Sermon for St Edward’s, 11 May 2025 as we think about how we serve/volunteer in church.
Readings: Acts 2:43-47, Mark 10:35-45
Over the next few weeks we are going to be thinking about serving. By that I mean, using our gifts, using who God has made us to be, to serve God, here in Christ’s church. Volunteering our time to sever God. We’re going to think about what church is, who we are, and how we work together. We’re going to think about our vocation or calling, as well as how we serve in everyday life. I’d love you to listen to all 3 talks in this mini-series as they will all be covering different parts of the same topic, one big sermon divided into 3! I’ve called this series ‘One and Many’ from 1 Corinthians 12. and can you find them on my website, or now you can find the audio recordings on our YouTube Channel.
Almost exactly three years ago we started seeking God together for a vision for the future of this church, a 3-5 year plan. Almost everything we felt God was saying has happened. And in that, the church has grown, people have come to faith, we’ve made great community links, serving and blessing our area. This has been a huge team effort, with everyone playing their part.
As part of that vision process I did some teaching on what church is and I want to give us a bit of a reminder about that as we start thinking about how we serve God here.
Church is all of us. The word used in the Bible is ekklesia – I know you will have heard me mention it before and it’s important because although the Greek gives us ecclesiology ecclesiastical, even the word for church, it means so much more. Ekklesia meant gathering or assembly, a gathering of people that in almost all Greek cities, men over 18 met to decide policy, elections, appeals, people could speak openly as they saw fit and influence one another. It was a key defining part of the culture. So, Jesus took this word ekklesia and said I will build an ekklesia of me – he redefined their cultural way of life, a new gathering with Jesus and his influence at the heart of it. A place where his ways were about love and compassion, challenging injustice, looking out for one another. And it is from this that the church, the gathering of people, grew. In fact Jesus says to Peter in Matthew 16, you are the rock and on this rock I will build my ekklesia. And that is what happened, the church we are part of today grew from that point, from that gathering of people. And it is still a gathering of people, all across the world. Without us there would be no church. And just as Jesus named it, we should still be a Jesus shaped version of a gathered people. Different to the gathered culture. In fact we should be defining culture in Jesus name, right?
So what does it mean to be church together? Well if we look at the early church we read in Acts 2, that they:
- had all things in common – ie they shared with one another
- they gave to those in need
- they spent time together in worship and praise, taking communion together
- shared time together in fellowship – eating and socialising together
- and, God grew the church.
It sounds simple and idyllic doesn’t it? but it worked because they all pitched in – financially, with their time, and with themselves. The church today works on the same principle. St Edward’s works on that principle. We gather for worship, to spend time together and to grow in our community.
Simply: we show up, join in, give out
We show up – we turn up to church, make a commitment to God and to church
We join in – we worship and pray together, socialise together, are part of home groups or Bible study, we do discipleship together
We give out – we give of our time and gifts towards the life of the church – to one another
or even simpler:
be present, be faithful, be generous, be who God has made you to be
You know the church doesn’t receive any money from the government or charities, I am paid by the CofE but we have to raise that to pay back our share of the diocesan costs to the diocese. Our own staff here, Paula and our new café manager, we have to raise those funds ourselves, as well as what we need to run the church, pay the bills. We don’t get outside help, all we do here is through each of us helping, giving and serving. The only exception to all this is when we apply and are successful in getting grant funding, which we continue to do wherever we can but it’s a tricky process and no guarantee we will get any when we apply. We are not yet fully paying our way and the diocese allows for that where churches are seeking to grow but we should be paying around £80,000 a year to the diocese, we are currently paying about 50k, and that’s before our running costs.
And the reason I remind us of all this is because we all need to play our part, we can’t do it without that. Not to guilt trip you into giving or serving but because I hope we all love being part of St Edward’s, we’ve got hold of the vision to be at the heart of our community, we want to work for God in our area, to serve our community, supporting those in need, providing services that are needed, as well as sharing the gospel in word.
Now we as individuals can’t always be or do all of this, and that’s why we do it together. Sometimes it’s all we can do to just show up. Sometimes we will be sick, or tired or overwhelmed. We might work full time. We might have kids or elderly parents that need us. In Acts 6 we can read about how the disciples were feeding elderly widows. In that culture if you were widowed and didn’t have a family who could look after you or provide for you would become very poor, you’d be reliant on people to help you. In this stage of their lives through no fault of their own they needed help. Sometimes that’s us, it’s all we can do to be present, we need to be served and that is fine, that’s why we do this together.
But as well as that the disciples also recognised they couldn’t do everything, they couldn’t be out there preaching the gospel and feeding the widows at the same time, so they gathered together the whole community and chose others to take on this role.
Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.’
Acts 6:3
They recognised that they all had different gifts. So in this case, Stephen was appointed to oversee this more pastoral task.
And it wasn’t that this was a lesser role, not at all, we read that Stephen was: full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8).
In 1 Corinthians 12 which we are going to look at next week it says we are all parts of one body – in that metaphor, someone is an eye, someone an ear, someone a foot, and they all work together. Now human bodies are amazing and when one part doesn’t work as well as it should, the other parts compensate, but the point is each part can’t do all the things the body needs, they work together for different purposes to make up the whole.
In the same way the church is all of us. For it to work we need to play our parts, whatever that might be in each time and season.
These days we are encouraged by the culture to be consumers and to be individuals. To buy what we need and ignore the rest. To do what is right for me and not worry about others.
I think in a way the pandemic exacerbated that. Many of us reflected on what we were doing and why, and I know many places/Charites/churches are still struggling for volunteers because people stood down, wanting to focus on what was right for them. We realised life is short and we all became a little bit more selfish, or at least focussed more on ourselves and those closest to us. But Jesus calls us to a life of service. He was the model of servanthood. As we heard in our gospel reading Jesus said to the disciples:
whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many
Mark 10: 43-45
And as we heard recently on Maundy Thursday before Easter, when Jesus washed the disciples feet he set them an example, he had taken on the lowest of low jobs to show them how they should be.
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
John 13:12-17
And he did more than that because he served each of us by dying for us.
And you know what Jesus did was unusual. He and his disciples went to those that others ignored or left out or shunned. He went to the lepers, the tax collectors, the prostitutes. He had compassion and love for them. They modelled a different way, a Jesus shaped way of being a gathering of people, of how society should be. And we need that more than ever in our day and age.
And Jesus also said that when we serve others we are serving him. In Matthew 25 we see the parable of the sheep and the goats in which Jesus says when I was hungry you fed me, when I was thirsty you gave me a drink, when I needed clothes, you looked after me. And the people say when did we do this for you? and Jesus says: whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did for me. So when we help others we are doing as is for the Lord. Imagine that, when see someone needing help we might actually imagine we are helping Jesus. And you know I don’t know about you but how often do we help someone out or serve in a particular way and we too feel blessed?! A simple story but I rememder years ago I was at a wedding in Brighton and we were milling around outside and there was a homeless man going round just saying to people ‘help me’. It was heart breaking to see everyone turn away from him, look the other way or make a face. Then he came to me, and said help me. I didn’t know what to do so I just said, what do you need? His response was one word: water. he didn’t want money, he wasn’t begging, he just needed a drink. There was a shop across the way so I went a bought him a bottle of water. When I came back he looked so surprised and as I gave it to him he broke into the most amazing smile, gave me a huge hug and wandered off. It was so simple, and I don’t tell you this to say, ooh look at what I did but because it was such a simple thing and afterwards I felt amazing. I thought I have actually done something today to help someone in need. And it took me just 3 minutes!
Next Sunday we are going to have an opportunity to chat to people who are already volunteering here, it’s a chance to find out about all the things that happen here sand you don’t have to wait until next week! Grab myself or a CW after the service and we can point you to people to chat to. There is a handout I emailed out and a few printed copies at the back too, have a read and ask yourself what could I do to serve here? and as I say I know some of us have limited time or energy but thinking about what you could do. and if there’s nothing on the list you think you can do come and chat to me or a warden. Training is given where needed, but sometime it’s a simple as doing some cleaning or making tea and coffee.
So, why should we serve in church?
– Because we’re all part of the same team. We are one body with many parts and we each have a part to play. The church is all of us together, in all our differences, with all that we have.
– Because we serving each other and our community. Supporting those in need, coming alongside those who need help, or providing services that are needed.
– Because this is what Jesus modelled for us. He was the ultimate servant and he told us to do as he did.
– Because in serving others we also serve God.
– and because so often we are blessed in return.
What could you do?
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