A Final Sunday Theme as Vicar of Gate Pā

There is a lot happening today. First, happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. May you know God’s joy and goodness this and every day. And for those for whom this is not a good day, may you know God’s peace. I wonder how our experiences of either being a mother, or of our mothers, help us reflect more deeply on the motherhood of God and how we live out God’s love each day?

The theme for this Sunday is being on the edge of big change. Thursday was Ascension Day, the day we mark the Ascension of the crucified and risen Christ to the Godhead. Too easily we forget it. We often don’t know what to do with it. And yet it invites us to have our minds blown by the fully human, crucified, and risen Jesus, in all his full, created, creaturely, humanity, ascending into the full presence of the Godhead. Our humanity mingles with the divine, just as God’s divinity mingled with our humanity in the Incarnation. That leads to big changes for those disciples in how they lived God’s love. It offers hope in our time of change and invites us to find God in our everyday life of work, sport, friends, food, music, nature, …. Let your imaginations run wild with that.

This is also the last Sunday in Easter. And like every Easter 7 we hear part of John 17 and Jesus’ last words to his disciples at the final meal and foot washing. Like us, they are right on the edge of profound change. This prayer is set before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion but was written after his resurrection and ascension as words of encouragement to all disciples to live the post resurrection life. It is a whirlpool drawing us deeper into Jesus who offers us the true image of God’s love.  It is a prayer of hope for all who face big changes.

And today marks an end of my time here in Hori Tapu. 12 1/2 years ago I accepted an invitation from Bishop David Rice to be the next vicar of the Anglican Parish of Gate Pā. What a gift the last 12 years have been as we have sought to live God’s love for each other and for the wider community. Like those first disciples in John and Acts we have been sent - continuing to find our place in the story of this whenua and in this community. While May 26 will bring big changes, and a lot of uncertainty, that call to live God's hope, joy, and love will continue. God’s story will continue. Let your imaginations run wild with that.