Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland Blog

Surprise conversation

Rev Iain McFadzean’s Chaplaincy Sermon at Cadder Church, Bishopbriggs, 26/01/14

Christ and the woman at the well

Christ and the woman at the well

Travelling from Jerusalem in the south to Galilee in the north, Jesus and his disciples took the quickest route, through Samaria. Tired and thirsty, Jesus sat by Jacob’s Well, while his disciples went off to buy food. It was about noon, the hottest part of the day, and a Samaritan woman came to the well.

In asking this woman for a drink, Jesus broke three Jewish customs:

  • She was a woman
  • Samaritan
  • Made him ceremonially unclean

This was not what the woman expected but certainly a conversation starter… ‘Why are you doing this?’ ran through her mind. She was even more shocked when she realised Jesus understood her, knew about her domestic circumstances, her five husbands… her perhaps fairly chaotic life. She later said to the people in town: “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.”… Someone who really understands

The disciples were equally shocked on their return… not sort of thing Jesus should be doing….. yet in stepping outside the expectations Jesus allowed the woman to recognise Him as the Messiah to accept that he not only cared for her but he understood her as perhaps no one ever had.

In work place chaplaincy we try to follow something of Christ’s example in this encounter.

Chaplaincy is often called ministry of presence….. hingin aboot… like Jesus

It is a ministry of translation

WPCS is: Non-Denominational, Non-Doctrinal, Non-Proselytising

We have over 80 chaplains working across Scotland in over 1200 workplaces… Some of which are places which some will say Christians should not be seen in…

But we try to follow St Patrick of Assisi’s direction to his followers as he sent them out saying: “Go and preach the gospel everywhere and if absolutely necessary… Use words”

We train men & women, lay and ordained, of all denominations, but each with a desire to share their faith through service. We send them out to be the Good News, to be salt and light.

We meet people where they are and learn their language – and offer what Jesus did. A chance to speak & review, a chance to be understood, a chance to be loved and accepted. Not just by individual chaplains, but by the God they represent. Sometimes we get the opportunity to remind people that even when we think we don’t believe in God, He still believes in us. There is always hope.

We don’t preach and we don’t push for conversions, but we do take time and give the opportunity to explore a spiritual journey and lead, often to the next stage, whether that be an introduction to an AA meeting, to a counselor, to church, to Alpha… to Christ.

Does it work? Is it not just wishy washy social work? Ask our chaplains. Read the testimonials on our website… read about the businessman who was at the stage of taking his own life as his business collapsed, who, through contact with a chaplain, was not only supported through a difficult time, but is now reassessing his whole life.

Ask the young retail assistant whose life was in a mess and spiraling out of control until she met a chaplain who seemed to understand and allowed her to plot a new course which included attending an Alpha course and realising there was good news!

Ask Sir Harry Burns, the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, and our guest speaker at our international workers’ memorial day lecture in Dundee coming up in a few weeks’ time, who recently reiterated what he has said many times that the biggest challenge to the health of Scotland IS NOT ALCOHOL, DRUGS, DEPRESSION BUT …. QUOTE “The feeling of despair and hopelessness that pervades many people’s lives.”

(Sir Harry is standing down as Chief Medical Officer in April to become professor of global public health at Strathclyde University.)

Ultimately chaplains seek to bring hope as Christ brought hope to so many, some by challenging, some by healing, some by accepting … some by simply washing their feet.

When Christ was asked by a teacher of the law: “What is the greatest of all the commandments? He gave the expected answer,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’;

but then, as usual he filled it with new meaning, giving not only the answer but the means to fulfil it, ….. and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

In loving our neighbour we give expression to our love of God who first loved us. And how do we love our neighbour? I think we all know the parable of the Good Samaritan which Jesus used to answer that question.

When you see a need, fill that need, no matter what it costs you, no matter how inconvenient, no matter what tradition, habit, or peer pressure demand, because love expressed in service is at the heart of following the example of Christ who loves and forgive and accepts and renews us, not because we deserve it, not because we are good Christians, but because we need it and he loves us. From the story of the Good Samaritan we learn, don’t talk about it, don’t find excuses – just do it!

So who deserves our love, where should we seek to offer service and support, acceptance and unconditional love?

In churches where we are safe among like-minded people who accept or values and beliefs, or out there in the shopping centres, in the offices in the factories? The astonishing thing is the warmth with which work place chaplains are welcomed by almost all they encounter. There is a spiritual thirst in our society which so many are eager and willing to explore. A thirst which seeks to find the antidote to the hopelessness which many feel.

Eventually many come to the point of realising that drugs alcohol, casual sex are distractions which hold no answers. Many have seen the faith that they had in their own strength and wisdom and the answers society often offers, undermined: ‘Money in the bank’ and ‘Safe as houses’ are phrases not so often heard today. Jobs for life do not exist and the generous parental employer is a rare beast indeed.

The world can be a frightening and unpredictable place. We often hear: ‘If only there was someone who understands my position, if only someone could help me to understand what is going on in my life, without judging me, without telling anyone, without demanding anything of me.

That friends, is the purpose and the mission of work place chaplaincy Scotland.

There is no shortage of opportunities to serve, there are no barriers to where the gospel can be seen and heard – except the barriers we erect.

Zechariah delivers Gods judgement on a people who became so tied up in the ordinances, the outward demonstration of their Holiness, that they forgot some of the most basic elements of being the people of God: “When should we fast, which month, for how long?” The fasts were observed in exile to remember the destruction of the temple. But new the temple was rebuilt, the people returned – but traditions are hard to change.

What are you doing this for says God… is it for me, or you?

“What about justice and mercy says God; care for the widow, the fatherless, the alien, the poor. Look to those who need help now and give it in my name I keep telling you this says God, but you don’t seem to be listening, yet you expect me to listen to you!”

Again and again in Old Testament and New, God says through his prophets and through his Son: ‘Go and show love, mercy and justice in my name… that is what I require,’ says the Lord….. are you listening?

It is easy to sit behind our doctrine and theology to find good biblical reasons why we must condemn our brothers and sisters; good sound scriptural reasons why we cannot be associated with them, just as the Jews had good sound scriptural reason why they could not speak to a Samaritan, or a woman, let alone help them.

And that is both the challenge and the joy of the form of chaplaincy that Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland is now engaged in across Scotland:

We are non-denominational but have chaplains from most of the denominations

We are non doctrinal because the place for doctrine is not in the midst of the battlefield that we operate in but we recognise and respect the doctrine of our partner churches while accepting all without judgement.

We are non-proselytising because we are simply the guides at the start of a journey that we hope will be transformational in every area of life and because we have seen and heard God speaking to us in the midst of people’s journeys.

Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland is not the answer to all the ills of our society. It is not perfect and it is not the whole story, but we believe we have been called to serve and to do it now, not to talk about it, not to theologise it, but to do it. We will work with churches and businesses, with councils and with unions and we will try to share the good news – If necessary using words.

But we need your help. We need your prayers. We need your faith. We need you to believe that together we can change the world.

We need your time… I could place another 50 chaplains next week if I had them…And we need your money. Small donations, large donations, one-off, monthly or annual, individual, church or business, we will use every penny to pursue the vision God has laid before us.

Oscar A. Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, in El Salvador, was assassinated on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in a small chapel in a cancer hospital where he lived. He had always been close to his people, preached a prophetic gospel, denouncing the injustice in his country and supporting the development of popular and mass organisations. He became the voice of the Salvadoran people when all other channels of expression had been crushed by the repression.

This prayer was composed by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw as a reflection on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Romero

A Future Not Our Own

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession
brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives include everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s
grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.

Amen & May God add His blessing to this preaching of His word and to His name be the praise and the glory. Amen

Power of Thank You
A good day

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