Epiphany 6 - Connect to Church Sunday

I never tell jokes in a sermon.

I think I just lost half the congregation...and the rest are saying "and your point is??" Well, my point is, that when jokes are told well, to open sermons, and other presentations, they are a real connecting point, aren't they? It's like a common human factor, laughing at the human condition...so now you have worked out that Jan cannot tell jokes with any kind of success.

I reflect on this because today is "Connect to Church" Sunday in the Anglican diocese, a day when all congregation members have been encouraged to invite someone to church.

So what will I use on this Connect to Church Sunday to "connect us in", to show you we are making a real effort to do that connection... who you are, your story, and connecting with the God story.

Do you know, no matter how you hype up, joke up, glitz up or even bribe up (I heard a few years ago of a church giving cars away to attract people)...no matter how you may try and coat this whole church and God thing, there is only one message, bottom line. Only one focus person. It all begins and ends with the person of Jesus Christ.

So how do we connect in with him?

Some of us have grown up with Jesus with varying experiences of Sunday School.
Some of us have sworn about him all our lives.
Some of us go and in and out of caring about him.
Some of us haven't ventured close, and wonder what the fuss is about.
Some of us claim a life relationship with him, that indeed changes all of life.

Believe it or not, these are all connections; because there is some thinking, even in rejection, about Jesus. There is wondering, there is arguing, there is doubting, there is questioning...and all of that, it seems to me, Jesus Christ embraces because a conversation is continuing. Bottom line again - Jesus loves questions.

It is part of being human, isn't it, to ask questions. When you look at how our lives are framed, how we become who we are, then there is something crucial about testing things in life and building trust and belief from that testing.

Let's take the basic life question of the very young..."are we there yet?" This was the question my son Lachlan always asked - as we backed out of the driveway. Apart from driving you crazy in its repetition, it really is the universal question, isn't it? So, as parents, how do we deal with it?

We answer truthfully, "no, we are going to Grandma's and she lives in another part of town, it will take 15 minutes." As you hear the question again, less than 10 seconds later, rounding your own street corner, you realise the previous information wasn't clicking in. So you try..."we have to pass the service station, don't we, and then the school, and then the next shopping centre, and then...etc. Once we are passed those things, we will be there."

Short silence. "So, are we there yet?" You have to admire parents, don't you? I often wonder whether talking to a toddler in a car is more dangerous than being on a mobile phone, actually.

Parent reflects. Obviously the previous information didn't appeal either. My experience is that you then explore what will connect in..."count the traffic lights"... or "sing through these three songs"...or "aren't you tired, have a sleep."

Through all of this exchange, though, are some important principles about a life being shaped in a positive, connecting way:

The questions are honoured, and are listened to. How important this is. It is your question, therefore it is valid.
You are exploring with your child what framework, context, suits them in actually finding their own response to the question.

And from this experience comes the most significant, life-shaping influence - a relationship of trust is built. The child trusts the parent to respect who they are, to listen and to explore with them the questions of life. It seems to me there can actually be no greater gift, than to give this trust.

Does Jesus give this trust? if we claim that he does, and we do claim that, then how does that happen? it would seem that he actually isn't here to answer our questions....

This is a really valid question, and is also the universal question of faith. It is a journey question, just like when we are very young, asking... "are we there yet?" The relationship with God question is very similar, isn't it?

"Are you there God? Are you there?"

Just like a young child, the only way we are going to find an answer is to explore the different responses we are given, and that we find along the way, and discern what we can relate to. At the heart of our exploring there is the gift that it is valid to do this in our own way. We believe God has made each of us as a unique being; there is only one me, there is only one you. Therefore, my God-exploring journey and your God-exploring journey will be quite different - what works and helps me will be different to your searching style and experience.

This is where the church may need some marketing and image building, despite what I said earlier. Because a valid response to what I just said could be..."well, I can't go to a church to do that exploring. They are set in their ways already, there is no exploring space. They have rules and do things the same way all the time."

This is where we need to claim two vital principles about faith-journey;

Firstly, the opposite to faith is certainty. Not doubt nor unbelief... but certainty. Because self-sufficiency and being very certain of everything and knowing all means you don't need faith. The church is full of uncertain people. Jesus can only be in relationship with us when there is that space of uncertainty.

Secondly, the church means people. Not institution, not buildings. The church is a coming together of people with the purpose to explore their God-relationship, through Jesus. We need each other, in a very human way, to test our uncertainties and create trust. Jesus said "when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

Just like the young toddler, we test that truth. We do it by bringing our own life experience into the centre of people gathered in the name of Christ, who are also bringing their own stories. We test it in the framework of the God-story, the scriptures and we also are part of what the church has developed over the centuries in worship context.

Today, as we listen from the God story of people being healed, we bring our own experience right into that story; our own self-need of healing, and our recognition of a world needing some healing. Like the parent with the child, we are together seeking the different ways we can find the truth, the God-truth.

We are seeking belonging. We are seeking connection with the meaning of life. Are you there God? it is the first prayer for us all, and we then spend our lives experiencing that presence, and connecting in with what it means for me, for you, the unique individual God has gifted the world with.
We therefore cannot ignore the ways of the world, but rather must embrace the struggling, suffering human condition and place it firmly in the centre of that which we call church, and test that experience. On this Sunday, we are all witnesses to the most devastating, traumatic events of human tragedy that our country Australia has been part of since the wars. Our hearts and human tears are with the people of Victoria who are suffering the effects of the unbelievable bushfires that have killed so many, and changed the lives forever of so many more. Our hearts are also with the people of western and north Queensland in their flood-damaged lives.

Are you there God? Our experience of the God-story, of Jesus' life and words is that, yes, God is there. God is in the charred burnt out wrecks of landscape and lives. God is in the soggy depression of drowned landscape as well. How do we connect with that truth? We gather as uncertain humans and we pray. Prayer is the open dialogue with God; it allows the questions, the doubt, the uncertainty - and the anger, and grief and tears.

Because connecting is about sharing. Connect to church is about doing that sharing together as humans, with the God-story. The great gift of Jesus is about the certainty of that relationship - he said, and says, "I will always be with you." Indeed, that is the bottom line.

We get to that point with our questioning toddler, hopefully in love rather than exasperation, but usually with both... and we say, finally, "we will get there, you need to trust what I say." Jesus responds in the same way to a question from one of his friends who wonders about this whole life journey... and he says..."I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also."

The church is Christ's body now. In knowing and trusting each other in that way, we are knowing Jesus himself. The invitation is there to connect into that relationship. May God be with you in that exploration and connection. Amen.