The Grand Declutter continues, well if not exactly apace at least it continues.  This morning my living room looks like Paddy's Market strewn with all manner of craft stuff ostensibly belonging to Churches Together and which needs to be rehomed or redistributed.  Having drawn up an inventory (for this I spent four years learning theology?!) and allocated 'core' and 'spare' stuff the list is now ready to go to churches and organisations who could use anything from glitter to funky foam to poster paints to embroidery silk.

I presume there is a bottom to the heaps of junk, and that the stuff I take on with me will be less than I currently have...

D'you reckon the early church had this problem?!!!

This morning I needed to book at train to London to meet a couple whose wedding I will conduct in Glasgow in December.  Despite what you might think, that's not the daft bit.  The daft bit is that it was cheaper to book two first class single tickets (£21 each) than one second class return (£65) - now that IS just plain daft.

I'm quite chuffed to have a special event already in my 'new' diary - just need to get to grips with the differences between Scottish and English marriage law now!  It seems more straight forward in Scotland than England...

D+2 have invited my folk to join them for a picnic and short act of worship on Sunday 16th August, and most of them want to go, so we're cancelling our service to attend.  I asked the organiser what the wet weather contingency was , 'oh, we're praying for good weather' I was told.  Biting my tongue quite hard, I then asked 'and if God says no...?'  Esentially, it would be abandoned, there was not much by way of contingency.

So now we are going to a picnic but if it is raining at midday we will instead gather at the manse for an impromptu service at our normal time.  Which means (a) mucking up my preaching scheme (mutter mutter mutter) and (b) having to have something to hand just in case.  So, do I capitulate and pray for sunshine (which feels like lousy theology to me) or have a standby sermonette on praying 'thy will be done'?!

Two lasts today.

The last service I'll lead at D+1 in the morning - to complicate things it was our host but as the school wasn't available we went there.  Caused minor confusion when I blocked off the back three rows to make people sit closer togther - but they actually seemed to quite enjoy it.  It all went well and was a good last.

Then this evening last preach for the local Penties.  I have loved preaching there (typically 2 or 3 times a year) as they are a warm, receptive fellowship really working to bring hope to their local community.  Unusually among pentie churches they are tiny - less folk than dear old Dibley - but generous and hardworking.  They gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card they'd signed with lots of lovely messages as well as laying on hands and praying for me.  It was a special moment, and I will miss them a lot.

Lots more lasts to come in the next few weeks - which I guess is indicative of how I've involved myself in the locale.  The move becomes more real each day - which is exciting and scary in roughly equal proportion.

This is, in a nut-shell, the essence of my sermon this morning, based on Ephesians 4: 1 - 16 with a bit of Psalm 51 stirred in for good measure.

Ephesians 4 is about what, exactly?

Unity - for sure, according to the various commentaries I looked at (unusually I have a few that cover this book) this is a 'given' of what is being written about; similarities with bits of Galatians or Colossians or even Romans and 1 Corinthians about unity, images of bodies and neither/nor suggest that unity-in-diversity is a reasonable expectation among Christians.  So I wasn't going to talk about that, despite the lovely list of seven ones with its hints of Trinitarian formulation.

Roles - certainly, it has a long list of them, but they can be a right turn off for those who don't see any connection with the list and themselves, so I wasn't going to major on the roles but their reasons - the equipping of the saints (believers) for service and the building of the body (church).  It's not so much which roles we have but why we have them: you can put out chairs to the glory of God or preach to the glory of mammon!

Attitudes - humility, patience, gentleness and love - easily missed, and with hints of Galatians 5 hints at the signs of God's spirit at work to bring us nearer maturity.  Certainly, I spent a bit of time on this - along with false humility and low self esteem, impatience and santified procrastination, doormatism and laissez faire licence.

Ultimately, I decided, this passage shows us the need for structure and organisation in the church - not a prescriptive list of 'must fill roles' nor yet a straight-jacket of slavish tradition - along with the kind of attitudes that build others up, allow them to take risks and grow in grace, discover their gifts and fulfil their calling.  Churches can fall pray to two extremes, in my experience: a kind of religious chaos (sometimes confused with 'waiting on the Lord' or 'being open to the Spirit's leading' when in fact reflecting a refusal to take responsibility) and the existence of religious dictators (including among others the 'flower dragon' and the 'premises orgre') and power bases.  Ironically, and sadly, both can co-exist in the same congregation.

By using David as the foul-up sine qua non (or some such) and Psalm 51 as an entry pint, we ended with a prayer for forgiveness and freedom:

Have mercy upon us, O God, according to your unfailing love;

According to your great compassion blot out our transgressions,

Wash away all our iniquity and cleanse us from our sins.

Where we have been guilty of false humility, publicly denying our God-given abilities in order that we might be seen as spiritual or that we might evade service

Lord, forgive us

Where we have been victims of low self-esteem, unable to recognise our unique gifts and skills, ignorant of our inherent worth, denied opportunities to flourish

Lord, release us

Where we have failed to be gentle, speaking harshly, belittling others, quick to condemn and slow to encourage,

Lord, forgive us

Where we been victims of cruelty or bullying, made to feel worthless and useless, limited in our ambition and thwarted in our service

Lord, release us

Where we have failed to be patient, wanting our own way, ignoring the needs and desires of others, swift to criticise and slow to listen

Lord, forgive us

Where we have been victims of impatience, forced into decisions too soon, denied the space to reflect, dragged unwillingly to new situations

Lord release us

Where we have failed to love, seeking only our own will, asserting our rights, considering only what serves our ambition

Lord, forgive us

Where we have been victims of hate or neglect, our voices unheard, our hurts untended, our longings and aspirations suppressed

Lord, release us

Where we have held onto power, sought self-aggrandisement, confused position with purpose

Lord, forgive us

Where we have abdicated responsibility, refused to get involved, confused wants with needs

Lord, forgive us

Where we have damaged your church, strained the bonds of peace, dashed hope and destroyed faith

Lord, forgive us

From the regrets of the past, the legacy of disappointment and the fear of failing

Lord, release us

To the hope of tomorrow, growing in grace, mercy and love

Lord release us

To live and work to Christ’s praise and glory

Lord, release us.