Whom Shall I Send?
Sermon
One of our local village halls is in crisis, because nobody will sit on the committee. One of the committee members has reluctantly taken on the role of Chair just to keep the hall open, but the committee is struggling, because there are too few of them to cope with all the work involved. They'd really like to build a new hall and there are grants available for that, but no-one from the village is willing to take on the responsibility of such a major fund raising project.
It's not that the village wants to lose the hall, for it's well used. But nobody is willing to commit themselves in order to ensure its survival.
This isn't a problem limited to village halls. There has been a vast drop in numbers of many organisations. Fifty years ago almost every child belonged to a uniformed organisation of some sort. Now, many branches of the Scouting and Guiding movement have closed for lack of support or lack of leaders. The WI (Women's Institute), that backbone of village life, has vastly reduced numbers, as has the MU (Mother's Union), and almost every other long-established club for adults.
Sunday Schools, which originally brought free education to the nation's children in the 19th century, and which almost every child attended a hundred years ago, are now struggling in many churches both in the city and in the country, and there are now large numbers of churches which don't offer Sunday School at all, because there are no children in the church.
Many of our small country churches are in a precarious position. Most people in the village are vaguely benign towards the church and willingly support the church fete or other fund raising efforts, but so few are prepared to take on responsibility that the continued active existence of our smaller churches is in jeopardy. On the whole, public interest in the nation's heritage of historical buildings has increased, so there are quite a number of tourists and visitors who wish to look round our ancient churches. But there are few who wish to attend services and even fewer who wish to attend services on a regular basis.
This may not necessarily mean that God is any less popular in our nation, but it does reflect a huge change in life-style over the last fifty years. Now, most families own a car and so are much more mobile than they were fifty years ago. Then, they could only get out of their own area by walking or cycling. Now, they can drive hundreds of miles in a day or a weekend.
And families are much more widespread than they were. Fifty years ago, most people stayed in their own area with nearly all their family members living close by. In the country a huge work force was employed in agriculture, so that most people worked on the land in some capacity. Now, farms are run by just one or two people, and there's no work in the country for our young people, so families have scattered. This means that for many families, weekends are often taken up visiting relatives.
In the days before radio and television, the church used to be the centre of entertainment, with the weekly service offering an opportunity to sing and to hear good music with a strong choir and a good organ, to enjoy a talk by the preachier, and to have the chance to see friends and get together. Nowadays entertainment is available in every home at the flick of a switch, friends can easily be contacted by telephone or email, and the speakers on television and radio are professionals who are usually infinitely more entertaining than the poor preacher!
But by dropping the habit of churchgoing, the nation has inadvertently lost out on spirituality, hence the great increase in interest in vaguely spiritual things such as New Age religion, Druids, Tarot cards, Witchcraft and so on.
If the church in our country is to survive, we need to go out again to the people and not only tell them, but show them that Christianity is a religion which will fulfill all their spiritual needs, is exciting and fun, and is true.
At the ordination service of new priests, a reading from Isaiah 6 is always used. In it, God asks, " Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8) It's a very powerful moment as the new priests mentally reply with Isaiah, "Here am I; send me!" St Paul picks up this same theme in today's reading from Romans 10. He says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Then he adds plaintively, "But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?"
God has always needed proclaimers and messengers, those who are willing to commit themselves to him to such an extent that they're prepared to tell others about him. Some may simply chat about him in ordinary conversation with their family and friends. Others may be called to preach, some may be called to teach. Some may be called to proclaim the news about Jesus to children, some may be called to proclaim it to adults.
In an age where commitment is unpopular and where mobility at weekends is a way of life, it's difficult and demanding to respond to that call. It's even more difficult to produce church services which will once again appeal to the majority who expect high quality entertainment in their leisure time and who expect their spirituality to be provided in an entertaining and enjoyable way.
So St Paul's words are a challenge to all of us, and just as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago. Then, St Paul was trying to spread the word in order to start churches. Now, we need to spread the word in order that churches might survive. But more importantly than that, we need to spread the word so that people can really begin to hear about God and about Jesus, and having heard, can begin to build a living and active relationship with God.
Any of this might sound as impossible as walking on water. But Jesus did walk on water and he even enabled Peter to walk on water until Peter allowed his fears to get in the way. But when that happened, Jesus was there to grab hold of Peter and make sure he didn't come to any harm. He does the same for us. He will prevent us drowning and enable us to do far more than we ever dreamed possible, if only we commit ourselves to him.
"Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" asks God. "Here am I, " said Isaiah. "Send me."
It's not that the village wants to lose the hall, for it's well used. But nobody is willing to commit themselves in order to ensure its survival.
This isn't a problem limited to village halls. There has been a vast drop in numbers of many organisations. Fifty years ago almost every child belonged to a uniformed organisation of some sort. Now, many branches of the Scouting and Guiding movement have closed for lack of support or lack of leaders. The WI (Women's Institute), that backbone of village life, has vastly reduced numbers, as has the MU (Mother's Union), and almost every other long-established club for adults.
Sunday Schools, which originally brought free education to the nation's children in the 19th century, and which almost every child attended a hundred years ago, are now struggling in many churches both in the city and in the country, and there are now large numbers of churches which don't offer Sunday School at all, because there are no children in the church.
Many of our small country churches are in a precarious position. Most people in the village are vaguely benign towards the church and willingly support the church fete or other fund raising efforts, but so few are prepared to take on responsibility that the continued active existence of our smaller churches is in jeopardy. On the whole, public interest in the nation's heritage of historical buildings has increased, so there are quite a number of tourists and visitors who wish to look round our ancient churches. But there are few who wish to attend services and even fewer who wish to attend services on a regular basis.
This may not necessarily mean that God is any less popular in our nation, but it does reflect a huge change in life-style over the last fifty years. Now, most families own a car and so are much more mobile than they were fifty years ago. Then, they could only get out of their own area by walking or cycling. Now, they can drive hundreds of miles in a day or a weekend.
And families are much more widespread than they were. Fifty years ago, most people stayed in their own area with nearly all their family members living close by. In the country a huge work force was employed in agriculture, so that most people worked on the land in some capacity. Now, farms are run by just one or two people, and there's no work in the country for our young people, so families have scattered. This means that for many families, weekends are often taken up visiting relatives.
In the days before radio and television, the church used to be the centre of entertainment, with the weekly service offering an opportunity to sing and to hear good music with a strong choir and a good organ, to enjoy a talk by the preachier, and to have the chance to see friends and get together. Nowadays entertainment is available in every home at the flick of a switch, friends can easily be contacted by telephone or email, and the speakers on television and radio are professionals who are usually infinitely more entertaining than the poor preacher!
But by dropping the habit of churchgoing, the nation has inadvertently lost out on spirituality, hence the great increase in interest in vaguely spiritual things such as New Age religion, Druids, Tarot cards, Witchcraft and so on.
If the church in our country is to survive, we need to go out again to the people and not only tell them, but show them that Christianity is a religion which will fulfill all their spiritual needs, is exciting and fun, and is true.
At the ordination service of new priests, a reading from Isaiah 6 is always used. In it, God asks, " Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8) It's a very powerful moment as the new priests mentally reply with Isaiah, "Here am I; send me!" St Paul picks up this same theme in today's reading from Romans 10. He says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Then he adds plaintively, "But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?"
God has always needed proclaimers and messengers, those who are willing to commit themselves to him to such an extent that they're prepared to tell others about him. Some may simply chat about him in ordinary conversation with their family and friends. Others may be called to preach, some may be called to teach. Some may be called to proclaim the news about Jesus to children, some may be called to proclaim it to adults.
In an age where commitment is unpopular and where mobility at weekends is a way of life, it's difficult and demanding to respond to that call. It's even more difficult to produce church services which will once again appeal to the majority who expect high quality entertainment in their leisure time and who expect their spirituality to be provided in an entertaining and enjoyable way.
So St Paul's words are a challenge to all of us, and just as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago. Then, St Paul was trying to spread the word in order to start churches. Now, we need to spread the word in order that churches might survive. But more importantly than that, we need to spread the word so that people can really begin to hear about God and about Jesus, and having heard, can begin to build a living and active relationship with God.
Any of this might sound as impossible as walking on water. But Jesus did walk on water and he even enabled Peter to walk on water until Peter allowed his fears to get in the way. But when that happened, Jesus was there to grab hold of Peter and make sure he didn't come to any harm. He does the same for us. He will prevent us drowning and enable us to do far more than we ever dreamed possible, if only we commit ourselves to him.
"Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" asks God. "Here am I, " said Isaiah. "Send me."
