Introduction
So we’re three quarters of the way through
our series of talks about our vision as a church going forward; four talks on ‘praying
always’, four on ‘serving together’, four on ‘sharing Jesus’ love’ and now the
first of four on ‘our communities’.
What and where are the communities for which
we pray always and in which we serve together to share the love of Jesus? Over
the next few weeks, we’re going to think about the neighbourhoods where we live,
the workplaces where we are employed, and the charitable sector where we
volunteer. But first of all, today, I want to talk about the churches and
networks with whom we partner.
One of the biggest mistakes local church
leaders can make, and to my shame I used to be guilty of this, is to see neighbouring
churches as competition. When a new church opens just down the road, it’s
viewed as a threat. If a certain church in town is attracting new members
there’s a bit of jealousy. Why them? Why not us?
But listen, who are we really competing with
on a Sunday morning at All Saints’? It’s not the Baptist Tabernacle or TVCC or
Trinity Methodist the next road down. It’s the Eaglescliffe golf club. It’s Teesside Retail Park. It’s the Sunday football league. It’s the car boot sale. It’s Steve
Wright’s Love Songs on Radio 2.
Other local churches are companions, not
competitors. We’ll never see revival if the church next door is a rival. That’s
why I chose the parable of the net as our second reading. Jesus said the
kingdom of heaven is like a net that catches fish. Only a mesh of joined-up
strings can be effective in catching a whole shoal of fish. One church is like just
one piece of string, that you can catch one at a time with a hook on the end.
But a network of churches, joined in unity and working together, can gather in loads.
Our
Networks
At All Saints’ we are fully engaged in
several networks of churches; this is one of the key communities of which we
are part.
Let me run through the networks to which we
belong. First of all, there are the 22 other Church of England parishes in our Stockton
deanery; we are partners in mission with them. Of those, we have a particularly
close relationship with Long Newton. I am vicar there too and we share many resources
with them.
Within that group, of 22, there is a move
towards half that number working much more closely as a team ministry. Our
church council is considering proposals to that effect at the moment. It will
still mean that I will lead All Saints’ and Saint Mary’s but there will be more
scope for collaboration and blessing one another.
Then we are part of the New Wine network. New
Wine is a fellowship of like-minded churches that want to see renewal and
church growth. New Wine is there to help equip individuals and churches to be
more effective in doing the things Jesus said to do like go out, make
disciples, be prophetic, heal the sick and care for the needy. I accepted an
invitation a couple of years ago to be New Wine’s network leader for Teesside.
There are over 30 churches in Teesside
connected with New Wine. But it also links us with great churches in Sheffield,
Leeds, York, Durham, Newcastle and elsewhere. New Wine organises training days,
support groups for church leaders, and annual gatherings. There are plans for a
North East/Yorkshire gathering for about 1,000 people next August near Thirsk.
In addition to that, we have a close working
relationship with churches like The Vine, the Parish Church and others in
downtown Stockton. We network with them amongst other things through our youth
work so we host Refresh and the Doulos youth leadership programme and so on. A
couple of dozen church leaders gather together once a month to pray for each
other and for the borough.
I believe the Main family’s missionary
calling to the Eden Project in Sunderland is another opportunity to bless other
churches. I am hopeful we can send mission teams and practical resources up
there as the Lord leads.
Psalm 133 says that when we work together in
unity and when we lovingly support each other, rather than compete with or
criticise each other, the Lord commands blessing upon us. In John 17 Jesus
prayed for the unity of his followers, saying that this would help the world to
believe in him.
Alan Farish wrote recently, "Already, over the last few years we have seen
the spiritual atmosphere on Teesside change dramatically for the better. Church
leaders are working together more than they used to and many churches are
experiencing growth. The net is catching plenty of fish! Dozens of young people
are spending a gap year of their lives serving Jesus Christ here. Several excellent
Christian charities have been set up and are serving people wonderfully and the Borough
Council’s attitude to the church has also improved immeasurably."
Our vision is to see all that
increase yet more.
The church is people
And now to Romans 16. Some of you
might be wondering what possible value there might be in reading that long list
of sometimes unpronounceable names.
It mentions 29 different people
by name (some of whom are rather difficult to pronounce) as well as churches that
met in houses, members of households and unnamed “other brothers and sisters.”
This is, in itself, a challenge. Paul
had never been to this church and yet he knew all these people by name. It
shows how interconnected and relational the early church was. How many of us
could name even a dozen people in any church we had never visited? But all
roads led to Rome. It was the centre and hub of the empire and people found
their way there from all over. Paul knew them or knew about them and he
remembered them.
John Stott was an absolute phenomenon
for remembering names. He could, and often did, instantly remember the name of
someone he had met at the door of All Souls Langham Place years beforehand and
who hadn’t been back since. He used to say that the best way to remember names
is to pray for them regularly.
So there’s a free bonus from the
fanfold prayer list – it helps you remember peoples’ names.
Paul mentions a few things that I
think are really revealing about the sort of people we should expect to find in
the gathering of people that is the church.
Phoebe in v1-2 was a deacon which
means ‘servant’ and she was set aside as a special kind of church
leader. In 1 Timothy 3 it lists the qualities deacons should have; worthy of
respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain.
So Phoebe must have been trustworthy. That’s why she was probably the postwoman
who delivered this letter to the Romans from where Paul wrote it in Corinth.
Paul says “[Phoebe] has been a
benefactor of many people, including me.” So she was a woman of means but she
used the wealth she had been blessed with to supply others’ needs. She was a
generous woman.
Priscilla and Aquila in v3-4 were
co-workers with Paul who laid their very lives on the line. Interestingly,
Priscilla is always named first in this couple, quite contrary to conventions
of the time, perhaps because she was high-born, I don’t know. But
significantly, they are always named together. There is nothing that keeps a
marriage happy and strong more than serving the Lord together. It gives an
interest and depth to a marriage that nothing else can.
Andronicus and Junia in v7 suffered
with Paul the glorious dishonour of imprisonment for Christ. That must have
been an experience; you ended up singing at midnight when you shared a cell
with Paul. They were Christians before Paul was, so very early on, possibly
amongst the 500 who saw the risen Christ and who were therefore qualified to be
known as apostles. Or maybe they were among the visitors from Rome who were
converted on the Day of Pentecost.
Then what about Ampliatus (v8)?
This was a very common slave’s name. It doesn’t actually say that he was a
slave but scholars are pretty sure he must have been.
But isn’t it wonderful that Paul
calls him “my dear friend in the Lord” rather than “so and so’s lackey”? And
doesn’t it say something magnificent about the church that this man features in
the same list as a lady of considerable means?
It’s a lovely sketch of a church
in which there is no favouritism, no ranking, no class system, no cliques, no
in-crowd and no outcasts.
Then what about Mary (v6),
Tryphena and Tryphosa (their names mean Delicate
and Dainty) and Persis (v12)? These
were four women who Paul singled out for having worked hard, and in one case
"very hard in the Lord".
Did you notice that only women
are singled out here for working hard! I don’t know what that says about the
men, but William Booth of the Salvation Army used to say, “My best men are
women.” Certainly in my experience, women are far more likely to respond to a
call to volunteer for something than men. Perhaps some of us men need to step
up a bit more.
The women have important roles
here too; we know Pricilla was a Bible teacher with her husband Aquila. We know
Phoebe was a deacon, a recognised member of the church leadership team. Junia,
as we’ve seen, is described as “outstanding among the apostles”.
But it’s what Paul says in v13
that warms my heart most. “Greet Rufus” he says, “chosen in the Lord, and also
his mother, who has been a mother to me.”
What a blessing it is to know we
have been chosen by God to belong to him like Rufus was. Do you know you’re
chosen and belong to God? You should.
And how lovely it is to have
spiritual fathers and mothers in the church. Rufus' mother was a mum to Paul.
Isn't that special? This dynamic leader, this exceptional apostle,
this energetic missionary, this brilliant scholar sometimes just
needed someone to give him a hug and put the kettle on.
What do we love about our
mothers? They’re for us. I could look like ‘Exhibit A’ from a circus freak
show, maybe you think I do, but my mum will always think I’m the best looking
boy on God’s green earth.
Our mothers went through the pain
barrier to bring us into the world,
·
they spent years changing
our nappies
·
they stayed up all night
when we wouldn’t sleep
·
they calmed us down when
we were frightened
·
they cried when we cried
·
they taught us right from
wrong
·
they nourished us through
life
·
they nursed us through
every illness
·
they bandaged our grazed
knees
·
they cheered us on when we
were the last to be picked for the sports team
·
they believed in us when
we doubted ourselves
·
they loved us whatever we
did
·
they nurtured us and gave
up on us
What a brilliant, varied,
diverse, multi-coloured community of people the church is.
But sadly, we can’t work with all
who might call themselves Christians. The Bible warns us here in v17-20 that
some want only to cause schism and chaos by bringing in divisive ideas contrary
to sound teaching. They want to put obstacles in people’s way. “Keep away from
them” it says. There are alas times when we have to say that we can’t work
alongside certain groups.
If a church leader in our area
was denying the resurrection, or agitating for same-sex marriage in church, or
aggressively pushing the so-called prosperity gospel I’d be saying, “We can’t
work together with that church, this is just going to divide us.” But I’m glad
to say that’s not the case.
Some of these names (Sosipater,
Nereus, Apelles and the rest) are of people we know nothing about. Apart from
this one thing; their names are written in two books – the Book of Romans here
and the Lamb’s Book of Life.
The Book of Life is mentioned 8
times in the Bible and it contains millions of names; it’s a vast directory of those
who belong to Jesus. It’s the guest list of Heaven. Your name is either in that
book – or it’s not. You’re either on the guest list of eternal life or you’re
not.
If your name is in the Lamb’s
Book of Life, you’ll know deep down that it is. You’ll have that assurance in
your heart. If you’re really not sure if your name’s there or not, it probably isn’t.
If you want to investigate this further, can I recommend that you sign up for
the Alpha Course? Alpha is a brilliant, non-threatening, easy-going way to
explore Christian faith. It is estimated that over 27 million people worldwide
have completed an Alpha course.
It has had good reviews in The
Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Independent on Sunday and Time
magazine.
The Archbishop of Canterbury
Justin Welby says, “Alpha is… accessible, it’s easy, and it’s user-friendly.
It’s extraordinary.”
And if that doesn’t persuade you
then listen to this from Bear Grylls; “Alpha was the best thing I ever did. It
helped answer some huge questions and to find a simple, empowering faith
in my life.” If it’s the best thing Bear Grylls has ever done it has got to be pretty
exciting hasn’t it?
Ending
So, as I close, what is it you
feel God might be saying to you?
·
Do you need to reconsider
the way you view other churches – and embrace them as companions, not fear them
as competitors?
·
Are you going to bite the
bullet and sign up for Alpha?
·
Should you by now be a
spiritual mum or dad to a younger believer?
·
Is there someone you could
take under your wing and nurture in faith?
·
Do you need to step up
this coming academic year and be counted among those who work hard in the Lord?
·
Or maybe God has been
saying something else to you
Let’s pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 23rd August 2015
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