A couple of Sundays ago, in one of the lectionary readings, particularly from Luke 12:54-56, Jesus spoke about interpreting the times: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens…You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
hese were words of judgement for people who were able to recognise the signs of nature, but who failed to recognise the signs of Jesus who had been working in their very midst. The point here is the meaning people associate with the events of their life and how they might respond to them. As a city, it seems to me that there are growing signs of our lack of significance or perhaps success in various spheres. Yes, we have a new state-of-the-art sports stadium being built, but many of our sports teams are languishing far behind other provinces. We don’t seem to be the leading force we once were in high-profile codes such as rugby, netball and soccer. We also seem to be overlooked more and more as a major destination on the main flight routes of airline companies and there are further fears of losing neurosurgery services and the ownership of Port Chalmers to the Canterbury region. I’m sure there would be increasing concerns if particular areas of Otago
University were to be relocated elsewhere in the country. We have a binge drinking culture that is increasingly getting harder to handle and now the alarming issue of suicide is beginning to make us pay attention. It’s obviously not all doom and gloom here in Dunedin and alarm bells shouldn’t be ringing just yet. But, how might we interpret some of the signs we are seeing already? What do we make of these seemingly depressing and declining situations in terms of our future as a city and province? These are not easy questions to answer and any response may be complex. However we may interpret these challenges events, I believe that any response is one that seeks a positive or better outcome; that looks for a spark of hope. Jesus’ words encourage us to recognise and respond not only to the signs on the political,economic or social horizon, but the spiritual as well. Do we recognise the signs of what God is doing in our midst; even in the smallest of ways; even in the most desperate of situations? Or does our understanding of God’s work, as a church, merely get confined to a procedural and financial or structural framework in church life? I think we too need to look for sparks of hope and inspiration in every area of our life together, but it requires a shift in our thinking. It requires us to take a hopeful and optimistic approach from seeing the glass half-empty to one that is half-full. We may look at the negative situations that arise around us and narrowly interpret them as God’s judgement upon people. Or we can widen the scope and see them as opportunities to bring hope to people who seem to have none. We are encouraged to be motivated positively from a fear of losing to a desire for winning. As we consider our future as First Church of Otago, we need to do so with a sense of hope that God is still at work in us and through us to others. Although our membership has experienced decline for various reasons over the past decades, there are still people making decisions to forge new connections with First Church as well deciding to make it their spiritual home. Our mission is to recognise and be involved with what God is doing. God is at work in people’s lives; even in the most desperate of times, and we can be part of something that helps to bring about hope for them. I believe it eventually brings hope for us as a church because sharing good news with others means that we are also part of it. So recognise the signs of mission opportunities and be a bearer of hope in our city.
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