And Finally...

I’ve been been meaning to write this all summer - 8 weeks exactly - but I could never quite find the right words. And so, nearly a week after moving to Exeter for the next season I’m going to try and finally articulate what I’ve been trying to say…

My answer to the question: what is the number one thing you have learnt from your season in Oxford?

I have come to the conclusion that there is one key overarching theme which is both very obvious and yet not at all what I expected.

It’s all about investment.

That’s the number one thing from a year in Oxford, loving God and serving His people in that beautiful city… investment.

I’m no investment banker but I know there are different types of investment and I think it’s the same when it comes to faith. I want to touch on three. But first things first…

God’s love for you is unconditional. Done. Finito. Full stop. That fact, that truth, will never change, never waiver, it is the same yesterday, today and forever. HE LOVES YOU. Nothing we do can make Him love us anymore or any less. And yes that is a very cheesy saying that you’ve probably heard every week since you first stepped foot in a Church but everything I say from now on is written through the lens of this truth: His love is unconditional. We have never and will never earn it.

That said, faith is about investment. Not him loving us but us loving Him. For me to have faith, to trust, to worship, to choose to love him in return requires investment.

1. YOU -> ME

This year has shown me again and again what it is to be invested in.

Before Oxford I was extremely blessed to have grown up in a Church where the leader had a strong passion for investing in others - for seeking those who were willing to learn - and then training them and teaching them everything they knew. I will forever be grateful for All Saints. For the leadership of John, for the Youth team under Kathryn, for my mentor Shiromi, but wider than this every single member of that family who ever spoke encouragement to me, challenged me, prayed with me, prayed over me… put simply sought the best for me. They were for me.

And the same is true for Oxford. My time at St Mary’s was a season of being under great leadership and instruction of Eric, Lynn and Ben. To be able to sit with people and learn first hand from their wisdom and experience. I don’t think there comes any greater feeling of love than to know that despite a busy schedule and a stressful week they will always have time to invest in you as a person.

I am where I am because of the investment of others. That is Church at its greatest: when people invest in each other - when we’re rooting for each other. For the kingdom is not about the one but the many.

2. ME -> YOU

Therefore, when being mentored well we can go on to mentor others.

To take the investment of others and not pass on stops a chain and undermines the love of those who have instead in us. But more than likely, when we’re so full of God’s love we will want to invest in others; pray for them, meet with them, answer the questions or simply just listen. When we read scripture it should flow out of us so that we can’t help but share it with others. Evangelism, pastoring, teaching, all the actions of the church require investment. Sometimes quite literally financial but at least prayerfully and hopefully on a more personal level when appropriate.

Do not under estimate the power of giving an hour of your time to meet another person for coffee.

3. ME -> ME

To seek God, to follow him whole heartedly to trust him unwaveringly we must invest in ourselves.

My main lesson this year has been that investing in ourselves is not selfish but a necessity. I year out for me is a year very well spent.

It’s the same thing we always hear: read your bible, spend time with God, pray. But this year more than ever I understand why.

We would brush our teeth or go to the gym because we care for our physical health for we want to invest in a long life expectancy; we invest financially to make sure that we have security for retirement; we read books or draw or whatever our down time looks like to invest in our mental health for we know the consequences if we don’t. If we would invest in all these aspect why not our spiritual health?

“A long obedience in the same direction” was a quote out rector said a lot this year. It wasn’t until my final day that I realised what that meant. Obediently investing. Obediently sticking to our disciplines and choosing to love him each day; for one day we will see breakthrough - perhaps a revival or maybe a whisper from the voice of God in our ear. For in the nights of silence and deep deep doubt the investment pays off.

The investment isn’t for his love for us but our love for him so that we can be equipped for a life time of loving, worshipping and serving him.