Christ Church

Morningside

 Trinity Sunday - Ministry

In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit Amen

Text: Go therefore to all nations and make them my disciples; baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28, 16-20)

Birthdays and anniversaries are important to us all. Last week we celebrated Pentecost, the birth of the church.[1] An event associated with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today, as a result, we can celebrate Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday encourages us to think about God as Trinity. A God who we can now regard as complete following the gift of the spirit the anniversary of which we celebrated last week. Today I would like to begin where Sue Kirkbride finished last week. Sue’s final words were “God enables us by the Spirit”. This of course asks more questions than it answers. The key question is probably enables us to do what? This will be the basis of my reflection in the next few minutes.

Each year each of us has a birthday, whether we like it or not, and at my age I’m not sure that I do. The number just goes on getting bigger. While being old is better than the alternative, it does, I find help to focus your mind on the things, which are really important. As one looks back, one of the things one absolutely does not regret is not having spent more time in the office. While today is not an exact anniversary it is close to two very important dates for me. Around this date in 1984 I preached my first sermon, in St John the Baptist Church , Wateringbury , Kent. It was on the text of Elijah on Mount Horeb and the small voice.[2] Small voices are important to us all. I think every one remembers their first sermon. The second important date was in 2003, My ministry selection conference in Ely. Having offered my self as a candidate for ordination, with your support, I went to have my vocation tested. It was a period of very mixed emotions. No one offers them self for ordination unless they are convinced of the genuineness of that call. It clearly is something that matters to you rather a lot. Convincing a panel of selectors of its validity is some thing else. With the help of the Spirit I surmounted that hurdle. So here I am today.

 Having just finished a placement in another church, as part of my training for ministry, Simon kindly suggested that I might like to say a few words about training and the programme, which our church runs. In addition I will be available in the Hall during coffee to answer any questions that people have and to provide more detail about the various options. This is important, at this time, because the programme is not just one which trains for ordination. It is also designed to train for a range formal and informal lay ministries. As a result it is a practical approach by the church to help us all to answer the call of the spirit and to help the church to work through us.

Now one of the things that I have been trying to get away from during ministry training is the temptation to use a sermon slot as an opportunity to deliver a lecture. After 40 years as academic old habits tend to be hard to move. So to avoid giving a lecture I thought that I would be appropriate to reflect upon Today’s Gospel reading.

Our reading today comes right at the end of Matthew’s Gospel.[3] It deals with Christ’s final command to his disciples. So let us look at what they were charged to do, things which could only be done with the help of the Holy Spirit.

First they were instructed to make all nations disciples.

Second they were instructed to baptize.

Third they were instructed to teach.

As we look back on the charge, it is not, at all, an easy legacy. The charges, of course, as ever, with Jesus teaching, leave a number of things unsaid. Inherent in the instructions are a number of questions. Many of these are issues, which have been concerning the church for some time.

 In relation to the first command we must ask what does being a disciple mean. Is there a single model or are there a series of options.  Did Jesus really mean all nations or just those, which were known at that time, the limits of the Roman world?

The instruction to Baptize, at first sight seems rather easier. Most of us have been baptized. We know about baptism. But beyond the action what is the significance of baptism.  Most importantly does it carry with it responsibilities? What are they?

The final instruction is perhaps the most difficult. Teaching is never easy. Teaching requires skills. Was everyone required to teach? What was to be taught?

So many Questions. So much responsibility. But of course they were not left on their own to do this: As Paul reminds us in his 2nd letter to the church he established in Corinth.[4] The grace of Christ, The love of God and the Fellowship, the support, of the Spirit is with those who become disciples. Paul reminded the church, that these gifts were most effective when disciples lived in peace with one another. We can be clear that those who are charged with following the instructions of Christ are never left without support. But what should be taught? What sort of things should a disciple do? Here our lesson from the Hebrew scriptures is of help.

In the opening chapter of the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew scriptures we read that God created the Heavens and the Earth.[5] In creating the earth God created both physical and biological entities. God spent 3 days creating the physical entity; a day creating plants but only a part of a day creating humanity. God spent 6 days creating the world and one-day resting. Of course as a scientist who accepts evolution as the way in which God delivered his creation I do not take the time periods literally. Never the less the relativity’s seem to me to have something to say to us when we ask the questions what should we teach and how should we use our time. How do we set a balance between reflection and service? Loving God means loving his creation. As Simon reminds us each week in his final charge[6] following our worship, our worship fits us to go forward and serve God and the World.

 Now all of this may seem to have strayed some distance from theological Education and the Theological Institute of the Scottish Episcopal Church, TISEC to its friends.

In creating training and developing the disciples Jesus spent three years teaching a small group. We know from the Acts of the Apostles that subsequently they saw their ministries in rather different ways.[7] As part of Jesus programme of training he gave the disciples theological instruction both to help them and so that they would be in a position to teach others.[8] He also sent them on training placements.[9] [10]He instructed them in church history.[11] He taught them to be critical and contemplative disciples through both the medium of his discussions with groups such as the Pharisees [12]and periods of reflection. [13]He trained them as communicators.[14] He encouraged them to work as a team.[15] And perhaps above all he showed them the importance of being a servant.[16] The TISEC programme is also grounded in these skills.

Of Course the TISEC programme has an academic content. It deals with New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures, with Church History and with Liturgy, with Contemporary Issues and Ministry, with Church Doctrine and with Mission and of course with that most challenging of all areas, Spirituality. All of these academic areas are linked to skills resulting in a programme which is at its heart practical, aimed at enabling people to do things not just speculate about them. It is this ethos which allows the one programme to be used in a variety of ways. It is a programme for training for ordained ministry. It is also a programme for training for lay ministries such as Lay Readership. But it is also a programme where those who would just like to know more and with out any other end in view can take 1 or more of the 27 modules, which make up the entire programme.

So I return to where we began. The final command, which Jesus gave to his disciples, was to find and baptize disciples and to teach them. He recognized that this needed training, for which he provided a model. He also recognized that this needed support, which he provided through the Holy Spirit.[17] The challenge Jesus gave to his disciples remains as his challenge to us. The spirit remains as our support. Our church continues to provide training to help us all to take up that challenge.

Lord God, in every age you seek for those who are prepared to answer your call. Help us to hear your voice. Make us answer your call with joy. Involve us in a new Pentecost. Help us to answer your call by saying, here I am send Me. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

David Atkinson 

22 May 2005

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