Safetynet Discipleship

Bishop Peter Stuart 

This series of Lenten studies will lead participants in a journey through the Year ‘B’ Readings.

Bishop Peter Stuart writes ..... Lent presents us with an opportunity to be more open to God's grace. As we abide in God’s love, God blesses us to become more the person God calls us to be.

This Lent, we invite you to be open to the experiences people have that fill them with fear and uncertainty. These may be brief or lengthy moments. They may be your story. They might be the story of a friend, colleague, or fellow parishioner. They are our shared stories of trauma. We hope that by reflecting on the God of love, revealed in Jesus, who is at one with us on our pain, your faith and discipleship will growBishop Peter Stuart is the Anglican Bishop of Newcastle.

In recent years he has spoken openly about his experience of childhood trauma. He writes from personal experience, a careful study of the scriptures, and reading in contemporary neuroscience.

These refreshing studies look at the Sunday Gospel readings. They are intended to help you reimagine yourself as a disciple of Jesus.

Seven studies are provided from Ash Wednesday through to Palm Sunday week.

This is the book that we will use for the Lent Study Groups in the Parish this year. If you would like a copy they can be had from one of the Parish Clergy for $12.00.

NB: The photo on the cover is not Bishop Peter, his name appears as the author of the book.

James McAuley, Australian poet and Christian, wrote a hymn we sometimes sing, Creation Sings a New Song to The Lord. This, of course, was not a new concept, but simply a more contemporary expression of the idea. Most of us, at some stage in our lives, have sung All Things Bright and Beautiful, by Mrs. Alexander, though perhaps we didn't sing the third verse, as that fell out of fashion. Francis of Assisi wrote his Canticle of the Sun and shared similar credentials, and indeed if you have a look at Psalm 8 'O Lord our Governor, how glorious is your name' we realise that this is a venerable tradition which we share as we celebrate Season of Creation.

We are not getting caught up in side issues, or being distracted from our main purpose. The Five Marks of Mission rightly include our commitment to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

The wisdom of James McAuley is that he understood that we join with Creation in the Unending Song of Praise. We stand in Creation as part of Creation, and we take our part in the Choir of all Creation in singing a Canticle of Praise to the Creator.

We apprehend our unique role as Stewards of Creation. When someone we care for and who loves us, entrusts something to our care, our response mirrors our response to the one who has placed it in our trust. The ecology of this planet is part of this trust, and it is indeed an intergenerational trust. Others exercised this trust before us, and still others will exercise it after we have left and handed it on. This sacred trust is bigger than the personal temporal advantages we may see in the short term. We need to have a long-term view, for we have both history and the future in our field of vision.

Many are concerned that this is simply the Church being too Political. Christianity is not a Political Party and Jesus did not come to start a political movement, however, there is no doubt that there are political consequences to a position of faith. The real challenge for us is to ensure that our faith informs our politics and not the other way around.

Whilst the contemporary term is Environmental Studies, for a long time we spoke of Ecology, and the value of this term is that it is ultimately found in the relationship between us and our environment, and between the whole created order and the Creator. We should not objectify the ecosphere as an ultimate end in itself.

We live in a period where there has been a significant secular awakening to the importance of the environment and the consequences of human interaction with it. We celebrate our shared views and stand firm in our conviction that this is for us, not just leaves, but also roots, not simply fear of doom but also song of praise.

23 July 2023, we gathered for the only service in the Parish for the day, to worship the Risen Christ, to celebrate the Feast of Mary Magdalene, and to rejoice in the Confirmation of Four of our members.

Confirming Bishop: Bishop Charlie Murry, Assistant Bishop, Coastal Episcopate.

Confirmees: Lilli Ramplin, Daniel Sylvester, Matilda Sylvester, Soraya Timms.

Bishop Charlie reminded huis how central to the story of the Resurrection of Jesus Mary Magdalene is, and how much it is our part to follow in her footsteps in telling our sisters and brothers that Jesus is Risen for the dead.

The service was a great celebration, of the inclusive family of the Church, and was followed by brunch in the Hall.

We wish Strength and Faith for our new confirmees and for ourselves, as we together continue to shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father.

As human beings, we are always engaged in a complex balancing act. Our worldviews are never exactly the same as someone else’s. We find ways of accommodating other people’s preferences. They, in turn, adapt to ours.

Sometimes, this work is easy. The give and take may not cost us too much. The issue may not be that important or we can find a sustainable position. Other times, finding a common mind is hard work. The issues at stake are too important. They must be wrestled with.

The Christian worldview is that a common mind can be found. Christians understand that God’s desire is that we are united. Our unity is shaped by love. Love is the essence of God. Love is what God is all about. Human beings are invited to love God, themselves, others, and creation.

The Christian ideal is that no answer should prevail if it is unloving. Yet, we know that they do. There are often losers as well as winners. Power is misapplied and abused everywhere. There are people who are conditioned by their circumstances. They are taught not to speak about their needs, or punished if they do.

History shows that the church, as an institution, has wielded power. It has often sought out and sided with the powerful. For much of recent history, this has meant that a white, European, male view has dominated. But this is being challenged.

There were at least four powerful movements in the 1950s and 1960s which are still finding their voice today. These were women’s equality, equity for people of colour, decolonisation, and justice for gay and lesbian people. These were social movements and church-based movements. Lay and ordained Christians were very active in this life-changing work. The same era witnessed the fresh wind of the Spirit in the Catholic Church through Vatican II.

A loving world sees Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people shaping the affairs of this land that God entrusted to them. A loving world sees every person as able to become all that God has created them to be regardless of gender or sexuality. A loving world welcomes decolonisation at every level where people misuse power. When we live in a loving way, everyone is safe and can flourish.

In my view, there are sound theological and spiritual foundations for pursuing justice and equity for all people. I strongly support the Voice of First Nations People to the Commonwealth Parliament. I am a committed ally of LGBTIQA+ people. As a nation, we are seeking a common mind on the Voice. In the Anglican Communion, we are seeking a common mind as we respond to different understandings of human sexuality.

As a Christian, I know that all my positions are provisional. As the water drips on a stone and it changes, so will I continue to develop and adapt my insights. I discuss, read, reflect, meditate, and pray. I seek the mind of God. None of us is perfect. We are all forgiven. Our best selves can take time to emerge.

I want to commend two practices to you. In your meditation and prayer – wait upon the Lord. Deliberately spend time in silence, calming in your inner turmoil, and wait for the nudging insights of the Holy Spirit. They will come. God will always lead us to love.

In your conversations with others – be your best self. Our best self is one who sees others with loving and compassionate eyes. We seek to see people as God sees them. We aim to let our shades of prejudice and hurt fall away.

My prayer is that in healthy and holy ways we will find a common mind. That we will allow God to work through us and make God’s world a better place.

Introduction

The Feast of Corpus Christi celebrated in various parts of the Western Church since the 13th century. As a feast, it was set aside to provide for a specific reflection on the Holy Sacrament, the Body of Christ.

Originally the observation was on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, however, in many places, it has come to be observed on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday. The linking of Corpus Christi to the octave (8 days following) Trinity Sunday may not seem immediately apparent, but read on.

It was not adopted in churches following the Continental Reformation and was not formally set aside in any of the classic Prayer Books of the Church of England, including 1549 and 1662. What is clear however is that in some places the observance continued, and was permitted, as a minor solemnity.

Does it have meaning for today?

Well the first way we may speak of the Body of Christ, is not so much in the sacrament as it is in the person of Jesus. Although the 2nd person of the Trinity existed from before the beginning, it is in the incarnation, God born in time and space, that we know Jesus. Born to an unwed mother, in an occupied territory, and away from home, the Body of Jesus often speaks of vulnerability. The child in the manger attracts the attention of both shepherds and wise men, and the ire of the powerful. The Body of Jesus on the Cross again attracts attention, to the horror of what we can do to one another, the brutality of political expediency, and the vulnerability of the innocent.

Nonetheless, that is hardly the full picture of Jesus as presented in the Gospels. Jesus is presented in solidarity with asylum seekers and refugees, as an itinerant preacher who spoke with authority, as a healer, a carer, and as a person who did not seek the crowd, though at times the crowd sought him. Jesus is a storyteller, whose stories often have an impact and a power that became apparent later.

Of course, the first intention of the Feast was to reflect on the Holy Sacrament of the Body of Christ. This builds on several teachings of Jesus, that perhaps became more apparent later. In John 6 we have a discussion based on Jesus’ declaration ‘I am the Bread of Life.’ This is one of the seven ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel. In Matthew, Mark and Luke we have the accounts of the Last Supper, with words we are all familiar with, as they have become part of our regular celebration of the Eucharist.

In the Western Church, we have tended to use the word Sacrament to describe what is going on, The word suggests a sign pointing to something more, a deeper meaning. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians tend to use the word ‘Mystery’ which, whilst very similar suggests something more than a sign, but perhaps something that has no words.

Ultimately Christians everywhere acknowledge Christ's presence here as we break the bread, for this is what he promised us on the night of his betrayal. The encounter of the tangible and the intangible, in the same moment. Of all the reasons we go to Church, perhaps the most profound is that we go to be in the presence of Jesus.

This shared encounter in the broken bread in some ways is the essence of what it is to be Church. In the book of Acts, we are told that they gathered on the first day of the week, for the breaking of the bread.

Of course, Church does not end there, and it should not. The enabling meal at the table strengthens us to go out into the world, carrying the Body of Christ within us into the many situations that form our daily life.

Ludwig Feuerbach, The German philosopher, argued that ‘we are what we eat - man is meat’. Whilst the original construct was addressing the problem of malnutrition, it was also clearly picked up by those who wanted to argue a case for atheism.

The Church of course has an understanding of self as The Body of Christ. We reiterate this at every Eucharist as part of the Greeting of Peace. This of course is based on several New Testament passages including “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27.

This seems sometimes to be a big call, and indeed sometimes at best it may be an aspirational challenge. Surely we are not always as good as this, and we constantly meet people who have been damaged one way or another through their dealing with what they understand to be the Church.

Church in this sense of course is not the building, nor is it the institution or the corporation, but simply the believing folk. So whilst we fail, and fail again, we keep getting up and going again, determined to do better.

To misuse Feuerbach we might want to say, “We are what we eat We are the Body of Christ.”

In the Octave of Trinity

So now that we understand that it makes sense to understand the Body of Christ in these three distinct ways, as the Man of Galilee, as the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, and as the Body of Believers, it seems only appropriate that the place in the liturgical Calendar for this is within the octave of Trinity.

Aeropagus

Acts 17:22-31

This passage gives us plenty to think about our approach to a number of things, especially the way we present the Gospel to others.

Acts, attributed to Luke, author of the 3rd Gospel. He was a well-educated greek-speaker, probably a doctor. He writes some of the best Greek in the New Testament, His approach to history is clear and includes times and places. This is part of the 2nd Missionary Journey so happened around late 49 AD or early 50 AD. The Aeropagus was a rock platform on the North East Corner of the Acropolis.

Luke records Paul speaking in the first person. It is likely that either Luke heard these events, or had an account from someone who heard these events. It is highly likely in Greek we have some of the words that Paul spoke, though given other accounts of Paul’s preaching, this is a highlight summary!

Paul starts addressing the Athenians directly on their own terms and in their own context. He does not start on the basis of what they are doing wrong, but rather by commending them for what they have understood. This of course is quite different to those who want to start by telling people what they are doing wrong.

So we find Paul starts with what they already understand and builds from that. He does not rubbish any of the other Gods, and not even the ‘unknown God’ even though that may have been an easy approach.

Rather than tear down Paul builds up and moves from the known unknown to the unknown known. He moves from the limitations of the physical to the opportunities of the spiritual.

We are challenged in our approach to people, to be looking for what they have understood, not just for why they are wrong.

Church History presents us with some examples where we should have listened more before tearing things down. Copernicus Kepler and Galileo argued that the earth revolved around the sun. In defence of the understanding people had of God and the Bible, they were decried and denounced because the Bible said differently,

A more constructive approach would be to listen and observe more and take the approach of Paul at the Aeropagus.

In Him we live and move and have our being, for we too are his offspring.

The resounding crescendo of this address is a generous and broad understanding of who Christ is. For Christ is the supreme essence of our being, our foundation, our purpose and our hope. Yet this is an inclusive call, not an exclusive call.

Our political life, and indeed much of our approach to issues in general is adversarial. Too easily and too often this ends up in the mud of derision and division. The approach Paul presents here is quite different, engaging and inclusive,

Strengthening faith and building community......

One of the most vibrant parishes where I have worshipped recently is the Cathedral Parish of Saint Andrew in Singapore... One of the elements contributing to its life is the existence of parish 'cell groups'...

It seems that in the landscape of the Church, one of the most impactful and effective ways for its members to grow in their faith and build meaningful relationships is through Parish Cell Groups (PCGs)..... Gathering in small groups provides spaces where individuals can connect, share meals, reflect on Scripture passages, pray and support one another in their spiritual journey..... They typically consist of around ten members providing an intimate environment where participants can build solid relationships and feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, struggles and joys...   Parish Cells can be formed on the basis of geographical closeness (suburbs), interests (eco focus, crafts), spirituality (Cursillo, meditation), or preexisting parish groups (Mothers' Union, pastoral care, etc)...

Apart from the personal growth of members of Cell Groups, the potential exists for evangelism and outreach... Relational evangelism works best in Parish Cells... Members of Cells have unique opportunities to cultivate relationships with unchurched people. Through its relationally based outreach, members of Cells manifest the life of Christ in a bonded community of Christians, evangelism is easier and more enjoyable... As a group, they have the potential to support neighbours, friends, and extended family members and offer a practical witness of God's love in the world.....

Life in a Parish Cell Group enables personal gifts to be identified and developed... Under the guidance of a Parish Leadership Team,  PCGs can be nurturing spaces for personal growth in spirituality, leadership, evangelism and service... As in a human body, healthy cells combine to create an energetic, life-giving person..... so in a Parish, vibrant Cells combine to enable the Parish to bring life and the love of God to the World around it...

The Simple Act That Can Change Someone's Life

Kindness is a simple act of compassion that can have an incredible impact on someone's life. It's a trait that is found in the most gentle, sincere, and caring individuals who are willing to go out of their way to lend a helping hand. Even small acts of kindness can make someone's day, alleviate stress, promote happiness, or completely change someone's perspective on life.

It can start as simply as greeting someone with a warm smile or holding the door open for a stranger. Or, it can be as significant as volunteering at a homeless shelter, paying for someone's groceries, or donating to a charitable cause. Regardless of the magnitude of the act, the power of kindness lies in the intention behind it.

Kindness also promotes contagiousness or a ripple effect, as one act of kindness can inspire others to do the same. It sets a positive tone and creates a chain reaction of good deeds that can lead to a more compassionate and empathic society. Studies have also shown that kindness can improve one's physical, mental, and emotional well-being, as it boosts positivity, reduces anxiety and stress, and enhances social connections and relationships.

Kindness is not only limited to our human interactions, but it extends to all living beings, including animals and the environment. Being kind to the planet means being aware of environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and sustainability, and taking actions such as recycling, conserving water and energy, and using eco-friendly products.

In a world where negativity and hostility are prevalent, kindness can serve as a beacon of hope, love, and compassion. It is a simple act that can lead to a world of difference, and it's up to us to spread kindness wherever we go. As the familiar quote goes, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Kindness is one of the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians. 5:22-23 "By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."