The text which is associated with the Stained Glass Window that forms the basis of our meditation today, is from the 2^nd Letter to Timothy:

"Do your best to present yourself to God
as one approved by him,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly explaining the word of truth."
                                       (2 Timothy 2:15)

Today we also focus our attention on the work of our Sunday School. It is a great privilege: ". explaining the word of truth"; and at the same time, it is a great challenge: ". rightly explaining the word of truth". The privilege we recognise by working hard as we prepare for our Sunday School lessons or sermons or Bible studies, for the challenge we need a little help from beyond.

The person who is honoured with the window that serves for our meditation today - Rev Dr A.J. Waldock - knew both, the privilege and the challenge of "rightly explaining the word of truth." He worked hard to establish a church in Canberra, in which the "word of truth" would be honoured. He travelled and pleaded and preached and prayed.

This week I saw the plans for the planned Anglican Cathedral - "St. Mark's Cathedral" it was to be called - and it was to be built on Rottenberry Hill in Barton, where St. Mark's Theological Centre is now. I also saw the plans for the Roman Catholic Cathedral - "Our Lady Help of Christians" it was to be named - designed to rise on the Civic side of Commonwealth Bridge, where the Archbishop's House stands. They did not make it. Their land, like ours, was given in 1926. Architects' plans were made and approved, and then they were waiting for the money to flow in. Canberra was small in those days, 7.000 population. And for the centres of influence and finance it was far away. Then came the recession in 1929, and the dream of two cathedrals greeting each other over Lake Burley Griffin, was buried by history.

We did not get our Baptist Cathedral either, but we got this church, and it was the first church built under the new scheme of making churches an integral part of Australia's Capital City. Today's window reminds us of the hard work and prayer that has gone into building this church.

But as we all know, church is more, much more, than a building. It is the people of God coming together for worship and service. If we want to recognise the commitment of our forebears, if we want to acknowledge the faithfulness of God, then we do it by doing our part for the church to live on.

The window depicts Paul handing over to Timothy. That is what we call tradition. Handing on from one generation to the next. Not only sharing our faith with those around us, but also making sure that the faith is passed on from generation to generation.

Listen to this from the beginning of Paul's 2^nd letter to Timothy. Timothy is Paul's "beloved child", and then Paul talks of tradition.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. (2 Tim 1:5-7)

Tradition here is spoken of in two ways. One more or less official way, we see it intimated on our window - Paul ordaining Timothy. But then there is the other, the more natural way - Lois telling Eunice and Eunice telling Timothy.

Do you know what is one of the main problems in the church scene today? Do you know why many priests left the Church of England and became Roman Catholic when the C of E in England decided to ordain women? Do you know why Baptist ministers have to be re-ordained when they become Anglican? It all has to do with tradition. There are some churches - for instance, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, some Lutherans etc. - who actually believe that their ministers are part of an unbroken historical chain of tradition from Jesus via the apostles until today. We can leave that debate to the experts.

What is much more important, is, that before Paul talks of ordaining Timothy with the laying on of hands, he talks of Timothy's grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. They believed in Jesus, they told the Bible stories, they prayed over their children. They would do what we would do. They would go in the bedroom of their children at night when they are asleep and kneel down and ask God to kindle faith in them.

That is real tradition. The rest has more to do with male arrogance and hanging on to power. The real tradition is telling the story of Jesus from generation to generation, from parents to children.

When you look at the picture, could you add Eunice and Lois, at least in your mind? Like angels flying around Timothy. Timothy would not be there apart from Eunice and Lois.

Please allow me to recognise the "Eunices" and "Lois" in our midst. Those mothers and grandmothers who have faithfully lived and shared their faith in Christ.

And is it not a terrible indictment on the church, that we have focussed all attention on the official part of tradition, apostle to Timothy, male to male, bishop to priest, and have virtually forgotten the more important part of tradition: Eunice and Lois, two faithful women standing for the millions of mothers and grandmothers through the ages who have faithfully passed on their faith.

In our youth work and with our Sunday School we join Lois and Eunice. In our services and home groups we join Eunice and Lois. We empower each other; we seek God's enabling so that we may have the privilege to do what people have done before us - passing on the story of Jesus from generation to generation.

Let us return to the window. But let us not forget "Eunice" and "Lois"! The text summarises:

"Do your best to present yourself to God
as one approved by him,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed."

Timothy was under attack. People had different ideas. Theological differences had arisen in the church. He was young and inexperienced. Paul's advice is: "live credibly". Let your life become an illustration for your words.

And remember: it is God whom you serve and to whom you are ultimately responsible. If you accept responsibility in church life, there is always something or someone nibbling at you. We have the high aim of serving Christ, but our human sensitivity and our human selfishness, our human way for comfort and security always get in the way.

I remember a Baptist World Alliance Council meeting - I think it was in Berlin. We were going to meet in Amman, Jordan, the next year. Now some people said: it is too dangerous; we won't come. People were afraid. The Middle East has been a boiling pot for decades. Let us go to the Bahamas - safe, comfort, beaches! An African American Preacher got up, walked to the front, slowly opened his Bible to 2 Timothy and then read:

". God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." 
(2 Tim 1:7)

It takes courage and discipline to be a Sunday School teacher or youth leader or group facilitator. We have to be there week by week; we have to prepare; our patience is tested. All of us who have freely accepted responsibility for living credibly, who are concerned in joining Eunice and Lois and Paul in passing on our faith in Christ, take heart! God has called you. Resists the calling of the "flesh" and make yourselves available to the Spirit. God will sustain you - if you make room for God's Spirit!

We have realised the importance of tradition and our part in passing on the faith. We have courageously accepted our responsibility and taken our place in the tradition. We know that there will always be some hecklers on the sidelines, but we are part of a team. The team depends on us and we go on playing.

The purpose of it all is:

What does that mean? What does it mean to be part of a church that wants to pass on the faith? What does it mean to take our place in the tradition? What does it mean to show our gratitude to those who have gone before us, by being concerned about those coming after us?

The word of truth. It is a privilege and a challenge to explain the "word of truth". The "word of truth" is not a book or a parchment. Is the story of God's togetherness with his people. There are the many covenants that God makes with his people. We read of them in the Hebrew Bible. And then there is the story of Jesus, by which God has taken humanity on board and thereby manifests God's love for all people.

That is the exciting story that we tell our children, that we tell each other, that sustains us.

I want to recognise and thank our Sunday School teachers for doing that work on our behalf. It takes discipline and study to prepare. It takes energy and patience to tell the stories and explain them. Some texts in the Bible are very difficult. We try to provide good literature for the teachers, so that in all the various stories, the one message comes across, that God is with us; that God's Spirit wants to open our hearts to have a personal and meaningful relationship with God. But the teachers are the bridges between God and the children. It takes courage and discipline. Have you ever considered joining the work of the Sunday School? It is a noble thing that you can do.

As we think of Paul and Timothy, and more importantly, of Lois and Eunice and Timothy, we are grateful for those who have kept the faith, passed it on from generation to generation, who have brought the faith to us.

We thank the many people in our church who have personally responded to the call of God, who have accepted the privilege and responsibility of joining Paul and Eunice and Lois, passing on the faith.

May I invite you to take your place in the tradition, in the river that we call "church"? It is muddied in many places. Sometimes we wonder whether the church is like the Murray, where little of the original water is left when you get to Albury. Those who have been touched by the Spirit of God, will reject the luxury of despair. Rather, let us open ourselves to the Spirit of God, so that God may renew our faith in Christ, and then let us do our part in making sure that in our church the "word of truth" is rightly explained, and passed on from generation to generation.

Rev Dr T. Lorenzen
11 February 2001