21 August 2016 14th Sunday after Pentecost,
Month of Compassion and
Theological Education Sunday
Collect
God of all the ages, You never cease to call us into covenant with You: grant us grace and make us faithful to proclaim the wonders of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. AMEN.
Readings
Old Testament
Jeremiah 1:4 – 10 4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5 ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’
6 Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ 7 But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant’.
Psalm 71:1 – 6
New Testament
Hebrews 12:18 – 29 18 You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20 (For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.’ 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’) 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26 At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.’ 27 This phrase ‘Yet once more’ indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire.
Gospel
Luke 13:10 – 17 10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’ 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.’ 15 But the Lord answered him and said, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?’ 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
Today our theme is theological education Sunday, which means we’re going to be talking about learning about God, the bible and how God wants us to live, and how we can show others how to live.
Who do you think is called to learn about God, the bible and how God wants us to live, and how we can show others how to live?
Is it priests and ministers only, or everyone? EVERY baptised believer!
How old do you think you must be to be a minister?
How old do you think the Jeremiah was when God called him to be a prophet? Only +-17!
How old are most people when they are baptised? Babies! So, you only have to be a baby to be a minister!
How can you be a minister for God? Through showing God’s love by loving people, animals, the world, telling the truth, forgiving people and standing up for what is right…
Do you think we’re alone when we minister for God and stand up for what is right? No! God promises to be with us… I was very proud of my youngest child Micaela this week – her one teacher was bullying her and making her feel sad, so she told us and she then had a meeting with the teacher and another teacher, and she was scared… I told her the same thing God told Jeremiah, I reminded her she was a baptised Christian, and that God was with her, and how God would give her the courage and words she needed (like our bible reading from Jeremiah puts is “Do not be afraid of them, for I [God] am with you”)… So, she went to the meeting and told him how she felt… IT WAS HARD, BUT SO BRAVE!
The calling of Jeremiah has always been special to me – I myself have, many times over the years, tried to emulate him and I too have thought, many times, “I can’t, I am only me…”
And God has always given me the same answer God gave Jeremiah – “Do not say, ‘I am only me’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid …, for I am with you …”
Once I was at McDonalds, feeling I could not continue as a priest and working, that it was too hard, and a man came up to me, and told me that God had told him to tell me to persevere….
I first felt God was calling me to be a priest when I was very young – at 17 though, I was too afraid, and decided to serve God in other ways, which was fine, so I studied Engineering and I worked hard trying to do good…
As a husband, parent, engineer (and Parish Minister) [4 VOCATIONS}, I started studying theology so I could understand God and the bible better and give better answers to my children than people had been able to give me… There are many reasons God calls us to study theology, as many as there are people, and they are all special calls from God… We are all called to grow as Christians, so surely you have a calling to study in some way too?
So why did I become a priest?
I was on a retreat with Trevor Hudson with a friend and Trevor asked us to share what we felt it was too late for in our lives, and I said “it’s too late for me to be a priest” and he said “why?”, and I started the journey…
I spoke to my priest…. My rector…. Studied further…
Then Council meeting… Fellowship of Vocation… Selection conference ...
On 11/2/06 I was ordained deacon (meaning I was to serve God’s people, especially the poor, bringing their needs to the attention of the church and world) and priest on 17/6/06 (deacon plus …), and my journey continues….
At one stage, I thought I should be stipendiary, but Helen was not keen, and I prayed and God reminded me my calling is NOT only as a priest / deacon, BUT ALSO as a husband, parent, engineer…
I have learnt that God does not care so much about what we are, but about who we are, and about where we get our inspiration from – are we inspired from selfishness of drugs, sex, power, money or whatever, or are we inspired from loving God, and our neighbours, and ourselves?
We are all called to SEEK FIRST the Kingdom of God, and God’s righteousness… We must seek knowing there is a PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, our vocations, that God has put where we can find it, if we just look….
Friends, whatever we do, we’ll only experience true peace and joy if we seek for God’s calling for us and then do what God is calling us to do….
It is God who calls us and makes us special, not ourselves…
Whatever call God gives us, we are all ministers so we all are called to SERVE, like Jesus served, HUMBLY always SEEKING FIRST the Kingdom of God, and studying and then putting God’s word into practise as we DO what is good and right and loving and just….
Amen!
Rev Gavin Smith
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