During the shared
discernment process for selection for ordained ministry, candidates are invited
to talk about an object or image which is meaningful to them.
I quite a verbal person,
but I thought I’d have a go at something like this exercise with an image –
though perhaps my reflection turns out to be more do with a concept or idea.
My mind first turned to Matthias
Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece with its famous image of John the Baptist at
the foot of the cross pointing to Jesus.
In fact I’m going to
reflect on an embryo – which is arguably not unrelated to the altarpiece.
Both John and Jesus had
miraculous births.
And the cross, though a
death, is also a kind of birth pang.
It will lead to new life.
The tomb will be a womb.
And Mary the mother of
Jesus is there.
If she is the mother of
Christ and we are in Christ, is she in a way the mother of us all?
Jesus’ words to Mary and
John at the cross might suggest a new family relationship.
The embryo is a fecund
image.
It suggests the value of
every individual human life, of all sorts, at every age and stage, and
therefore also our desire to resource the church’s life in every place:
That as the Church of
England we have a mission to the whole of society, not just to middle class
suburbia.
That we don’t want to
neglect our inner cities, our deprived coastal towns or our rural areas.
The embryo reminds us of
Jesus’ particular concern for the last and the least, the weakest and the
voiceless.
Everyone with whom we
interact is a precious human being and a disciple or a potential disciple, not
just a ministry unit to be formed or deployed.
Clergy in particular are
tempted to neglect their own humanity and their discipleship for the sake of
their role.
We must become like little
children to receive the kingdom of heaven.
Our life together, however
brilliant it might be, must be grounded in humbly receiving from Jesus.
There will be lots for all
of us, even the most senior, to learn!
This reminder of the
preciousness of all life also relates to valuing all spiritual life across the
theological traditions and across barriers of age, class, sex, race or sexuality.
The image speaks of the miracle
of new life.
We’re dependent on God to
grant new life, and so all our ministry should be grounded in prayer.
We should be encouraged
that God’s resources are infinite.
Often our resources of
finance and personnel are stretched, but God loves to “give life to the
dead and call into being things that were not” (Romans 4:17).
We sometimes need to bring
faith and hope where parishes are discouraged and despairing.
This image places mystery
and wonder at the heart of our life.
We are not primarily running
Parish Church PLC but are engaged with the sacred and supernatural.
We are about something
ministerial not merely managerial.
Perhaps a midwife might
not be a bad metaphor for the Christian minister.
The embryo suggests nurturing
something precious and fragile which has great potential.
That’s important when we
think about new Christians and new vocations.
It is so easy to snuff out
an interest in the gospel or in Christian service – the very thing we know
Jesus would not do.
We sometimes have to say
hard things to people.
Sometimes we won’t share
someone’s sense of calling.
Or we can’t provide the
Vicar or Curate or Parish they’d like.
But we have to remember
that we are dealing with people made in the image of God and loved by him, and
sometimes with their very deep sense of self and their hopes tied up with their
vocational journey.
I’ve been doing some work
on the Church of England learning review into diocesan growth initiatives in
rural areas.
And one of the interesting
debates is whether one should invest in areas of greatest need or greatest
potential.
Whilst we are in the
resurrection business, and we don’t want to assume that any parish must be
forever barren, there seems to be a strong case for adding resources where
there is already life, even if its only embryonic.
Formation is the great
word in ministry training at the moment - related to the embryo, especially
when we remember its biblical basis in Galatians 4:19, where Paul says:
“My dear
children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is
formed in you”.
Christian formation is for
all Christians and we ought to expect growth, both spiritual and numerical.
This image suggests that
there is ideally something natural and organic about Christian growth.
Just as school is
important, so we must have programmes of teaching and learning.
But we must also have the
family being together around the table.
That eucharistic life is
actually infinitely more important than a course or a check-list.
We want to have a pathway,
an invitation, for everyone from first contact with a Christian through
evangelism and discipleship to training and ministry, some of which will be at
parish, deanery, or diocesan level or nationally.
A pathway, not a sausage
machine.
Paul tells Timothy to let
his “progress be evident to all” (1 Timonthy 4:15)
The standard is progress
not perfection.
None of us can ever say we
are the perfect Christian or minister and so we should all always be looking to
grow.
We want to encourage a
culture of growth for every disciple in the parish.
That every disciple should
be a minister using their gifts.
And a culture of growth
amongst the clergy.
It should be normal to be
reading a slightly stretching book, and a certain amount of risk should be
encouraged.
We want to encourage lifelong
learning so that it’s not possible to tell when the Vicar finished theological
college by the date of the books on her shelf.
If a minister has done no
Continuing Ministerial Education in living memory, and it would be good to
think about how to make him eager to do some.
Something must appeal as
potentially interesting or helpful, surely?
As with the embryo, the
goal is a degree of independence.
We will always remain an
interdependent household of faith.
But we want Christians to
look out for their own souls and for one another, and we want our curates to be
ready to take on posts of responsibility and so on.
We want to encourage
clergy to do those things that will make for their growth and well-being for
themselves and together, and in many cases I think we know what that is.
I’ve blogged about this
before.
In our diocese and
networks we already have great resources of skills and experiences and it would
be exciting to work with parishes and deaneries on using these to do more
together.
The embryo suggests the necessary
pain of being born, of leaving the womb and of growing in a more challenging
environment.
We are not to remain in
the safety of our inward-looking club.
Most of our curates won’t
remain assistants for ever.
The image can also be a
warning against infantilisation:
Against the training
incumbent who doesn’t allow the curate to grow up.
Or against
micro-management.
Against the clergyman who
is a bottle keck on growth, who won’t release and empower the laity.
Lastly, the embryo
suggests continuity and development.
That we seek be faithful
to the apostles’ teaching and fruitful in new ways.
We are keepers of a
tradition, but that tradition is also to be proclaimed afresh in each
generation .
We are not to depart from
the faith but neither are we to stand still.
We are both rooted in
Christ and sent out by Christ as his representatives to proclaim him.
We keep the faith by
sharing the faith.
Like good parents, we
encourage both a sense of belonging and of individuality.
May God grant us life,
growth, health and indeed multiplication of disciples and ministers.
Here endeth the sermon!
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