Next Sunday I am due to preach at the united service to end the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  According to the rota, it was Baptist host and Anglican preach, but despite a vicar and two lay readers, no one from the Anglicans is available, so it falls to muggins here.  I am more than a tad cross about this - the rota has been in place for about three years and the churches were reminded last October or thereabout that this was the arrangement for this year.  Still, get on with it I must, so I will.

I read through the Ezekiel passage again this morning, complete with its party trick image of holding two sticks end to end so that appear to be one long stick.  It got me wondering how much our views of Christian Unity are illusory?  The likelihood is that on Sunday there will be a couple of dozen Baptists (i.e. most of us), a sprinkling of Methodists and (hopefully) a couple of token Anglicans.  And within that there will be denominational huddles.  A united service?  Hmm.

So I have been wondering, do I dare use this image as a springboard to explore the illusion of Christian Unity?  Are there other images I can offer that are more helpful or healthy?  We are not one stick, or even three sticks stuck end to end, yet we all claim to be part of the Church.  How can we be 'better together' and yet celebrate and affirm our diversity?  How can we maintain the intimacy of small congregations yet be something big enough to thrive?  Is it OK to avoid feel good mush and ask the hard questions?  Ezekiel was a prophet - someone who read the signs of the times and employed his God-given imagination in his forth-telling of what he heard from God.  What, I ask myself, might he say to the congregation I will address on Sunday?  From sticks to ropes (Ecclesiastes three-fold cord type of thing), from illusion to reality - a challenge methinks.

Yesterday's service was marked by endless bouts of forgetfulness and human error, but thanks to God's graciousness it all came out alright in the end!

My act of human error was to fail to remove the original version of the service from my brief case and replace it with the new one.  Both were there and I put the wrong version on the 'lectern' (music stand).  I didn't realise until I reached the sermon and had read the first paragraph!  I told people what had happened, that I was sure the second version was more appropriate.  Not being sure whether or not I actually had it with me, I took a deep breath and blagged it - covering the main points if not delivering quite what I had carefully prepared.  Many years ago one of my tutors told me I should preach without notes now and then to remind myself I could still do it because the day would come when I dropped them or forgot them.  Well, only once in ten years (and it was in my brief case all the time - I retrieved it during the next hymn as I'd also changed other things I wanted to use and could not successfully blag).

Other human errors were...

The caretaker forgot to unlock the car park gate so we couldn't get in (luckily there was pedestrian access and I know the door code so found him in the hall wondering where we all were!)

The Methodist minister arrived a week early for the WPCU service

One of my communion servers came out too early and the other one forgot to come out at all

One person due to take the collection asked someone to cover for them as they were away - and that person then realised they were also taking the collection and couldn't quite cover both sides at once

Still, the service went off fine, we covenanted together and with God, which is what really mattered.

I've been thinking this morning about reactions to 'troubled times' and Jonah's reaction to the call of God to go with a message to the people of Nineveh.  Jonah ran away 'literally' (see earlier post to understand use of quote marks) but there are other common repsonses to unpalatable readings of the signs of the times (part of the prophetic task) which are tantamount to running away...

'Someone Else's Problem' - the SEP field invented (discovered? ;-) ) by Douglas Adam's in Life the Universe and Everything was, as I recall, used to remove Lord's cricket ground when it was in the way of some intergalactic issue.  It is an easy response to tough issues, and can emerge as a blame culture (someone else is at fault) as a a 'them' culture (someone else ought to put it right).  Denial of our own responsibility (and accountability) is a form of running away.

'The Noble Order of the Ostrich', as it is known in my family.  If we ignore it, or pretend it isn't there, it will simply go away.  Denial in its simplest form - denying it exists or will happen.  Running away by hiding.

'Arranging Deckchairs on the Titanic' - avoidance strategies, tinkering with the bits that can be done rather than facing the real issue.

There must be others that could be added, but three is enough for any sermon!  Truth is that, more often than not, it seems that there are ostriches arranging deckchairs at Lord's cricket ground.

The prophetic task is not just to look outwards at the world and upwards at God, but also inwards to our own attitudes - and that sometimes this is almost more scary than the others.

This is the season of Baptists (and others) having Covenant services.  It is also a season of troubled times - globally, nationally and locally.

Our Covenant Service takes place this Sunday afternoon, and one of my jobs today was to develop a suitable liturgy for a troubled times.  This is what I ended up with; interlinear exegesis is permitted, speculative eisegesis isn't!

A Covenant for Troubled Times

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

These are troubled times

Times of violence and hatred in a world marred by war

Times of anxiety and uncertainty in a world wounded by greed

Times of sadness and loss in a world of vulnerability and finitude

Times when we must face tough questions with unpalatable answers

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no ill, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me.

These are dark times

Times when we need to be reminded that God is with us

To guide our feet, one step at a time

To illumine our minds with new understanding

To protect us from despair, isolation and emptiness

To enable us to ‘prove’ our faith in resilience and fortitude

Now the dwelling of God is with human beings, and he will be with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

These are, mysteriously, hopeful times

Times in which the promises of a faithful God offer encouragement

Times in which new possibilities can be glimpsed

Times in which we must live the hope of eternity

Times when past, present and future meet.

So, let us profess our faith:

We believe and trust in God, creator of all, whose promises are faithful

We believe and trust in Jesus Christ, who redeems all, and who calls us to follow

We believe and trust in the Holy Spirit, who inspires and sustains us in hopeful service

Recognising that these are troubled times, let us covenant with one another and with God

My brothers and sisters in Christ, I covenant to walk together with you in faithful discipleship for as long as God shall so direct and lead us

Faithful God, as a community of your people, we covenant to walk with you, individually and corporately, in ways we know and in ways that you will show us

Grant us courage to face the challenges

Strengthen us with faith, hope and love

So that we may walk faithfully in the footsteps of him whose name we bear

Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

Next week I am going into school to "do" 'Baptism Today' with Year 4.  I will use some Baptism clips downloaded from Teddington Baptist church who have a superb selection (watch the minister age!) and also some resources from RE:Quest which are excellent - even an overview introduction to Baptist history, albeit a bit too precise, with photos of Loughwood Meeting House, Taunton and Metropolitan Tab.

This annoyed me though...

A Baptist church is led by a Senior Minister, who is normally a man. You may have other Ministers with different jobs, it depends on the size of the church.

You also have Deacons, who often look after the church building and the money that comes into the church. Money is given largely by the members of the church each week.

In my church we have a Leadership Council who look after the people and what they believe. In most churches these people would be called Elders.

Senior ministers are usually men, it is true, but most Baptist churches don't have a senior minister and plenty don't have a minister full stop.

In most Baptist churches deacons do what this person's Elders do.

I am assuming this is a (laudible) attempt at asking a young person to tell the story, and I'm sure it is a correct reflection of thier experience.  It's just not quite accurate - and so loads of people are fed a not-quite story that gets more "not-quited" over time.  Sigh.