Sermon given by Revd George Watt, Moderator Thames North Synod, 25 April 2026
Bible Readings Isaiah 35:1-10; Acts 4:31-37; John 15:9-17
Elizabeth, what a joy to celebrate with you the 50th Anniversary of your ordination.
I was thinking of the images and themes that we use for 50th anniversaries and two quickly came to mind which touch on the readings that you have chosen for today. The first is one from the world – Gold or Golden and the second from the Bible is Jubilee.
I have always found it curious that for wedding anniversaries as the years go on the gifts become less useful and more ornamental…and expensive. What a travesty it would be with ordination anniversaries if ministers were to become less useful and more ornamental. And we, here referring to ‘we’ as friends, family and colleagues but also the wider church and not just the URC value your continued ministry.
Three images of gold in the Bible provide warnings and encouragement.
In Exodus, when Moses had been up the mountain for a long time, the people decided to take their gold and melt it down to make an idol to worship. Gold even then became something to be worshipped. In ministry there is responsibility to encourage people to move from worshipping the glittering world of wealth but instead to see the glory of God which we heard about in the reading from Isaiah and of course is what Moses was experiencing when he was away, up Mount Sinai. When we worship the living God we learn what it means to be loved and to love, the theme of some of Jesus’ last words to his disciples which we heard about in our reading from John.
The second instance that came to mind draws on what many of us will know as the parable of talents, but translated in the NIV as the parable of the bags of gold. Like many of the parables it is not easy at first to understand it since it can raise more questions than answers. Why does the master give one servant five bags of gold and two to another two and only one to the third? Why is he pleased with the two who multiplied their wealth and get so angry with the one who did nothing with his one bag of gold? It is the work of the preacher to try and make sense of all of that, not to judge but to encourage people to follow the way of Christ. Clearly Jesus wanted his followers to use whatever they had whether wealth or talents to invest in his kingdom. And, as has happened today, we have to look at the breadth of the Scriptures to help answer the questions that one passage raises. The reading from Acts avoids the danger of a Gospel of prosperity when we are reminded that what we have been given, especially if we are in a position of privilege, is not ours but to be used in God’s service. So that God is able to say to us, ‘Well done good and faithful servant.’
The third image of Gold can be found at the end of the Bible in Revelation where we read that the streets of the new Jerusalem are paved with Gold. I am reminded of the man who was dying and made a deal with God that he could take one thing with him to heaven. When the time came, he met with Peter at the pearly gates and Peter asked to see what he brought with him. When he saw what was in his bag his reaction was ‘Okay, you have brought some paving stones.’ Initially we might think it extravagant and decadent to pave the streets with gold. But then we see that God wants to put wealth to good use, no to be stored up in barns but to make a difference on the street. The Gospel of Jesus is about challenge and conversion. That was what he was talking about to his disciples and translated into the picture we have of how the early church acted.
Another Biblical image connected with fifty years is that of Jubilee. We read about it in that popular book Leviticus in the Old Testament. (Note I said that with my tongue in my cheek). God commands that the people are to allow the land to rest every seven years by not growing anything in that year. Something worth hearing at a time when we seek to drain every last ounce of resource from the world God has given us to look after. We should note in our reading from Acts that resources were distributed according to people’s need. My mum used to enjoy the occasional cream cake and when she was about to eat it she would say that it was greed not need! In a greedy world we are called to consider what the real neads are. Of course any good farmer will know the need to rest the land, but rather than not growing anything for seven years they rotate the fields that are left fallow. Scripture can be adapted without losing its truth.
But then Leviticus goes on to speak about what should happen on the fiftieth year. It was radical. Slaves were to be freed, debts cancelled and land returned to their original owners. It was meant to be a reset button writ large. It is disputed if this ever happened but still it poses a real challenge and sets a Godly perspective on how we should treat each other. And we can see how following Christ poses a different agenda and set of priorities. It illustrates the way that we might think about how we love one another and to live in community as reflected in the Early Church. But a word of caution too. Was the early church really such an ideal community we read about? Even if it was it didn’t last long, we just need to skip forward to the next chapter to read of someone who held back and didn’t share resulting in dire consequences.
But do we give up because we don’t achieve the perfect and ideal? No of course not, because God recognises we sometimes get things right and sometimes we get it wrong and the preacher and pastor has to be realistic about that. But each new day there can be be new beginnings and new possibilities.
I was somewhat hesitant to refer to the year of Jubilee in case I gave the impression that Elizabeth should stop all that she is doing. Although like all of us you should and must take time out to rest and be refreshed and the older we get those times become more important and more frequent and we shouldn’t feel guilty but receive those times as a gift and indeed a command from God.
I have deliberately not continually referred back to Elizabeth’s ministry but I am sure you have recognised in the Bible readings and in what I have said some of the things that have been important to Elizabeth and have been hallmarks of her ministry. Her ministry has been gold to us, not ornamental but truly useful. She has been faithful in proclaiming the gospel of mercy and justice, knowing God’s love and forgiveness herself and offering it to others in her pastoral ministry. Well done good and faithful servant, may we go and do likewise whatever our calling – and do it all to the glory of God!
