Ordinary Sunday 28: 10th October, 1999
The Rev'd Dr John Davis, Vicar, St Peter's Eastern Hill
Todays epistle provided me with a text that immediately caught my eye as something suitable for a vicar returning from leave at the end of a first year in office: Phil 4:13 "I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything" Of course the apostle Paul had in mind the rigours of his first stage of imprisonment. Parish life has not that degree of difficulty or indignity.
There are a couple of possible ways of deconstructing this for the current purposes: one would be to see this text as throwing light on the pressures and demands of the first twelve months of the relationship between priest and people. Another would be to see it as relating to the pleasures of being away from parish responsibilities for four weeks. "I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything". Either way it is good. Either way it is appropriate to pause and to consider. As a parish, we all have the opportunity to be part of this in the annual reporting process and evaluation which takes place at the time of the annual general meeting in November. In the meantime, however, this month of October sees us staring out on a new parish church year.
A related issue merits comment. One of the matters still on the agenda paper and yet to be discussed at the diocesan synod is a motion relating to the evident increasing levels of clergy stress and possible ways of responding to the problem. It is a subject that has attracted the attention of the media. Stress is a condition that is shared by many in the workplace or various professions. The Church, like every other contemporary institution, is undergoing enormous change, challenge and criticism. The ordained clergy are obviously right at the front line of this, whether they like it or not. The additional pressures on clergy that come both with living on the job and being available virtually on 24-hour call will no doubt be noted in the discussion on the motion at synod. Some clergy deal with this pressure better than others do. Appropriate time out and personal space, good recreation and sleeping patterns and perhaps above all a supportive environment in the parish lay leadership team are all clearly factors in the equation. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the discussions on Monday evening.
I can though certainly report that I have been through an altogether splendid working holiday month away, which in many ways exceeded my very best hopes and expectations. With the apostle Paul, perhaps I can presume to assert that I too now "am ready for anything"! I have had a thoroughly good time in a wonderful part of the world. It was about half holiday and half work-related. An example of this was finding myself in the happy position of being the chaplain to the official Australian entry in a major Silicon Valley soap-box derby and needing to go the nearby parish church to borrow a suitable aspergillum for the holy water, all to be televised by B Sky B.
The holiday part included restaurants, galleries, theatre and shops, walking and resting in between. The work part was an initial exploration; an expedition to a part of the Church I did not know. I wanted to experience something of the life of our Church in another part of the world that nonetheless had clear points of contact with the needs and issues that we are addressing, or that we need to address. I particularly wanted to consider and to review the place and role of our Anglo-Catholic tradition.
I wanted to meet and talk with fellow Anglicans: to get to know them a little and to try to see things as they were seeing them. As well of course, this meant a sharing of my own experience and myself. I have worshipped in several quite fascinating city churches in San Francisco and in Los Angeles. One or two had much in common with St Peters, one or two were strikingly different. I have been part of the large community that is the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and found the experience to be somewhat similar to being part of an exciting and enriching extended talking retreat.
So, in summary, I have read quite a lot; talked, worshipped and played quite a lot. The needs of both body and soul have been addressed. If you see me going around with a quiet smile, it is because it has indeed been good. I am most thankful for the opportunities available and taken. There is much to reflect upon and to process.
Obviously one part of my reflection process is to see with refreshed eyes what we have here in this city church in the centre of Melbourne and to consider what might lie ahead.
So many of us here have so much to share. Each one of us has something of value to contribute to the whole. We do indeed have much to do together as a community here in the year that is to come. We need to gather more who share our hopes and our vision. We can start by speaking of community building, of growth in faith, of reaching out to others all that and much more. Approaching whatever challenges we face positively and with confidence is the way forward. Then indeed we too can all be "ready for anything". Because, as Paul continues, "there is nothing we cannot master with the help of the One who gives us strength".
In todays gospel about the wedding feast of the king, there is more than a hint of that end of the church year imperative to make decisions and choices in our lives. Specifically choices and decisions for God. There is certainly something wonderful about the inclusiveness of the final call to that feast. According to the story, the obviously A guest list were not interested or had other more pressing demands on their time. This is where the streets and lanes come in, in the traditional translation of this text. "So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike, and the wedding hall was filled with guests". There is a marvellous sense of crowded, buzzing expectation. And there they all were, dressed in their wedding clothes, all except the one who had not taken that trouble. Like all parables, there are many possible paths to explore.
Central to any interpretation of this is the fact, the range and the extent of Gods call, Gods reaching out. "Many are called." An awareness of call invites a response. Elsewhere in the New Testament Paul speaks of followers of Jesus "putting on Christ", as one might a garment. One is called to put on Christ and then, and because of that, to produce the fruits of the spirit. The fruits of the spirit are found in the manner of our living and our interaction with those around us. We are reminded in Galatians that that these fruits, these qualities of life, are "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control". Gal 5:22-23.
So in this parable everyone was given the invitation and the opportunity to respond and in responding to put on the accepted and appropriate wedding garment for this feast, to which they had all been invited, both bad and good alike. It does not come as a surprise to hear that many in this parable are found to be without interest in what is on offer, or that it is rejected outright. This is a continuing theme of the Scriptures. But Gods invitation, Gods call is there. So is the demand to make a choice. We have the classic terms of the baptismal question: "Do you turn to Christ?"
But in todays gospel it is the broad, generous all-inclusive call of God that is so striking. This invitation to all, "bad and good alike", is a message of great reassurance and encouragement. It reminds us of the assertion that with God, nothing is impossible.
"and the wedding hall was filled with guests".
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