Juxtaposition

On Saturday we went to an ordination ceremony and watched while men and women in fancy dress were made deacons. It was stirring and good to see so many making promises to serve God and his church and to hold out the Gospel to all, even the 'indifferent'. It was in the cathedral, there was fabulous singing and we saw heaps of people we know and don't get to see much. It was great to see the Abp doing such good work - so many more people have come forward for ordination since he's been at the helm. And he welcomed all the families so graciously, and used the liturgy the way it should be used (IMHO - liturgy was made for man and not man for liturgy).

And then we went to church and saw what happens when those promises are broken. And we went to small church and saw what happens when those promises are broken. This is a problem which we have only started to deal with. There are so many contexts in which this situation has brought the Gospel to shame. And so many people are hurting. It was horrible.

At both services - at church and at the ordination service - the sermon was from 2 Corinthians about how ministers of the gospel are jars of clay. At the ordination service it was a reality check: these bright, beaming people are not perfect and have faults which will be all too obvious. But this will not stop the spread of the gospel, because God has set it up like that. At church, it was a message of comfort, not whitewashing what was happening, but pointing out that the bad choices of some won't destroy the gospel and that we all have this capacity: to choose evil and dishonour Jesus.

A very big day of celebration and grief. And a day to reflect on the unstoppable purposes of God in his Son.