Mirror, Mirror

So, good morning again, everyone.

It was this time last year that I stood up and I launched Follow 25.

It's our strategic plan, if you like, to shift the ministry culture of this church

to a deliberate development of all of life disciples of Jesus Christ by the end of 2025.

So, this is my, and I'm excited to be able to extend upon that now.

This is my 14th Vision Series here at St Paul's.

I love Vision Series every year.

And this particular one, when I launched it last year, I thought it was crucial

in terms of where we are as a church and where our neighbourhood is and where our society is.

That is, the audacious intent of Follow 25 is really simple.

And that is to see the majority of us identifying much growth in faith in Jesus Christ

through the ministry of this church by the end of 2025.

That is, my goal, our goal for each one of us and for us collectively as a church

is that we would grow significantly in God confidence, even as our society's confidence in God declines.

That's the intent of it.

And it's a goal for us to grow together.

Now, the reason we have this plan is because I am utterly convinced, utterly convinced,

that we as human beings flourish in all of life to the degree that we walk in all of life with our Creator and our Saviour.

Without that, we don't flourish in life.

And so, Follow 25 is about you and you flourishing in all of life.

You having hope and joy and security, whatever the situation of life is.

Living life well forever.

That's the goal of Follow 25.

And it's for you and it's for us together as we grow in God confidence.

We are seeking to do this together in a neighbourhood that not only has little to no confidence in God,

but also a neighbourhood that is so culturally diverse.

And so, following Jesus together is not an easy thing to do.

There are a multitude of barriers to that.

Nevertheless, we are seeking to be a church that, despite our cultural backgrounds, our ethnicities, our genders, our preferences,

we are looking to make Jesus the main thing in life.

We're looking to look at Him and be united around Him.

Now, our diversity can be a significant challenge.

And so, in this vision series, I plan to take a look at a very complex issue that is rampant around our world.

And it's the issue of racism, ethnocentricity, and how we're going to go about building an inclusive,

multi-ethnic, multi-racial church, transcultural church here at St. Paul's.

That is, the goal at the end of this, I suppose, is to understand ourselves a little bit better,

understand other people a little bit better,

and then to be able to grow together in that understanding.

So, that's where we're going.

And to kick us off, I just got a whole, if you like, swag of things I want to say by way of introduction.

For those of you who are keen Bible people,

please forgive me that I'm not jumping straight into the text,

and I'm not getting straight to Jesus.

Okay?

View this message today as part one of a four- to five-part series on this initially,

in terms of the biblical unpacking of race and ethnicity.

So, think of that first.

This is the introduction to that.

So, a number of things.

Some preliminary thoughts about racism and ethnocentricity.

If you've got the St. Paul's app, you will find this in the St. Paul's app.

Firstly, defining racism and ethnocentricity is not easy.

In most cases, when you read about this issue, those terms are used interchangeably.

But I'm going to have a crack at it anyway, even though it's not easy to define.

So, here we go.

Racism is an explicit or an implicit belief or practice

that qualitatively distinguishes or values one race over another race.

That's racism, as I see it.

Explicitly or implicitly a belief or a practice

that qualitatively distinguishes or values one race over another race.

Now, in that definition, I'm thinking of race primarily in terms of physical features.

Racism, therefore, makes judgments based on physical appearance.

And so, you see someone of some kind of physical makeup

and then what you do is you make cultural assumptions about that person

as a result of that, just by appearance.

That's racism.

Now, the focus of this definition is the heart and behaviour.

The heart that believes one race is more valuable than another

is a sinful heart.

That sin is called racism.

The behaviour that distinguishes one race,

owes more valuable than another,

is a sinful behaviour,

and that sin is called racism.

And I want to say right up front,

it is always a sin.

Always a sin.

It is always wrong to treat a person

with any form of disrespect

on the basis of their physical appearance.

Now, ethnicity is slightly different.

It's a term that's used to stress cultural

rather than physical aspects of a group identity.

Things like language and dress and food and customs and values

and sometimes religion.

The two are different,

but they're connected.

That is, when you see a person,

you then make ethnic assumptions about them.

Now, where it's always wrong

to judge a person on their appearance,

I think there are biblical and moral bounds,

we are biblically and morally bound

to make some value judgments

about ethnicities over others.

That is,

where those cultural assumptions of that group

is fundamentally unbiblical,

and that valuing of ethnicities

is rooted in biblical teaching about good and evil.

That should not be called racism at that point,

when we are challenging cultural assumptions,

including our own.

That is, there's aspect of every culture

that is sinful and needs transforming.

Every culture is sinful and needs transforming.

Now, secondly,

why I think this series is important for us.

It's important for us

because of what we're seeking to do here

in building disciples of Christ in our neighbourhood.

Let me just say that straight up.

I also think it's important

because we're doing that in a country

that has traditionally struggled with multiculturalism.

On the one hand,

Australia has been remarkably hospitable,

remarkably hospitable towards migrants.

But on the other hand,

traditional Australian attitude

towards different races and ethnicities

is that they should be assimilated

as quickly as possible.

That means we are open-armed,

we are welcoming for you,

wherever your background is,

on certain conditions.

And the general certain conditions are

that you embrace the Australian way of life

and its values.

And values are the thing

that always underwrite a culture.

So you need to accept our values.

It's essential that you learn the English language.

It's essential as well

that you don't rob natural Australians

of jobs and other opportunities

like healthcare and education

and so on and so forth.

It's crucial that you leave

any of your racial and cultural tensions

behind with you

and don't import them here.

It's crucial that you don't lower

the Australian standard of living

by imposing too much strain

on our infrastructure

and certainly not on our welfare system.

So assimilation has been key

to Australia's policy on multiculturalism.

In fact, the term new Australians

was the term that came into vogue

in the 1950s and 60s.

And the goal of that multiculturalism

was to place your newfound Australian identity

above any other identity you have.

And so while Australia

has been incredibly hospitable and welcoming,

we have struggled to fully embrace

and also really struggled

to hand over any form of control,

power,

or cultural influence

to other ethnicities,

other cultural groups.

And you see this rampant

in the Western church,

not just in Australia,

but across the Western world,

where European culture

has dominated church culture

in the Western world,

even as those churches

are existing in neighbourhoods like ours

that have become very racially diverse.

That's an ethnicity issue,

not a racial issue, per se.

So in the next few weeks,

I want to unpack

how that has impacted

the way that we do church

here at St Paul's

and explain some of the key moves

that we've made

and to what it looks like for us

to continue to make those moves

to be a church

that truly treasures Jesus together

and for the joy of all people.

Third introductory comment.

I'm acutely aware

of my own failure in this issue.

I grew up in a country town

dominated by white

country Australian culture.

We had a Greek cafe,

which was run by the Greek family.

We had a Chinese restaurant

at the RSL

run by,

I hope it was a Chinese family.

The thing is,

I never saw them,

so I'm assuming they were Chinese

running that Chinese restaurant.

And we had,

the other,

apart from us,

white farmers

was Aboriginals.

And I had

Aboriginal friendships

as I grew up.

But I was fundamentally

racist towards them.

I'll unpack that more

as I go along.

So on one level,

I don't feel like

I'm the right guy

to be up here

talking on this topic.

There are people

who are much further advanced

than I am

on this issue

in thinking and practice.

I also want to acknowledge

the other reason

why I think

I'm not the right guy

to be up here

talking about this.

There are people

in this room

and certainly people

that you are very aware of

who live with racism

and ethnocentricity

in a way

that I just simply

never have.

purely because

I represent

majority culture

in our society.

In fact,

I never even

had to think

and I don't even

ever recall

ever thinking

about racism

and ethnocentricity

until I started

ministering

at St Paul's.

I didn't even

have to think

about it

because everything

went my way

from workplaces

to shopping centres

to everything.

As a member

of the western

white majority culture

almost unaware

of these realities.

I've never known

the experience

of trying to understand

another culture

and race

in order

just to survive

day by day.

It's only because

of here

and this place

that I've had

to wrestle

with and learn

about how

other people

groups

understand

time,

the use of space

to think,

to solve problems,

to understand

relationships

between individuals

and groups,

express emotions,

handle failures

and judge status.

I suspect

that nearly

every racial

minority group

in this country

understands

white Australian

culture

really well.

They're confronted

with it

because it

challenges

their ethnicity

every moment.

but us

white Australians

are far more

ignorant

of other

cultures

and how they

operate

simply because

we've never

had to.

You need

to do things

our way.

So,

what that means

is

throughout this

time

I'm going to

say some

wrong stuff.

I'm going to

say some

silly stuff.

It's not

deliberate.

It will

potentially

even be

an inadvertent

racism

and

ethnocentricity.

So,

please have

patience with

me

is what I'm

saying.

Fourthly,

this is

a really

hot issue

in our

culture

right now.

It's a

hot issue

but most

white Australians

aren't aware

that it's a

hot issue.

And I

think the

Christian faith

has got

something very

significant to

contribute to

this issue

although I

suspect the

institutional church

will not be

heard because of

our abuses.

Australia's

race

commissioner,

race

discrimination

commissioner

said around

six or seven

years ago

that this is

the most

volatile time

of the past

30 to 40

years of racial

tension in

our country.

This at a

time when

apparently we're

growing more

tolerant with

one another.

There's an

irony to that

comment.

Now,

Christian faith

has got

something very

significant to

contribute here.

I want to

give you an

example of

what I

mean.

W.H.

Auden,

one of the

most influential

writers of the

20th century,

was converted

from his

intellectual,

secular humanism

to Christianity

in 1940.

So think of

what's happening

in the world

in 1940.

And he was

converted through

one event,

one thing

radically changed

him.

And that was

he went to

the cinemas,

what we call

the cinemas

now,

in Manhattan

and he saw

a movie

that was

produced by

Hitler's

Third Reich.

book.

It was a

propaganda

piece

about their

conquering of

Poland.

And Auden

said that in

the movie

theater with

him were

many migrant

Jews watching

this film.

And he said

when a

Polish person,

a prisoner,

came up onto

the screen,

he said the

audience

immediately

erupted

with,

kill him,

kill him.

This is

1940 Manhattan

and they

weren't involved

in the war

at this point.

He said

he walked

out of the

movie theater

stunned,

stunned,

because his

secular humanism

was the

foundation of

Nazi

secular

humanism.

He said

philosophically

I sit on

the same

page as

some of

these

people.

And he

said one

thought ran

through his

mind as he

walked out of

the theater.

He says

what response

can my

enlightened

humanistic

tradition give

to those who

cry out for

the blood of

innocent

victims?

He said

he's got no

response to

that.

No

response.

He saw

the bankruptcy

of humanism,

of secularism,

and began to

sense that

the only

answer to

evil can

be found

in God.

He was

convicted,

like,

literally in

that moment

by God's

grace,

of God's

perfection and

holiness and

his sinfulness,

1940 became a

Christian.

Now having

said that,

I fully,

it's great

having a story

like that,

but I fully

acknowledge that

others have

made the

exact opposite

journey.

because of

the awful

track record

of the

institutional

church on

this issue,

there have

been many,

many professing

Christians and

churches who

have long,

long held

membership in

local people,

long held

membership in

local churches,

denominations,

stand up to

declare creeds,

stick to a

conservative,

orthodox faith,

and at the

same time hold

membership cards

in the Ku Klux

Klan.

So what do

you do when

you find stories

that give you

some comfort that

Christianity has

offered a solution

to ethnic pride

and other stories

that show Christianity

is part of the

problem?

What do you do

with that?

What you do is

you go to the

Bible and you

ask whether they

got Christianity

right or on

the other hand

they got humanism

right.

And when I ask

those questions

I don't see

that secular

humanism as we

see particularly

in our culture

today has got

any answers to

this solution.

I'll get to one

reason why that

is the case in a

moment.

Secondly,

humanism does

want to promote

a selfless

morality and an

equality of all

people.

you see that

all the time.

It does

desire to have

a more humane

society but I'm

not convinced

that you can

deliver on those

goals for a

more equal

humanity when

you embrace an

atheistic

evolutionary theory

that suggests that

humans come from

lower forms of

life.

If that's your

foundation you

cannot hold at

the same time to

the supreme

dignity of all

human beings.

It's

intellectually

incompatible.

When that is

your foundation,

the view of the

human race, it

is so easy to

fall into

racism because

the differences

are explained by

saying that other

groups of people

are less

involved, are

less evolved.

And that is

what has happened

amongst academia

and now is

happening in our

society.

You conservatives

down there, the

problem with you is

you just are not as

evolved as us

modern people in

your thinking.

It's happening

now.

So when I go to

the Bible, I see a

totally different

thing than the

version of

Christianity that

supports racism and

ethnic pride.

And I just think

also we just need

to be honest about

our history, history

of the Christian

church, history of

the Christian church

in the western

world and say that

the institutional

church has blown

it again and again

and again and again

on this issue.

Done some remarkably

great stuff but we've

also blown it.

We've also blown it.

Almost I think every

people group has got a

story to tell of the

failure of the

institutional church

and I don't think I

want to even fight

that.

Don't think I want to

argue against that.

I just want to say

yep, I know and I'm

sorry.

I'm sorry for what I've

done to contribute to

that.

Not all those who

profess to be followers

of Christ are

followers of Christ even

if they represent the

church and those of us

who are are so

imperfect.

perfect.

We will blow it

too.

So can we just

please look at the

Bible I think and

look to Jesus and see

what they've got to

say here.

So how about we do

that now?

And as I said this is

a journey over the

next number of years

sorry next number of

weeks.

It might feel like

years at the end of

it.

Next number of weeks

and unpacking this

as we go along.

And really the point

here is I want to

focus here on a core

creation foundation

doctrine of the image

of God.

So let's jump into

there.

Over the next number

of weeks I want to

look at what the

Bible and the

Christian faith, the

core news of the

gospel local church

has got this

contribution to make.

This is the

foundation of what

we're seeking to be

and achieve here as a

church if you like.

So my plan is to

trace out this issue

of race and how it

develops in the

Bible.

We're going to begin

with creation.

I will get to Jesus

eventually.

Okay so we'll get

there eventually.

Let's begin with just

a creation principle

and how that flows

from the Old

Testament into the

New Testament.

So the point I want

to make today is very

significant because in

dealing with race and

ethnic pride even

before I get to

Jesus this point is

crucial.

Genesis chapter 1

Genesis 1:27

verse 27

God created

people.

He created man in

his own image.

In the image of God

he created him.

Male and female he

created them.

That verse is utterly

profound,

significant,

packed full of

implications.

And I'm not going to

hit all the

implications in

that,

out of that verse.

But simply to say

Adam and Eve is the

first human beings

were created in the

image of God,

different from all of

other creation.

And every subsequent

human being born from

Adam and Eve also

carry the image of God.

God.

So Genesis 5

Genesis 5:3

verse 3,

when Adam had

lived 130 years,

he had a son in

his own likeness,

in his own image,

and he named him

Seth.

The words likeness and

image there are

exactly the same two

words that are used in

Genesis 1.

And the point is that

that image carries on.

carries on through

people.

The first pair are

not the only pair,

the only people in

the image of God.

Those who come from

them are all in the

image of God too.

So the implication

here is the

unity of the

human race.

Every human

that flows from

Adam and Eve,

which Acts 17

tells us is

everyone,

is creating

the image of God.

Now I don't want to

go into every detail

of what that means

in terms of what it

means to be an image

of God.

There's a whole list

of attributes you

could go through it

in terms of listing

them off and tick

it off what it

means.

And I think it's

collectively just take

them all as done

dusted there.

One thing is very

significant though,

is in Genesis 1

when it talks about

your job is to

rule over

the created

order.

It's the word

dominion there.

The word dominion

means royalty.

That is,

there's something

about the

image of God

that means that

there's a royal

dignity.

For us who are

Westerners,

who are

English heritage

Westerners,

that would be

significant in the

70th year of

Queen Elizabeth's

reign.

70 years.

Amazing.

dignity.

And she carries

a dignity about

her.

But there's a

royal dignity

attached to every

human being,

whatever their

status in life

is.

Now the

unfortunate thing

is that Genesis

1 doesn't give us

a specific footnote

on what the image

of God means.

So rather than

pick up one of

the wonderful

human traits,

I want to see

image of God

as us

image

forth

in God.

Bearing his

image is

displaying his

image.

Like nothing

else in creation

can.

So being

created in the

image of God,

that means it

has a purpose.

It has a

mission to it.

Humans

have traits

like God

that display

God's

magnificence,

glory.

So rather than

argue about the

details,

let's take it

as image of

God here as

being a

mission.

And that

mission is to

mirror God,

to display his

magnificence,

his beauty,

his royal

dignity, if you

like, to

display God,

to live in such

a way that we

reflect the

character and the

quality of God.

Now that is a

massive calling,

but I think

that's the

point of

Psalm 8,

which we had

read out to us.

If you want to

flick your Bibles

to Psalm 8,

let me just show

you something

really briefly.

Psalm 8 is

going to be

unpacked for us

a little bit

later in this

series,

but I'm just

doing an

introductory thing

here,

just to help

James to set

the framework

for when he

preaches it.

Or not.

Psalm 8 is

interesting.

It begins

with,

O Lord,

our Lord,

how majestic

is your name

in all the

earth.

And it ends

in exactly the

same way,

in verse 9.

O Lord,

our Lord,

how majestic

is your name

in all the

earth.

Very significant.

It's majestic

in all the

earth.

God is

majestic.

That's the

point.

That's the

bookends of

Psalm 8.

And so it's

interesting how

the rest of

the Psalm

connects to

those bookends.

You have set

your glory above

the heavens.

From the lips

of children and

infants,

you have ordained

praise because of

your enemies.

To silence the

foe and the

avenger.

When I consider

your heavens,

the work of

your fingers,

the moon,

the stars,

which you

have set in

place.

What is

man that you

are mindful of

him, the

son of man

that you care

for him?

What's the

answer to that

question?

What's the

answer to

specifically that

question?

You made him

a little lower

than the

heavenly beings

and you

crowned him

with glory

and honour

or possibly

a slightly

better

understanding

of that

is you

crowned

him with

glory

and majesty,

royal

dignity,

dominion.

And then

the psalmist

goes on to

describe the

uniqueness of

humanity.

You made

him ruler

over the

works of

your hands.

You put

everything under

his feet or

flocks and

herds and

beasts of

the field,

the birds of

the air,

the fish of

the sea,

all that

swim the

paths of

the seas.

That is,

what we see

in Psalm

8 is

clearly the

psalmist has

got Genesis

1 open

here,

reflecting on

Genesis 1.

But the

psalmist does

not end

with, as you

would anticipate

as you go

through the

psalm,

oh Lord,

how majestic

are human

beings.

Doesn't do

that, which

you'd think he

would.

He did

say it a

little bit

earlier, but

it's not the

point of

the psalm.

The psalm

ends with,

oh Lord,

our Lord,

how majestic

is your

name in

all the

earth.

The psalm

ends on the

point of

praise of

God, which

means the

point of

God's

creation here

according to

Psalm 8 of

everything,

and particularly

the dignity

and the

majesty of

human beings,

the point of

our subordinated

majesty above

all the

creatures is

for the

praise of

God's name.

It's for

his glory.

That means

everything that

we have received

in image of

God is for

the glory of

God, not for

the praise and

the majesty of

humanity.

But we're

still glorious

regardless,

which at the

very least,

it means

that if you

demean or

you belittle

anyone created

for that

end,

you in the

end

belittle,

demean

God.

You

rupture the

purpose of

all people

created in

the image of

God to

show his

majesty to

all people

when you

demean another

human being.

Now, this

creation doctrine

of the image of

God, even

apart from

redemption in

Jesus, and

we will get

there, even

apart from

redemption in

Jesus, has

got massive

implications for

us, even

more so

post-Jesus, but

massive implications

even without

that.

The horror

of unjustly

destroying or

harming another

human being in

Genesis 9-6,

whoever sheds

the blood of

man by man

shall his

blood be shed,

for in the

image of

God has

God made

man.

God has

massive

implications for

even the way

we speak to

another human

being.

James 3,

James 3:9–10

verses 9-10,

James picks

up a

creation

argument,

not a

redemption

argument, a

creation

argument.

with the

we praise

our Lord

and Father

and with

it we curse

men who

have been

made in

God's

likeness.

Out of

the same

mouth come

praise and

cursing.

My brothers,

this should

not be.

Both of

those arguments

are straight

from creation

apart from

redemption in

Jesus.

the image

of God

has massive

implications for

racial pride.

In Acts 17,

Paul makes

the common

origins of

all human

beings, the

ground of

equality and

the end of

ethnic

arrogance.

Paul is in

Athens in

Acts 17

speaking to

the Athenians.

They were a

very proud group

of people,

very proud.

everyone else

in their

culture who

was not

Athenian was

regarded as a

barbarian.

If you've

watched any

movie that's

got barbarians

in it,

they are just

a nasty group

of people.

That's just

who they are.

They don't even

shower for

goodness sake.

They just

come across

nasty and

dirty and

horrible.

Paul gets

one sermon

to this

group,

one sermon,

and what

does he say

to them?

He wants

to pick

on the

racial pride

issue.

He says,

the God

who made

the world

and everything

in it is

the Lord

of heaven

and earth

and does

not live

in temples

built by

hands.

And he

is not

served by

human hands

as if he

needed anything

because he

himself gives

all men

life and

breath and

everything else.

From one

man,

he made

every nation

of men.

Why does

he say

that?

There's

lots of

other things

he could

have picked

up in

that culture.

Why does

he say

that?

From one

man,

he made

every nation

of men

that they

should inhabit

the whole

earth and

he determined

the times

set for

them and

the exact

places where

they should

live.

See what he's

saying here?

Let me do

the Steve

Jeffrey version

of Apostle

Paul.

You

Athenians,

you just

think you

are so

special.

You are

so proud.

You think

you've got

some unique

origin direct

from the

soil.

Everyone

else are

all connected

but you're

not.

You've got

this special

boom where

we're separate

from everyone

else.

You think

that everyone

else is

inferior.

You call

them barbarians.

I got something

to tell you.

Let me tell

you Athenians,

you and the

barbarians whom

you hate,

you've all got

one daddy.

Surprise,

surprise,

the DNA test

has come out

and you're

all connected.

All connected.

And it's God

who decides

where you end

up and where

you live and

the way you

should look and

the reason why

you talk the

way you talk.

It's all

God's gifting.

diversity.

Why?

Why?

Why has

God done

this according

to Paul?

What is

God's goal

in making

all this

diversity?

God did

this so

that men

would seek

him and

perhaps reach

out for him

and find

him though

he is not

far from

each of us.

For in

him we,

everyone,

live and

move and

have our

being as

some of

our own,

your own

prophet,

sorry,

poets.

I've had

several weeks

off.

Some of

your own

poets have

said we

are his

offspring.

Against the

claims of

racial superiority,

Paul here

asserts the

unity of all

people,

it is

foundational,

fundamental,

to Pauline

theology,

the doctrine

of creation.

He is

using this

theology to

undermine pride

and arrogance

and segregation,

superiority,

oppression,

the assertion

of preferences

upon other

people groups

and instead

to turn to

unity in

Christ.

God wants

all people

to be

unified in

their seeking

of him

through the

Lord Jesus.

So my

point simply

today is

that the

Christian

doctrine of

creation

itself,

apart from

redemption in

Jesus,

makes a

very significant

contribution to

dealing with

racism and

ethnic pride.

That is,

if you like,

the first

foundational brick

that we're

going to build

on in the

coming weeks.

God himself

affirms that

by coming

into this

creation,

in the

person of

Jesus Christ,

the perfect

image bearer

of the

Father,

to right the

wrongs of our

broken image

because of

sin.

God

himself

became one

of us.

So for now,

let me just

very briefly go

through some

implications.

Firstly,

my vision

for us is

that we be

a church

that seeks

to really

know people,

really know

people rather

than commodify

them or put

them into

categories.

Now that

has multiple

implications.

It means

not just

knowing facts

about people

but actually

walking in

life with

people.

That's the

difference.

It's not

just knowing

facts about

them but

walking in

life with

them,

together with

them.

It is

typical for

churches like

society in

general to

value people

and particularly

in the western

world to

value people

for what they

do and

not who

they are.

are.

We get

marinated in

that culture.

Every person

from the

womb to

the tomb

has a

beauty and

a value

independent

of their

abilities or

of what they

produce.

simply put,

if I said

to my

wife Natalie

tuning in

right now,

if I said

to my

wife Natalie

I don't

find you

beautiful

or majestic

but I do

find you

useful,

I'm

confident

I'd have a

problem in

the marriage.

I'm

confident of

that.

And yet

in the

western world

that's what

we do.

It's so

ingrained in

us we don't

even realise

that's what

we're doing.

We value

contribution.

This church

has done

it.

I've done

it.

My vision

for us is

to be a

church that

values people

for who

they are

as image

bearers of

God more

than what

they contribute.

Secondly,

because there

is a royal

dignity imprinted

on every

person across

race,

ethnicity,

class,

education,

age,

ability,

belief system

and gender,

then we

ought to be

free,

a church

free of

favouritism

and cliques

as we build

a multi-ethnic,

multi-generational,

multicultural

church.

thirdly,

we are to

be a

church

that

embrace

and care

for the

poor

and the

marginalised

and the

outcast

of society.

I'll make

this point

in a couple

of weeks,

I think.

When you

walk past

someone in

the mall

at Chatswood

who's sitting

there begging,

if you've got

purely a secular

mind on,

you will go,

that person

is beneath

me in

some way

and I'm

here to

contribute

to you.

I want to

help you

with your

problem.

What we

need to do

instead is

because of

the gospel,

we need to

see spiritually,

that's me.

That's actually

me.

That's who I

am in God's

eyes.

And that

person,

just like me,

is made in the

image of God

and has

royal dignity.

Fourthly,

there is a

royal dignity

imprinted on

every person

and therefore

Christians,

this church,

you as a

Christian,

are against

and ought to

be against

abortion,

but not

merely in

principle.

Not merely

in principle.

From the

very first

days of the

Christian church,

it has been

on the

forefront of

taking in

and nurturing

vulnerable,

unwanted

children,

including those

who are not

yet born.

As we

launch into

2022,

it will be

important for

us to get

the relationship

between our

words and

our deeds

right.

Justice and

mercy must

never,

ever replace

evangelism.

The

proclamation

of the

gospel,

of what

Christ has

done for

you,

must never

replace

that.

But on

the other

hand,

justice and

mercy must

not simply

be an

ends to a

means in

order to

evangelize.

There is a

royal dignity

imprinted on

every single

human being

and so can I

say,

brothers and

sisters,

let that

sink into

your heart,

let it sink

into your

minds,

as you

share communion

and morning

tea together

this morning.

Let's pray.

Heavenly

Father,

burden us

to look

upon one

another first

with awe

and reverence

and not

with difference

and suspicion.

I pray

that as a

result,

your name

would be

exalted

as relationships