Farewell service Revd David Hinchliffe
On Sunday 22nd June, people from around the Methodist SE District attended the farewell service for our Chair of District: Revd. Dr. David Hinchliffe. For those not able to make it in person to Eastbourne the service was livestreamed.
David became Chair in 2019, having joined the District from Guernsey. For these last six years he has led with wisdom, humility and generosity and will be sadly missed. Our loss with be Darlington’s gain. The despite the sadness of saying goodbye, the service was an uplifting one.
David is a gifted preacher and I want here to share the essence of his sermon because its message is so ‘on point’ for us as Christians and churchgoers today.
The New Testament reading on which he based it was Philippians 2: 1- 18 and whilst I don’t believe he headed it up with a title, I feel the key message was that we should ‘shine like stars’ (Phil. 2: 15b). So here it is: ‘Shine like stars’ There was some preamble about the privilege of having served as Chair and he told some funny stories, including his experience of opening the Lighthouse Play Centre at Offington Methodist Church. There was, he said, no liturgy in the Methodist Worship Book for such an occasion and he also discovered that wearing a cassock whilst trying out the ball pit was not a dignified combination!
Having given thanks to all for their support and giving him the opportunity to serve, he went on to say how easy it is at a service of farewell to focus on one person or look back over the last few years. But this verse had been constantly in his ears as he prepared for this day: ‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory for the sake of your steadfast love and faithfulness.’ (Ps. 115:1) ‘Today,’ he said, ‘is a day to give thanks and glory to God.’
David’s favourite film (according to his son, he has watched it at least 15 times) is ‘Conclave.’ If ever there was a fantastic sales pitch it must surely be to write a book, have it turned into a movie and then to actually have a conclave! There is a powerful scene in the film where the cardinals are fiercely arguing over what the Church needs and therefore what the next pope should be like. In the middle of this the unknown junior Cardinal Benitez reminds his fellow cardinals:
“But these things are not the Church. The Church is not tradition. The Church is not the past. The Church is what we do next.”
The relationship between Paul and the Philippians was a close one. Although almost certainly imprisoned when he wrote it, Paul longed to visit them. So he wrote to tell them in the midst of deeply turbulent times how they were to live and be. In the midst of deeply turbulent times how are WE to live and be? Paul’s answer was that they should, “Do all things without murmuring or arguing so that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation in which you shine like stars in the world.” (Philipp. 2: 14 – 15)
For certain, this is true today. We are living in dangerous and turbulent times when we hardly dare to turn on the news for fear of what will have happened next, in Israel, in Iran, in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Russia, in Myanmar……and the list goes on.
But, as Paul tells the Philippians, in the midst of this we are to shine like stars in the world.
So how, in this dark and frightening world, do we shine like stars? Quoting the late Pope Francis: “It is not whether you believe but whether you are believable.”
Doctrine is not enough. It is living out our faith in Jesus, in the lives of every Christian, that matters. The Church is what we do next. YOU shine like stars, for this is what we know to be true: no one will believe what they cannot see. If they do not see the light of Jesus shining in and through us, why should they believe in Jesus?
Being a follower of Jesus is simply doing what he did. Even though, like the disciples, we sometimes mix worship and hesitation and uncertainty, we are to go out – we are not to stay in the confines of chapel or church. We are to make disciples – actually new disciples! – not because this is about institutional survival but because we have good news to share. Light is shining in the darkness of our broken world.
How much time do we spend growing in discipleship, in prayer, in Bible reading or worshipping or serving? How many new disciples have come among us in the last 5 years? The last 10 years? This last year? Our commission still is to go, make disciples, baptise them and teach them what it means to follow Jesus. Our task and privilege is to inspire, encourage and enable one another in our walk with Jesus and equally to inspire, encourage and enable others to discover Jesus. To find a Lord who lived, died and rose again for love of them and who is with us now to the very end of the age.
We have such good news to share, such love to make real in our hurting world so….shine like stars that the world might see and believe because who they see are believable as the followers of Jesus.
The Church is not tradition, the Church is not the past – though we can learn from those things. The Church is what we do next. Amen
To watch the service and David’s sermon in full please use this link:
Sharon