Pentecost 14

Hebrews 13: 1 - 8, 15 - 16

A few years ago, a guy came up with an idea for a fund-raiser: 6 speakers had 10 minutes each to entertain the audience as if that 10 mins were the last of their life.

Last words can be understood only within the context they are given. Watch any great film and last words have meaning: they are the punchline, they sum up or give clarity to all that has gone before, or shrowd it in further mystery never to be understood. There are 7 last words of Jesus recorded in the gospels. When he says "It is finished" it is not a statement about something that is over. It is more accurately a statement that what had been set out to be achieved has been accomplished and that things now have to move on to a different plane, a higher level, a greater challenge. It is complete, yet incomplete.

These are my last words as on this day we give thanks to God that what we set out to do together six years ago, although in one sense it is complete in another it is not. Our journeys continue. We remain a pilgrim people. For as Jesus' work is complete on the Cross, yet it was still in a sense incomplete because He gave those who believed in Him, who trusted Him, who choose to follow Him, loving God and neighbour in word and action a task to do that can only be accomplished in His absence. So we continue to live in the tension of life "at the crossroad".

Some roads we may have wanted to traverse have remained blocked and could be the source of disappointment; but our faith and trust is in the One who has gone before us to prepare the way and has given us His Spirit who calls and shows us where He wants us to be.

Maybe it is by God's design that we have heard the final words of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews. Chapter 13 has as its heading "final exhortations." The verbs are active: keep on, don't forget, remember, continually offer and are placed around who Jesus is - the same, yesterday, today, forever; the one we go through to God.

There is truth in the adage "if you do not crown Him Lord of all you do not crown Him Lord at all." This is a succinct way of saying that unless we see our relationship with Jesus as being one of total commitment to whatever He asks us to do and are willing to follow Him wherever He takes us then we are not really His followers at all.

At Christmas, 2004, following a detailed process, we adopted a succinct Mission Statement. Since that time our journey together has been informed and shaped by these words. It has not been just a statement of the congregation but is a call and challenge to every person who for a time becomes part of this family to adopt as a personal axiom.

The journey has been pilgrim. We were called by the Synod to this placement with 4 principal responsibilities: worship/leader- ship/ preaching; pastoral care and spiritual oversight; develop strategies for outreach beyond the congregation and for ministry with youth and young families; administrative/management of programs. The Presbytery of Western Port added a fifth for it noted that, because of the circumstances that created the vacancy, there was a need for the Congregation to regain its confidence in ministry and in its own sense of direction as congregations in a multi-cultural and multi-faith city. A snapshot of both the Congregations as well as the Church Councils then and now reveal that we are all in a quite different place than where we were six years ago. So does a snapshot fo the site we occupy at these crossroads! In that time we have celebrated 150 years of christian witness at this cross-road.

We follow Christ This is the crunch. It's the foundation. It's whatl ays bare our real motivation. It's what distinguishes us from other providers of humanitarian support and good deeds. Follow Christ takes us to the heart of life and death, the centre of the Cross.

Tonight is the Grand Final of "Dancing with the Stars." (Both here and on Ch
7!) Dancing occurs only once in the New Testament. Jesus bemoans to what can I compare this present generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others " we played the flute for you and you did not dance we sang a dirge and you did not mourn." One refers to a wedding, the other a funeral. If I were to ask "what tune do you like to dance to?" you may be unsure how to respond. But our Mission Statement poses the question "Who is the Lord of your dance?"

loving God. Quite differently than we did 6 years ago. The liturgy, regular involvement of the young people in worship leadership, the music, the style and the worship space are all varied and dynamic, challenging and confronting. In the rites of the Church, the celebration of the hatched, matched and dispatched, there have been 19 Baptisms plus the confirming of those already baptised, 9 weddings, and I have had the awesome privelege of being part of 91 families during their grief and loss of loved ones.

and neighbour Of ourselves, of each other, of any who come to be part of us.
Very slowly, some people now see themselves as being the staff of the inn where we care for the broken, bruised and dispossessed which Jesus, the Good Samaritan, the outsider, brings to us. This is done in a variety of ways, willingly. Formally through a healthy pastoral care structure and informally from your home communities.

in word Over the 6 years I have shared many words - spoken and written.
Annual reports, sermons, a major doctoral thesis which led into sermons, study material, a musical. We are a people of the word who meet regularly to hear the word and words of God,, to interpret that word and translate it into action.

and action The avenues of service through the Scott Street Day Centre is now quite different. It has been awesome to be part of the development of Pete's Patch and Imit8 Jesus, the annual Blue Christmas. The service of the congregation however, is not restricted to these avenues. Many are involved in the community in other ways that don't bring a fanfare but without this involvement, the quality of our society and the community and social fabric would disintegrate.

My 10 minutes is probably now up, so what are my final words?

* don't forget to entertain strangers - they might be angels
* remember those in prison as if you were one of them
* be content with what you have.The writer to the Hebrews finishes with a reminder, an encouragement and an
invitation:
The reminder: remember those leaders who spoke the word of God to you.
The encouragement: trust the permanent not the transitory; the absolute not the relative.

The invitation: consider the outcome of their way of life and having considered, then imitate their faith. This invitation is offered again to us today to consider dancing with the One True Star: "The Lord of the Dance."
As we embrace him and invite him to be our partner in life, we too will find that Jesus Christ will score 10/10 everytime we dance with him. That he is indeed the same yesterday, today and forever and that in him we have a faithful life partner who will guide us as we dance to a tune which will accompany us in the life that will never, never die.