Bishop John

I was in Melbourne recently and caught up with two outstanding young Tasmanian theologians who are taking Ridley College by storm: our very own Chris and Luke. They are seen here bringing ‘The Bish’ up to date with the latest theological insights and catching up re goings on back in Tasmania. We had a good yarn over lunch: they claim it’s their only meal of the semester! – Well, they didn’t this time 😉

I asked them about my blogging and their tips included:

• Issues, contemporary
• Book reviews
• Photos – occasional/people and places
• Future of Anglican Church, National and International
• Guest blogging
• Bishop’s timetable, events, schedules
  

  

• Bible & Devotional reflections
• Top 5: eg, Movies; Stalls at Taste of Tasmania;
• Worst 5: eg, things in ministry; Strangest 5: eg, things in ministry

What is helpful about a blogging bishop?

• Makes the Bishop available
• Is communicating the Bishop’s views
• Is a reference point

A stimulating time. Thanks, guys! I hope I’ve understood you rightly. If not, let me know 🙂

Fancy going down in history by your nickname! This could be quite scary. But not for Joseph from the island of Cyprus who was nicknamed ‘Barnabas’ – Acts 4:36.

St Barnabas is the only capital ‘S’ ‘Saint’ I am aware of who is known and celebrated by his nickname. How did this come about? Let’s look at what the apostles who gave him this nickname saw in him:

1. Generosity of finances – Acts 4:36,37.
2. Generosity of hospitality and full of courage. Barnabas goes to Saul the former persecutor of the Christians to welcome him into the Church in Jerusalem – Acts 9:26, 27.
3. Generosity in recognising God’s grace in action. Not a ‘glass half full or glass half empty’ person but an identifier of God’s grace. Barnabas accepted the gentile converts as being true Christians – Acts 11:22-24.
4. Generosity in ministry. Barnabas sought out Paul to join him in ministry in Antioch – Acts 11:25.
5. Generosity and trusted leader. The Antioch Christians ask Barnabas and Paul to take their gift to the needy Christians in Judea – Acts 11:27-30.
6. Mission hearted in evangelism. After their return from Jerusalem the Church at Antioch sent Barnabas and Paul on a missionary trip to Cyprus and southern Galatia (Acts 13 & 14).
7. Encourager of the grace of God in people’s lives. Barnabas is sent with Paul to argue the case for full inclusion of gentile converts into the Christian family, the Church, at the Council of Jerusalem – Acts 15:1-35.
8. A believer and doer of the gospel of the ‘second-chance’. Barnabas takes John Mark who failed to see through an earlier missionary journey, with him on a second missionary journey – Acts 12:12,25; 13:5,13; 15:36-41.
9. Reconciler. Barnabas is reconciled with Paul – 1 Corinthians 9:6.
10. Blessed in his ministry. The second chance that Barnabas gave to John Mark was truly used by the Holy Spirit in John Mark’s life and this was recognised in humility by Paul who asked for John Mark to come to be with him when in gaol in Rome – 2 Tim 4:11; Philemon 24; Col 4:10.

In summary, Joseph of Cyprus ‘was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith’ (Acts 11:24) and the apostles nicknamed him Barnabas, ‘son of encouragement’ – Acts 4:36.

May the sons and daughters of encouragement, the ‘Barnabases’ flourish among us.

[Preparation notes for an invitation sermon, St George’s Sorell on 12 July 2009.
June 11 is the lectionary celebration of St Barnabas, Apostle & Martyr. Bible readings: Job 29:11-16; Psalm 98; Acts 11:22-30; 13:1-3; Matthew 10:7-13]

Russell the Registrar, sent me the following blog post link with his line ‘blogging is good for your health’. I think it is a pastoral gesture from him. I did enjoy the title of the article: ‘Last post for world’s oldest blogger’. Some people have a way with words.

5 July 2009

Dear Bishop John,

The Mercury (newspaper) article (13/6) was fairly even handed, but on reading the comments from both the nurse and the doctor, it seems that there may be problems convincing both these groups of health professionals to participate even if the (euthanasia) bill became legal. Nurses and doctors take an oath to preserve life. Both professions can be censured for deliberately ending a patient’s life, so it seems unlikely that there would be ready participation. Social mores and convention would be likely to prevail, as it already does, with many doctors and nurses refusing to take part in early or late term terminations of pregnancy; some nurses or doctors also refuse to participate in sterilisation surgery, vasectomy and tubal ligations. This is considered professionally appropriate; so I can only assume that if the bill became law it may run into the same issues.

Jo and I attended a seminar on this matter sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church in Launceston last Wednesday. The speakers, Barbara Baker, a palliative care nurse, Dr Paul Dunn, a palliative specialist and Dr Stan Gauden, a radiation oncologist, reinforced my stand against this bill. Having spent 35 years of my nursing practice teaching and administering in aged care and palliative care, I remain convinced of the sanctity of human life; we do not give life therefore we cannot take it away. It is against the law of the land and also church law.

I shall be writing a submission to the committee, in which I shall give my objections; as in spite of its name (Dying with Dignity) the bill is an affront to human dignity. The countries who already have such a bill, The Netherlands and Belgium are already having to rethink their approach to these matters because of complaints of abuses, and of course we all know where such distortions of the law led to the abuse of power in Nazi Germany.

I realise that many will see my stand as one not to be taken seriously because it is “tainted” by my Christian faith! Well so be it!

I trust these observations will be useful to you.

Yours in Christ,

Marie White

PS Dear Bishop John, yes I am happy to see this letter on your blog. I would urge all Christians to speak against this bill, rather than remain passive. Many elderly people in the Netherlands are frightened of hospital admission because of the laws there.  Marie

NOTE: Suggestions on making a submission can be found at www.makeastand.org.au and details on where to send submissions can be found at http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ctee/CTEEnotes.htm.

Thought provoking Encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI. Many pearls including,

9. Love in truth – caritas in veritate – is a great challenge for the Church in a world that is becoming progressively and pervasively globalized. The risk for our time is that the de facto interdependence of people and nations is not matched by ethical interaction of consciences and minds that would give rise to truly human development. Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more humane and humanizing value. The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21), opening up the path towards reciprocity of consciences and liberties.

75. . . . Here we see the clearest expression of (the dangers of) technology’s supremacy. In this type of culture, the conscience is simply invited to take note of technological possibilities. Yet we must not underestimate the disturbing scenarios that threaten our future, or the powerful new instruments that the “culture of death” has at its disposal. To the tragic and widespread scourge of abortion we may well have to add in the future – indeed it is already surreptiously present – the systematic eugenic programming of births. At the other end of the spectrum, a pro-euthanasia mindset is making inroads as an equally damaging assertion of control over life that under certain circumstances is deemed no longer worth living. Underlying these scenarios are cultural viewpoints that deny human dignity. These practices in turn foster a materialistic and mechanistic understanding of human life. Who could measure the negative effects of this kind of mentality for development? How can we be surprised by the indifference shown towards situations of human degradation, when such indifference extends even to our attitude towards what is and is not human? What is astonishing is the arbitrary and selective determination of what to put forward today as worthy of respect. Insignificant matters are considered shocking, yet unprecedented injustices seem to be widely tolerated. While the poor of the world continue knocking on the doors of the rich, the world of affluence runs the risk of no longer hearing those knocks, on account of a conscience that can no longer distinguish what is human. God reveals man to himself; reason and faith work hand in hand to demonstrate to us what is good, provided we want to see it; the natural law, in which creative Reason shines forth, reveals our greatness, but also our wretchedness insofar as we fail to recognize the call to moral truth.

Reading this so soon after my prayer retreat I was encouraged by the theme of the Encyclical’s final section,

79. Development needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer

And so to prayer and work with gratitude to Pope Benedict for the stimulating Encyclical Letter ‘Caritas in Veritate’ here.