Wednesday, October 9, 2024
It was Karl Barth, the esteemed 20th century theologian who said in 1962 that the most important teaching of the Bible was found in the beloved children's hymn known by so many - 'Jesus loves me this I know.'
His immediate student, a man by the name of Emil Bruner responded by saying in effect 'if I say with utmost certainty and faith that God loves me, not for anything I have done or said, then I must at the same time say that God loves all other people in the same way.’
These two statements ‘Jesus loves me’ and ‘Jesus loves all others in the same way Jesus loves me’ are the good news of the gospel that every church must hold at its very core. Knowing we are loved by Jesus unconditionally and that we are at the same time called to love all others unconditionally is what enables us to become fully actualized as human beings. To love less than unconditionally robs us of our humanity and renders us weaker and sadder as people.
Over the last three years it is to this standard of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I have endeavoured to hold us to as a church together. Being that kind of church is not easy. It takes incredible maturity, inner strength, and a willingness to be transformed by the Spirit of the Living God.
From my perspective, St. Andrews's has been and can continue to be that kind of church with that kind of people in leadership. Every church goes through times where it is easier and harder to do so. The calamity of 2004 cast a long shadow over St. Andrew's. But it is time to move out from underneath that shadow and be the church God calls us to be. Indeed, from where I sit, the congregation has indeed done that. There is laughter and joy in the building helped in part by the presence of two other congregations - St. Peter's and Nexus. The church is full again, as one parishioner said to me last week. Not the way it was when we were all Presbyterians worshipping together, but in a different way - filled with people of God wanting to experience Gods love fully and to share it with others.
It is the leaders of this church in the last three years that have made this happen. I believe St. Andrews has a long and bright future ahead. I have enjoyed being your minister the last three years. It has been a privilege and an honour and I thank you and I thank God for all of you. This is my last Marty's Musings. I appreciate you more than you will know. My history with St. Andrew's began in the late 1980's with Rev Grant MacDonald as a mentor while I served Doon Presbyterian Church. I pray that I have given back to St. Andrew's a portion of what you have given to me way back then and in these last three years.
May God bless you now and always,
Marty
Rev. Marty Molengraaf (he, him)
Minister, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church