4th Sunday of Epiphany
Rev Indrea Alexander
Micah 6:1-8; 1 Cor 1:18-31; Matt 5:1-12
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” Robbie Burns wryly noted. Actually, he said it in impenetrable Scots, but this is the way it has been translated. The saying is often quoted to reinforce the argument that it is futile to make plans because the outcome is uncertain.
While the plans of mice and men may go awry, what about the plans of God? They may be unfathomable or even unpalatable to Jews and Greeks, and sometimes even to us, but ultimately they achieve what God intended to achieve. So perhaps the only plans it is worth us making are those in keeping with the will of God. However, even when we are confident we are moving within the will of God, our plans tend to be made with great hope, a dash of trepidation, and little certainty about the outcome. God doesn’t usually seem inclined to show us more than the next step or two. But perhaps that is enough.
A Minnie Louise Haskins’ poem quoted by King George VI in his Christmas message of 1939 puts it like this:
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown".
And he replied:
"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way".
Put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.
I once worked with a parish treasurer who was the accountant for the local council. He knew his money stuff. When vestry was talking about a new initiative he would detail the financial situation (which was almost invariably tight) and then he’d say “but if God wants us to do it we can”. He had put his hand into the hand of God and had experienced in his own life the way God honoured those who step out in faith - he knew the blessing that can come when we have the courage to pursue godly plans.
In 2021 our parish representatives were part of a synod which adopted a plan for regeneration of the diocese across the 10 years to 2030. Regeneration, renewal, new growth - it is a big dream - entered with hope, trepidation and little certainty about the outcome. But synod put their hand into the hand of God and stepped into the unknown. They adopted a three-fold focus: Making Disciples; Supporting Families and Strengthening Communities. The written material considered by synod said, “ministry with disciples, families, and the community all encompass aspects of calling people to faith, and sending (out) people of faith. These priorities build a church that nurtures, serves, and transforms the world Christ sends us into.”
In keeping with the diocesan commitment to regeneration, on Tuesday our Vestry agreed to begin a special focus on growth this year, initially by using a course titled Leading Your Church Into Growth. I had the opportunity to go to an introductory session about it in Christchurch in October, with about 100 lay and ordained people from across the diocese. The course impressed those able to be present with its potential. It helps churches identify what steps they need to take in their own context to enable growth.
After Easter the Vestry and some other key parish leaders will participate in the seven week course, with the intention of then offering it to a wider group of parishioners in August and September.
The promotional material says the course aims:
a. To inspire you as leaders to lead your church into growth
b. To encourage you to feel that, in your own way, at your own pace, in your own place, and with God’s help, you can do it!
c. To equip you with a straightforward and workable strategy
d. To give you resources so you can share Leading Your Church Into Growth with others
e. To enable you to create and put into action a growth plan.
The seven sessions in the course cover topics such as praying for growth, fruitful faith-sharing, developing engaging worship, becoming an inviting and welcoming church, making a pathway for seekers to become disciples, and beginning a planned journey of growth as a parish.
Participating in the course will assist us to identify what we are doing well in the parish and where the gaps are, and then to consider achievable ways to address the gaps. Leading Your Church Into Growth will be a useful tool in preparing and putting into action a parish growth plan, a Mission Action Plan, which will focus our activities, energy and budget for 2024-2026. I anticipate we will officially launch this parish plan in October with a parish service of fresh commitment to being a church in growth.
That’s the plan, and we enter it with hope, trepidation and little certainty about the outcome. But, quoting the next lines of Minnie Louise Haskins’ poem:
“So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.”
We need to venture more with God, to tread gladly into the night and toward the dawn. Our church’s growth and financial and spiritual health matter because we are partners in God’s work in this area. Our Parish not only has a spiritual responsibility to the 100 or so people who worship with us regularly, but a responsibility for the further 640 on the parish pastoral roll, along with the people in our neighbourhoods, and the 14,900 people in our district who do not describe themselves as Christians.
Many people in our community know only the outward signs of Christianity, some have heard of Jesus, some have not. They may recognise our buildings, maybe the symbol of the cross, but they do not know the undergirding faith. Some know the Anglican Advocacy work undertaken in our community, or the work of the City Mission in Christchurch, but they do not necessarily associate it with the gospel of Christ. They do not necessarily recognise what motivates us as we seek to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. What motivates us as we align ourselves with those who mourn, and seek to be merciful peacemakers, seeking reconciliation and justice more than personal gain, status or recognition.
We need to spell it out. To be ready to explain that the core of all we are as Christians is Christ—crucified and risen. A crucified and risen God sounds like nonsense to some, it strikes a note of hope for others, and for those who believe it gives the power of God. As St Paul said in his letter to the church at Corinth: May God decide, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
As we seek to align our wills with the will of God, it is vitally important to pray. When we pause in prayer, we are trusting the love of the One who created all things, the One who has plans for all things, the One who loved the world enough to enter it in human form for its redemption.
So let’s pray that we will be faithful in our stewardship of the faith we hold, the faith God has entrusted us to share, and that we may walk with our hand firmly in the hand of God as we seek regeneration and growth.
Let us pray now for growth.
God of Mission,
who alone brings growth to your Church,
send your Holy Spirit to give vision to our planning,
wisdom to our actions,
and power to our witness.
Help our church grow:
in numbers,
in spiritual commitment to you,
and in service to our local community;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Acknowledgements: Christchurch Diocese Mission Action Plan Leading Your Church into Growth.