Thursday, September 27, 2012

Preparation

Pastor’s Ponderings!

Preparation
Sometimes I simply have to sit down in astonishment when I realise how different we all are! The Bible says we are made in the image of God, but yet that image expresses itself in so many varied hues. Let me take the issue of preparation as an example. Some people prepare, others don’t, and kind of erupt into action with approximately one minute to go. Sadly by nature I fall into the latter category. If a holiday or a trip is approaching, I carry on blissfully unaware of the need to ensure that, for instance, there are even enough pairs of clean underwear to see me through the adventure ahead. (I fear I may have just exploded any opportunity of shared holidays with any of our friends!) On the other hands there are the “planners;” people so organized that even before they have decided on the trip, a bag is already packed with everything that could possibly be needed for the visit that will ensue. There is a strong part of me that longs to be like these people, but sadly that longing does not appear to be strong enough for me to do anything about it!

Preparation is actually quite a rich Christian concept. It has to do with formation, as we prepare so we are formed and moulded. Events such as Lent and Advent are placed into the Christian year to ensure that we do not simply tumble into Christmas and Easter unaware of the impending festivals. Rather we are asked to take stock, to become mindful of both the season and the reality we are to celebrate. Forty days to prepare indicates both the importance of the festival and also the reality that we ought not to simply throw a few bible verses into a bag in order to be ready to encounter the meaning that is revealed. In the same way we need to prepare for other events: In the New Year we are hoping that the “Beacon” project will commence, also at the end of January I will be on Sabbatical for three months. If your understanding of church is based around a building or being led by a single leader, then you are about to be challenged. Our home will be out of action for roughly six months and the leader that you called will be absent for three of those months. My understanding of church is not based around either a single leader or a building. It is based around people growing together under God’s guiding hand. This will be a time of change for us of course, but I also believe if we prepare correctly it can become a time of opportunity.

Details of the Beacon Project will be shared soon via a leaflet given out at church. For my sabbatical, which comes every ten years of ministry, I will be studying “Missional Leadership.” This is a course designed to challenge my thinking which I hope will result in us developing some more relevant approaches to the society of which we are a part. I will be writing at least three assessed essays. I must confess that I am very nervous about this, as although relatively competent as a science student, writing and reading was always harder for me. You will be glad to know that I am already “preparing,” with the dream that I can manage to write at least one essay even before I begin the sabbatical.
Finally as the autumn evenings draw in, I wish to challenge everyone reading this about their own preparation. Whilst we all prepare for holidays, or work in different ways, I believe we are all called to prepare our hearts with God. Our “religion” is not simply a static belief that we either have or do not have. We are asked to, “search” our own hearts, “to make every effort” to maintain unity, to “work out” our salvation with fear and trembling. We prepare carefully for so many things, and yet often we neglect to listen carefully with God. If we all prepare our hearts then I believe this season can indeed be a time of great blessing, even despite the changes and challenges we face. A church with no minister and indeed no building may just become a church prepared and ready to receive a fresh touch of the marvellous love of God, and a church able to express that love willingly back out into the world.