acquainted with the old ‘saints’ (shall we say) found in every congregation. One in my first church was George Wright, nearly 85 years old. He was deeply versed in scripture and could quote the right words at the right time – despite the fact that he could neither read not write! Early in my ministry George came to the manse back door and called me ‘John’. He apologised profusely for the familiarity. “I’m awfully sorry, old chap” he said. “It just slipped out. You know we all call you ‘John’ behind your back.” I said, “That’s OK, Mr Wright.” He said, “How about I call you ‘John’ and you call me ‘George’?” I said, “Of course. Thank you, Mr Wright.” I could no more call him ‘George’ than fly. Besides, I saw him as a genuinely ‘spirit-filled’ old saint, as did most of the others. Another one. When we came back to Australia in 1970 I joined a collegiate ministry in Elizabeth, South Australia. Some 25km north of Adelaide, this was a predominantly migrant/industrial town. Many of our people were British; in some of our congregations there were a number of Scottish. Agnes McMillan (not her real name) was in her seventies, and widowed. Her husband, who had been in the Normandy landing, died not long after they arrived in Australia, leaving her with two kids. It was Agnes who introduced me to something unexpected. First time I called on her, we had a reading from the book and a prayer. Then she said, “Pastor, would ye’ like a wee dram?” I’d not touched Scotch for twenty years, after a bad experience, shall we say. But to turn down an offer of hospitality like that would have been quite uncivilised. Despite widespread arthritis, and being largely confined to her house, Agnes was an inveterate letter writer. This had begun after her Duncan had died. She fell in a heap for a while, but was re-energised partly by the sensitive letters that came from friends in Australia and at home. For a while she thought of going back to Scotland, but her kids wanted to stay, and for their sakes she put aside any thought of going home. Agnes began writing letters to the isolated and lonely, the sick and the shut-in. Nothing could stop those knobbly, twisted old fingers and her beautifully crafted, sensitive letters. I said, “How ever do you manage, Agnes, with such bad hands?” “Pastor, when you’re doing something important, the energy for it just seem to come from somewhere inside you.” Agnes, our toy-makers, Keith and Doreen would all say the same. “We have found the essential nutrients for the human spirit. In his life and teaching, Jesus is for us the bread of life!” ___________________________________________________
An address presented by the Rev Dr John Bodycomb at St Aidan's
Uniting Church North Balwyn, on 13th August, 2006 IT MAY BE REPRODUCED WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENT. God our Creator, for the changing mood of nature, with the promise of a springtime soon to come, and its signs all around us: we thank you. For the wattle putting on its golden robe, The cherry blossom blushing pinker than pink, The new-born green of new leaves, The growing cheerfulness of birds, Singing their songs at dusk and dawn: we thank you. For the deep down spring times of heart, mind and soul, spiritual insights and new joys, music, art, prayers, books, and the Holy Bible. The uplift of a congregation singing old and new songs of faith: We thank you. For the food for new life that comes from Jesus, challenging and encouraging, life that awakens the hopes of the world: We thank you. AMEN. PRAYERS FOR THE WORLD Prayer is nourishment for the soul. Let us take a moment of silence and openness, to receive spiritual food from our God. SILENCE. God, we have had many experiences during this past week. Some have made us sad, some have made us angry and confused with the state of our world. In all of this we ask for hope, that we may continue our ministry of love to people we know who are in need. Help us to be channels of your love and strength to them. God, as we hear again the stories of war and see again the pictures of human slaughter and human sadness, We pray for peace; We pray for all who work for peace, And for all who keep the peace. After the times of silence, I will say: Lord hear us. Your response will be: Lord, hear our prayer. In the fields of battle, in the streets, and in the homes, We pray for the growth of compassion in the human spirit: Lord, hear us. LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER. In the councils of the nations, We pray for the liberation of goodness in the human spirit, Lord, hear us. LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER. In our relationships and in ourselves, we pray for the strengthening of godliness in the human spirit. Lord, hear us. LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER. AMEN. Let us pray the prayer Jesus taught us: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us in the time of trial, and deliver us from evil, For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, Now and for ever, AMEN. |
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Page updated 16/08/06