Of Samaritans and Appointments

About this time last year, several of my talks at Church had centred around the prophet Samuel and his relationship with Saul and David.  I felt quite drawn to the Old Testament passages and strongly believed that God wanted to use them to impress upon the church the difference between his criteria and our own.  This seemed especially relevant as the time began to draw near for Canon David Capron (then Rector of our minster), to retire... and many of my sermons then were aimed at preparing the congregation (at my church at least), for that time and the time to come.

 

A year has passed since then and now our minster is about to come to the climax of those times - the recruitment process for David's replacement is in full swing and the interview process takes place over the next two days.  From a human perspective if I'm honest, I'm fairly anxious about what/who comes next and worry about the process and all those involved. From a heavenly perspective, I know that God is in complete control and that he knows what/who comes next and why... so in some ways I'm conflicted.

 

Now last week I found myself responsible for prayers in the service. When I do the prayers I never completely script them, I make a few notes as to what I'm praying about... but I like to leave it as free and flexible as possible... in case anything crops up in the service (especially the readings or sermon), that inspires me in my petitions. Last Sunday was one such occasion as I felt God speak to me pretty clearly through the Parable of the Good Samaritan: 

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

"What is written in the Law?” he replied. "How do you read it?” 

He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’" 

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live.” 

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’" 

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” 

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise."

Luke:10:25-37

What particularly stood out for me, was how well the images and characters from the parable translate to the idea of a recruitment process. In the story, the two men who are on paper the most qualified servants of God, walk on by. Now it can be understood that those men were acting  in accordance with the law as they understood it (at the time, touching a dead body would make them ritually unclean... and so they were playing it safe... thinking that their ritualistic duties were more important.  But the Samaritan brushed all this aside... even ignored the mutual disdain between his two peoples, to make sure the needs of the wounded man were addressed.

The question "Who is my neighbour?" for those in Alcester Minster is equivalent to "Who is our leader?"

I strongly believe that what matters in choosing a new leader, is not the background and churchmanship. We should not be looking for the person who is most priestly on paper or in appearance. It doesn't matter if they don't  have the same attachment to tradition or pattern of worship as a certain clique within the church. What matters is that the person who comes, sees the needs of the churches and respective communities... and addresses them.

Going back to my preaching last year and I'm reminded that the same theme is picked up when Samuel anoints David.  Samuel is pretty confident that all of Jesse's text book hero sons are going to be God's choice of new king... and yet God ignores and rejects all of them... instead choosing the gingery runt of the family.

God makes it explicitly clear that our choices are not his choices and we need to recognise his sovereign wisdom when making appointments in the Church.

"The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7b

I believe we need to look for the neighbour... not the priest. We need to look for a person who is a wellspring of Christ's grace and mercy,  not a champion of ritual; and tradition. My prayer is that God grants the wisdom however subconsciously, to those interviewing on Tuesday

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings."

Hosea 6:6

Cartography

I haven't blogged for a while mainly because I've not had the opportunity. For the best part of two weeks I've been lording it up in the sunnier climes of Italy.

I took part in another expedition with Oak Hall (who if you recall, I went to Israel with 2 years ago). The trip was very different in feel to the Israel holiday... but I enjoyed it very much nonetheless. Inasmuch as I felt God's presence in a very special and unique way in Israel... I again had an amazing personal encounter with him in Italy.

What has all this got to do with cartography?

Well one of the things that made my experience of Italy so different to Israel, was the looser more liberal way we explored the cities we visited. We kept more together in Israel, taking part in walking tours... whereas in Italy we were given rendezvous times and locations... and set loose into the enigmatic surroundings. What came as an unexpected surprise to me was that somehow I ended up becoming passively delegated as a leader by a few of the lads who had no idea or plan of action of where they wished to go.... but then, neither did I for that matter.  However, I felt like I rose to the occasion.

On the very first foray (into Venice), I took hold of a crude map and consulting with my party, decided to head off on a tour of the islands that took in a number of churches en route. My aim was to hit a piazza in the north west that looked of interest. In actual fact it turned out to be the main car park for Venice itself, however it did afford us an excellent view of the main canal and a lovely wooded recreational park. As it happened serendipity was also on our side as we discovered when we stumbled upon Santa Maria Gloriosa church and were astounded to see a newly wed local couple emerging from the church and setting off on their first gondola ride as man and wife *sniff*, how moving.

A similar thing occurred on my second day in Rome where again I was charged with leading my troops to the Trevi Fountain. I'd already seen it the day before but the lads had missed out and so I promised to lead them there after we finished exploring the Colosseum. Arming myself with a map I set out across the back streets of Rome, using several landmarks to get me within shouting distance. We were running tight on time and so after our brief sojourn, we started yomping towards St. Peter's Square. Unfortunately haste led us a little off target and we ended up crossing the Tiber at the next bridge along from the Castle San't Angelo. However even this misadventure worked in our favour as in my opinion it gave us a far better view of the river than we'd had before.

I was charged with leading my intrepid band again when we hit Sienna. After a trip to the bell tower, we marched off to the statue of the Italian revolutionary hero - Garibaldi (which I had spied coming in on the coach and wanted to get a snap of for my Babylon 5 loving friends). This actually led us back to the car park... which was a little disappointing... but then we got to climb the remains of the old fort and got a great vantage point for looking at the town.

I really feel that these experiences brought out long hidden depths of my character. By nature I'm an explorer but experience has taught me to be far too cautious for my own good. If anybody bore a risk of burying their talent... it would be me. However, the lesson I feel God was teaching me most during the holiday was this:

Sometimes the path isn't always going to be clear... the roads you take in life and the places you visit, aren't always going to be obvious. Sometimes you just have to look at the map and decide that a certain feature looks worthy of taking a punt on... and set off into a degree of uncertainty as you make your way into the future. Maybe you'll merely end up in a car park... but along the way, think of the things you may discover. Nothing is wasted... nothing. A little courage reaps the greatest of rewards.... even if those rewards aren't always what you expect.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

There are other things I'd love to tell you about Italy... my personal highlights and other things I learned or experienced, but I have a feeling some of that may be restricted to the Inner Sanctum. However if you would like to view a gallery of pictures I took, you can find them on Facebook and I will be trying to add them to Flickr at some point.

Blessings

Nick

New Archbishop of York Announced

The new Archbishop of York has been announced. He is the Rt Revd Dr John Sentamu (not that titles mean anything to me, or impress me in the slightest), and it will be very interesting to see how he takes things forward (assuming they do go forward and not backward).

I was very impressed by his predecessor - Dr David Hope, who "resigned" his post because he believed revival would come from God through the parishes, God's people... not through (and certainly not from) the General Synod. How right he is, and the clergy should take notice of his wisdom and insight.

I have high hopes for Archbishop Sentamu, I don't know him personally, but I am very excited by his choice of words upon the announcement of his appointment:

“I am looking forward to working with the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops to lead the Church of England in its mission to the nation. It is imperative that the Church regains her vision and confidence in mission, developing ways that will enable the Church of England to reconnect imaginatively with England.

“It is important that the Church of England’s voice is heard locally, nationally and internationally, standing up for justice, bringing Good News to the poor, healing to the broken-hearted, setting at liberty those who are oppressed, and proclaiming the death of Christ and his resurrection until he comes again. What an exciting prospect.”

Note the final paragraph of that. He's loosely quoting from Isaiah 61... the same verse that Jesus quoted in Luke's gospel:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

This scripture was given to our church too... several years ago. It's a scripture that has bounced around a lot for a few years now. I really believe that when we as a people, fall into step with the Holy Spirit... instead of trying to kick start the Church in our own feeble strength, we will truly see that scripture fulfilled. When Jesus said it, he was referring to himself. Now, as Christ's ambassadors we are called to be Jesus to the people we meet. We can only represent Jesus, if we allow him to work within us.

The only way we can do the things that Isaiah, Jesus and Archbishop Sentamu speak of, is if the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us.

May it be so.

New Archbishop of York Announced

The new Archbishop of York has been announced. He is the Rt Revd Dr John Sentamu (not that titles mean anything to me, or impress me in the slightest), and it will be very interesting to see how he takes things forward (assuming they do go forward and not backward).

I was very impressed by his predecessor - Dr David Hope, who "resigned" his post because he believed revival would come from God through the parishes, God's people... not through (and certainly not from) the General Synod. How right he is, and the clergy should take notice of his wisdom and insight.

I have high hopes for Archbishop Sentamu, I don't know him personally, but I am very excited by his choice of words upon the announcement of his appointment:

“I am looking forward to working with the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops to lead the Church of England in its mission to the nation. It is imperative that the Church regains her vision and confidence in mission, developing ways that will enable the Church of England to reconnect imaginatively with England.

“It is important that the Church of England’s voice is heard locally, nationally and internationally, standing up for justice, bringing Good News to the poor, healing to the broken-hearted, setting at liberty those who are oppressed, and proclaiming the death of Christ and his resurrection until he comes again. What an exciting prospect.”

Note the final paragraph of that. He's loosely quoting from Isaiah 61... the same verse that Jesus quoted in Luke's gospel:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

This scripture was given to our church too... several years ago. It's a scripture that has bounced around a lot for a few years now. I really believe that when we as a people, fall into step with the Holy Spirit... instead of trying to kick start the Church in our own feeble strength, we will truly see that scripture fulfilled. When Jesus said it, he was referring to himself. Now, as Christ's ambassadors we are called to be Jesus to the people we meet. We can only represent Jesus, if we allow him to work within us.

The only way we can do the things that Isaiah, Jesus and Archbishop Sentamu speak of, is if the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us.

May it be so.