Focus the Faith - Sea Sunday
Rev Helen Wallis
Today is Sea Sunday and since 1975 the Anglican and Catholic Churches throughout the world have asked that the second Sunday of July be designated as "Sea Sunday" - a day when we pray especially for all those who work at sea for the good and benefit of all
Today we remember especially the world wide work of the Mission to Seafarers which is in its 170th year of service for those at work upon or around the sea.
Since the 1852 the mission has been an integral part of the outreach of the whole Anglican and Catholic Communions.
170 years is a venerable age and a good time to reflect on the past and look to the future of seafarers whose work load and sea faring experience has changed much over the years.
The return of the New Zealand Ship Te Mana on Friday with its amazing refit and technical upgrades to suit any occasion along with its huge number of crew got me thinking about a friend of mine, the late Joe Channing-Pearce (who worshipped here with us here just last Christmas ). In 1956 He set sail from UK for New Zealand with this very ancient sextant and a compass along with the stars as the only navigational instruments....
He was accompanied by his young wife and two mates. The voyage took the four of them two years, through all kinds of weather including becoming be-calmed for ten days just off the New Zealand coast.
Quite different from arrival of the Te Mana last week.... no fan fare, no welcoming haka or relatives to greet them to Aotearoa They Just sailed into the Harbour with passports in hand and tied up at the wharf. .
What a story Joe had to tell...
Life at sea is a hidden life and often in the more unpleasant corners of the world.
Crews are still all too frequently victims of abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Even piracy and threat because of drug deals Life at sea remains a dangerous one.
Just last week we also watched the news of a 150 metre container ship losing all power off the New South Wales coast.
The 21 crew on board were eventually rescued despite horrendous weather conditions.
While the nature of the work of mission to Seafarers or Sailors Society has evolved to meet contemporary needs, the founding belief that every seafarer, naval crew or seaman deserves fair working conditions, respect for their human rights, and the very best we can offer can offer through the ministry of the Seafarer Chaplains offer
To date there are over 230 chaplains in over 300 ports across 41 countries
Behind the Mission to Seafarers, lies that deep sense of Christian purpose, that the gospel imperative is to recognise every human as being a neighbour and that God’s love is unconditionally available for everyone.
The Holy Gospel….. according to St Luke chapter 10: reading verses 25 to 37. Praise and glory to God
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.
"Teacher," he said,
"what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
He said to him,
"What is written in the law?
What do you read there?"
He answered,
"You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength,
and with all your mind;
and your neighbour as yourself."
And he said to him,
"You have given the right answer;
do this, and you will live."
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus,
"And who is my neighbour?"
Jesus replied,
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
and fell into the hands of robbers,who stripped him, beat him,
and went away, leaving him half dead.
Now by chance a priest was going down that road;
and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side.
The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper,
and said,
'Take care of him; and when I come back,
I will repay you whatever more you spend.'
Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell
into the hands of the robbers?"
He said, "The one who showed him mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
This is the Gospel of Christ
Praise to Christ, the Word
That gospel story for today..... and it is so familiar that the danger exists for every one of you to switch off and have a 15 minute snooze while I present the sermon based on the Good Samaritan
I had just finished writing this sermon on Friday afternoon when the news flashed up on my screen that and elderly woman who had been living in a Suzuki Swift car in Remuera had been fund dead.
An initial report in early may had been filed as a freedom camper and not investigated.
So much for the government agencies...
who just passed on the report for filing....
those high priests and Levites of Social welfare!
The story reminded me of a day early this year,
when left my car in a Parking Building in Christchurch and walked along Cashel street to Ballantynes. The lights were against me at the Columbo street corner but as I waited I glanced across to the Ballantynes corner, and was shocked to see, that right on the corner of the building, a couple were sitting on duvets with what appeared to be their worldly goods packed neatly around them.
I crossed over on the green light and as I stepped on to the pavement a few feet from the couple, I noticed 2 take away coffee cups on the ground beside them.
The attractive dark skinned young woman stood up and politely asked if I had two dollars to give her.
I rarely have cash in my bag and so I answered...
“Actually no. but what do you want that for?"
and she answered "To buy some food."
Why not go to the food bank, or the City mission?”
"They're closed now."
"Well, perhaps you could have gone there earlier."
I was not in clerical dress nor wearing an obvious cross so the couple sitting there would not know that I was Christian or even that I was connected to the Church in any way - let alone being recognised as a Priest.
I don't recall the rest of the conversation but when I came out of Ballantynes an hour later, I gave them some cash. "Here you are. Buy some good food.You won’t drink of drug with it, will you?."
The couple didn't look as though they hadn’t eaten. They were tidy and clean. They had evidence of bought coffee (though it may have been donated) they were probably in their thirties and much more worldly wise than I am.
I walked on back to the parking building deep in thought. What if she was my daughter or niece or one of my friends daughters? and I began to think again about the dilemma of helping people
Some years ago I was a parish minister in a big central Invercargill church I often had people call to ask for help. and more than once I was fooled by a plausible sounding story I learnt that it is easy to be taken for granted and that some people have an expectation about the Church, and about Christians that amounts to a sense of entitlement. ..
"I want; you give."
But that young couple got me thinking about the story of the Good Samaritan from a different angle.
First, I’m not sure that Jesus would have responded to every single request for help. After all he was known to challenge people with questions as he preaching and teaching like the one we read today...
”who is my neighbour”
Secondly, during my encounter with the young couple I could have said "No"and not returned with the bit of cash I had drawn out. The couple Ballantynes corner may have been in serious need. What if they were among the many homeless people desperately trying to find a rental property? They may have been tourists fallen on hard times because their working visas had run out, and the borders had closed to them leaving because of the pandemic. I simply did not know anything about that young couple. I returned to Ashburton and that same evening and and was confronted by the set reading for the day the story of the Good Samaritan.
As I read it, I thought about the young couple and my response and I realized something in a new way. Maybe the reason that the religious people (the priest and the Levite )- didn't help because they didn’t recognise the deep needs of the wounded man nor the opportunity to talk to him.They May have thought he was being used as a decoy for a gang.
Nevertheless, I recognised that my action or lack thereof could have been regarded as akin to the attitudes of the priest and the Levite in Jesus parable.
My initial response was in fact, a kind of passing by on the other side. just like the priest and Levite, both who would have had civic responsibilities The priest could have been keeping himself ritually clean. That didn’t apply to me. And the Levite, could possibly have had some wine and oil with him that could have been used for the non sacramental task of cleaning up the man’s wounds, but maybe he was reserving it for another reason such as Oil for cooking dinner that night and wine to accompany the fine food.
Each week we witness the parable being lived out in society by the ASB Good Sorts that we see on TV, I have often commented to John that there are so many wonderfully generous people on Good sorts that my personal responses to the needs of others are constantly challenged
And how do we, as committed Christians, actually measure up to the Gospel Imperative
How do we actually discern who the needy neighbour maybe that God calls us to offer care and compassion.
And then there’s those many Biblical passages such as (I Jn 3:17) which says
How does God's love abide in anyone
who has the world's goods and sees
a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?"
We may not yet have people begging on East Street,
but there is so much unseen need in our community.
that the Pandemic and the increased cost of living has unveiled..
loneliness, depression, anxiety, economic challenge
domestic violence and unemployment, to name but a few.
And it is often the first responders - the Police, St Johns or the Fire Brigade who are called to deal with situations that demand more than just a bit of help for those stranded on the roadside of life instead of the appropriate agencies to sort the problems and provide any assistance urgently needed like that 71 year old lady who died in Remuera after living in her car for some weeks.
Jesus used the example of a Samaritan who, despite discriminated against, never the less still took a risk and stopped to offer help to the half dead man just like an ASB GOOD SORT.....
What a shock that must have been for the lawyer and the Jewish people listening to Jesus answer the question posed by the lawyer
“Who is my neighbour?’
However, a half dead person who may have done nothing more than groan out loud, is very different from the fairly fit looking thirty something couple that I met on Ballantynes corner asking for cash. Situations like that can be a dilemma for those of us who really do care about the needs of others.
We already know the importance of trying to live out the gospel. Walking the walk and talking the talk but Jesus challenges us once more to really think about his question and in the light of who and what we claim to be as Christians must honestly answer the question as to who is our neighbour?
That person may not be all that different from “a half dead Jew” who required help from the Samaritan or the young couple asking for cash on the Cashel Street corner, or that elderly lady who died in her car who might have been one of us given a different life journey
Reaching out to others, building bridges and helping others is what Jesus did many times in his ministry.
and that is also what Martin Luther King did throughout his short life and especially in his role as a social activist.
The day before Dr. King was assassinated, he gave his last speech in Memphis, Tennessee.
In this address, he talked about this parable. Towards the end, he reflected on why the priest and the Levite did not stop for the wounded man
He imagined that the Priest and the Levite were simply afraid. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was indeed dangerous. Dr. King said, “And so the first question that the priest asked, and that the Levite asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’”
Dr. King took a risk and has helped us to re-consider our Christian discipleship with those answers to the question as Who is our neighbour.
And the final question What would happen to others if we do not offer help?
Should be the guiding principle of our approach toward those who are in need, whether on land or sea.
Martin Luther King also said....Justice goes across racial and economic barriers – like the Good Samaritan
And in the light of Justice, aware of the need for care and concern there is no better time to remember and pray for the many Mission teams around the world who seek to address the needs of those who work at sea all 1.6 million of the seafarers - They may not be lying on the side the road side of life awaiting help.
Their needs are largely unseen, and they maybe at the mercy of often exploitive employers,
With increased mechanisation, there is a reduction in crew numbers, but the hours are longer, the time in port shorter, and the risks at sea greater.
Ands so the work of Mission to Seafarers sharing God’s love in many different ways.is very much in line with the undergirding principle of offering all in the nautical industry ( whether on land or sea ). Unconditional care and love regardless of ethnicity or faith
As we pray for them all, we may also in a way very small way be witnessing to Gods love in that by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, they will never be alone for in his love, God is willing to care and carry or each and every one in need regardless of ethnicity or faith journey.
We are all called in the footsteps of Jesus and It is through sharing God’s love and power that we can best step out in faith as Good Ashburtonians offering the unconditional love and mercy of Jesus for all we are called to care for and minister to.
We can not simply pass by on the other side. but let’s remember that we do not go it alone...
We will neve be left by the road side,
and It is God who carries us through life
One night I dreamed a dream.
I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
one belonging to me and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
There was only one set of footprints.
I realized that this was at the lowest
and saddest times of my life.
This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord
about my dilemma.
"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You,
You would walk and talk with me all the way.
But I'm aware that during the most
troublesome times of my life
there is only one set of footprints.
I just don't understand why,
when I need You most, You would leave me alone."
He whispered,
"My precious child, I love you
and will never leave you, never, ever,
during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."