Next weekend will mark the 30th anniversary of my start in Christian ministry. A large part of these years has been spent visiting homes. First of all students from all around the world in their residences in Glasgow, then folk all over the south side of Glasgow, then in Kandy, Sri Lanka, followed by Aberdeen and now Bishopbriggs. Thirty years of conversations in many varied contexts and through the whole gamut of human emotions and life cycles. It doesn’t take much for memories to surface and I can recall hundreds of faces and innumerable homes. It is a rare privilege to be welcome in homes in this way as a Christian minister and my life has been deeply enriched by it. Ina and I have also shared our own home for everything from student supper parties to bible studies, vestry meetings to pot luck meals, pastoral conversations to teddy bear picnics in the garden.
One of my guiding bible verses for this ministry has been 1 Thessalonians 2:8 we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well because you had become so dear to us. At the heart of every congregation is this sharing of lives, an involvement with one another through the ups and downs of life and a willingness to be honest about how things are. Several socially distanced conversations recently in folk’s gardens have brought this home to me as they have related ways the church and other friends have been there for them. You can’t read any of the New Testament and not pick up how important relationships are and the many links and connections between people. Our faith is very communal, down to earth and gets right into the nooks and crannies of our lives and relationships.
As The Message version of John 1:14 says: The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood. God honours the details of our lives, domestic and otherwise and builds his kingdom through them not in spite of them. Some unhelpful ideas of Jesus have him floating slightly above everyday life in early Palestine, not affected by the heat and the dust, fatigue and pain, serenely passing through on his way back to heaven. This couldn’t be further from the truth. He was often found visiting people in their homes and living through the realities of everyday life…walking at times in the centre of trouble. (Psalm 138:7)
The bible ends with God dwelling with his people. Once again The Message version of Revelation 21:3 Look. Look. God has moved into the neighbourhood, making his home with men and women! The bible starts in a garden and ends in a community where God is one of our neighbours, visits in our homes and has regular teddy bear picnics.
Rev. Paul Watson
