Any anniversary is a time of
thanksgiving. We think of the
years we have been granted and the people who have featured largely. Over the last twenty-five years many
precious relationships have been established, many with people now beyond
sight, touch and call but who are still part of my inner landscape. People who have taught me much
about moving with hope through illness and hardship and who faced the final
challenge firmly in the faith of Christ.
Thanks be to God for the Faithful Departed!
Many still remain who welcomed me
as a relatively inexperienced minister, gave me space to follow my own inner
promptings, and were generous in their understanding when things went
wrong. It’s all very well to say
‘we’re only human’ but I have never found it easy to live with any hurt I may
have caused. So I am grateful for
the message received from so many that while there may be stumbles along the
way we are never entirely finished in the Lord’s service. Forgiveness and renewal are as much for
ministers as anyone.
When a senior colleague heard
that I had been called to St Paul’s in 1988 he said: ‘That’s a great
congregation.’ Well, that was an
encouragement to me but more than just a trifle intimidating. What could I bring to ‘a great congregation’? I’ve learned that we can only bring to
the Kingdom what we are gifted to bring and to trust that the Lord knew what He
was doing when He called us to a particular area of service. Spiritual maturity is being content
with that.
Someone once said to me that what
was wrong with me was that I was trying too hard to make things happen instead
of standing back and getting in touch with what was already happening. That was a great insight. Just to take time to see how individual
people coped with illness and loss; to see how generous people are with time,
talents and money; to see the loving support given to friends and family in
times of need; to see ideas emerging for the benefit of disadvantaged people at
home and abroad; to see living faith making a difference. It has all been an enormous
privilege.
So the last twenty-five years
have not been about me but a congregation seeking to work out the reality of
Christ in its life in sharing the greatest truths anyone has ever stumbled upon
and bringing the love of Christ to anyone in need. That is what made St Paul’s ‘a great congregation’
twenty-five years ago and I have been blessed in seeing that continue until
now.
Constant companions through these
years have been my family. We’ve
had more days of celebration than the other sort and I am grateful for
that. It can’t be easy being ‘a
son of the Manse’. It must seem at
times as if you are living in a long shadow but Mark, Stephen and Paul have
become their own men and I am confident that wherever they are and whatever
they do the world will know the difference.
Of course they would not have
been possible without a very special lady who has shared my life for the last
thirty-five years. The Bible
speaks of two people becoming ‘one flesh’ in marriage and I believe Gabrielle
and I have lived that truth. No
achievements unless she has contributed; no failure but that she has helped
pick up the pieces; no hopes for the future that she has not shared. In many ways that has been the greatest
blessing.
Thank you all for your kindness,
patience and support. And now, the
future . . .
