Making Time for God
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Reading: Mark 1:32-39
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So yesterday, here at St David’s Uniting, we hosted the wedding of Stacey and Richard Matthews, a couple who first got in touch with me over 3 years ago. 3 years is a long time in preparation for a wedding…and even then, there were a few emergency things to tweak on Friday…but as many of us here know, a big celebration, like a wedding, anniversary, significant Birthday party can take a great deal of preparation. Just ask Julie – who’s still fine tuning exactly how her ordination ceremony will go – June 22nd, remember – date in the diary! Often, the amount of preparation we put into something can be an indicator of how important the celebration is to us. Which is basically what this period of Lent is all about. To put it simply, as a church family, we believe that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are of such monumental significance – historical events which transformed all of history – that it’s only right that we prepare for our commemoration of them.
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For some of us that means giving something up or taking something on for 40 days. For others it might mean committing ourselves to a daily devotional – like the Sister Wendy Lent book that many of us are using. And, of course, there are many of us here whose Lent hasn’t really taken a different shape this year. Many for whom Lent crept up quietly whilst we’ve been busy spinning plates and walking life’s tightrope so that we haven’t really done anything different. And if this is you, then I’d encourage you not to have any guilt about it…for following Jesus isn’t about self-flagellation but God’s grace. There are times when we can all get a little too busy, too distracted, too focused on the everyday immediate things in life, that we take our eyes off the horizon. That’s why we’re having this year of being still…well, still-ish! And that’s why Jesus took himself off to pray in those verses from Mark that Deborah just read.
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In the passage we heard that Jesus was an unsurprising hit in the town of Capernaum. Some hope shared here, a healing or two there and suddenly, we’re told that the whole city was gathered around the door – the whole city! – and Jesus healed many. Next day, early in the morning, Jesus withdraws to a quiet place to pray…to make time for God. We’re told that when the disciples woke up and Jesus was nowhere to be seen, they went looking for him – the original wording ominously says ‘they hunted for him’ – for there was more to be done, more ill people to heal and yet, having spent time in prayer, Jesus tells his new friends that it’s time to move on to the neighbouring towns for sharing his subversive message of justice and joy is what he’s come to do. They’re presumably a little taken aback by this but really, it makes sense. You see, when we make time for God, we’re reminded of our calling; we make space to listen to God, we refocus on God’s mission of love.
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Of course, making time for God doesn’t only look like pre-dawn prayer meetings by the lake! As those of us who went on our church day out were reminded, making time for God must be individual and corporate, for we might encounter God in stillness and solitude or in juggling angels!
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Take the story of Abraham, Sarah and the three strangers, for example. In Genesis chapter 18, we’re shown them resting for a moment on their epic journey and trying to get their heads round the new family dynamics that the birth of Ishmael has stirred up when three mysterious strangers pass by. Abraham and Sarah could have closed their tent-flaps and hidden behind the stove. They could have simply waved to the men and got back on with their work. They could have reluctantly offered them a cup of water whilst wishing they’d just hurry up and go…but instead, Abraham sorts the choicest calf for a feast; Sarah gets on with some baking; there’s bowing, foot washing, making sure the guests get on their way safely…and as the story goes on the reader is told that the strangers were angels, perhaps even God. So, in making time for strangers, Abraham and Sarah made time for God and what’s more, they were abundantly blessed for doing so – ““I will surely return to you about this time next year,” one of the strangers told Abraham, “and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Strangers were welcomed, God came to tea and new life was promised.
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One Old Testament book and a few hundred years later and we join Moses in Midian. He’s busy at work, tending his father-in-law’s flock, checking for crevasses, looking out for predators, keeping an eye on the stragglers. Then, in the distance, he comes across something strange – a bush that is burning. He’s used to all sorts of odd sights out there in the heat of the wilderness and yet he decides to linger a little longer, to look a little more closely and soon he discovers that the burning bush is not consumed. It doesn’t burn out. And it’s only when Moses decides to investigate further that a radical new understanding of God is given. “I will go over and see this strange sight,” Moses says, “why the bush does not burn up.” And it’s then that God calls to him, promises the liberation of the enslaved Israelites and reveals the Divine name.
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It’s a foundation story of our faith and many of us are so familiar with it now that it seems a fait accompli but Moses didn’t have to go check out that bush. He could have shrugged it off as a quirk of the wilderness like a mirage, as a sign that he really needed a day off or even as a potentially dangerous fire that he and his sheep should stay well away from. But instead, Moses goes over to check out that bush and when he does, God speaks to him. Perhaps, then, we can also make time for God by being curious about the world around us – by paying close attention to the stories, hopes, dreams of those in our community; by taking time to look at the strange, the other, the potentially dangerous even, for if God can reveal Godself in a lowly thornbush, just imagine where and with whom God might meet with us today.
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So…through prayer, welcoming the stranger and looking at the world around us we can all make time for God today. I mentioned earlier the importance of doing so both as individuals and as a community. Particularly through this season of Lent, we are encouraged to do both and as part of this, I just wanted to take a few extra minutes to share with you a little something of what the group looking at a potential church worker have been looking at.
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Since January, the open group attended by Bethan, Pam, Robert, Alan, Iestyn and I have been praying, reflecting and discussing how we might go forward with inviting paid workers or volunteers to join us as we seek to live out God’s kingdom here in Ponty. Our discussions have taken various twists and turns, and you’ll be given more details of our thoughts in the coming weeks, with the recognition that any major decisions will be made by the whole church membership. For now though, we thought it worth sharing our thoughts about a scheme called Time for God.
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Time for God is an international Christian charity which matches and supports volunteers aged 18 to 30 to churches and Christian organisations in the UK for a year. The volunteers come from a whole range of contexts and bring with them a diverse range of skills but all of them are committed to service, mission and simple living.
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There’s still all sorts of issues to consider and sort out but essentially, the committee are wondering whether inviting and supporting two such volunteers in our community for a year might enable them, and us, to make more time for God. Through prayer together, welcoming the stranger and enabling the volunteers time to help us look around this community and discern its needs, the committee believes that our participation in the Time for God scheme might well be a blessing for the volunteers and us a church.
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What might this look like? Well, there’s a whole list of things we already do well that they could support or build upon – kids’ club, our school projects, our work with refugees and much more. Just as importantly, though, the volunteers would come with skills and experience that we might learn from. As part of our research into this, I visited Peter’s House up in Hull – a house which hosts 4 such volunteers who work alongside 4 small churches in the area. The volunteers I met spoke so highly of their time, their learning, the deepening of their faith over the year; whilst the churches excitedly told me some of what the volunteers had done. One initiative, for example, was born of the volunteers seeing that there was an absence of younger people within the churches alongside the thinking that more could be done to engage people online. A couple of the volunteers had advanced IT knowledge and so, over the year they’ve been in Hull, they started an online church community called Ten Foot Church. I’ll let them explain further…
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The churches said they simply wouldn’t have had the time, vision or knowledge to have established such a presence without the volunteers. Yet through prayer, welcoming strangers and looking around at their local community, they made time for God, allowing for the good news to be shared in a new and dynamic way.
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Before Easter then, we’ll be sharing more written information concerning what the church worker committee and the elders recommend so that you all have time to prayerfully consider matters before we continue the discussion at the April church meeting.
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For now, though, let’s strive, as we can, to give our time to God this Lent as we follow in the footsteps of the one who took on our flesh and the limitations of time, living our life, dying our death and rising again. To God be the glory. Amen.