In our time reading the Bible with the ministry staff team this week, we came to Hebrews 7:7: “Without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater.” For me this crystallised a recurring thought I have had lately, that it really is difficult for us late modern Australians to think in terms of an order of lesser and greater. We are such an egalitarian society! We know that there are inequalities of wealth and opportunity, but we do as Australians instinctively believe that all humans are of equal value. There is something deeply Christian about this instinct, although it is also mixed with the anti-authoritarian larrikin spirit.
However, I do wonder whether these strong egalitarian instincts make it difficult to grasp the very real sense in which God is higher and greater than we are. His power over us is legitimate. He has a right to know everything about us. Against God we have no right to privacy! He knows all our thoughts and desires, as the Prayer of Preparation says.
Someone remarked to me that it was a challenge to their faith to be asked to believe things about God that are simply so difficult for our minds to grasp, such as that God has planned and predestined all things in such a way that our free choices lead to his plans being fulfilled, and he still judges us for the choices we make! This is undoubtedly the Bible’s doctrine, but it is hard for us to understand! Yet surely if God is higher and greater than we are, it is to be expected that our minds will not fully grasp everything he has done. With God, the fact that our minds cannot fully grasp him does not make the doctrine untrue. This is because Aussie egalitarianism does not apply to God. He is indeed greater!
In brief:
- Please come along to the Annual Vestry Meeting next Sunday 11.30 am.
- We are trying a new time slot of 4.30 pm for Choral Evensong. I hope this earlier time might make it easier for more people to make it. Everyone is invited to the service in two weeks’ time.
- See inside for your invitation to the Sculpture dedication, also in two weeks.’
- Finally, please disregard the recently published date for Fireworks. The new date, in June, will be announced shortly.