It's all pretty fabulous

From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

It’s all pretty fabulous!: 15th May 2011: am: The Very Revd Frank Nelson

• Psalm 23
• Acts 2: 42 – 47
• 1 Peter 2: 19 - 25
• John 10: 1 - 10

Communicators are constantly looking for ways in which to get their message across. There is a whole industry dedicated to this in the advertising world. The same is true when it comes to the Gospel. The Gospels as we have them now, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are human attempts to get the message across. In the world of the 1st century the Gospels were the advertising leaflets and newspapers for the Christians. As with any new product, it takes a while to break into the market, and what works in one place and with one generation of people, doesn’t necessarily work the same way in another. With the market place wide open one’s product has to be both well-packaged and of lasting value.

The Book of Acts tells us about a new product, a new way of life, focused on Jesus Christ, which swept across the city of Jerusalem, moved rapidly into other cities and across the countryside and then further afield. Driving this movement was a group of dedicated people whose leaders kept them close together. We catch a glimpse of the early Church when, listening to today’s reading from Acts where, St Luke tells us, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2: 42) It’s a picture of a tightly-knit group who care for each other. Believing that Jesus Christ is God, those early Christians followed a pattern of life focusing on worship and prayer, care and hospitality, learning and education.

It is very likely that the Gospels are collections of the sort of thing the Apostles were teaching. Why wouldn’t they be? The Apostles were the people who had spent the most time with Jesus. They had followed him around, listened to the stories Jesus told, the teaching he gave, watched him try out different images and metaphors as he sought to get his message across. They were familiar with the ideas behind the sower, the restless younger son, the proud house-keeper, the clean running water, the strong rock, the lost sheep and the good shepherd. Not all of them work for us today, but, with a little careful thought, many of them do.

Along with the verbal metaphors I have just mentioned, other ways of underlining the teaching were found. They used visual symbols whenever they met. Among the most powerful are those known as the sacraments – particularly Baptism and Holy Communion. The first, baptism, could be likened to the door to the sheepfold – it is the entrance into the church. When a person is baptized they must first hear the voice of God, the shepherd. In the baptism service we are asked how we respond to the message of the Gospel. The response is this: “We hear God’s call and ask for baptism.” We hear God’s call – God has already taken the initiative. God is calling in the market-place of our lives. What will we do about it?

Once we are in the fold, once we have been baptized – using the vivid and visual imagery of water, cross and candle – we then have Holy Communion which continues to nourish and encourage us in the fold. In this service of Holy Communion, we have opportunity to praise God, and give thanks to God (which is what the word Eucharist means), we pray for others, we receive the blessing of God’s love through a stylized, but still recognizable, meal of bread and wine; and then we are sent out into the world once more. Like the sheep coming into the fold each night, for mutual warmth and protection, Christians gather regularly for worship, fellowship and encouragement. And like the sheep that are led out of the fold to forage for food each day, we too must go out of our places of worship to live in the world of work and school, of earthquake and taxes, traffic and changeable weather.

Each Easter we invite people to listen to God’s call and respond by making the commitment that comes with being welcomed into God’s family, the church. I have asked those baptized in this Cathedral in recent times to allow me to quote some of their reflections. They may help us to think about our own response to God’s call – whether we were baptized many years ago and think of ourselves as mature and fully committed members of the Church and Cathedral, or whether we are a little less sure about things. As you listen to what others say about baptism, pray for Griffin, shortly to be baptized, and for his parents and god-parents, who are responding this morning to God’s call. Pray for yourself in your ongoing walk with Christ. Feel the cross on your own forehead. Hold the light of Christ in your heart. Be both challenged and encouraged in the journey we share together.

• At the time of my baptism, I felt I was committing to a journey that leads to God. It was very much a "beginning" - and a huge leap into something new for me. A year on, I am feeling part of the church community - I have a sense of belonging. I have embarked on my journey. I know I have a long, long way to go but the more I learn about God, the more I want to learn. I am on the way.

• Baptism and confirmation as an adult means to me that I have thought about

myself, faith and my place in the world and chosen to first embrace God and faith and then made a declaration of something I deeply believe in. It is a commitment to myself, my faith, to the Anglican Church and primarily to God.

• A year has passed since I was baptised at the Cathedral. In a most un-biblical allusion, at the time I was like the Cheshire cat - I felt a deep contentment and had a smile that wouldn't go away. It is a beautiful sacrament. Being baptised is both transcendent and physical. Now my daily life is gently infused with a sense of the mystery and grace of Christ, and the solemn commitments I made.

• Despite all my independence and distractedness, I am very often brought back and reminded of Baptism; I feel a constant surprise that the Holy Spirit comes according to its own agenda; unexpected grace through unlikely events, people and places. I feel I am moulding into a new culture; surrounded by people whose lives show me what God can do - a community of discipleship and transformation. I feel I have a chance to walk into a truly abundant life, one in which I can make the past and the future my friend, though not always without cost or trauma. A sense that there’s always more to come, and that the best is yet to come.

And finally, somewhere in all this, I am only beginning to discover who Jesus really is, and why I will never be the same.

It’s all pretty fabulous really!