Presidential Address 2009

Sermon preached by the newly installed President of the Methodist Church in Ireland,
Rev Donald P Ker

Thursday 4th June 2009 in St Paul's Parish Church, Glenageary

Faith, Hope and Love

‘Now we see but a poor reflection in a mirror - now I know only in part'. Paul's honest cry from the heart in 1 Corinthians 13 has a very contemporary ring to it. Written first to a struggling Church undergoing the tensions of change in a larger world that was occasionally hostile to it, but largely ignored it, Paul's words might well find echoes among us tonight. The Ireland of 2009 is very different from the Ireland of, say, 1959. The Christian Church, not least the Methodist Church in Ireland, is different from the Church of 1959, and sometimes we can be excited, or anxious, energized or demoralized, or quite frankly just confused by all the change.

But the key point that Paul wants to make, and the key point that we want to hear tonight, is that in the midst of this there are three marks that remain, three marks that are to be found, whatever the spirit of the age, whatever the circumstance of the church, whatever the issues she is grappling with, whatever the opportunities she is offered. They are Faith, Hope, Love. Let's think about how we might apply them.

Faith

We are called, together, to be people of Faith. We pledge ourselves to live humbly before the mystery of the living God.

We can't for one moment pretend that this will be easy. It's a number of years since Alistair Campbell issued the comment ‘We don't do God' – but that phrase, notorious though it now is, nevertheless sums up a spirit which can be found in some places of this island at this time. Some of the blame for that must lie at our own door in the churches – for we haven't always illustrated or even understood what it really means to belong to Jesus. Some of the cause is in the nature of Western Society which has long lived imagining that it is self-sufficient and so is challenged much more than it would care to admit by the thought of a God who is over all, through all and in all.

We live humbly before the mystery of the living God. I want to add my own voice of appreciation to so many others who are grateful for the 24/7 prayer movement which has touched us over the last number of years. Those who have worked to create prayer-rooms, those who have signed up for the long watches of the night, those who have slipped in for half an hour, all have sought to keep themselves open to God. They have also worked to help the rest of us appreciate that there are all sorts of ways to be open to God. Let's keep looking for new ways.

But beware. David Ford offers us an important warning when he writes ‘Religion is extraordinarily resourceful at disconnecting its rituals and practices from the living God.' The warning applies whether you see yourself as steeped in the tradition of Methodism, or seeking to re-shape some traditions, or belonging within another part of the Church of Jesus Christ altogether. In the end let our focus in our congregations and Church Councils not simply be about style – what we sing, how we pray, what we do with the furniture in our buildings. Let the focus be with our minds, our hearts, our desire before anything else to be God's people.

And let it be joyful. The call is to the living God, the God who created us and all humanity to ‘glorify God and enjoy him for ever.'

Hope

We are called, together, to be people of Hope. We pledge ourselves to be involved in the world around us as Resurrection people.

At the heart of the huge battles that Paul had with the Corinthian church (and he had a number) lies his absolute conviction that Jesus is risen and alive, and because of this nothing in the here and now, never mind the hereafter, can be the same. Jesus risen means the Creator God is at work in his new creation, and we're involved.

You may recall that, in ch 15 of 1 Corinthians, Paul warms to the theme of Resurrection – to underline his belief he uses his own experience, arguments from logic, from nature, from liturgical practice, and a bit of apocalyptic thrown in for good measure, and then, after a glorious hymn which ends ‘thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord' he sums it up – ‘Therefore, my brothers and sisters, stand firm…always give yourselves to the work of the Lord because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.' When, in the life of our personal discipleship or our life together in the Church, we're tempted to get weary, we need to hear these words. Hope means that we stand firm.

Hope, resurrection hope, also allows us to dream. Lynda Neilands has, in the last few months, brought to us the story of Nigel Williams, whose faithful Christian discipleship eventually brought him to the role of being the first Children's Commissioner for Northern Ireland, prior to his untimely death. Maybe it tells you something about where I am in life, but for me one of the most moving parts of an inspiring story came with Nigel's poems. He reflects on the promise that, with God's Spirit, old men will dream dreams – dreams which may reflect a desire for happiness, which is good, but dreams about some far more important than happiness – dreams about hope.

Old Men's Dreams

Dreaming is ageless
Performance doesn't falter as the body creaks.
Old men's dreams aren't wiser or more constrained
But age may stunt the dreamer's hope
Of seeing his fantasy realised.

Edwards dreamed of a golden set.
Older than most the sand was slipping through,
But he focused on the chance
that Manchester brought and
Hopped, skipped and jumped to fulfil the dream.

Our dreams may focus on increased leisure.
Children growing up, fewer ties that bind
We think of tandems, motor homes
Theatre nights, travel to islands in the sun.
But are these the dreams the prophet meant?

Yes, fantasies of fun and fulfillment
Lives replete in joy, enriched by friends.
But dreams also of wider impact
For cities, nations, peoples left behind
Dreams of justice, mercy, peace.

Our dreams can be realised.
They need not linger in the sleepy bed.
People can be changed,
Lives healed by society's ills.
If we but trust, his Kingdom will come.

Dreaming, yes, but not just fanciful dreaming. This resurrection hope means that we're called to be witnesses to the life and ways of the living God in the community around us. Jim Wallis, of the Sojourners community, has said about these islands that as nations we are faced with a basic choice – in the light of all we face and all we observe we can either go the way of cynicism or the way of hope.

Hope means that we care about what happens in this island and beyond. That's why, in this Conference, we will express our deep concern about the future of education in this island, both North and South. That is why we will be thinking carefully about how we now help our community to face up to the legacy of our recent troubled past.

It is Christian hope that will inform our reflection on the economic life of our country, and Christian hope which is to be the driver behind any discussion we may have on re-shaping ourselves more effectively for mission.

Love

We are called, together, to be people of love. We pledge ourselves to model Jesus.

This means that within the Church we love one-another – it's Jesus who says to us ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one-another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another'. So let's be very clear about this, because it's at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian. The way we model Jesus, the way we help one-another to trust Jesus, to obey Jesus, to love Jesus, the way we help our young people and our not so young people to be excited by following Jesus, and to see that it works, is by loving each-other.

This doesn't mean that we can't differ from each-other, or that we seek at all costs to avoid conflict. It's natural, indeed it's probably essential, that we have different views. There were times when Jesus wasn't afraid to say plainly to his disciples things that they really didn't want to hear. But loving each-other in the life of the Church means that, as we keep working and living together, committed to each-other, we will be patient, be kind, we won't envy or boast or be proud, rude or self-seeking – we won't be easily angered and we won't keep a record of wrongs.

But it also means that we love the people who don't belong within our fellowship – the way we model Jesus to people who know little if anything about him is to love them. It means that our Churches will be known as friendly places of welcome. It means even more that we will have a care and be on the lookout for how we can serve and pray for those who would not dream of coming near our churches.