Bible Reading: 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Galatians 5:1, 13-25-29 & Luke 9:51-62
Dear Friends
This week we are privileged to be hosting Preachers in our pulpits from the Bellville Circuit and Preachers from our Circuit go to Bellville in what is known as Preacher’s Sunday. We welcome at Sea Point Mr. William Montagu at the 10:h00am service and Mr. Xolani Tutu at the 12h00pm service. Whilst in Observatory it will be Mr. Khululekile Dyule. It is always a joy to share these moments and pulpits with ‘family members’ from other Circuits which serves as a reminder to us that we all belong to each other. We welcome them with the love of Christ and wish them God’s blessings as they lead us.
Of all that Methodism teaches, there are two elements of its theology that I think are most important. The first is that we are justified that is, considered by God to be righteous and holy and worthy and all the rest by grace though faith, which means that God justifies us not because of what we have done but completely and simply because God loves us as demonstrated most clearly in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
This message of absolute and unconditional acceptance is so incredibly important and is – or at least should be the heart of our preaching and teaching. The second critical element is the sense of vocation that we are called to serve God by serving our neighbour in whatever situation or station we find ourselves. This, in a sense, is the flipside of justification, as we are freed by justification to serve our neighbour. That is, God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbour does, and since God has taken care of the trifling matter of our ultimate destiny, we should have a little more time on our hands to take care of those around us.
Which is why Methodists believe that any work done in good faith and for the sake of the neighbour is valuable and God-pleasing. That doesn’t mean it’s always interesting, or esteemed by the culture, or lucrative, but it is pleasing to God and valuable and has a measure of dignity to it that we may otherwise miss because, indeed, it is through our efforts our labour, our time, our expertise that God cares for the world and people God love so much. “God’s work, our hands” I think that phrase captures pretty nicely God’s intentions to use all we have and are to care for those around us and hallow the work we do.
All of this is to say why I think vocation, along with justification, is not only one of the two most important parts of Methodism’s theological legacy, but also part of the message we should be or, better, are free to be sharing with the world!
Solomzi