Page 8 - Moravian Messenger August 2021

Rules
2m
By the time you are reading this I hope we are out of 'lockdown' but even so we will still have rules to follow.
Rules are very important because we live in communities, we are not hermits! We have the ten commandments and much of our common law is based on these. In Church, we have rules, some of which come from our Synod e.g. who can serve at Holy Communion, and some for our specific situation, for example when the Lord's Supper is celebrated. Hopefully, our 'man made' rules are in line with the teaching of Jesus. Jesus could be very scathing about the 'Law makers of Israel' we read in Matthew 23:13: 'How terrible for you teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don't enter and stop others who are trying to enter.' Jesus continues in the same vein about going far to make converts, swearing oaths by the temple or by the gold in the temple; about rules on tithing of herbs but neglecting justice, mercy and being loyal. (Mt 23,14-24)
Because of the pandemic we have had to make rules about our services and much of this has been directed by the Government, social distancing, wearing masks and cleansing hands. To begin with we have had services on Zoom, YouTube, and printed out for email or hand delivery, then back in Church with many regulations. All this has been very testing for us all, for me it was sad not to be able to sing hymns and no 'after church' refreshments and chats.
It is a very good time to review our rules about 'how we do Church' and if any would be criticised by Jesus!
Thankfully we have one or two vaccines and there is discussion about whether we should keep them to ourselves or make sure the poorer countries of the world get vaccinated. It seems that we must ensure vaccines are administered worldwide to prevent variants returning to our shores. This seems a selfish motive
but we must remember we are all God's children. This is true for Church: the greatest 'losers' due to COVID-19 are the children, young people and friends who use our buildings mid-week, these are our neighbours. It has been estimated by Scripture Union that 95% of children and young people have no connection with church; it is probably a little less for adults but it is still a very large number. Coming out of lockdown, our rules about Church need to reflect this. Is our Sunday Service likely to reach this 95%? Some have tried Alpha, Emmaus or similar, 'Fresh Expressions' such as 'Messy Church', 'Cafe Church' maybe on a different day of the week. I think we are all trying to revive our midweek and special events. Could we make a rule that one or two different members visit our midweek activities regularly, this will foster friendships with non-members? We could have a regular Coffee Morning and a 'Cafe' style Church and services we take to care homes; parent and toddlers is a good way to provide a service for the community as is Youth Work and Uniformed groups. These are always looking for volunteers and we have to register for child protection. Sr Joy Raynor in the July Messenger looks at 'Intergenerational Ministry' and we 'Baby Boomers' (I just scrape in!) younger and older need to be welcoming and encouraging to those younger who we have connections with.
We certainly need to do more ecumenically and forgive hierarchies in our Churches that can be like the teachers of the law in Jesus' day. I am writing this on 6th July, the anniversary of Jan Hus being burnt at the stake in 1415. It is also the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers going to North America.
We also need to get alongside those who would not dream of coming to our buildings. The 'Food Banks' are good as are the 'Credit Unions'. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has been getting alongside 'Big Issue' vendors and writes in the 21st June issue that the Anglican Church is going to put a huge
proportion of its inherited wealth into affordable housing. We may not be able to sell the 'Big Issue' but we can buy it from vendors and the Co-op and Sainsburys. We can stop for a chat with a vendor we see.
Br Alan Holdsworth touches on the use of our inherited wealth in the July Messenger. This is political and as Alan says our 'Chief Elder' expects us to get involved. We also need to be active in raising issues of climate change for ourselves, near neighbours and those far away.
I have been blessed by being the Minister in the Leicester congregation and thus become more aware of the issues with the 'Windrush Generation', many still awaiting compensation! We are all aware of the 'Taking of the knee' and the book by Michael Holding 'Why we kneel, How we rise' has reinforced how we need to change our history education for the benefit of everyone. We cannot just think it is a thing of the past.
Jesus sent out the disciples in twos to tell about the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (Luke 9: 16).
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment by a teacher of the law Luke 10: 25-37 he gave us the parable of 'The Good Samaritan'. The whole of the Law of God summed up in 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself'.
If we have very limited contact with our neighbour then how can we love them? Jesus sent out the 12 and another 72 (Luke 10) to reach out to a needy world. Jesus sends us
out of our Churches today and we will have the Holy Spirit with us.
God bless.
Br Cliff Winfield
92