Preacher: Phil Swain Reading: Luke 7:1-17
Life is full of transitions – getting older, moving house, changing jobs, having kids … as well as all the changes that society goes through. Transitions bring changes and challenges the status quo, which is probably why many people get anxious when transitions occur. Jesus lived in a time of transition. In the early chapters of Luke we have seen that during the beginning of Jesus ministry, he constantly pushed the boundaries and challenged the normal ways of doing things. Jesus wanted to show that God was doing a new thing and that we are to trust God – despite the transitions. This Sunday we gather as community to worship God and continue our Luke learning journey – we are going to use this passage (as well as a short clip from a popular kids TV show) to ponder whether God is doing a new thing in our lives and/or in our church. And how we can trust Jesus to support us and guide us in the midst of life’s transition. It will be the perfect preparation for Vision Sunday (which is on Sunday 16th Feb).
Sermon Text
Last week we had such a great time of worship with Mehdi and Jinous. I had a number of people during the week who commented that it was such a good reminder of what we are supposed to be about as a church – a loving and supportive community where people can explore spiritual questions and get to know Jesus and possibly make the decision to follow Jesus.
At different points last year I found myself personally reflecting and in a number of discussions with colleagues on the future of the church. I am not here to judge or be critical, but if I am honest I would say that the western church is struggling a little. The average age of the church is increasing and the number of people attending worship is dropping. Our resources and volunteer based is stretched and seems increasing harder to engage new people and bring them to a point of following Jesus. So, what is the future of the church? In the light of what I just said … is there a future of the church?
Don’t worry, my answer is yes … the church has a future but I believe that we still need to wrestle with this question. Today I want to share some thoughts to encourage us to hear anew Jesus call to follow him and what that might mean for the church here at TUC and the world wide church.
And to do this, I would like both use some scripture – and another unlikely source. Before we hear from the bible I would like to show you a short 6 minute clip from the popular children’s show called Bluey.
I should assume that everyone knows about Bluey as it is currently the biggest Australian media export – huge in the US. It is about a family of blue healer dogs. This episode is called explorers – I know this is unusual for worship, but trust me – it has a great message in it for us today. It is also highly entertaining. But as you watch it, ponder what this episode is telling us about the mission of Jesus and the future of the church.
Now, for the people watching online – we do not have the copyright to broadcast this video, so … we can’t. However, you can watch it yourself online.
There is a QR code link on the screen which will take you directly to the ABC website so you can watch it. Or there is a clickable link in the comments.
For the next 10 minutes you are not going to see anything on the livestream … that will give you time to go and watch the episode and ponder how it might relate to the future of the church. We are going to do the same here in the building and will be back in 10 minutes.
BLUEY – what did you get out of the video?
https://iview.abc.net.au/video/CH2003Q021S00
I am coming back to Bluey in a moment, but I first want to frame the things we have been exploring in the gospel of Luke that might also help us to ponder the question of the future of the church. The early parts of Jesus ministry was both really exciting for people but also very unsettling. On one hand you had Jesus – this new charismatic Rabbi whose teaching was different to what they were used to. He seemed to explain things in a way that people could connect with and people were finding his ways spiritually helpful. But at the same time he was going against many of the established social and religious practices and rules and that was troubling.
In our bible reading last week it said the Pharisees and teachers of the law were watching Jesus closely. They needed to know what Jesus was going to do next.
The people loved that he was teaching people about God but where uncomfortable with him eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. The current teaching about loving those who love you was good – why did Jesus have to go extreme and add about loving our enemies and turning the other check. Why did Jesus have to criticise wealth and call people hypocrites. Why does he go too far!
It was great that Jesus could heal people but just don’t do it on the Sabbath because that’s unlawful. And It was amazing that Jesus healed the paralysed man but why did Jesus also have to add that his sins were forgiven … that’s blasphemy because only God can forgive sins.
It is no wonder that the people were furious with Jesus. These rules and practices have been part of their lives, their religion and their culture for centuries and Jesus was seemingly just pushing them aside.
And then we get to todays reading where Jesus disrupts the honour system given to those in authority … says that the gentile centurion has more faith that anyone in Isreal … and interrupts the traditional funeral of a young man … and yet at the same time heals the servant and raises the young man from the dead. Great outcome, but does the ends justify the total disregard of social and religious practices to get there?
Jesus hinted at why he had this approach at the end of Luke chapter 5 when he told the parable of the old and new wineskins. Jesus said, no-one pours new wine into old wine skins … it doesn’t work that way. New wine must be poured into new wineskins.
I think what Jesus was trying to say is that God was doing a new thing. The mission that God had given Jesus was not just more of the same, but a new way of love and grace, a way that leads to a new connection with God and a fuller experience of life. And this new way could not easily fit into the established practices and rules … they couldn’t just keep the status quo or keep doing things the way they had always done it. Maybe this new way of Jesus also needed a new social and religious model to work best in.
To be honest, I can see both sides of this argument … I get the point the Pharisees are making but I also agree that the fruit of Jesus’ ministry is undeniable. But this is the tension of Luke 4,5,6, and 7
You might have already seen where I am going with this. I wonder if this is not dissimilar to the tension that the western church is feeling at the moment.
If we look back over the history of the church in Australia we see that about 70 years ago … mid 1960’s … was the absolute high point for the church. Everything the church was doing seemed to be just right for that time. Riding on the wave of the postwar baby boom and blessed by great leaders and people like Billy Graham … the church was able to align their ministry and mission with the spiritual needs of society and the results were stunning. 300 kids in the Sunday School, youth groups were full of noise and life, worship attendance was up, new churches being planted in every suburb. God was certainly doing a new thing and the church – through either luck or prayer or good leadership – worked out the perfect wineskin for God’s new wine. It was one of the most effective times for church mission and ministry across history.
But since then, our ministry and mission has not been quite as effective. This decline was slow at start – the 1980 and 90’s were still strong but not as strong as the 1960’s and 70’s. But the last 20 years we have seen this decline speed up. The programs and models and worship approaches that were so successful 50 years ago are largely ineffective to those outside the church now. Am I wrong?
As a result, the church finds itself in a tricky place, with less resources and less people. The way we live has changed so that we have less time to volunteer and more things demanding our focus. People don’t respect or even trust the church like it used to. The church finds itself in a difficult place.
But let me be clear – God is still at work. The gospel still has the power to transform. The way of Jesus still brings hope and life.
So … what do we do? What is God trying to say to us? What is the future of the church?
This is some of the questions that I am going to wrestle with next Sunday in the Vision Sunday talk and … we as a church are going to wrestle with this year. I believe that 2025 is going to be a pivotal year in the life of TUC.
But for now, let me go back to bluey and share four insights that I got from Bluey and how they might connect with the stories we been reading from Luke and how it might help us in our own discernment of God’s vision for TUC and the future of the church.
- The kids on the boat back from Antarctica
Jack, Rusty, Bluey, and Coco play a game where they pretend to be sailors trying to find their way back to Australia while waiting to be picked up from school
I thought that this part of the episode was a great analogy of how many people in the wider church are feeling as we head into 2025. Sometimes we feel like Jack … that we are committed to the journey but the group is … shrinking, and we know that we just need to keep going but it is hard.
Or you might relate to Jack’s experience of being thrown into leadership … especially when we think we are not the best person or even a capable person for the task. I love how the episode continues and Jack finds out that, maybe he is someone who can play a leadership role. That it is ok to learn on the job. That while it can be hard, it can also be ok.
- Jack’s Dad and the problem of the SatNav turning off. If there was one part of the episode that that really spoke to me it was that moment that the GPS stopped working. I think it is an analogy of what many churches and people in the wider church are feeling at the moment.
As I was sharing before, we have come out of an era where our ideas and programs and models all were super successful … and now it is like all that we understood and all that we are used to doing has stopped working. It feels like our GPS is gone – and we feel lost. It is like Jack’s dad said, “I don’t know how to do this without the GPS”.
I wonder if this is how the religious leaders and the people during Jesus time felt in those early chapters of Luke. All the practices and rules that they were so used to guiding them were being pushed aside by Jesus. It was like Jesus had turned off the GPS and now they were unsure of what to do next.
I felt something similar in a strategic meeting looking at children and youth approach across our presbytery. The question was asked … “how do we attract more young people?” and I answered, “well 20 years ago you would run big events with a cool inflatable or other gimmick and the kids would come … but that doesn’t work anymore. I am not sure what the way to do it now is”. And that’s the challenge … our experience and expertise was our GPS and now that seems to be misaligned with where society is at … so how do we do this without a GPS??? We still have a mission to do – and just like Jack’s dad – we have to work it out.
- The unexpected encounters can be helpful.
Just like in the video, I think that some of the insight and discernment we need as we move forward as a church might come from unexpected places.
The fruit pickers weren’t able to help with directions but helped with encouragement and sustenance for the journey.
Maynard – the dog at the petrol station – was able to help with some directions, even hesitantly offering a different approach which he wasn’t sure Jack’s dad would like.
Who are the people that we encounter as followers of Jesus or as a church who can give us encouragement or to ponder different ideas or approaches?
Different denominations? People outside the church?
Story of the Christmas Carols at Turramurra – we need people like you to help teach us how to be a community again.
- Trusting Jesus in Life’s Transitions
I haven’t really focused too much on our reading from Luke 7 but one thing that jumped out to me when I read these two stories was the way that both the Centurion and the grieving mother was able to trust Jesus amid their difficult situation. It would have been tempting for the mother to tell Jesus to go away – she was in the middle of burying her son – but somehow she trusted Jesus in the midst of her pain and her doubts and because of that trust, Jesus was able to do the extraordinary.
What does it mean for us to trust Jesus in the midst of the transitions we are experiencing in society, in our lives and in our church? I think we can learn from Jack’s dad in the bluey video. Maynard suggested a way but said that it would not be easy and that Jack’s dad wouldn’t like it. But Jack’s dad trusted in the wisdom and went cross country.
As you will hear next week in Vision Sunday – we are putting everything on the table in our discernment process as we explore what God might be leading us to as we become a 2030 church. If we are called to let go some of our deeply held practices and embrace a new direction – that will require a huge amounts of trust. What I loved about this video is the idea that these new ideas, new directions could get messy (and maybe a little wild) … but we will get there.
So, was I right, did we learn something from Bluey?
I am going to press pause on this sermon and pick it up next Sunday in our vision Sunday sermon. For some, what I have been sharing today will excite you, but for others, it is unsettling. (or maybe you are feeling both). Let me encourage you with the last bit of our bible reading. After Jesus raised the widow’s son, we are told that the people were filled with awe and praised God. The recognised that God was doing something new in their midst and then they said this … “God has come to help his people”. Let’s be clear – whatever happens, wherever God leads us, the heart of God is to help us, to do what is best for us, for the church and for those whom God wishes for us to reach out to. All we need to do is trust.
Amen.