”Go,’ Jesus replied, ‘your son will live.’ The man took Jesus at his word,
he and his whole household believed.’ – John 4:50,53b
Do we trust that God will revive this parish? I trust that God is going to revive this parish. Do you know how many people we can fit in this Church? I’m told it’s in the region of a thousand. Now more than ever, people need to hear the good news – that they can be saved from all their sin and have a loving relationship with God Almighty if they only trust in Jesus. Now, as people are increasingly convinced that they can save themselves. Now, as people are increasingly desperate to know that they’re loved as mental health deteriorates and shame increases. Now, people need to know God’s love through faith in Jesus more than ever and yet this Church that could seat a thousand has decreased in numbers over the last decade. Alright, there’s plenty of reasons for this that aren’t to be laid at anyone’s door, COVID most of all but also a general decline in Christianity across the country and yet, that is absolutely no excuse at all to say “oh well, never mind, there’s nothing that can be done.” Our numbers may have declined and yet who are you to say that God is done with this parish? We are Christians and as such we are called to trust that God can and will revive this parish. It may look pretty grim, it may look like people are turning away from God left, right, and centre; it may look like our congregation is getting older; and we may even feel as though we’re dying a slow death ourselves, yet if we are Christians and we put our trust in God then we need to know that He will revive this parish. Some of you might be a bit shocked about this and think that nothing actually needs reviving, that we can limp on slowly, but that misses the message of hope, the intention of God for his people. God can revive this parish and you’d better believe that he’s going to, but how?
In our Gospel reading today, a royal official came to Jesus and begged him to heal his son. His son was dying. It would have been sensible for the official to say that there was nothing he could do, or to look around and tear out his hair because of how devastated he was, to cry out that it wasn’t his fault and it was all out of his hands, but of course he doesn’t do that. Although there is nothing left but a slither of hope, the man trusts in life-giving Jesus. The official’s son is revived, almost resurrected, brought back from a state of near-death because the official put his trust in Jesus. That can teach us a couple of things about how God is going to revive this parish, can’t it? Firstly, it’s not all that much about what we do; it’s about who we trust. Now that’s not an excuse to say that we all ought to do nothing, but rather recognition that our work is not the thing that will bring about revival of this parish. We could work and work and work until we drop but without God, nothing would happen. Rather, the man in our Gospel reading – yes, he got up and walked and went to be with Jesus, but the thing that Jesus responds to is that the official trusted in Him. And because the official trusted in Jesus his son, who was close to death, was revived. Secondly, we can learn that trusting Jesus for this sort of revival required a leap of faith. Imagine being that official, knowing that Jesus was the only one who could save your son, seeing Him perform other healings and miracles and then being sent home on Jesus’ word alone that your son was healed. Imagine how hard it would be to make that journey, knowing you might return to your child having passed away. Yet the official trusted in Jesus so much that he was willing to just trust Him and go. We could spend all our time anguishing over what once was here at St George’s, or we could hide our head under a bucket. Or, we can put ourselves out there, we can say “you know what, I’m up for taking a leap of faith and telling people about Jesus.” We can say “I’m up for being brave and stepping out, for putting my trust in Jesus.”
So, how is God going to revive this parish? Well it’s certainly not down to what we do, it’s up to who we trust and it will require a leap of faith. God will revive this parish through courageous faith and trust in Jesus. So dream and have hope with me now, imagine if a thousand people were sat on these pews every Sunday, each of them trusting in Jesus and filled with life at the knowledge that they are loved by God their father and that they can know him through faith in Christ. As long as we trust Jesus for revival and do so with the courage to step out and do things, this is actually a fairly reasonable dream because we can know that we have God on our side. God is moving in this place, I can see it in so many of you, you who came to Christianity Explored or the bible study, you who give up your time and you who pray for us, as well as you who work behind the scenes and make things work. God is moving and He will revive this Church if we just trust in Him and do so with boldness and courage. I trust that God will revive this parish, do you? Do you want to see revival in this parish? If you do then let’s step out together and tell people about the Good News of Jesus. Amen (Fr Jordan).
All Saints Church Chorley 