A message from The Rev’d Lyn McRostie, Rector of Northwood.

Posted by Admin on 18 April 2008, 12:00 am

Last month I wrote about the complex question of identity. This month, I’d like to take the question a little further and ask this – where does our security lie?

Today I can go to the supermarket to do my banking, I can go to a bookshop to buy a cup of coffee and I can access the Internet by signing up with a football club. To expect the unexpected seems to be the golden rule.

And, as we now know, the world of employment has changed. Very few people will end their working days doing the same type of job they had at 18. The old certainties are disappearing; the old securities seem long gone. The world and all its institutions is going through one of those massive upheavals which affects the way we think, the way we relate to each other, the way we understand the world about us. It is as though nothing seems sharp or clear or focused any more; as though fuzziness, ambiguity and elusiveness prevail. Even the church is changing.

But living with uncertainty may be a time of opportunity. It can allow us to identify the things that really matter, the values that are most important to us. It may also release us to acknowledge what can be let go – some things perhaps with regret but others with a new sense of freedom. We can exist with the insecurity that exists by remembering as so many generations have done, that our help and strength comes from Christ. The first disciples struggled with the sadness of Good Friday, the joy of Easter Day, the perplexity of continuing to be loved and forgiven even when they had failed Christ so badly. When with thankfulness they grasped the forgiveness they had been given; they stepped out in faith and established the church.

We, the 21st century disciples of Christ, are now being challenged for a vision of the church in this millennium. Our requirement is to be ‘living stones’, the foundations for that new vision. It is in Christ’s strength, not in our own, that we are able to face the challenges of our time and respond to what the Gospel is asking of us. And if the Gospel doesn’t make us wriggle at least a little, incline us towards change, then why do we say in the Lord’s prayer ‘thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven’?

God is always true to us in love; may we equally be true to him. In Christ’s strength and in the power of the Holy Spirit may we find the courage to live and to create a world in which all are free, knowing that our security comes not from buildings and institutions nor rules and regulations, but from being grounded absolutely and completely in the love of God. Then indeed are we really free.

Lyn.

Do you know of someone who would appreciate a visit by the church? Or would you, yourself, like to meet and talk with someone from the church? Please let Lyn know or contact one of the Churchwardens whose details are given in Northwood News and in the Parish Church Officers section of this website. We’re happy to meet with you, to bring communion to you if you cannot come to church – or to explore with you if you just want to know more about the Christian faith. We are always here for you – because that’s what we’re about!