and it is the fifth week of our series of talks on the rule of life.
and this week we are looking at serve.
three things I wanted to avoid saying.
have wrestled with over the years.
to fit Christian service into your already busy lives.
but I recognise what its like to be really busy.
I can guarantee you would not find me especially open.
if you could please just do some more Christian service.
any sense of being brow beaten or guilt tripped.
these are the prescribed ways you can serve.
and try to give you the opposite.
but we, all of us, already have plenty of things going on in life.
but the Good News I am going to give you still might not be easy to hear.
The Good News is that God doesn’t want to be squeezed into a box.
Nor is God a box to be ticked.
The old Bible translations say that God is a jealous God.
He doesn’t want just a little bit more.
from the inside out, by his life.
Not selfishly, but out of love for us in our human predicament.
our lives cease to be our own.
We get a new identity.
as his disciples, and members of his Church.
start from the very core of you.
As a baptised member of his Church, you are his.
allow your service to flow.
and your core identity as a beloved Child of God.
or through your private or family life.
as he claims us for his own.
Now let’s take the second thing.
and a big part of that is service.
But where does the motivation come from, if not obligation?
and join in with his new initiative.
No, that is a well that will quickly run dry.
a spring that flows for eternity.
gushing up within us to eternal life.
for the life of Christian service.
but good for us too.
either way we need a sound motivation.
and carrying our cross in the world.
before we’re running on nothing more than fumes.
So please, don’t do anything to please me – or Simon.
because God is already in our corner.
he knows it all, the good, the bad and ugly.
is that there are only certain ways you can serve.
Or that there are ways to serve God that are better than other.
For example, being a priest.
People often assume that being a priest is the best way to serve God.
and generally closer to God.
are the only or best way to serve God.
but the religious bit of life is where its really at.
with whatever gift each of us has received.
to serve him in our own particular way.
Another word for this is vocation.
To have a vocation is to have a calling.
And too often we think that priests are the only ones with vocations.
But that’s a nonsense and a harmful lie.
to be members of his body the Church.
each of the many different parts of the body have a role.
in the service of his Kingdom.
is that there is no ageism, or indeed ableism, in the Kingdom of God.
and don’t become redundant as we age.
Similarly, having a vocation doesn’t depend on physical or mental capacity.
and has given us each particular gifts to offer in his service.
One: God wants all of you.
you are so jealously guarding.
as Christ claims you for his own.
Two: you don’t need to please anyone.
and God is already on your side.
And three: there is no hierarchy of service.
There is no ageism or ableism in God’s Kingdom.
in the service of his Kingdom of justice, mercy and peace.
about what forms of service you might undertake.
the gifts and talents that God has blessed you with.