It is not often we have the opportunity to blaze a new trail in the world. More often then not the road that we travel is one that countless others have traipsed over in the eons of time prior to our arrival and will continue long after we are dead. We sometimes get to admire those who have led the way and blazed a new trail towards a fresh beginning or a new place. Most often than not those that take the trail blazing way do so with a large amount of backing, especially in this day and age. If we were to think about such things we would perhaps be looking towards giants such as Branson, Hilary, Allum or Lee as possible examples. In a similar vein within the faith journey we are perhaps in the most comfortable of spaces having only to spare limited thought to those who have gone before as our journey is perhaps the easiest it has ever been as things of struggle do not appear upon our horizon except as a celebration as to what has been achieved; the Trinity, Christ's Resurrection, etc. The big named things have been conquered and our journey is smooth without awkward interactions.
We pay tribute to those of ancient times who paved the way, as we rightly do today for Barnabas who is known as an encourager, in celebration and praise, much as Job comments (29:11-16). However, this is done without much thought to the milieu that was let alone the present for us as we move forward into a modernity with little wish for such people. A world that now somehow relegates the faith into a back corner of life to remain their neglected or shamed or bullied for archaic stances that do not fulfil the apparent needs of the world. We can perhaps consider our own circumstances of struggle to find and define the means of bringing the hope that is present in the Christian faith into a modern culture of ennui and disinterest. If all of these things are to be considered, then what makes for a new Barnabas? Instead of celebrating what has been why can we not celebrate what can be or what could be should we be those who truly follow where Christ has led the way. The disciples were sent out into the countryside of Palestine without anything, according to Matthew (10:5-10), to proclaim the Good News. This is not about establishing establishments which is all we seem to think about. It is about going out into world without anything other than the knowledge that God is with you and speaking of that love and what it means. Perhaps, we have become to comfortable with the 200 years of the Christian story that we no longer understand what it means to proclaim God's presence in the community.
Make no mistake this is hard work and yes the establishment provides for many in a number of ways. Just as Melbourne and other dioceses are attempting to seek new ways we also have a tendency to fall back on what has been. No matter how we consider the future we are likely to continue to create ourselves through our past not through the accepting of Christ who comes from the future. New initiatives such as Saint Agnes House are welcome expressions of freshness and a listening towards the future. It is only a new and refreshing expression of God's presence if it is seen as such. Parishes, unfortunate holdovers that they are, are archaic institutions of the past that prop up previous behaviours and population groups, if there is no innovation towards God's presence that reaches out as the disciples in Matthew and the likes of Barnabas encouraged who brought God to life in a dangerous and unfriendly milieu. The systemic issue of expecting change with reducing resources and undertaking the same things as previously undertaken to achieve new results. Until we have the courage of Barnabas' encouragement and the other early disciples to utilise what God has granted for something novel, new and innovative then we will continue to bemoan what we had rather than celebrate what God has given. Let us rather be like Barnabas and the others taking what God has given and reaching out into the wild untouched parts of society with all the dangers that that brings.
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