We’re celebrating 25 years of ministry together. I was installed in this parish on Mothers Day 1994 and we’ve been privileged to serve the community together for all those years.
We’re not the same as we were in 1994. In the Lord of the Rings trilogy Gandalf goes from being ‘Gandalf the grey’ to ‘Gandalf the white’ and something like that has happened to me over this period of time.
As we look back over the 25 years or part of that time, what stands out? We might all have different answers but we can be sure of one thing: God has been gracious to us throughout this time.
We’ve shared God’s gracious love as we conducted 526 baptisms, 248 confirmations, 340 weddings, and 250 funerals. If we could've spread those out evenly over the years we would’ve celebrated one or the other of those events every week with some to spare.
If we compiled a list of highlights it might include:
· Triple C, ministry to children
· Christmas and Easter services at Faith Chapel
· Adding a third Sunday service
· Seminars with Geoff Bullock and Tim Hein
· Establishing “Cross Roads family ministry”
· Grow Love Garden
· The visit of Nadia Bolz-Weber
· Having combined services with the Baptists (and HC!)
Your list might be quite different and you might like to take some of those off the list. With the wisdom of hindsight we might’ve done things differently. With God’s help we did our best.
We’re not finished yet, there’s still work to be done. And when I retire at the end of 2020 the ministry of this parish will continue with the blessing of our gracious, loving God. To God alone be the glory!
by Dianne Eckermann
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His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew 25:21)
Read Matthew 25:14–30
Like the other parables in the two chapters of Matthew we have been reading this week, this parable about the three servants tells us about how people have behaved while waiting. This parable appears to be about a demanding master, which sounds strange to our modern ears. Similarly, the treatment of the third servant seems unduly harsh in our world, with employment laws intended to protect workers.
The parable also seems to justify giving even more to those who already have a lot and punishing those who have little; however, we know this is not at all how Jesus works. The master going on a journey and promising to return sounds much like Jesus promising to return. Jesus is not harsh or unjust, so this message is not so much about judgement but about using the gifts we have.
When the master in the parable goes away on a long journey, promising to return, he entrusts a great deal to his servants. Each servant is given an amount according to their ability, so the master is not expecting more from the servants than they can deliver. He trusts each of them. What he offers to the first two servants, who use what they have been given for his benefit, is a share in his happiness. The trust the master has given them has been nothing to be afraid of, but an opportunity to share in his joy.
In contrast, the third servant buries his gift from the master. He does not even attempt to use what he has been given, apparently because he fears what has been entrusted to him. In doing so, he is not responding to a share in the happiness his master is willing to share with him.
This parable, therefore, is about looking for opportunities to use what we have been given wisely and effectively for the sake of Jesus, who loved us so much he gave all for us.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the individual gifts you have entrusted to us, and we ask you to help us to use what we have been given in your service and for your glory. Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.
by Dianne Eckermann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour (Matthew 25:13).
Read Matthew 25:1–13
The parable of the 10 young women reminds us of just how human we are, even the most organised people among us. We can identify with the young women who did not have enough oil for their lamps because we all, at some time, will have forgotten something crucial. We might have remembered the birthday candles but forgotten the matches, gone on holiday with the mobile phone but forgotten the charger, or arrived at the airport and left the passport at home.
This parable also continues the theme of the readings for this week, namely the need to be prepared and to keep watch because there is much we do not know. Let’s examine the parable in more detail. We realise the young women waiting to light the way for the bridegroom did not have a particularly onerous task. Their role during the whole complex wedding celebration was clear and simple. All they had to do was be prepared with their welcoming lamps to light the darkness. It didn’t matter that they had fallen asleep because they were all awoken in time for the delayed arrival of the groom.
They really only had one task: to light the way to the celebration. And this task only required two things: a lamp and some lamp oil. The arrival of the bridegroom was delayed, but it was certain that he would eventually arrive; therefore, it was important to be prepared when the big arrival finally happened.
The parable tells us that those who were prepared were included, and those who were not prepared were excluded. The bridegroom is Christ; the wedding feast is the promise of his kingdom. This parable is not just about the certainty of Christ’s arrival; it is also about recognising he might be delayed. To be prepared is to anticipate the arrival of Jesus, even though the world has been waiting a long time. It is for this reason that we live our lives knowing the certainty of Jesus’ promise to return.
Dear Jesus, we hope for your return and ask that you keep us strong in faith as we pray, ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’ Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.
by Dianne Eckermann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him (Matthew 24:44).
Read Matthew 24:32–51
In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, catching the population of Pompeii virtually unaware. When the site of the formerly busy city was rediscovered about 1,700 years later, it was as if Pompeii had been frozen at the precise moment of the eruption. Everyday life continued right up until time stopped for those who lived there. Small bread rolls were even found inside an oven, placed there by the baker who never had the chance to remove them.
Just like the people of Pompeii, we do not know when life will change forever. We do not know when Jesus will come again. Over and over again, today’s passage tells us that no-one knows the hour, yet that does not stop some people from predicting the day and the time. God has not set us a challenge to predict the Second Coming. We are not supposed to know. It is enough for us to know with certainty that Jesus will come again, as this is mentioned repeatedly in today’s reading. The timing is irrelevant.
Instead of trying to predict the time when Jesus will come again, we are instead urged to be ready. It may sound like an impossible task. How can we be prepared for such an important event when we have no idea when it might happen? To be ready is to be like the servant who is serving their master faithfully and wisely, and not like the servant who abuses their position.
While this might sound threatening, even frightening, the emphasis of today’s passage is the certainty that Jesus will return, and it is, therefore, filled with hope. When we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven’, we are filled with hope for the promised return of Jesus. Until that time, our ordinary, everyday life continues to be filled with the extraordinary love and hope we find in Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus, for your promise to come again. Keep us filled with hope, and help us share your love with those who need it most as we wait for your kingdom. Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.