WELCOME TO ST PAUL'S ANGLICAN PARISH, MANUKA, WITH ST DAVID'S, RED HILL
|
WELCOME TO ST PAUL'S ANGLICAN PARISH, MANUKA, WITH ST DAVID'S, RED HILL
|
|
|
Sermon – St Paul’s Manuka Sunday, June 8, 2008 Sermon by Rev'd Dr Peter G. Pocock That little word ‘faith’ – it is a strange word, used in so many varying ways and contexts, and to each of us it means something different. One dictionary suggests that faith is one of many things:
Last time I occupied this pulpit I told you a story, a story about a beautiful Red Setter which we called Woofter. No, I am not going to repeat it today, especially as one parishioner said to me after my last sermon “no more sad dog stories please.” But I do want to tell you of the faith journey that beautiful dog lead most of my family on. A few weeks ago it was my mother’s 80th birthday. She is a spritely lively lovely woman, whose faith in God is unending and never failing. For her birthday she and I took a short vacation to Coffs Harbour, and settled ourselves into a lovely 5 star resort for five nights – the first vacation that I can remember that mom and I have had together, just the two of us. On the second or third day of our trip we decided to take a drive up to Dorrigo, to see some of the national park, to have lunch and then return home. As we headed up the mountain all was quite when mom said, “you know, I have been thinking of Woofter lately! I would not be celebrating this wonderful birthday had it not been for him. What an incredible gift he was to all of us!” Since that day over fifty years ago, mom’s faith in God has not wavered. She has journeyed through the dark and difficult places in life, and yet, her faith has made her well. There has always been that sense that God had a purpose for her, and that whatever the cost, the path must be walked. Like Abraham, and like many of you, she stepped out in faith, and certainly her family has been blessed, and many others besides. Hers is just one story. There are many others. Some of you have had similar experiences and faith journeys, others experiences have been different. Part of my mother’s faith journey was to recognise in others their God-given gifts and talents, and to help them to bring those talents to fruition. As a child I remember clearly that we did not have what a lot of other children had. Money was not abundant, and often we went without. Of course, when you have twins, expenses are doubled all at the same time – instead of one school uniform, there has to be two, and hand-me-downs are not something that can enter into your vocabulary. Music lessons could not even be considered in our early years, even though both my brother and I showed some talent in this area. Instead, we had to wait. Finally, my brother was able to borrow a trumpet from the local bandmaster, and he soon got beyond the fluffed notes, and began to make beautiful music. I, on the other hand, was not too interested in brass instruments, but really wanted to play the organ – I had heard that wonderful music of Felix Mendelssohn: “War March of the Priests” played by our local church organist, and was in awe, I wanted to be able to play it just like he did. Of course, before you can learn to play the organ you have to have piano lessons. However, borrowing a piano just simply was out of the question. So, my mother managed to negotiate a deal with a lady up the street, Mrs Nash, to allow me to practice on her piano every afternoon after school. I did this faithfully for nearly two years, and by the end of those two years I could play “War March of the Priests” from memory on the piano. However, it was still not an organ. Somehow, when I was sixteen, mom managed to find the funds for me to travel to Christ Church Cathedral in Newcastle each Wednesday afternoon after lunch (the Head Master of my high school agreed that I could skip out on sports, as I certainly did not add anything of quality to that program). So, mom would drive me to Toronto on Wednesdays during her lunch break, and I would catch the bus to Newcastle, have my organ lesson on the large pipe organ in the Cathedral, and then return home on the train. All this to simply be able to play that beautiful organ and the wonderful music composed for it over the centuries. I soon learnt that playing a large pipe organ was the equivalent in today’s terms of driving a Jumbo Jet without the autopilot. To coordinate two hands, two feet, and ten fingers was an incredible challenge, but one that the human brain manages very well. This whole experience in those formative teenage years of my life would forever change the course of the rest of my life. First, it was my introduction to Anglicanism, something that was to take another 30 years or so to come to fruition. Second, it built in me a love for church and a love for music and liturgy, that has remained with me ever since, and grown immensely over the years. One persons faith in me so many years ago, and many others faith and guidance along the way, brought me to where I am today – brought me to a point that I and others recognise through our expertise that there is work to be done in this church – work of restoration and maintenance of our pipe organ so that we may continue to be fed and lead in worship, so that we may bring to God an offering of the very best in music that we are able to offer. We can only do that if the instrument is well maintained and ready for others like that 16 year old boy so many years ago, to be enraptured by the sound, the technicalities and the challenges of the instrument. The organ of St Paul’s is in sore need of restoration, much of it fails regularly, and this particular instrument is much worse, and much more frustrating to pilot than any Jumbo Jet. As you will see in the brochure that we have prepared for you, there are considerable issues that need to be addressed, the first of which is a new console for the organ – i.e. new keyboards, new pedals, and a layout that integrates the pipe and digital voices seamlessly. Some of us have taken a leap of faith and said, this needs to be done. Now we are asking you to take that same leap of faith, to dig into your pockets as we have done, and to help us restore this instrument to its full glory. Incidentally, if any of you are interested in looking, I am happy to show you around the pipe chambers so that you may further understand the issues that we are facing with the instrument. Are you prepared to step out in faith as we have done, and support us in this challenging restoration work? The Lord be With You!
© Peter Pocock 2008 |
|
Last modified: August 18, 2008 |