Dear Friends,
My Cambridge years always seem to begin in September and finish in June (what a strange calendar I have!). As I look back on this one, I do so with a huge sense of thanks giving and joy. It has been a very good year for me. There are lots of things that have encouraged me that I could mention. I want to refer to just one of them.
Half-a-dozen or more times this year, people have approached me and said something like this: 'We've got this idea for this new ministry. Is it ok with you if we go ahead and try it?' Each time I've listened to the idea and said: 'Go for it!' What has been really gratifying is to see people clearly thinking about how to build the church up or extend our outreach and making concrete plans to put their ideas into action.
One of the marks historically of evangelicals is that we have been activists. We haven't sat around waiting for the kingdom to grow. We've tried to help that growth to happen. Mission societies, social involvement, evangelism, children's work - the list of evangelical activities is endless. Sometimes activism has taken too central a place and evangelicals have needed to learn to worship or study or rest. But generally the activity has been blessed by God and significant in many lives.
There is something very biblical about activism. I suspect that is why evangelicals have been activist (because they have also been Bible-centred). Remember the parable of the talents ()? One man was given five talents, another two, a third just one. When the master returned, the man who had only one talent was rebuked. But it wasn't that he originally had only one talent. It was because he hadn't done anything with his talent. Even opening a deposit account at the Bethlehem Building Society would have been better than burying it in the ground. Better still to invest it in a business venture and multiply its value.
Jesus challenges us to make the most of what God has given us. Not hiding it in holes in the ground, but investing it so as to get a return. Sometimes investment is risky and sometimes we take risks in trying new things. But in God's kingdom it is far better to try something that doesn't work out so well than never to try anything, not to take risks, and to leave our talents and opportunities buried in the ground and use our energies pleasing ourselves.
So I want to encourage you to use the slightly more relaxed time in church over the summer (and perhaps a week or two of holiday) not just for a rest but to be asking: 'What could I get involved in? What could I try? Is there something I could suggest that we have a go at?' It may be a bit different. There may be an element of risk for you personally. There will almost certainly be a commitment and sacrifice for you personally or it wouldn't be worth doing. But ask yourself and ask others and ask the Lord: what could I do? And then come and tell me or one of the other elders about it.
I am on study leave for most of July and holiday for half of August. Thank you for giving me these periods of reflection and relaxation respectively. I do appreciate them very much. I hope you have a really good summer!
With warmest best wishes
Julian