May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
When I last preached back in August, I asked the question what does it mean for us to be practising Christians? In summary as Christians who have been baptised, we are encouraged to be the best that we can be, knowing that Jesus promised to be with us every step of the way.
Following on from that sermon, someone asked me if I could preach on the Lord’s Prayer, so today even though reference to prayer or the Lord’s Prayer is not mentioned in any of our readings, I thought it would be good to follow on with our understanding of prayer and especially look at the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer is probably the most well-known prayer in the Christian world. As children many of us were brought up learning this prayer at our morning school assembly – I know that I certainly did.
However nowhere in the Bible is there any reference to the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ per se. In Matthew’s Gospel chapter 6: verse 9-16 Jesus is giving his sermon on the Mount and he is instructing his followers on personal practices of faithfulness. He tells them ‘This is how you pray – Our Father in Heaven.’
Now in Luke’s Gospel Chapter 11:1-4 we are told that Jesus was praying in a certain place when one of his disciples said to him, Lord teach us how to pray, Just as John taught his disciples. Jesus said to them ‘When you pray say ‘Father hallowed be you name’
Some of Jesus’ instructions on prayer can also be confusing, On one hand he tells his audience to pray in private, and yet elsewhere Jesus is said to tell them to pray ‘whenever two or three are gathered together in my name.
There are many different ways to pray too – both in private and publicly.
Some examples of types of prayer are
Arrow prayers are prayers that are short quick powerful prayers for example – Lord please help me to be brave or have mercy on me!
Intercessional prayer is the act of praying on behalf of another person, community, or the world. This is the format we share each Sunday
Another approach I quite like is a method called Lectio Divina. It is a traditional monastic practice that promotes communion with God through meditation, reflection and prayer– this is when we reflect on a passage of scripture, meditate on the words and then allow God through prayer and the Holy Spirit to resonate with allowing each of us to develop a greater awareness of God’s presence.
You can pray through Art – rather topical with our Art show coming up in November and music – music is another way in which we can pray. Art and music can tap into our senses and emotions, again bringing us closer to God.
So lets look at the Lords Prayer and really think about what it means
I. Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your name
Right at the beginning, this prayer establishes a few things:
1. It establishes God as our Father
2. It establishes that there is a Heaven
3. It establishes that Heaven is where God resides
4. It establishes that God and His name are sacred.
Anyone who reads, prays, hears, or studies it, is immediately confronted with these facts that God is real, God loves us just as a father loves his child, and the name of God should be honoured above all other names.
This first line tells us that for God to be our Father, we must be his Children. And following on from that, this also implies that there is a relationship here. Prayer is so important in regard our relationship with God.
2. your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Although here on earth we have Kings’ Queen’s Presidents and other types of earthly rulers it is God’s rule alone that is perfect. This is God’s kingdom. We must have courage to live well in an imperfect world, where there is suffering and evil; Although we know that God is at work within it, but we have to play our part to bring about justice and peace. It isn’t just about us and what we want. It is about God, and what God wants for each one of us. God’s will and wish is for us to live a life focussed on what he wants from us. Everything is we do should be God’s will wherever we are.
3 Give us today day, our daily bread.
Although I am not a bread lover, do have an appreciation of the different type of breads available to us today – sourdough, wholemeal, multigrain etc
However, bread was a staple of the 1st century diet.
So, the disciples would have immediately understood what Jesus was praying for here.
What Jesus is saying here, is "Give us daily, the things that we need."
Bread to you, could mean food. It could also mean health, peace of mind, courage. Whatever you need that day. And God is faithful to supply. Jesus teaches his followers to pray each day not for more but for just enough. In a society where we have been trained to think we do not ever have enough; we must try to be content and find joy in this life: to realise and appreciate what we have. It isn’t just about physical hunger and need, it is also spiritual hunger, and that is something which can only be satisfied by God.
4. Forgive us our sins. We must learn to live with our imperfections, but we need to acknowledge them and apologise for them. Jesus gives us a prayer to say which acknowledges that we fall short. We can come to God and ask forgiveness, seeking help and strength for the day ahead.
5. ….as we forgive those who sin against us. We don’t want to ruin relationships by not forgiving others for their imperfections when we are not perfect ourselves. It is a package deal. You want forgiveness? Then show it to others! And that includes all of the little grumbles as well as the big arguments.
6. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
We need to be resilient in this challenging world of ours - we have so many temptations today - social media, things such as AI, many of us have become armchair ‘experts’, it’s all too easy to hide behind social media when we don’t have the courage to say something face to face with someone directly. To pray the Lord’s Prayer each day is to prepare yourself for whatever difficulties lie ahead, acknowledging that God is with us always.
7. For the kingdom, the power and the glory, are yours now and for ever
This reminds us that a life lived well is a life lived with purpose to the glory of God. It takes us back to the beginning. It reminds us that in the end, God holds the end of the story and journey. God will bring all things to completion. God will watch over us through this life and welcome us, beyond death, into the life to come.
So when you come to pray whether it is the Lords pray or any other type of prayer, take a few minutes to still yourself. Slow down, breath - prayer should not be a spectator sport. Pray should be authentic. Prayer should be sincere and specific.
The Lord’s Prayer is an integral part of the Christian tradition. Knowing that other Christians around the world are also using it, promotes unity and shared values. I think that the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that gives us a foundation and it puts us in our place and it puts God centre stage in all our lives. As a community of faith we can be confident that through prayer we can have a strong personal relationship with God. It gives us the chance to share an outpouring of all we are experiencing and allows us to lay everything before God – knowing that God is always listening.
And the good thing about all this, is that we can do this for ever and ever.
Amen.
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – 31st August ‘25
Jeremiah 2: 4-14
Ps 81:1 10-16
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1: (2-6) 7-14
One of the things that still astonishes the world about Jesus, is that he, the Son of God came personally, and he brought a personal relationship with God to ‘normal’ people.
It certainly surprised and upset the important people 2,000 years ago; their jealousy at losing what they thought was their privileged relationship with God and God’s salvation and blessings, was one of the reasons they killed him – God came to bring a personal relationship and God’s hope and blessings to ordinary people.
This Sunday and next, we will look at Mary and Martha, ‘ordinary people’ with whom Jesus personally interacted.
In the Old Testament, particularly after Genesis, we meet God largely through mighty leaders and kings and prophets. It tells of God’s interactions with, and great victories through, heroes like Moses, David and Elijah. Moses started life as the son of a slave, sentenced to death at birth but, in God’s power, miraculously, was raised up to lead God’s chosen people out from slavery to the Promised Land. Through Moses we see mighty encounters with and actions of God, but only Moses the leader sees and talks with God personally.
King David started life as the youngest son of a farming family. David had the most menial job looking after the family sheep away from home out in the wilds. The Bible tells of God’s mighty power in David’s life from shepherd boy, through victory over Goliath and his other battles and adventures, to becoming king, and finally conquering all of God’s Promised Land.
Through David’s life we learn much of God and God’s power and providence and nature, but we only really hear of the relationships of the king and his prophet with God. Although many others in the Old Testament are apparently faithful worshippers of God, we hear little of personal relationships with God, outside of kings and prophets. Even Old Testament priests appear to be largely faithful functionaries. So, Jesus coming to ordinary people and proclaiming a personal relationship with God was shocking.
The only clue as to why Jesus chose to stay with Mary, Martha and Lazarus as he was travelling through the village of Bethany is that ‘Mary welcomed him’. These were ordinary people in a small rural village; what we see is God entering into a personal relationship with ordinary people. The God whom Jesus introduces is not different from the God of Abraham, Moses, David or the prophets, but now God and the relationship with God introduced is personal; the relationship and the nature of God are ‘fleshed out’ and explained.
Our church just like the religious authorities of Jesus’s time; our modern church has struggled with the personal access to God that Jesus brings. We still have physical and liturgical structures based on the God whose name was so Holy that it couldn’t be said. We have a ‘sanctuary’, apparently it is more holy than the rest of the church; still have rules as to who can break bread and share a cup of wine at communion. Why?
In the centuries from Jesus to quite recently, some churches said that communion was only for priests most of the time and for the masses rarely; that the cup of wine, the blood of Christ, was never to be shared with ordinary people. Yet here we read of Jesus, the Son of God, coming into the house of common people in a country village near Jerusalem.
The passage from the letter to the young church at Colossae can help us see some of what Jesus is doing. This church had probably only been going for a couple of decades and was being led off course a bit. People were starting to say that to get to heaven, in addition to faith in Jesus, they needed to worship or follow other things or practices. The message from the Apostles is a reminder that the God we find in Jesus is both the complete and completely authentic God.
“15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 16 for in [a] him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. …
19 For in him all the fullness of God [c] was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
There is no other way to God but through Jesus. The reference to thrones, dominions and powers which are apparently types of angels and which some were saying would introduce us to heaven, is to say that even these are made by and subject to Jesus.
In the man from Galilee who walked into Mary and Martha’s house is the image of the invisible God and in him all the fullness of God [c] was pleased to dwell. Mary, Martha and Lazarus personally met God. But the story doesn’t end there; as with all encounters with Jesus, there is always an ‘and’.
When these sisters encountered Jesus, God had a message for their lives. Jesus is not here criticising Martha for her cooking and hospitality, far from it; I’m sure Jesus was happy to enjoy the love that Martha showed through her cooking and hospitality. Martha’s ‘love language’ her way of showing her love for people was through her hospitality. Jesus doesn’t say, “Martha stop cooking and come and listen.” Jesus’s criticism of Martha is only over her
wishing to drag her sister back into her control and her way of living.
Mary is happy to leave all the things of the world for a while and to spend time getting to know God personally. Mary spends time soaking up God’s presence and listens intently to the word of the Lord. This, says Jesus, is the better way. This is a message, a focus, which our church appears to have lost. Bishop John Roundhill in
his very helpful reflection this week in Anglican Focus, Bishop John asks if as a church we have forgotten to be, for those suffering in this world, have we forgotten to be and to do the things that no one else can be or do.
The Christian Church is rightly proud of its role in establishing hospitals and schools and caring agencies for the masses. We brought these things to our world. Churches established schools and hospitals and welfare agencies. But now others in the world can and are doing these things and doing them as well as or better than churches are. Please don’t try to tell me that my grandchildren going to the local State School are getting an education that is less good than at a ‘church school’ – let me assure you their NAPLAN results indicate they are thriving at State School. I’m just as happy having my surgery at whichever hospital my surgeon recommends rather than going to a Christian Hospital.
Christian Schools and Christian Hospitals are no longer God focussed. They are education and health focussed. Jesus’s meeting with Martha and Mary points not to the past but to a relationship with God.
Martha clearly is a faithful worshipper but she is known for, and wants to be recognised by Jesus for, her hospitality. She was probably already known as the best cook and hostess in the village. This is worldly recognition. Jesus, who is happy for Martha to keep up her good works, refuses to commend her for her worldly work and instead Jesus commends what the world will not. Jesus, God in person, Jesus commends Mary for her focus on and love of the presence of and word of God. Mary has the better relationship with God. Martha can share her love with others through hospitality – nice. Mary can share the love of God, a life-giving eternal relationship with the living God.
When Jesus fleshed out, made real and explained God’s 10 Commandments to Moses into language that ordinary people could understand. When asked which commandment was the most important, he summarised the 10 Commandments:
37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
Loving our neighbours is good, says Jesus, but loving God must always come first. Jesus lived a love of his neighbours but he taught and always put love of God first. No matter how much we might love and be nice to our neighbours, only loving God will get us to heaven.
This is the lesson from the rich young man who asked Jesus what he needed to do to get to heaven. He told Jesus that he had kept all of the commandments about loving his neighbour, but when Jesus called on him to leave his riches and to love and follow God, he couldn’t.
The world around us is now good at teaching and defining behaviour but who is teaching people the way to eternal life; who is talking about a life giving relationship with God? We live in a village near the big city; to us, to our homes, to our church, like Mary, Martha and Lazarus, God wants to come personally. To us, Jesus in whom the fullness of God dwells, to us, Jesus is offering a personal, eternal, life-giving, relationship with God. Jesus is longing to be welcomed into your home (and probably office) and so that we can have God’s life in all its fullness.
37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment.
Amen
May every breath we breathe in and every word I speak out, be always in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Amen
OT 2 Kings 5:1-19 (Elisha heals Naaman)
Psalm 30
NT Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18
Gospel Luke 10:1-12 (Jesus sends 70)
Hymns Catherine
1 491 Father welcomes all his children
2 235 A man there lived in Galilee
3 416 Great God, your Spirit, like the wind (tune Jerusalem)
4 571 Forth in your name, O Lord, I go
2 Kings 5 The Healing of Naaman
5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favour with his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from a skin disease. 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his skin disease.” 4 So Naaman[a] went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, “Go, then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his skin disease.” 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his skin disease? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and would wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease! 12 Are not Abana[b] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!” He urged him to accept, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let two mule loads of earth be given to your servant, for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord. 18 But may the Lord pardon your servant on one count: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant on this one count.” 19 He said to him, “Go in peace.”
Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18 Bear One Another’s Burdens
6 My brothers and sisters, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill[a] the law of Christ. 3 For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. 4 All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. 5 For all must carry their own loads. 6 Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8 If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh, but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. 10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all and especially for those of the family of faith. …
14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which[b] the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. 15 For[c] neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything, but a new creation is everything! 16 As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. 17 From now on, let no one make trouble for me, for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body.
18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Luke 10:1-12 The Mission of the Seventy-Two
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’[b] 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’[c] 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
Sixth Sunday Easter – 25/5/25
Acts 16: 9-15
Ps 67
Rev 21:10-14 21:22-22:5
John 14: 23-29
Hymns and Readings – Epiphany VIII 2 Mar 25
OT Isaiah 55:10-13 Blind leading the blind - OR
Psalm 146 Good and bad trees and fruit
NT 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 God or bad comes from the treasure of the heart
Gospel Luke 6:39-49
Hymns
1. 456 Your hand, O God , has guided
2. 643 I want to walk as a child of the light
3. 457 The church’s one foundation
4. 569 Guide me, o thou great Redeemer
Psalm 146 Praise for God’s Help
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
nor in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign for ever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
An Invitation to Abundant Life – Isaiah 55
55 Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread
and your earnings for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Now you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake their way
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 For you shall go out in joy
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle,
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
1 Corinthians 15
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,[a] but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
Luke 6:39-49
39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
The Two Foundations
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 That one is like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.[a] 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it quickly collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.”
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Children’s Theme
OT Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Jesus goes to church (synagogue)
Psalm 19 and reads from the Bible (scroll)
NT 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Gospel Luke 4:14-21 The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor etc
Hymns
National Anthem (2 verses)
1 147 To God be the glory
2 164 The great love of God
3 235 A man there lived in Galilee
4 272 Come thou long-expected Jesus
Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 8
1 all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Accordingly, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. 4 Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose … 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people, and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. … 8 So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work powerful deeds? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Luke 4:14-21
14 Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Readings
Ephesians 6:10-20 The Whole Armour of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power; 11 put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, 12 for our[a] struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present[b] darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.[c] 13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness 15 and lace up your sandals in preparation for the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these,[d] take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,[e] 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.
John 6:56-69
56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which the ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said these things while he was teaching in a synagogue at Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who were the ones who did not believe and who was the one who would betray him. 65 And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”
66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Readings
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.
16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do, and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 He said, “Peaceably. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely his anointed is now before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him, for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him, for this is the one.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17
6 So we are always confident, even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him. 10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive due recompense for actions done in the body, whether good or evil.
. 14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for the one who for their sake died and was raised.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;[a] even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,[b] we no longer know him in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there[c] is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being![
Mark 4:26-34
26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”
30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
ANZAC Sunday Sermon
2nd Sunday After Easter – 07/04/24
Acts 4:32-37
Psalm 133
1 John 1.1-2:2
John 20:19-31
May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
My sermon today is not entirely my own and as with any academic studies or assignments, I need to acknowledge Rev. Richard J. Fairchild so that I do not breach any copyright.
We are now in the season of Easter and a little like Christmas, we had 6 weeks of Lent followed by Good Friday and Easter Sunday last week and so here we are today. Unlike Christmas, we don’t have the Christmas Trees or decorations to take down. In fact we perhaps have the opposite of re decorating – on Maundy Thursday we stripped the sanctuary and alter of all ornaments and linens. This was to symbolise and acknowledge the desolation, abandonment and darkness that the Passion and death of Jesus had – we removed everything leaving a bare sanctuary and alter. Then on Easter Sunday the sanctuary, was redecorated with fresh linens and new candles on the alter and credence table. But I wondered if there was something missing – Easter flowers.
In many places of worship around the world, Easter Lilies may have been very prominent. Now if you know your lilies, these lilies here are NOT Easter lilies they are Asiatic Lilies. Easter Lilies are similar in shape but are usually white or very pale in colour.
The reason that I am telling you this today is that there is an old legend about Easter Lilies. It is said that on the day that Jesus rose from the dead and came out of the tomb - that wherever he walked in the garden where he was buried - that in his footprints beautiful white lilies grew –
I like to think that this story must be true - because I know that wherever Jesus went before he died beautiful things happened. Some examples are how he made sick people better
- he cleansed lepers by making their skin healthy and whole and caste out demons
- he raised Lazarus from the dead
- he forgave people who had done wrong their sins
Jesus caused beautiful things to happen before he died - and beautiful flowers like the Easter Lily can remind us of all the beautiful things that happen before and after he came back from the dead.
Now precious metals can also be considered beautiful by some people. Jewellery or items such as vases and ornaments such as candle stick holders are considered something of beauty, value or quality. If you look closely at items said to be made of silver or gold, you may find some engravings or stamps within the metal put there by the jeweller or by whoever produced the piece.
These markings are called hallmarks, and they have that name because
originally, many years ago, all items made of silver or gold - whether pots, dishes, trays, utensils or jewellery, were produced by a member of a guild or a union, and at one time those guild members both met and worked in large rooms called Halls. Hallmarks are etched or engraved into every item for two reasons, they tell you two things.
The first reason is to show that the item is actually what it appears to be,
- that it is in fact an item made of pure silver or gold - an item that is not mixed with other, cheaper, materials. Hence the hallmark is the guarantee of quality and purity.
The second thing a Hallmark does is tell you where the product comes from. In other words what Hall it comes from, and as I have said before who actually made it.
In England, hallmarks are not only composed of letters or initials, often, and especially in the case of larger items, there is normally a crest incorporated into the markings.
If there is a leopard's head - that piece comes from London.
If there is a castle - the silver came from Edinburgh.
The hallmark of the guild in Sheffield is a crown, and if it came from Birmingham it would have an anchor.
All this business about hallmarks started in the year 1300 when King Edward of England passed a law saying that no precious metal could be sold without a guarantee of its purity being marked on it. From 1300 to this very day the practice of hallmarking has continued in one form or another.
So why have I shared all this detail about hallmarks? Well like the Rev Fairchild who I mentioned at the beginning of today’s sermon, I agree with him that hallmarks can help us to understand today's readings and the issues that they speak to.
Our Gospel reading is one of those we all remember and know well. One of Jesus’ disciples Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared to them after his resurrection. He has been given the nickname of doubting Thomas because of his disbelief. Personally, I think I too would be like Thomas. Its healthy to ask questions and be quizzical. He wanted proof:
"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands", he said, "and put my
finger where the nails were, and put my hand in his side, I will not
believe it".
Most of us, no matter what we are told, would want to see for ourselves before we would say that we truly believe, especially if what we are being told, seems impossible. Seeing for ourselves is believing.
We know, from our reading that Jesus appeared again to the disciples a week later, and at this appearance he says to Thomas.
"Put your finger here", See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
And Thomas - seeing him, believes and says to him, "My Lord, and my God!"
Because Thomas saw that Jesus had risen with his own eyes - he believed. And because he believed he went out with all the other disciples and spread the good news about how Jesus had returned from the dead.
He with the other disciples would go on to share the news that Jesus died so that we would know the love of God, and that he rose from the dead so that we might know that God's love is forever and that all who follow him receive eternal life.
So how can we today share what on the face of it seems impossible. Jesus died a horrible death and yet came back after three days. And that this was all done because he loved us? We know that Jesus said to Thomas after showing him the marks of his death:
"Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have believed."
I do not think quoting that verse to someone who does not believe will help very much. And I don't think either that Jesus was suggesting that we should not present proof to others of his resurrection as we attempt to fulfil the commission he gave us to baptize and make disciples of all people. Far from it.
Indeed, when you look at the gospel reading today, one thing stands out very clearly. The very first time Jesus appeared to his disciples in the upper room he showed them the marks of his love – this was a full week before he showed Thomas the wounds that pierced his hands and his side.
For this reason, I think what Jesus meant when he said - "Blessed are those who have NOT seen and yet have believed" - is simply and precisely that.
Blessed indeed are people who accept Jesus as their Saviour, their risen Lord, without having had any proof presented to them.
Blessed are they who start walking in faith before they have all the
answers to their questions, because they will start experiencing the
benefits of faith straight away.
Jesus was not suggesting that there are no blessings for those who believe only after seeing - he was only suggesting that doubt can get in the way of us experiencing those blessings.
Jesus presented the marks of his love to his disciples so that they might
believe and go forth as his apostles and baptize and make disciples of all people. He showed the marks of his love so that the blessings that
faith in him brings, might become available to more people.
Today it is still the same.
But rather than the marks of his love being shown in his physical body,
they are shown, or are meant to be shown in us - in the people of his
church - which is everywhere called the Body of Christ.
Being part of the Body of Christ is a little like an orchestra. Each musician has a part to play but they are individuals who are very different – the strings of a violin sound very different to the sound of a trombone – sometimes it sounds just a noise. Its only when they come together under the guidance of the conductor that the individual sounds they make, come together and can be incredibly beautiful.
This is perhaps a little like how the early church described in Acts came together – as individuals we are members who can make a noise but collectively, we can make beautiful music being of one heart and mind.
Now Richard Fairchild is also a good example of how someone who was a non-believer came to be a member of the body of Christ. He was about 18 years old, living alone in a large city and attending university. He had an unhappy childhood, was argumentative, he was very defensive and was quite abrasive as a consequence.
At the university there was a group of Christians called Campus Crusade for Christ - and they used to set up a table in the Student Union Building and do what they called witnessing for Christ.
Being the type of person he had become, Richard use to love going to that table and making life hard for them. He did admit that he sort of believed in God – but like many people today he had other beliefs and interests and had never gone to church.
In Richards own words he said that these crazy Christians sat at their table and tried to tell him about the resurrection and about salvation through Jesus. He told them that they were foolish to believe in it especially as innocent people suffer and why did God allowed things like war to happen – I think that may be a thought many of us have. So, he gave these crazy Christians a hard time.
But then something quite strange happened – despite tormenting these people with his constant questions and making fun of their answers, they invited him into their homes.
They shared a coffee with him – they gave him food and treated him as a friend – most importantly they also prayed for him. Richard was a stranger to them - they didn't need him. And yet they wanted something good for him. They were patient with him and they were kind and helpful. They forgave him and answered all his questions. They made him feel welcome when no-one else perhaps did. They showed him what Christian love actually was. Within six months, Richard had become a Christian.
He said that he never had a problem believing in the resurrection because he saw the marks of Christ within the people who proclaimed his name. These Christians walked in his light and lived as well as they could by his law.
Do you know people who have the hallmark of Christ upon them?
Yes - blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe but blessed too are those who have seen - blessed are those who have seen the marks of Christ in us and have believed. And blessed too are we who have those marks. Blessed are those who show it by how we love each other. How we show love, kindness and forgiveness.
We are a people who make can music instead of making a noise and that is because we have a conductor who we can follow – Jesus. We have Jesus to direct us.
Look out for those who have the hallmark of Christ upon them - those who walk in light and live by that love that they share - and learn from them.
Look out for those hallmarks. Remember that hallmarks are a sign of quality, purity and beauty and that they tell us who made us - God. Jesus died for us all so that we can share in the gift of Gods pure love and be saved. Amen
2nd Sunday Lent 2024
Genesis 17:1-9, 15 -16
Psalm 22
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8: 31-38
May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
If there was any time to reflect on being a Christian and what faith means, Lent is that time. As always, we have heard three readings that I hope will give us all a lot to reflect on. The passages we have heard are not very long but there is so much to unpack. Today I am going to focus on our OT and NT readings as they put the spotlight on faith.
Taking our Old Testament reading, Abrahm as he was initially known, we are told was ninety-nine years old. The phrase that comes to my mind is that he has reached a ‘ripe old age’. Sarai was ninety years old. Not a bad age for each of them to have reached. However, as a couple, they may have been feeling a little unfulfilled because together they had not had any children.
God tells Abram that he God, is the God Almighty and to walk before him faithfully. Earlier in the Genesis 12 and 15, God had mentioned a covenant but here in chapter 17, God is bringing it into focus and putting it into action. He states that:-
i) He will give Abram many descendants
ii) That many nations would descend from him
iii) That God would maintain his covenant with Abram’s descendants
iv) God would give Abram’s descendants the land of Cannan
Now remembering that Abram was ninety-nine and Sarai was ninety, it seemed unlikely that that they would ever have children together. In fact, in verse 17 which was not in our reading today, we are told that Abram fell down laughing at the thought.
But God we know is God Almighty and if he says that Abram was going to be a father of many, then that is what was going to happen. Shortly before the promised son was conceived God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. In the Bible, people’s names were very important – a name describes a person’s character or experience. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham because it meant exalted father – father of the many. Taking both their ages into account, Abraham and Sarah must have exercised great faith and trust in God.
So, God made a covenant promise with Abraham. The terms were simple, Abraham would obey God and circumcise all the males of his household. God’s part was that he would give Abraham heirs, property, power and wealth. Usually when we trade, what is given by one party, something of equal value is given in return. A covenant with God is a little different. When we become part of God’s covenant family, the blessings we receive far outweighs what we have to give up. That is something to remember.
Now I’m just going to touch on circumcision although not specifically mentioned in our readings today - why did God require circumcision?
i) As a sign of obedience
ii) Possibly as a health measure
iii) As a sign of belonging to his covenant / agreement – a man would be identified as one of God’s chosen people
iv) But more importantly, it would also be a symbol of cutting off the old life of sin, purifying one’s heart and dedicating oneself to God
As I have said, Abraham and Sarah had great faith. Although Abraham and Sarah were in their nineties - an age when it could be said that their physical body’s could not / should not have children, they put their faith in God. God had said that Abraham would have many descendants and that many nations would come from him. For this to happen, there would have to be a baby. And a baby they had – Isacc
Now fast forwarding to our New Testament reading from Romans, we have Paul using Abraham as an example of someone who has been saved by faith. The Jews were proud to be called the children of Abraham but by Jesus’ time they had become confused by what living their lives by faith was and living their lives by the law was. Paul is explaining this in his letter to the Romans – he declares that God was pleased with Abraham because he had lived his life by faith. Paul is making the point that it is not by doing good that we are saved, but that it is only through faith in Jesus Christ and trusting him to forgive all our sins, that we are saved.
God promised Abraham that through his linage that the covenant would be realised. And it was. Jesus Christ was from Abraham’s line, and it was only through that line, that the whole world would be blessed.
So what is faith?
In our Romans reading Paul tells us what faith is not.
He says that faith is not trying to obey and fulfill some kind of law. It is not doing your best to try to live up to a standard that you think you ought to live up to. That is the law, and no matter what the law is or where it came from, trying your best to live up to it, is not faith. In that case, Paul points out, you are not living by faith, you are living by works. Faith is not expecting God to accept and love you simply because you have tried your best to obey some standard. In fact, if you live by those terms, you will find that you cannot receive what God wants to give you. Abraham is proof that this method will never bring you the gift of righteousness. If you think that God is going to accept, love, and forgive you because you have tried hard to do what you think is right, you are not quite on the right track.
Faith is I think something many of us find hard to comprehend. Many people are confused on the subject of faith. Some think that faith is nothing but a mental acceptance of truth -- that if you believe a thing is true, then you are exercising faith. But faith is more than simply believing something is true.
For some people faith may be a feeling – perhaps a feeling of confidence. If you happen to have confidence, you have much faith; if you do not have confidence, then you have little or no faith. Does faith for you depend upon how much feeling you can generate?
But that is not true faith, and that kind of definition of faith deceives many people. There are some who think that faith actually is a type of self-deception. Somebody has said that faith is a way of believing what you know is not true. There are people who actually try to believe something that they know is not true. They talk themselves into believing it and call that faith.
So what is faith?
If you really want to know what faith is, you have to see it in action. That is why Paul, in Romans 4, gives us Abraham as a man of faith. I think we can all agree that Abraham is an excellent example of someone who had deep faith. Looking at Abraham you can learn what faith is.
Paul tells us that Abraham’s faith was made strong and that faith grows. Remember mustard seeds – compare faith to a small grain of a mustard seed. When you exercise your faith through obedience and trust, it will grow. Abraham’s did; and as he believed and he obeyed, he was strengthened in his faith and he gave glory to God.
Faith never glorifies us; it glorifies God. It is God who acts, not us. What is accomplished is not something we do on behalf of God; it is God who does it by us and through us, on his own behalf. God, therefore, is thanked; and God is glorified. So, faith grows, and faith glorifies.
Faith grounds us on the truth, as it did Abraham. He was fully persuaded. Faith grasps God’s promise. Faith lays hold of what God has offered. As Abraham's faith grew, he grasped the promise and found himself loved and accepted by God, a friend of God. A friend that benefited from having faith.
Paul also tells us that anyone can exercise faith and that starts knowing and understanding that God is our friend. His Son Jesus Christ died for us so that our sins would be forgiven. Through the resurrection, God raised Jesus from the dead. The promises that God gave to Abraham all those thousands of years ago are meant for us too.
Exercising faith can lead to an exciting life. A life full of adventures and unexpected surprises. Living a life of faith, all things can be yours.
Remember – the blessings we receive far outweighs what we have to give up.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this example of Abraham. We thank you for the tremendous example of faith that he is. By his example of faith, he has taught us how to trust in you and that all things are possible. May our eyes therefore be always fixed upon you. May we continually grow our faith knowing that in doing so we draw ever closer to you. Amen.
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”[a] 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”[b] 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[c] will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
1 The beginning of the good news[a] of Jesus Christ.[b]
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,[c]
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,[d]
who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight,’ ”
4 so John the baptizer appeared[e] in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And the whole Judean region and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with[f] water, but he will baptize you with[g] the Holy Spirit.”
Isaiah 40:1-11
40 Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said,[a] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass;
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers; the flower fades,
[[when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers; the flower fades,]][b]
but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;[c]
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[d]
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.
2 Peter 3:8-15
8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you,[a] not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.[b]
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening[c] the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and destroyed and the elements will melt with fire? 13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
14 Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.[a]
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him
and will make a path for his steps.
Exodus 33: 12-23
Ps 99
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22: 15-23
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Our Old Testament reading today from Exodus, continues Moses’ story and gives us further insight into his relationship with God.
Moses is considered the most important prophet in Judaism and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Islam, and other religious faiths. According to both the Bible and the Quran, Moses was the leader of the Israelites and lawgiver to whom the authorship, or "acquisition from heaven", of whats known as the Torah or what we also know as the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) is attributed.
Many parts of Moses story that we know well, have been portrayed in various films over the years, The Ten Commandments staring Charton Heston, Exodus: Gods and Kings, the Dreamwork animated film - The Prince of Egypt, and Moses also gets mentioned by the King of Siam (Yul Brynner) in the King and I. So, Moses’ story and his influence is very well known and far reaching.
So just a little bit of history and a recap of what you may already know. Moses was born to Hebrew parents, Amram (his father) and Jochebed (his mother) at a time when the people of Israel were once more being persecuted by a new Pharaoh who had ordered all newborn males to be drowned in the river Nile. His mother placed him in a basket and hid him in the bullrushes where he was later found by Pharaoh’s daughter. And as we know from our Bible and many of the films or movies, he was brought up in the royal household as if he was born a royal prince. He lived this life for about forty years before fleeing, having killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew. And we know that under God’s guidance and instruction, he later returned to challenge Pharoah eventually setting what we know as the Exodus in motion by freeing the Israelites, crossing the Red Sea and heading into the desert country south of Judah. For the next forty years or so, Moses continues to lead the Israelite’s, around the desert. Their travels took them to Mount Sinai where God gave Moses the ten commandments on stone tablets. As I mentioned in my last sermon, the Israelites lost faith and turned to creating idols. God and Moses were furious, so much so that Moses broke those newly made stone tablets. This resulted in him producing another new set of the ten commandments on another set of stone tablets.
Later at Mount Sinai, Moses and the elders entered into a covenant - Israel would become the people of YHWH (God), they would obey his laws, and YHWH would be their only god. Moses delivered God’s laws, instituted the priesthood under the sons of Aaron – Moses brother. God destroyed those Israelites who fell away from his worship. In his final act at Sinai, God gave Moses instructions for what was to be called the Tabernacle - the mobile shrine by which he would travel with Israel to the Promised Land.
So todays question is - what was Moses’ relationship with God really like?
Today’s reading gives us a glimpse of that relationship. It was in many respects just like friends gathering together. God and Moses talked face to face although in saying that, God and Moses face to face does not really mean face to face as you and I look at each other. Moses was not perfect, he was reliant on God for guidance, and direction. But Moses was not afraid to ask and make suggestions of God either. In verse 16 he says “how will anyone know that you are pleased with me or your people, unless you go with us.” He goes on to say “What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth”. God agrees to do what Moses asks because he is pleased with Him.
Moses however was just like anyone else. He still needed further assurance of God’s presence. Moses wanted to see God’s glory. But God makes it clear that no one can see Him in all his glory and live. As our reading tells us, we cannot exist and see God as he is. The closest we can get, is to see God from behind which means that we can only see, where God has passed by. This means we can only truly know him through what he does and how he acts.
Friendship with God was a true privilege for Moses. However, it was very much out of reach for the other Hebrews at that time.
So, what about our relationship with God? Is it out of reach for us?
No - today it is very much within our reach. And that is because of Jesus – our saviour. As we know, Jesus had a group of followers whom he called disciples. Jesus called his disciples and by extension all of his followers, his friends. He calls each and every one of us his friend. It is an open invitation. We may not be able to see God face to face in all his glory but we do know what he is like through Jesus Christ. We know from John 14:21, Jesus promised to show himself to those who believe.
Our New Testament reading today, which is the greeting from Paul’s first letter to the Church at Thessalonica, we have Paul giving an example of how those who believe can know Jesus as their friend and importantly their saviour. Paul had established the Christan church in Thessalonica during his second missionary journey. He wrote this letter to encourage the newly converted Christians to hold fast in their faith and to remind them despite persecution, to hope and trust in Jesus. Paul reminded them (a little like Moses) that they too are God’s chosen people, making Jews and Gentiles alike. And also like the people during Moses’ time, there were times when the Thessalonian believers thought that God had deserted them. Paul’s letter reminds them and us, that through Jesus, our relationship with God is a loving friendship. He has chosen us and he doesn’t give up on us. We need to remember that Jesus, our friend, died for us. He suffered and felt pain. He understands our fears, weaknesses and our disappointments.
Now I want to return to Moses. His story spans, the Torah - the first five books of the Old Testament. I want to finish with something that is covered at the end of Deuteronomy. I’m not sure if Rob will cover this in a couple of weeks when our readings cover Moses’ death. Moses throughout his long life, had followed God’s directions. As I mentioned earlier, had founded the laws and had probably been one of the most faithful prophets, if not the most faithful prophet that had ever lived prior to Jesus.
His task was to lead the Israelites out of Egypt – he was to lead them as God’s people to the promised land. But after all these years, God did not allow Moses to enter that land he was giving them. God showed Moses before he died, the beauty of the land before them, from the peak of Mount Nebo. After all that Moses had done, why did God not let Moses end his days within the Promised Land.
We are told in the book of Numbers 20:12, that God did not allow Moses to cross over to the promised land because Moses had disobeyed God. Moses had not followed God’s instructions and had produced water, not as instructed by talking to the rock but by striking it with his staff. As a result of this God disciplined Moses severely. He punished him by not letting him finish his lifelong travels, settled in the promised land. After all that Moses had done over the years, how must that have made him feel. How would that make you feel?
Despite his disappointment in Moses for disobeying a command, God still called Moses his friend and Moses likewise still called God his friend. It is often all too easy to allow anger, resentment even embarrassment cloud our view of our friends and life. Moses did not. His love, respect and awe for God had grown daily throughout his long life. Moses knew that it was not his own greatness that made him successful, but it was the greatness of our all-powerful God – his best friend in whom he trusted.
Today through our relationship with Jesus, we too can call ourselves friends of God. God wants to be your friend and he wants you to be his friend. God loves us and longs for our company. Yes there will be falling outs and challenges. But God enjoys talking with us and wants to share with us the hopes and dreams he has for us.
Like Moses’, friendship is built up over time and is built on trust. We may not always agree, but a true friend is compassionate and caring. They are kind, considerate and encouraging. God is not embarrassed to call you his friend or to be associated with you.
I encourage you to establish and build a deep, lasting, loving friendship with him. He’s the best friend you’ll ever have, and he will always be with you. He will never leave you and he loves, you more than you’ll ever know.
Amen
Exodus 14:19-31
Ps 114
Romans 14: 1-14
Matthew 18: 21-35
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
The phrase “caught between a rock and a hard place” is one that I use often to describe what may initially appear to be a difficult situation where an easy outcome is not always visible.
If you remember back to my last sermon last month, we had Peter trying to walk on water in a storm. I suggested that there were five ‘take away’s’ to consider when faced with adversity or that position between the Rock and a hard place. I am calling this my five-point faith plan - Seek God’s permission, Trust, keep your eyes fixed on God or Jesus; when frightened stay calm and focus on God’s unfailing love for us and finally don’t be afraid to reach out to God when facing the ups and down’s. The good thing about my plan is that you don’t have to have all five points and any one time.
Now the Israelites had been allowed to leave Egypt and taking their possessions – all that was transportable - they had followed Moses and they were now gathered on the shores of the Red Sea. I think we could agree that this would be one occasion when the phrase “caught between a Rock and a hard place” was very apt. God had sent an angel to guide Moses and also there was this pillar of cloud. From our reading we learn that the angel and the pillar cloud, changed position from being in front of the people of Israel, to being behind them. So, this cloud was strategically placed in front of the pursuing Egyptians lead by Pharaoh, so that the two sides could not see each other. It brought Moses and the Israelites some time and for God to prepare their means of escape. So, the message is really loud and clear – Don’t panic.
Faced with the pursuing Egyptians and the Red Sea, you can only imagine how the Israelites must have been feeling. There did not appear to be an escape route. BUT God was with them. And God opened up what we are told in verse 22, was a dry land through which they could safety pass. Now wow that is what I call a miracle.
Now there are many people who may challenge the accuracy of this narrative. The translation from Hebrew, has the sea as the Reed Sea rather than the Red Sea. To have the Red Sea divided would be no insignificant event. Today the Red Sea is approximately 1,200 miles in length, 124 to 155 miles wide and its depth ranges from 600 feet to 7,700 feet – apologies for what I call the old money values. So, scholars suggest that the translation and use of the Sea of Reeds presupposes fresh water and not salt water (Reeds do not grown in salt water). Hence concluding that the Israelites did not cross the Red Sea but rather a freshwater lake in northern Egypt. However, this does not undercut the supernatural element within our story. Hundreds of Egyptians were drowned, and God delivered his people from the Egyptians.
God who created all things, the earth and the water, he performed this wondrous miracle just when it was needed. He demonstrated his power and his love for his people. Now going back to my 5 point plan, God gave them permission to cross the dry land of the Reed / Red Sea, the people trusted him (lead by Moses and supported by an angel), they kept their eyes firmly fixed on God - they must have been very frightened, but they focussed on God’s love to get them across, and then when they reached out, they allowed themselves to follow God’s guide. They had Faith – and God showed them the way.
So having saved the Israelite’s from living the life of a slave under Egyptian rule, you would think that as God’s chosen people, they would value and appreciate what freedom meant. Not so - as a liberated people, they were soon yearning to return to Egypt. Freedom and pioneering were not as attractive as having three meals a day. As a result, and with the gift of hindsight that we have today, the Israelites forgot all that God had done for them and they became very selfish, unkind, and some of them became very uncaring people. They became very materialistic, and they started to worship other idols replacing God. They had forgotten to keep their eyes on God and God alone. They had forgotten to Trust God when they were caught between that Rock and a Hard Place. They did not reach out to God when frightened – they looked to Idols. They did not conform to how God expected them to, after all that he had done for them showing them how they should live their lives. They did not follow the five-point faith plan. Their Faith was perhaps as not as strong as it should have been. Their faith had not matured enough to hold strong.
Our Gospel reading is a parable regarding acts of kindness and forgiveness. It is not specifically a passage about faith but perhaps more about how forgiveness is an act that requires faith through the power of love. Here we have the religious leaders who during Jesus’ time, had put a number on how many times someone should be forgiven when they offended or did not conform to the laws of the time. The Rabbis taught that you should only forgive a person three times. Where was love here? Peter asked Jesus if seven times is enough – perhaps he was trying to show how generous he could be. But Jesus says seventy-seven times – meaning we shouldn’t keep count at all – if someone is truly sorry and repents of all that they have done wrong, it should not matter how many times they ask. Love and therefore faith can overcome all.
In Biblical times, there were severe consequences for those who did not pay their debts that affected not just the person in debt but also their whole family. If the debtor could not pay what was owed, they could all spend the rest of their lives in prison.
God so loved the world that he sent his Son, Jesus. As we know, Jesus died on a cross for us. Despite all the wrong doings and transgressions from how God wanted us to live our lives, God still forgives all our sins. His expectation of us is that that we too should forgive others. If we do not forgive others, we are setting ourselves above what we could say is Christ’s law of love.
So, for me today our New Testament reading sum’s up God’s expectation of us. Through love and faith, we’ve come a long way since Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Our love and faith must have God as our focus and central in all that we do.
As surely as I live says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow before me.
Every tongue will acknowledge God
Each person today is accountable to God – not to any other person or thing.
Yes, we must stand up against those activities or behaviours that the Bibles says are forbidden. But remember God loves us and we must have faith in him.
A digression in regard to this reading from Romans.
It needs to be read understanding the context of the day. When you read or hear this, you may think that on the surface it suggests that vegetarians are spiritually weaker that carnivores. However, when we consider that some of the meat sold in a Roman market may have been meat left over from the idol sacrifices – this became a sensitive issue for those Christians who had converted from paganism and wanted to make a clean break from their past.
So there has to be some common sense applied. Each of us needs to live our lives to please God as best we can. A point from the five-point faith plan - Keep your eyes focussed on God. And while we may think we have everything right; we should not criticise others who in our opinion may live their lives differently.
Many times, Christians base their moral judgments on opinions, personal dislikes or cultural bias rather than on the Word of God. When we do this, we show that our faith is weak – we do not trust God, we do not think that he is powerful enough to guide us. We forget that God is all powerful - he has shown us this through the miracle of the parting of the Reed / Red Sea - he has clearly demonstrated his awesome might through this wonderous miracle. God has shown through the sacrifice his son Jesus made for us, that he loves us unconditionally even though we may occasionally fall by the wayside.
We who are strong in our faith can without pride or disdain, treat others with kindness, love and patience. And we can also encourage those who faith is perhaps not as strong ours or whose faith is wavering - we can encourage them to grow and mature in their faith demonstrated through how we live our lives every day.
Keep God as our focus and centre every day. Ask God’s permission. Trust him. Reach out for him when we are afraid or need guidance and reassurance. The act of forgiveness is so powerful – God forgives all who truly repents. We too can forgive others and love one another - no matter what.
Amen
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Thank you to our young people for helping us think about what life is, what we are called by God to be and how to achieve this.
I don’t often preach on the Epistle; not because I don’t like them; Paul’s excellent letter to the Romans is essential to our Christian lives and his other letters are just as helpful. The difficulty is that, to preach on the Epistle, is to ignore the Gospel, and the same usually applies to the Old Testament readings.
Jesus uses such simple images in his teaching and his actions, his healings, his miracles and his teaching are so powerfully radical that it is hard to ignore these in favour of any other part of the Word of God. The Epistles are best understood in Bible Study rather than in sermons.
Romans 11 is controversial. Well may you respond with, “Isn’t all of Romans controversial; aren’t all Pauls’ writings like this?” This is true, all of the Epistles are controversial, so let me explain.
There are a group of modern Christians who believe that before Jesus returns, at the end of times, a true Christian church must be established amongst the children of Abraham in Jerusalem. There are some Biblical texts which support this and there are many that do not. This is not what I’m here to argue; I just want you to note that this is the issue with which Paul is struggling. The Gentile Churches were discounting the physical descendants of Abraham but also Jewish Christians were making unrealistic demands of Gentile Christians. Having noted this as the background, let’s leave this in God’s hands.
Paul’s fundamental point is that we are all outsiders who like the wild olive branches have been grafted by God into God’s good tree. Not one of us is part of God’s tree by our own efforts or because we deserve to be here. We have been grafted in by Jesus because He loves us and because we in penitence and faith and hope and trust, have asked to be grafted back into a relationship with God.
The best example is the prodigal son who when he came home and repented, was welcomed lovingly by his father.
Most established churches and most Christians who have grown up within a church, have an inherent understanding or feeling or even belief that we are the ‘true church’ and that all others are in ways big and small less than the perfect church.
This, sadly, very sadly, has divided families and cities and countries. We Christians have put each other to death over such man-made arguments about being a true Christian church.
I have spent my whole life as a member of the Anglican Church and I grew up both being told but also somehow being infused with messages against the Church of Rome and against Judaism – somehow although I was taught that all human beings are equal, all religions were not.
I now believe that there is no perfect church; all Christian churches are less than perfect even the Christian churches in Jerusalem. Likewise, everyone that God has created in God’s image, everyone into whom God has breathed life from God’s own spirit, all have left God’s true tree of life.
Jesus describes himself as the true vine and us as the branches and he speaks of removing and burning in the fire, those branches that do not produce fruit. St Paul reminds us that we all need to be grafted by Jesus back onto the vine, the tree.
Jesus told his disciples that apart from Him they could do nothing.
Branches may not be useless once separated from the tree. We have many things beautifully made from wood and I love cut flowers but the wood and the flowers are certainly not alive; they can produce no more fruit.
The Canaanite woman was one who had grown up as an enemy of both Israel and of Judaism; her people worshipped other gods. Her encounter with Jesus is of course about faith but there is much more. Her love for her child is obvious. She was prepared to overcome ridicule, harassment, rejection and centuries of teaching from her own religious leaders and probable rejection by her own family to seek healing for her daughter.
But, this one who was an outsider in every possible way, recognised God’s life and light and power in Jesus. Her hope and faith and love allowed Jesus to graft her onto God’s tree of life and from God’s tree of life she received the healing that she sought.
Anyone can be grafted into a life giving relationship with God by Jesus through faith; we just have to come; we just have to ask. But we can also choose to leave if we stop being connected to God.
The tree gives life and purpose and protection to the branch. It’s roots and trunk are the source of these. God calls us to produce His life and light and all the fruit of His spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we do this we will have God’s life in all its fulness eternally.
But, if we stop feeding on Christ; if we look for life or love or joy or hope anywhere else, God will either prune us or cast us off.
Like a branch on a tree, if we are connected to God occasionally we will have no life. We need to connect to God every hour of every day – we need to let God be our all the time God, our all the time source of life.
Like a branch that is part of a healthy vine, says Jesus, if we abide in him we will bear much fruit.
Are we, listening to God’s music, reading God’s word, speaking and listening to God in prayer, following God’s path always.
Remember, says St Paul: you do not support the root, but the root supports you
Amen
Readings
13 Now I am speaking to you gentiles. Inasmuch as I am an apostle to the gentiles, I celebrate my ministry 14 in order to make my own people[a] jealous and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted among the others to share the rich root[b] of the olive tree, 18 do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember: you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off on account of unbelief,[c] but you stand on account of belief.[d] So do not become arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.[e] 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you, if you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And even those of Israel,[f] if they do not continue in unbelief,[g] will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.
25 I want you to understand this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not claim to be wiser than you are: a hardening has come upon part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“Out of Zion will come the Deliverer;
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.”
27 “And this is my covenant with them,
when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their ancestors, 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so also they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they also may now[h] receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.
33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him,
to receive a gift in return?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 15:21-28
21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’[a] table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Thank you to our young people and to Helen for helping us think about how God sustains us even when things try to stop us growing and being what God has planted us to be.
In our Gospel this morning, Matthew continues to help his readers understand their life and world situation. He wants them to know that Jesus said, times would be – it’s a great word, times would be interesting.
Have you ever thought how much better would the world be without certain people?
When I hear of atrocities, of war crimes, of the harsh realities that exist within some families; when I hear of murders, torture, and wars; when I hear of cruelty to children, partners, elders and even strangers, in my frustration, I want to know why God has allowed the perpetrators to exist and, after the fact, to continue to exist.
My time as a prison chaplain in Goulburn Correctional Centre was particularly confronting for me. Goulburn was the place for NSW’s nastiest, most dangerous, most notorious people. If the crime was heinous and particularly if other prisoners thought you didn’t deserve to live, you went to Goulburn.
But in Goulburn Gaol I encountered some Christians including some clergy. Of the supposed Christians who didn’t believe they should be there.
· One, a school teacher, told me that he was arrested illegally as he tried to leave Australia; sure he did the terrible things for which he was arrested but he was, in his view, illegally dragged off his flight to the Philippines. He frequently told me; he shouldn’t be in gaol.
· Another asked me to help him get books to help him justify his homosexual paedophilia. He argued that what he did was quite OK because it had been an accepted practice in Ancient Greece.
· A third told me that he was wrongly convicted because his wife had lied to police and in court about his behaviour; so did his ex-wife and his daughter.
Each of these convicted prisoners had multiple victims over multiple years and they were unrepentant; why did God not allow his angels to pluck them out of this world and send them on the quick journey to hell that Jesus is describing?
Some in the early church to which Matthew was writing about 50 years after Jesus resurrection and ascension, some questioned God’s ability, his power – was he not able? Some questioned God’s love, care – did God not love or care about the victims? We each have our personal lists of unforgivable crimes, of unforgivable criminals and our own questions.
For me, it’s worse when the obviously evil people thrive, succeed flourish in this world. I believe that God’s judgement is coming but, surely, if God is going to allow these people to exist until that judgement, it should be somewhere like Goulburn Gaol.
So, Matthew and particularly here, reminds his readers in the early church and reminds us of three points.
First, Jesus, when he was teaching his followers during his earthly ministry, Jesus said in advance, warned us that it would be so. In many places, Jesus warned his followers of tough times to come. He warned of wars and persecution of family disputes and of tough times. This passage only appears in Matthew, but it is consistent with many other quotes from Jesus. Here, Jesus tells us just a little of God’s motivation or purpose in leaving evil people in the world for a while.
Second, until weeds grow, they are often indistinguishable from good plants however, once they are both fully grown, the difference is obvious. Wheat and weeds can be known by their flowers and fruit.
This is not just about pre-destination; our lives, our eternity are not locked in no matter what. Our decisions, our actions, our relationship with God matter. We know that God, who is beyond time, already knows who will be saved; God knows the decisions that we will all make, but as other parables, including last week, tell us, we have free will to come to or to reject God. We get to make these decisions.
Last week Jesus told us that good seed can be plucked up, dried up or choked by weeds so that we, the good seed sown by God, don’t end up following God, don’t end up being saved. Not all of God’s good seeds end up in heaven. Jesus warned that many around us will turn through choice from following God and will not find salvation.
These parables all seem to head in one direction, all pointing to the weeds and the seed that don’t bear fruit being destroyed. This would be simple except it’s not the whole story. We would have to ignore the parables of the prodigal son and the lost sheep, we would have to ignore the prophets and there would be no need for Jesus to have died.
For example, Isaiah 53:6, ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.’
In Luke 15, the Prodigal Son, was welcomed home by his loving father once he repented of his lifestyle and came home. It was the one lost sheep that the shepherd went to rescue. Our God is a loving, saving rescuing God and we all and all of God’s good seeds need rescuing.
I deserve God’s punishment for all that I have done to hurt others; I may not have murdered; I am not a sex offender and I’m not lots of other things but I’m not innocent; I don’t deserve heaven – yet Jesus forgives me when I repent.
I have told you before of several convicted prisoners in gaol who have repented and who I believe God will forgive. For some, going to gaol is a good thing, they finally find God and find life in gaol and that opportunity only comes if God doesn’t pull them out of the field too soon.
Jesus final point is a warning for the ‘good seed’; we too can be corrupted by the weeds. This is echoed in St Paul’s Epistle, the weeds are there for our benefit. The weeds are both a warning of what can happen if we lose our faith in and love for God and they are testing our faith in God. A faith that has never been tested, is just growth that is long overdue.
Our salvation is not in our righteousness but in God’s forgiveness. Having been planted as a perfect seed by God in the darkness, God has called each of to grow and to produce special fruit, God’s fruit in our lives; may your lives shine as beacons of love and joy and life in the world to the glory of God the Father.
Amen
Readings
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba![a] Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness[b] with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in[c] hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Matthew 13:24-43
24 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he replied, ‘No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”
34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. 35 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:[b]
“I will open my mouth to speak in parables;
I will proclaim what has been hidden since the foundation.”[c]
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin[d] and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears[e] listen!
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Thank you to our young people for helping us think about who God is calling us to be. God has sown the seeds of who we are to be into good soil. Trying to become what God has not sown is not going to be fruitful, not have a good outcome.
St Matthew is writing to readers who are in a different situation from those of the other Gospel writers. This book is written to bring God’s news of salvation, of hope and of life to a dispersed, persecuted largely Jewish church.
Matthew uniquely begins with Jesus’s lineage going back to Abraham, the Father of the Jewish nation. Luke makes connections to Jesus with King David and the priest Zechariah and to the prophets. Mark doesn’t bother with this stuff and John traces Jesus’s lineage back to God before time, before Earth. These beginnings tell us much of the author’s purpose and readers.
Matthew’s readers were struggling with the realities of life and with maintaining their hope in God. Like John the Baptist, who from Herod’s prison, sent his disciples asking Jesus if He was really the Messiah or should John look for God’s salvation elsewhere. Matthew’s readers were struggling to see how the all-powerful God in whom they believed could allow such bad things to happen to them. Where was God’s victory in their world situation?
Jesus sent John’s disciples back to John in prison with a reminder of the signs, miracles, wonders and teachings that Jesus was doing. Jesus didn’t physically rescue John, but God ended the suffering and brought John home to heaven by having Herod swiftly execute him.
John had done his God given work wonderfully and now that it was done, at the age of about 33, God rewarded him with heaven.
Matthew’s readers had seen the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The great symbol of hope and the place in which to worship and to receive forgiveness from God, had been destroyed by the Romans. If God was really powerful, if God really loved them, surely, they said, could he not have stopped this from happening; even one angel from God could have destroyed the Romans.
The early Christians were so persecuted by Herod that most had chosen to flee to other parts of the Roman Empire. They, the faithful, had been taught that God was to be worshipped in Jerusalem and now they felt that they were not able properly so to do.
Matthew provides teaching about God and his heaven for a dispersed, confused, persecuted church. This book about Jesus, as Jesus approaches his crucifixion, records Jesus telling the disciples that the temple will be destroyed and that there will be many persecutions. Matthew ends, after the resurrection, just before Jesus ascension, with Jesus sending his disciples into the world to make more disciples.
So, to this parable of the Sower that we know so well. Let’s quickly note that seed on the path and in the shallow soil and in the weeds is a continuation of Jesus message to Matthew’s readers. Most people in the world, says Jesus, will reject God and his message and his love and his eternal life.
God offers eternal life to all; we are all made in God’s image; we all have God’s life breathed into our spirits. Most, says Jesus, will reject God’s offer. We have had this message from Jesus 4 weeks in a row. Let’s accept it and move to what God wants of us.
I’m speaking to those who are sown in God’s good soil. Yes, we need to be wary of Satan’s temptations; we need to be prepared for the trials and tough times in this world; we need to be aware that the things and people of the world around us (all good and God created things and people), we need to be aware that these can choke the God-ness out of us.
But, we are seeds sown by God into good soil and God has a purpose for each of us. We can only produce God’s fruit if we become what God has sown us to be. I was not sown to be a football player – I love rugby but I’m not much good at it and injuries fixed any lingering desire. I love sailing; some in my family are champion sailors and have been professionals but no. I was not sown to be an Engineer or even a soldier – these are stories for another sermon. Even as a priest I was not sown for a conventional priestly ministry.
Jesus does not say that each seed sown is the same. All are made by and in the image of God, but each is different.
To bear fruit as God’s seeds, 30, 60 or 100 fold, has often been taken as being evangelists who bring many more people into God’s church and into the kingdom. If I were fact checking this, I would have to say, “true but misleading.” Those who are sown by God to be evangelists are those who will produce this particular fruit and probably are the 100 fold people.
When St Paul has a look at this issue and writes to the dispersed churches he makes two consistent points.
· The fruit of God’s Spirit is in our lives and people will see God’s fruit in our actions. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Paul tells of more, but this list from Galatians 5 is a good start.
· Second, we each have different gifts from the one and same Holy Spirit. Paul describes many gifts and their purpose in 1 Corinthians 12 including wise advice, prophesy, healing, working miracles, hospitality. We are to live out these gifts, these powers from God in our lives and not seek to be other than who God has sown us to be.
Evangelism is only one of God’s callings that Paul mentions. I personally, am more grateful for those who have gifts of encouragement and of service than I am for evangelists.
God made John the Baptist as a potential prophet. God’s Spirit empowered and John faithfully followed this calling, in God’s power even into the wilderness and into prison. John was an important part of God’s plan but having done his job it was time to leave. While John was alive, he had disciples and people asked if John was the Messiah. Job done; God called him home. Well done good and faithful servant enter into your master’s rest.
The beautiful temple, well there had been three of them, the temple as a focus of faithful worship was necessary only until Jesus came to be and to bring God’s salvation. After Easter there was no more need for the temple. Reconciliation with God and atonement for sins was no longer through the blood of bulls and goats but through the blood of Jesus. The temple was now a distraction from true worship. Good job, well done, time to go.
The early church had to begin in Jerusalem, but God’s plan was that God’s true church was to spread throughout the world. Through God’s Holy Spirit, anyone anywhere could now worship God. The persecutions drove the believers out into the known world and they took their faith in Jesus with them.
Some other Sunday I will preach on the treasures of darkness and the growth and learnings that come from our darkness times.
Only God has the perfect plan, perfect for the world, perfect for us, perfect for those around us. We are each sown different but each perfect for God’s purposes. The soil is dirty and dark and uncomfortable but if we trust and follow God, we will not only have peace – no matter what (that was last week’s sermon). If we trust and follow God no matter what, God will produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our lives.
Having been planted as a perfect seed by God in the darkness, God has called each of us to grow and to produce special fruit, God’s fruit in our lives; may your lives shine as beacons of love and joy and life in the world to the glory of God the Father.
Amen
Readings
8 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit[a] of life in Christ Jesus has set you[b] free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin,[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.[d] 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit[e] set their minds on the things of the Spirit.[f] 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit[g] is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,[h] since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit[i] is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[j] from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through[k] his Spirit that dwells in you.
Matthew 13:1-23
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 If you have ears,[a] hear!”
10 Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets[b] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
‘You will indeed listen but never understand,
and you will indeed look but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.’
16 “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Hear, then, the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.[c] 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this[d] age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Thank you to our young people for helping us see what we have to leave behind as we move on in life. Hanging on to things that were good and helpful in our past can stop us having the future we were intended to have.
Freedom, true freedom always comes with consequences. The things that bind us, restrict us even strangle us, often do so using what supposedly gives us life.
I have a friend who was on a Special Forces training activity which involved a parachute jump into the ocean. If you jump from the plane without a parachute you reach a terminal velocity over 200kmh and hitting the water at this speed is pretty much like hitting concrete. You need a parachute to slow your fall and to stop the water killing you on impact. The parachute having done it’s job, you are supposed to ‘release’ the parachute just before or as you enter the water.
My friend’s parachute functioned well as he came out of the plane and headed to the water. It nicely did it’s job saving him from death or injury. For some reason he didn’t successfully completely release the parachute before he hit the water and the parachute and all of the rigging lines landed in the water on top of and around him. His attempts to swim to shore entangled in the parachute were not working. It became apparent to the safety staff that he was not going to make it, so the rescue helicopter responded and a rescue diver quickly and expertly hooked him to the winch cable. The helicopter crew commenced winching but my friend didn’t go up rather the helicopter was being pulled towards the sea.
The weight of seawater in the parachute was too great for the helicopter. The parachute which had saved my friend as he jumped from plane to sea was now preventing his rescue.
My friend was entangled in many of the parachute rigging lines. The rescue diver had to cut them individually to allow him to be winched to safety. Only once he was freed from the parachute and also all of his equipment could he be saved.
God is saying the same thing this morning.
The people of Israel had been slaves in Egypt until God through signs and wonders; terrible plagues for the Egyptians; God miraculously rescued them from Egypt and then saved them from the mighty Egyptian Army – remember God cleared a path through the Red Sea for the Israelites but when the Egyptian Army followed they drowned as God closed the waters over them in that same sea.
God saved them, saved them from slavery and from death but now as they wandered through the wilderness with God still feeding them, they were whinging and complaining about the food; they even made a god for themselves from their gold jewellery. They were worshipping this golden calf down at the bottom of the mountain at the same time God was giving Moses the 10 Commandments on the mountain top.
That didn’t work out quite so well for them, but that’s another story.
I’m not here to lecture you on the 10 Commandments but I do want to look at the preamble, for in it we find both the nature of God and the commandments’ purpose.
Then God spoke all these words,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.
God wants us to have life. These commandments only make sense if God has freed us from the need for justification or satisfaction by or from these things. We don’t need to kill or steal or lie or cheat if our satisfaction, our joy, our love and our hope are in and from God.
When God made us in God’s image; when God breathed life into us or put our spirit into us God did this with God’s own breath or spirit.
God made us to have eternal life in all its fullness but this is to be on God’s terms. Repeatedly in the Old Testament God says, “ I will be their God and they shall be my people.”
In the New Testament in parable and direct quotes offers life in all its fullness with God forever using terms including, sheep, servants and children to describe us in this relationship.
The point of the commandments and there are many more in other places, the point of the commandments is to remind us of things which can not save us. Looking for love or salvation or fulfilment or life in all the wrong places is the problem God has been dealing with since he created us.
God might give us loving families; God might give us satisfying jobs; God might give us health and fitness but salvation is in none of these. Often we can only find God and God’s light and life and hope and joy when these worldly distractions are taken from us.
We have all sinned and fallen short of the standard required to get to heaven and for our sin we deserve (as wages) death and eternal separation from God.
St John wrote about Jesus, ‘But to all who receive him who believe on his name he has given power to become children of God.’
St Paul wrote, ‘the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
When God frees us from slavery to the things and people in this world we only have our relationship with God. In this is life. If God gives us other things and people in this world it is so that we can show the world around us how to live in love for God. If God takes us through darkness it is so that we can see and pass on God’s light to those in darkness.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out … the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.
Having been freed from all that enslaves us in this world may you find God’s life and love and joy and peace forever.
Amen
Readings
Exodus 20:1-17
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.[c]
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires. 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments[a] of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments[b] of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations.[c] For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.
20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
One of the struggles I have with the Gospel attributed to St Matthew is it’s disconnectedness. St Luke has wonderful statements, pronouncements by observers and participants including Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother and Mary Jesus’s mother; the Magnificat is one of my favourites. In Luke’s Gospel everyone is quite eloquent and even Jesus has longer more connected together narratives.
Mark is all action and John has long stories and Jesus wonderful discourses.
Matthew to me is much more apparently disconnected with this morning’s Gospel passage being a good example. Matthew fit’s a different Biblical style. His style is more like proverbs, short apparently disconnected sayings of wisdom; all valuable but not apparently connected.
Matthew appears to writing to a church probably 50 or 60 years after Jesus time. It would appear that this church was beyond the immediate euphoria of Acts of Paul’s writings. Things were getting tough. There were external threats from Emperors like Nero. Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed. There were apparent internal disagreements in a church that appeared to be struggling with doubt and struggling for direction.
Where was Jesus? Where was heaven? Where was that mighty Holy Spirit of the first few decades?
Many decades ago I remember a challenging preacher who asked us as young Christians if we had lost our first love. It’s disconnected but I think that this is the question that St Matthew is asking here. Have we lost our first love?
Matthew, like last week, is painting a bleak picture, his audience is clearly facing tough times. Matthew brings these words from Jesus:
If they have called Jesus, the master, evil then we should expect to be called evil and worse.
Do not fear those who can kill the body.
Jesus has not come to bring peace but a sword.
Jesus has come to bring family fights.
We each have a cross to carry.
I’ve spent the last 2 days in synod. With Angela, Bronwen and Sam, I have listened to passionate calls for synod to get other people and particularly Diocesan Council and various levels of government to fix everything that is wrong with life and our church and our nation and the world.
These loving, well intentioned Christian people, who probably live much better lives than I do, appear to me to have missed Jesus’s points from this chapter of Matthew. Jesus warns that times for his followers, for us in the church and particularly for those that God is sending into the world, life is going to be tough, really tough.
In Matthew, Jesus doesn’t give a coherent answer as to why, but the threads are all there to be connected.
The result of a life of discipleship following Jesus, no matter what, will be lead to eternal life in God’s kingdom.
And the point that Matthew gives us just before Jesus crucifixion we know well.
You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Jesus certainly isn’t excusing us picking un-necessary violence or fights with our families, not excusing us not loving our parents or our children. Rather Jesus puts these into perspective – when we learn to love God perfectly, God will give us the power to love our families and those around us.
In doing this we find our eternal life in all its fullness – only in our relationship with God.
Discipleship in Matthew is the hardest, for these are the circumstances his readers were facing, so hard that only in God’s power is there success in mission and success in getting to heaven. We can only do this if we let God be God, the leader and the provider and the protector and if we become great obeyers and followers and trusters.
Fear not, fear nothing, fear no-one; love God above all else and you will find life and you will be able to love those God gives you as God does.
Amen
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Thank you Evelyn for helping us to get some of the simple things right about God. God here, is sending us out with some pretty clear instructions. Sometimes adult minds want to make things much more complicated than is helpful.
This is our start to our season of living in God’s world.
The background, the excitement and the parties are over; Jesus and St Paul are leading us and preparing us for reality. Our readings over the next few months are preparing and equipping us to live as disciples of Christ in God’s world. We are called to live in relationship with God in God’s world and it’s going to be tough.
We could start this morning with a warning – ‘be careful what you pray for.’ Jesus is continuing to teach people, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and Jesus is curing people of every disease and sickness.
Jesus then, out of his love and compassion for the crowds points out the great need for more and more people to tell the crowds about God’s love and God’s salvation. He tells his disciples to pray to the Father to send out more labourers.
I’m sure the disciples were happy to ask God to send others. They appear happy to be called and named as disciples. I wonder how happy they were when Jesus sent them out. And, of course, it gets worse – they are told to take nothing with them for the journey.
Angela introduced us to this theme last Sunday with St Barnabas. The right answer isn’t – it’s OK I won’t take gold or silver or anything for the journey, just my credit card.
If go out and do God’s work in our own power and with our own resources – which of course ignores the fact that we have nothing, not even life itself, except from God. However, if we go supposedly and do things by ourselves then, where is the glory for God. If we do this, the glory is ours.
So, this is our first mistake. We are not to be like the politicians and famous people of our time who tell our children that if they work hard and study hard then they too could be Prime Minister or astronauts or sports champions. Just work hard. We know it’s wrong, we know it’s a lie, so why do we allow our children to be exposed to this rubbish.
Let me assure you that anything I can do by myself, in my own power, isn’t worth doing. Certainly of no value to any of you. I preach only in God’s power and only for God’s glory.
If I try to predict what I will need, I will get it wrong. Too much, too little, too formal. Should I take suitcases or a pack or just carry-on?
God knows what we need and God, God who loves us, promises to provide – perfectly.
When I joined the Army, on my first day, I wore a suit and I packed underwear. Then the Army issued me everything that they though I needed including underwear – there was barely room in my locker for my suit. In the same way, God will provide – miraculously. If we have nothing, we learn to be grateful for anything.
The second lesson is that we are not sent to the rich and famous. Our message, God’s message is for the lost sheep, the sick, the lame and the spiritually damaged.
Jesus’s final point is the hardest of all.
We are sent like sheep in the midst of wolves.
We are not going to be treated very nicely.
It takes a lot of editing or selective reading of the Bible to come up with the message that I hear frequently from Christians. Many are genuinely surprised when bad things happen to good people, when disasters natural or man-made happen.
Of course we should be saddened, we should grieve and cry and mourn; Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus; all of this is appropriate but we shouldn’t be surprised. We have been warned.
This brings us to the Epistle from St Paul.
Those in the early church were struggling with the realities, the difficulties of life following Jesus. This was a church in which people were arrested, thrown into gaol, tortured and killed for their faith. I’m glad that it is not so here, today but we are still persecuted – it’s different but real. Ridicule, verbal abuse and workplace mistreatment are real and of course it can be people of any faith who are so treated.
How can we explain this? Is God not powerful enough to stop this? Does God not care about us?
Of course God cares about us – cares enough to die for us even while we were yet, His enemies, sinners. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
Of course God is powerful enough – Jesus has defeated even death.
God has a place for us as beloved, perfectly loved, children with God forever but first we have work to do. Our work is both personal growth and God’s work in the world.
I was once told that pessimists don’t get road rage. They expect that other drivers and road users will do the wrong thing. If they don’t do these things pessimists arrive at work buoyant. Conversely, for optimists like me, if these things come to pass, I believe that the perpetrators are selfish and I take their wrong doing personally.
Jesus want us to be resilient in this world. He wants us to expect darkness and he wants us to know his power and love and victory through the darkness.
Our message to those around us is, “I know a God is always with me in any darkness; I know a God who’s light and life and hope no darkness can overcome.”
This is the message that Jesus gave the disciples to give the world and it’s to be our message. His credibility, his authority comes from having been in our world, living, suffering dying and rising.
Our credibility to speak of God’s light is in our own journey through the darkness – so, be ready for the darkness.
This morning is just the beginning, a warning, the preparation – as you go through the valley of deepest darkness may you fear no evil for God, who loves you, longs to comfort you.
Amen
Sermon: Sunday 11th June ’23 - 2nd Sunday Pentecost / St Barnabas
Job 29: 11-16
Ps 98
Acts 11:22-30; 13:1-3
Matthew 10:7-13
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Children’s Talk
So, what is this? – a torch
What does a torch do? – light; shines;
What do we use a torch for?
This one doesn’t seem to be working
Push ‘on’ button – nothing happens
What is the problem? - No batteries
Put batteries in torch which should already be on so that light shines as soon as batteries are in
OK, so now we have light.
What can we see? Torch, light.
Can we see the batteries? No
How do we know that they are there? Light
God is a bit like this. We can see Jesus but we can’t see God the Father but when the two are together we can see the light that comes from the relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son.
Batteries plus torch equals light and light is helpful
God the Father plus God the Son equals Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit is God’s power in the world helping us.
Do we get born each year on our birthday? No, but we think of the life of that person and of their love.
When the Holy Spirit came to the disciples, like being born, it was special but a once off. There was a rushing wind noise and people looked like they had fire on their heads but that only happened once.
Have you ever seen the Holy Spirit?
Can you see the Holy Spirit? Touch it? Taste it?
So how do we know that God’s Spirit which we call the Holy Spirit really exists?
Well let’s think about air. Can we see it? Touch it? Taste it?
We might be able to see the dust or fog or smoke that is in the air or and we are actually touching it all the time but air itself can’t be seen without a microscope.
But, we know that air is really there because of what we can see it does.
Fly the paper plane – how does the plane stay up to fly? Air under its wings. Rockets don’t need air but all aeroplanes need air for their engines and for their wings to fly. Even birds need air to fly.
What happens if we don’t have air to breathe? We die without air to breathe. Air in our lungs is part of life.
Like this balloon – if it doesn’t have air (or in this case helium) inside it can’t fly, it’s just a useless bit of plastic.
God says that He has breathed life into us with his own spirit. God’s spirit, God’s breath gives us life. Without God’s spirit our lives and our bodies are pretty useless too.
We can’t see God’s Holy Spirit but we can see what it does in people’s lives. We can hear God’s spirit and we can feel it and it gives us power and life from God
So, let us thank God for His light.
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
God’s light always shines in the darkness to help me
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Children’s Talk
Today is the Holy Spirit’s birthday.
What happens on birthdays? We celebrate, party, cake, candles etc
Do we get born each year on our birthday? No, but we think of the life of that person and of their love.
When the Holy Spirit came to the disciples, like being born, it was special but a once off. There was a rushing wind noise and people looked like they had fire on their heads but that only happened once.
Have you ever seen the Holy Spirit?
Can you see the Holy Spirit? Touch it? Taste it?
So how do we know that God’s Spirit which we call the Holy Spirit really exists?
Well let’s think about air. Can we see it? Touch it? Taste it?
We might be able to see the dust or fog or smoke that is in the air or and we are actually touching it all the time but air itself can’t be seen without a microscope.
But, we know that air is really there because of what we can see it does.
Fly the paper plane – how does the plane stay up to fly? Air under its wings. Rockets don’t need air but all aeroplanes need air for their engines and for their wings to fly. Even birds need air to fly.
What happens if we don’t have air to breathe? We die without air to breathe. Air in our lungs is part of life.
Like this balloon – if it doesn’t have air (or in this case helium) inside it can’t fly, it’s just a useless bit of plastic.
God says that He has breathed life into us with his own spirit. God’s spirit, God’s breath gives us life. Without God’s spirit our lives and our bodies are pretty useless too.
We can’t see God’s Holy Spirit but we can see what it does in people’s lives. We can hear God’s spirit and we can feel it and it gives us power and life from God
So, let us thank God for his spirit and let us celebrate and say Happy Birthday Holy Spirit.
God’s Holy Spirit fills me with life – like helium in a balloon
I fly on God’s Holy Spirit like a plane flies on the air
God’s Holy Spirit fills me with life – like helium in a balloon
I fly on God’s Holy Spirit like a plane flies on the air
God’s Holy Spirit fills me with life – like helium in a balloon
I fly on God’s Holy Spirit like a plane flies on the air
God’s Holy Spirit fills me with life – like helium in a balloon
I fly on God’s Holy Spirit like a plane flies on the air
God’s Holy Spirit fills me with life – like helium in a balloon
I fly on God’s Holy Spirit like a plane flies on the air
God’s Holy Spirit fills me with life – like helium in a balloon
I fly on God’s Holy Spirit like a plane flies on the air
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
Children’s Talk
Where you have been alone – completely alone?
Toilet
Bed
Bedroom
Trampoline
Even in those places we aren’t completely alone we can still hear – music, voices, mobile phone – we still have thoughts
In all of these places God is still with us and if we listen we can here God.
So, if God is always with us even when we go to the toilet or are in bed at night, why can’t we hear him?
Noise, other thoughts, not listening
OK, so, what about who we have in our teams? Is our family a team? Do we have different roles in our family?
What is God’s role?
It’s sometimes said that our life is like plying in a plane and God is with us but if we find that we’ve taken over the controls from God then we are in trouble and we should give the job of flying the plane back to God (before we crash or go the wrong way).
I think that God actually puts us at the controls of our lives but wants us to listen to him as He tells us which way to go.
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
God is with me always, everywhere and even within me – I will listen to him
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
I want to thank our children for helping us to understand one of Jesus’s points here this morning. What does it mean to be in home.
Jesus came not to tell us the way home, not even to call us home; Jesus came to make the way home and to be the way home and to personally lead us to our true home.
The children lead us to the questions Jesus is answering, ‘Where is our home; what is our life – who am I really meant to be?’
So, did anyone watch the coronation last night? Did anyone not watch it? Penny and I were babysitting some grandchildren and coronation time was dinner and bath time so I didn’t actually see all of it live.
What we did see was pretty amazing. Many around the world loved every moment of the whole coronation service. For some this was a moment of connection to a personal king. There truly were insights into Charles the man and into a unique family and into nation, commonwealth and world. Many truly believe personally that Charles Philip Arthur George is their sovereign, king, legitimate earthly leader.
Others were fascinated; some disinterested and some were aghast, shocked at the ‘other things all that money could have been spent on.’
The emotions here are deep. There is pride that our commonwealth can put on such a great show and that we have a part of it. There is love, genuine affection for ‘our king’. There might be hope and joy that the world isn’t all bad if we can do this. For others, the shame, the hurt are real. These are very deep emotions that come from our core.
I didn’t choose to not go to Westminster Abbey; for me it wasn’t a matter of ‘I really can’t afford the airfare or the people of Moggill need me on Sunday’; much as I love you all, I simply wasn’t invited. If, I had turned up uninvited, if I had tried to force or deceive my way into the abbey I suspect the response might have been similar to the response St Stephen received in our first reading. Stoning is unlikely but there is every possibility that an intruder into the Abbey could have been shot.
Let’s use the Royal distraction for a while this morning. Let’s imagine a time before television cameras; there were no tv cameras at Queen Victoria’s 5 hour long coronation. We could go back further to a time before photo cameras; there were no photos of any of Henry VIII’s weddings. To go back further, we don’t even have paintings of King David’s weddings. Most of what we know of those weddings and of the palaces, the royal families and even the monarchs was reported by eye witnesses.
Let’s consider St Stephen a reporter, more even than a royal reporter, he is a heavenly reporter and he claims to be an eye witness. Stephen sees and tells us of a vision of heaven. Reporting the truth cost him his life but I think that confirms that he really and truly believed what he was telling those around him.
Stephen sees the heavens opened and he sees Jesus, who called himself the Son of Man, Stephen sees Jesus standing right next to God.
It’s the only eyewitness account that we have and Stepehen was so amazed at what he saw that he told even the antagonistic crowd what he saw and this telling this news that they didn’t want to hear cost Stephen his life.
It would be like someone looking into a royal coronation in Tudor times. The results got people killed.
So when Jesus talks about His Father’s house, he, according to Stephen the Martyr, has credibility, according to Stephen, Jesus has been there, in heaven with The Father.
In the KJV Jesus tells his followers that in his father’s house there are many mansions and he is going to prepare one as a place for each of us.
I didn’t see any parishioners from St Michael and All Angels Church on the balcony with the Royal Family after the coronation; in fact I didn’t see any Australians, no one but carefully chosen members of the Royal Family – being born a prince was not enough to get even standing room on the balcony.
The writer to the Hebrews says that we can get even closer to God than the balcony. We can get into the sanctuary; like being with the Archbishop of Canterbury in the place behind those elaborate screens in the abbey where there were no TV cameras as Charles was anointed with holy oil.
The writer to the Hebrews tells us that we get in through Jesus making, opening a way for us.
Last week I shared my affection and gratitude for St Thomas, Thomas the honest, Thomas the asker of the obvious questions, but we also owe St Philip a debt.
For the Jewish religion and people, the Father and heaven were often conceptually rolled in together. It’s much like reporters on TV saying that ‘Buckingham Palace said, “...”’ We know that palaces can’t speak; they mean that either, the King or the Royal Family have said “...”
When Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father, it was a much larger question, ‘Lord, show us the Father and heaven and our future and in so doing, prove to us that you really are the promised saviour from God.’ Philip is asking Jesus to show them the vision that St Stephen saw, the post-Good Friday, post-Easter, post-Ascension vision.
Have I been with you for 3 years doing miracles, says Jesus, and you still don’t see the power of God in me? If you can’t see God in me, then surely you can believe on the basis of the works that I have done.
Jesus is telling the disciples all of this just before he dies, but we have it afterwards; in both cases it is to make sense of Easter.
Thomas’s question is similar to Philip’s Lord we don’t know where heaven is how can we get there.
The answer to both is the same say Jesus, I am the way.
I said last week that this was a two-part sermon. Last week Jesus the good shepherd said that he calls his sheep by name and that they know his voice and follow him and that every other voice was trying to steal eternal life from us.
I don’t know how you define heaven but Jesus is saying don’t settle for the heaven that others are offering. No other heaven is life eternal inside God’s own palace, home, sanctuary as beloved children.
That’s the heaven I want. I want the, better than royal family, experience, forever and this is what Jesus and only Jesus offers.
So, back to last week’s questions – what does the voice of Jesus say? From beginning to end of the Bible God says,
I made you, I know you, I love you I am sending my own son to rescue you.
Jesus says, I love you; I died for you; in me you can see life in all its fullness,
And this morning, Jesus says again, follow me, through life and death and resurrection, follow me and live in my Father’s house forever.
Therefore my friends, let us enter even the sanctuary the way that Jesus has opened for us through his own blood.
Jesus loves you, Jesus died that you might live, Jesus calls us by name to follow him home.
‘He died that we might be forgiven, He died to make us good that we might go at last to heaven saved by his precious blood.’
Amen
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always, in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God. Amen
I want to thank our children for helping us to understand one of Jesus’s points here this morning. We are surrounded by very many voices; knowing Jesus voice and being able to hear his voice and then following it ‘home’ are critical components of us following our Good Shepherd.
The children lead us to the question which Jesus is answering, ‘Why listen to Jesus voice? Why follow him?’
Jesus begins speaking to the Pharisees; it is them he accuses of being thieves and bandits. They are pretending that they can give the people of Israel life when they can’t give life. Jesus accuses them of stealing the people’s legitimate hope for eternal life with God. A pretty punchy start from Jesus.
Second, we are looking at this after Easter so, looking at the meaning of Jesus’s death and resurrection. Jesus, before his death, tells the Pharisees and his followers that he will be laying down his life, yes, he will be laying it down, allowing others to take his life from him, laying down his life not for his own sake but for the sake of the sheep.
From the beginning to the end of John’s gospel we learn that Jesus came for our sake. Bishop John when he was here reminded us from John 3, that Jesus came ‘for God so loved the world.’
Third, this passage comes before Lazarus died and is brought back to life by Jesus. This encounter with the Pharisees is part of Jesus teaching about his purpose in coming into this world, his purpose in dying; before he died.
On Good Friday we sang There is a Green Hill far away, ‘He died that we might be forgiven, He died to make us good that we might go at last to heaven saved by his precious blood.’
Some of today’s passage is best left to next Sunday; part 2 of this series. Next Sunday we encounter Thomas the honest, the disciple who dares to ask the obvious questions. In response to Thomas Jesus says, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” So, we can leave the image of Jesus as the gate for the sheep until part 2.
This morning then, we have Jesus the Good Shepherd and the whole point of John’s Gospel. Many scholars say John 3:16 is the key to the Bible; for me, personally, the key verse to the whole Bible is here this morning. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” or, life in all its fullness.
The Bible Society in Australia has been running an Easter campaign entitled, ‘Jesus – all about life.’ It’s true; it’s St John’s message from the beginning. ‘All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.’
What we see in Jesus is life. What we find if we follow Jesus is life. Jesus the good shepherd leads us to life. Jesus is the source of life and is the way to God’s life but he also shows us what life with God forever is like.
Both points are problematic for the powerful both in Jesus time and now. The powerful were sure that they were the givers of life or more accurately the sellers of life. Life could be bought from the priests in the temple by exchanging hard cash for animals to be sacrificed in the temple and thereby one had the promise of reconciliation with God.
The Romans also exchanged promises of peace in exchange for taxes. All of the power groups, Pharisees, Herod, merchants, even families had some form of life to offer in exchange for money or obedience or loyalty. Jesus challenges this false power to give ‘the good life’ calling all other shepherds, thieves or bandits out to steal life true eternal from the God’s sheep.
The second problem was that people, including the powerful, didn’t like the life that Jesus was showing them. The ancient equivalents of car dealers, real estate agents, fashion designers in fact the makers and sellers of everything have much to fear from Jesus. Jesus says that life, God’s life, eternal life, life abundantly, is not in any of these things. Life, eternally, life abundantly is in a relationship with God through Jesus.
At the end of John’s Gospel, at the end of Jesus ministry, just before the epilogue involving Peter, St John says that he has written so ‘that through believing, we may have life in [Jesus’s] name.’
There is never a promise of an easy life or a successful life, never a promise of wealth or health or happiness, never a promise of pleasure or power or status. The life abundantly is the life that King David describes in Psalm 23. The Lord is David’s shepherd as he goes even through the valley of the shadow of death. The life that we see Jesus giving is sight to the blind, forgiveness to an adulteress, community to an outcast, healing to a man paralysed for 38 years. The final action in this gospel is the restoration of a relationship with God for Peter, the one who had denied that he even knew Jesus.
So, in the Good Shepherd we find, not a God who blesses the best in the world but a rescuer of lost sheep; we find one who empowers not the powerful but rather the weak, one who gives life where it is missing, where it is desperately needed.
In Jesus we see one who follows his Heavenly Father no matter what. Jesus follows for not earthly gain, pleasure or reward; he follows because he loves and trusts the Father; he longs to make the Father happy and to see the Father’s perfect plan, his perfect love for us completed, even knowing that this plan involves his certain death in the most painful way imaginable.
Jesus, Son of God, yes; Jesus conqueror of death, yes; Jesus opening the gates of heaven, yes; but Jesus here says that he will call each of us by name. He knows each of us personally; loves and cares for each of us personally.
Throughout John’s Gospel, to disciples, to sheep, and at the very end to Peter and then to each one of us, Jesus says simply, “I love you, I call you by name, I am offering you life abundantly. Follow me.”
If you don’t know Jesus voice, if you can’t hear it start listening for every other voice offering life comes from thieves trying to steal your hope, your life, your eternity with God.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.
Listen to my voice. Follow me.
Amen
Children’s Talk
Jesus this morning says that his sheep hear his voice and they know his voice and they follow him.
Whose voice do you recognise? Mum, Dad, brother and sister, teacher.
Do they all have different sounding voices? Is Mum’s voice different from Dad’s?
Do people have more than one voice? Playful, serious, really serious?
Can the voices we hear help us?
What about when we are in danger?
How do we know if someone like a teacher is taking to us? Name
This is what Jesus is talking about today, he says that we can hear his voice and follow him through any danger in this world to safety. He says that he will call us by name and the we can even follow his voice to heaven.
Can you hear voices in the dark? Do Mummy and Daddy hear you in the dark if you call out at night? Do they speak to you at night?
What about somewhere like at the beach or the pool; can you hear their voice? What do they say? No running!
This voice keeps us safe.
What stops us hearing the voice that keeps us safe?
Noise – not listening – too many voices
Can you hear me.
So if you all blow on these blowers can you still hear me?
Jesus says that he will keep us safe if we listen to him and follow his voice; he calls us by name and we can follow his voice even to heaven but we have to listen and we have to know the right voice.
1 Paste message on cardboard sheet
2 Choose a figure (boy/girl)
3 Glue message onto your figure and write your name
4 Decorate your figure
5 Glue your figure onto the cardboard sheet
6 Add sheep or other things to the cardboard
7 Cut out and colour in and decorate (shepherd’s staff, hat) Jesus as a shepherd and glue to sheet
Jesus the Good Shepherd loves all of us and came to lead the way to safety in heaven.
Jesus calls each of us by name calls us to follow him
If I listen and follow Jesus voice he will protect me forever
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
Jesus loves and wants to protect ……………………………….
I just have to follow his voice
ANZAC Sunday Sermon
Where were you when they crucified the Lord?
For each of us the journey of Jesus from Last Supper with his disciples – Yes, it was only last night! – to his burial in Joseph’s tomb – for each of us there will be moments, people, actions or spoken words that touch or speak to us.
They should; this journey was, ‘for us’. This journey; this agony; this humiliation; this suffering was for us; so, we should find at least one point of personal reaction. We should let the Holy Spirit connect us personally, spiritually and emotionally into Jesus passion.
In the other Gospels, Jesus on the cross, in physical and spiritual agony, cries out to the Father who loves him; cries out to the Father whose plan Jesus knows this all is; Jesus cries out, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
Growing up, I couldn’t understand Good Friday. It’s probably a good thing that my parents protected us from the the brutality and humiliation.
I went to a school named after St Peter. The motto was ‘Pro Deo et Patria’, For God and country and I wanted both my God and my country to be victorious.
As children we were shielded from the reality of death of people. I didn’t get to go to most of my grandparents’ funerals.
My God, as a child was the God of Easter Sunday.
This God, this Easter Jesus is very real but is only sufficient if God changes everything so that there is no longer death and suffering and darkness and pain. God has chosen not to do that in this world.
So, the problem is that in our world and for our families – those we love most dearly – and for ourselves, there is darkness and suffering and pain and death.
As much as I want a Jesus light of the world who like a laser or like the sun blasts into nothingness all darkness; as much as I want a God who takes away all pain and death; we have a God who says not yet.
We have God who in His love for us says,
· I will shine brightest in your darkness
· I will be beside you in your pain
· I will walk with you in your despair
· I will even go with you in your death
In all of these Jesus promises to lead us, to light our way, to listen, to put his arm around us or hug us and sometimes to carry us.
My childhood God wants all evil doers (all the weeds in God’s field) to be pulled out of this world the moment they sin, to go straight to hell. The Jesus of the cross rather, offers them hope.
As an Army chaplain, as a Veterans chaplain, as a prison chaplain, I work with those who are in darkness and in pain. My soldiers know the Valley of the Shadow of Death and sadness and pain; they know the feelings of guilt and shame. They also know the feelings of betrayal, abandonment and even feeling forsaken by God. They can describe what Isaiah is talking about. We will get to that on ANZAC Sunday.
Our families too know pain, anger, powerlessness, hopelessness and this world’s empty promises.
We each know these things.
It is into this pain and darkness that God comes.
Crucifixion was the most painful death that the Romans could devise. I can’t believe the agony that breaking the legs of those on the cross might bring but this was often seen as merciful because it shortened the agony of suffocating under the weight of your own body.
Jesus hung on the cross betrayed by some of his disciples and his religious leaders; he was there abandoned by his followers; he even says he feels forsaken by God.
It is into this darkness that God promised and then comes as a saviour.
There is no shame or pain with which Jesus doesn’t either personally suffer or identify.
The world’s pain; our pain; my pain.
It is different for each of us.
A reminder and then 3 points as we contemplate the cross this Good Friday
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that all who believe in him should not perish but have eternal life.
:
· Sin and death are real. God isn’t going to just ignore them. The wages of sin are death – eternal separation from God’s love and life and hope – eternal suffering.
· Jesus suffered and died to pay the price for our sins and to be the ‘Passover lamb’ for God’s vengeance – so that those who believe and follow Jesus might come through death and live forever.
· Jesus, God, has lived personally through the worst this world has to offer. There is no pain or darkness in our lives, or for our families, with which Jesus does not relate and which Jesus has not overcome.
We will get to the victorious Easter Jesus soon but the Good Friday Jesus is important personally for us.
It was my sin that held him there.
It is into my darkness that Jesus comes.
It is through my own death that Jesus promises to lead me.
Jesus died once for all and any sins can be forgiven.
Is there any sin that I have not yet nailed to the cross?
Is there any other saviour to whom I’m looking and hoping?
This is all because God loves us so very much. His dying breath has brought me life.
Amen.
Readings
OT Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 22
NT Hebrews 10:16-25
Gospel John 18:1-19:42
Hymns
350 There is a green hill far away
345 Where you there when they crucified my Lord
342 When I survey the wondrous cross
242 Lord of the dance
18 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” 5 They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.”[a] Jesus replied, “I am he.”[b] Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus[c] said to them, “I am he,”[d] they stepped back and fell to the ground. 7 Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”[e] 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he.[f] So if you are looking for me, let these people go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. 11 Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.
15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. 17 The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.
19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20 Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22 When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.
28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” 32 (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)
33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” 35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him. 39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 40 They shouted in reply, “Not this man but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a rebel.
19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” 5 So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate[g] said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat[h] on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew[i] Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus, 17 and carrying the cross by himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew[j] is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth,[k] the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew,[l] in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,
“They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
25 And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the Sabbath, especially because that Sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows[m] that he tells the truth, so that you also may continue[n] to believe.) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”
38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
On the night before he died!
At dinner that night, Jesus was the only one who knew that the next day he was going to be crucified, killed in the most excruciating, inhumane way that the Romans could devise and once dead, be buried.
In St John’s telling of the story, there was nothing apparently special about the meal. It may have been in an upper room; it may have been specially prepared; we know that there was enormous anticipation, but in John’s telling it was just a meal; just Jesus and his disciples.
Then at some point Jesus gets up from the meal, gets a bowl of water and washes the feet of his disciples.
There was so much more that happened in this room and later that night. A quarter of John’s Gospel is about this, ‘Night before he died.’
On this night, Jesus gave his longest recorded discourse or teaching to his disciples. In John 14, Jesus tells us that he s the way and the truth and the life – no one comes to the Father except through him (thanks Thomas for asking the question). In John 15, Jesus tells us that he is the true vine and that we are to abide in him and also that no one has greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. In John 16 Jesus teaches us about the work of the Holy Spirit of God who was to take over from him and in John 17, Jesus prays for his disciples and us.
I’m skipping over much. At this meal, Jesus instituted our Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper. In advance of his death he brings the sacrament of his body and his blood as our Passover sacrifice as the Lamb of God.
I want to talk tonight about just this washing.
· It’s practical
· It’s servant leadership
· It requires participation
The washing of the feet of guests in a house was a sign of welcome into one’s, of hospitality. My grandchildren are used to taking off their shoes and leaving them at the front door at home but particularly when they come into Nanny’s house and then they know that they have to wash their hands.
This is all practical cleansing and keeping the house clean but also symbolic of being welcome and relaxed. I’m told there is nothing quite like a foot massage – I’m not offering that tonight, but our soles are connected to our souls the physical to the spiritual.
This lovely, welcoming, humble act was the task of the most junior, slave, servant or child in a household. If you were the designated foot washer, you knew that you were the least significant.
Clearly, no one had done this foot washing thing. I don’t know if someone’s feet were stinking up the room but perhaps it was just Jesus wanting everyone to feel truly relaxed, welcome and blessed on this night.
Jesus could of course appropriately have asked someone to do the foot washing. To do so would have been to designate one of the disciples as the lowest, the least important. Instead, he, the Lord, the master, leader, rabbi, teacher takes the most humble position in the room and serves and welcomes all of his disciples.
This washing of the disciples’ feet completes two images:
First of water.
· Of our baptism – the sacrament of being reconnected back into relationship with God once we are washed clean.
· Of Jesus as the Living Water the source of eternal life
Also here Jesus is doing for his disciples what Mary, sister of Lazarus did for him when she washed his feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair and poured perfume on his head.
There is so, so much here.
Jesus the Son of the Living God wants to personally wash us clean enough to enter God’s house as honoured guests, no it’s much more than that he wants us to be as welcome as my grandchildren are in Nanny’s house.
The next two points are shorter.
Peter is on an ‘interesting journey’ We might explore it later in the year.
Simon the natural leader of the pack, Simon who Jesus named, Rock or Peter; Peter, the action man, the one who dared to declare Jesus Messiah, Son of the Living God; Peter the one who always had a practical solution, who wanted to build shrines for Moses, Elijah and Jesus at the transfiguration; Peter who got out of the boat and walked on the water; this Peter, didn’t want to let Jesus wash his feet.
Why?
When Peter says Jesus, you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, you, shouldn’t be washing anyone’s feet; you are the Holy, exalted one. You should be telling someone else to do this.
First, Jesus is showing Peter that his image of God is incomplete, imperfect.
Second, Peter’s statement shows his personal pride in his personal relationship with his Jewish God. God is about to smash Peter’s pride into shame before he is subsequently healed in John 21.
Peter this very night is about to be chastised by Jesus for not being able to stay awake as Jesus, his friend and master is praying in spiritual agony before his death.
Peter is going to be told that his action in trying to defend Jesus with his sword is inappropriate.
Peter is going to three times deny that he even knows his friend and Lord and Messiah Jesus.
Peter is going to run away crying.
Peter, says Jesus, I know your pride, unless you let me humbly wash you you can never come into my Father’s house, you have no part of me and what I’m going to do.
Final point. If we are to enter God’s heaven, if the blood of Jesus the true Passover Lamb is to let God’s wrath and vengeance for our sins Passover us; if we are to be clean enough to enter God’s house, we need to let Jesus wash us.
We have all been baptised; we have all repented of our sins; Jesus here is asking what unpleasant, stinky bits still remain in our lives. What have we not let God wash?
Tonight, before Easter, I ask, what have you not yet let Jesus wash.
We are clean through our baptism but Jesus says of our feet, Unless I wash you, you have no part of me.
Wash me saviour or I die.
Amen.
Readings
OT Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 116:1-2,11-18
NT 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Hymns
699 A new commandment
511 Let us break bread together
13 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already decided[a] that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,[b] but is entirely clean. And you[c] are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers[d] greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
31 b Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him,[j] God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Thank you to our children for teaching us about God’s ability to build, to fix anything and to give life from brokenness (even to broken hearts).
Wow, things are really getting serious in the Gospel this morning as we lead up to Easter. And it’s getting tougher and tougher to be part of God’s plan, part of God’s team.
Jesus continues to teach his disciples and the crowds and the religious leaders how great our God is and what sort of life and salvation God is offering.
Over the past weeks, Jesus has revealed himself as Messiah through an outcast Samaritan woman, and then through a man who had been blind from birth and now through a dead man.
The Samaritan woman at the well had to live through 5 broken marriages and as an outcast in her own community – that’s quite a bit of life, before Jesus came to her and brought God’s living water of healing and reconciliation.
The blind man had to live his whole life as a beggar without sight, completely reliant upon his family and his community, before Jesus brought God’s light and healing and revelation.
And now Lazarus; Lazarus who we read Jesus loves; Lazarus whose sisters are amongst Jesus’s closest friends; Lazarus, in God’s plan and for God’s glory – gets sick and dies.
We all have ideas as to how God should show us his power and love and his real nature. We certainly have views as to how we want God to bless us and our children and grandchildren. I suspect being an outcast or blind or dead are not in our prayers for our children.
What is God doing?
After a couple of thousand years of the people of earth and even the people of God not listening to God’s prophets and teachers and leaders; after generations of miracles and teaching God came personally into the world to show us who he really is and to lead us to his heaven.
And, the religious people rejected God; they rejected Jesus and what he taught and showed us about God. They particularly rejected any notion that Jesus could be the Messiah, the Christ, the saviour of the world. “The Messiah a carpenter from Nazareth? – Not possible,” they said.
So, Jesus shows us, through those that the world rejects or who the world hopes never to be, through these. Jesus shows us who God and who Jesus as Son of God really is.
Each miracle, each teaching, each relationship shows us more about God.
For God, for Jesus their relationship with us is intensely personal. Jesus brings God’s love. While following God’s plan, and bringing God’s healing, Jesus is so moved by the situation that even knowing what he was about to do, he cries real tears with these grieving sisters.
Even in our sure and certain hope of eternal life, death is sad for those left behind.
Into a dark, broken, world where hope and love were missing; Jesus brings God’s light, God’s hope.
Into a world where people see no point to living, where suicide is a massive problem; Jesus brings living water that washes away our guilt and gives meaning and purpose to life.
Into a world where people had stopped seeing God’s truth, God’s plan, God’s way to heaven; Jesus opens eyes so that we can see and know God’s guide and saviour, the Messiah.
And now this morning, to a world that has no answer to the inevitability of death; Jesus brings resurrection and life.
To see Jesus resurrection on Easter morning as a one off event is to miss much of the point. We celebrate Easter every year; we know that Jesus, the Son of God will die and come back to life. We know that death and hell can not contain Jesus. God will bring his son back to life. We rightly praise God for His power and praise Jesus for his faithfulness and his victory over death.
But what about us? This resurrection of Lazarus is all about us.
Jesus shows God’s power of resurrection is to be normal for people like us. Because Lazarus was resurrected so can we be. God has the power to bring us back to life after we die.
One of the most powerful verses in the bible is in this morning’s gospel. It’s given by Jesus to Martha, and I use it in every funeral.
Jesus promise is not to everyone; it could be but sadly, many do not and will not believe and trust in him. This promise is to all who believe in him.
Jesus offers cleansing from sin and guilt; he offers meaning and purpose; he offers a restored relationship with God to those who come to him.
Jesus offers light and life to those who will open their eyes to God’s leading but there are none so blind as those who will not see.
Jesus here offers eternal life through and beyond death to those who believe in him. He confirms that, for his followers, eternal life has already started.
It is this eternal life which has already started that makes Ezekiel’s dream so important. Matthew West in his song, ‘Truth be told,’ asks, “Didn’t God say church should be more like a hospital? A safe place for the sick, the sinner, the scarred and the prodigal like me.”
Don’t expect to see the lame healed here in our church, nor the blind seeing, but, but, we are to be a place where spiritual wounds are healed. We are to be a place where God puts his spirit within people, us and others, and where people, we and others, find God’s life.
Over Easter I will use eggs as a metaphor. We know that most eggs that are laid by hens do not become live chicks, but also, chicks are alive in the egg before they peck their way through the shell.
Back to Lazarus’ what were the various responses to this wonderful miracle? Well, Lazarus came alive; his sisters had their faith confirmed; the disciples were amazed; the crowds believed Jesus was God’s messiah and, the religious leaders plotted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus.
Jesus was not the plan from God that the authorities wanted.
God’s only solution is a life-giving relationship with Jesus.
God’s wants us to know the dangers ahead, including death, and God wants us to know God’s power and love for us that can overcome each of these.
My ongoing questions for Lent as we prepare for Easter:
· Are my meaning, my purpose and my hope in my relationship with God?
· In what areas of my life am I not looking for God’s plan?
· Where do I really look for help, hope and rescue in my daily life?
“I am the resurrection and the life,” says the Lord, “Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet will they live ...”
God’s breath even gives life to broken hearts and spirit.
No matter what happens, Jesus can fix me and bring me to life in heaven.
No matter what happens, Jesus can fix me and bring me to life in heaven.
life in heaven.
Thank you to our children for teaching us about God’s protection and guidance in the darkness – even the valley of the shadow of deepest darkness.
At one level these readings are like a line from that old TV series Lost in Space. I don’t know why I haven’t previously seen our lives on this Earth in the light of lostness in space. Perhaps our time on Earth should be called Lost on Earth; for if we are truly citizens of heaven; if we are God’s children and if our true future is eternal life and if heaven is where we are trying to get to perhaps we should view our lives as Lost on Earth. Perhaps our lives are a journey from God’s house which should end up back in God’s house. Sorry that’s a digression. These readings remind me of the robot’s line, “danger Will Robinson!”
The readings tell of danger for God’s prophets; danger for God’s kings and much later danger for those who confess Jesus as Messiah. We are warned of danger for those around the prophet and the king and danger for those around people Jesus heals. Finally, danger for the religious leaders.
Bishop John was right when he said that we get great readings in Lent, but these great readings are so full of message and warning and teaching that unless I pick one theme we could be here forever.
The message of danger one that many churches avoid. I have heard sermons on these readings with no mention of danger. It’s easy to focus on the humility of David, the youngest son with the unwanted job of looking after the sheep who was anointed as God’s chosen king.
We can look at the beautiful images of green pastures and still waters and God setting a table for us.
We can marvel at the miracle of Jesus healing the man born blind.
Each of these images is absolutely part of the story and important. If you want images of God’s goodness and love for us and God’s power over illness and over oppression; if you want these to be your Lenten message, your preparation for Easter; they are real and true but shallow.
I didn’t choose as this morning’s hymns, ‘All things bright and beautiful’ or ‘Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven to earth come down’. Great hymns but only part of the story.
In Old Testament, Psalm and Gospel, we are warned of the dangers of being part of God’s plan. If we are aware of danger we can prepare for it, resist it, find resources to overcome it. Unforeseen dangers are the greatest risk.
Lost in space would be a boring show or movie if there wasn’t danger to overcome and danger is built into God’s plan. It is in the danger, the darkness, the conflict, the pain, the grief and many other things that we see how great God and God’s love and God’s power actually are.
God had many possible ways of making David king of Israel. David could have inherited his crown from his father or mother as Queen Elizabeth or King Charles have. David could have defeated King Saul in a fight or battle. David could have been elected king. None of these would have shown us God’s power and God’s perfect plan. The power is not in the people or the family or in the strength of the individual. The kingdom and the power and the glory are God’s.
The plan, of which we see only a portion here, is God’s plan to appoint a humble, ignoble shepherd boy as the God chosen and empowered king. David’s time from this anointing, through his defeat of Goliath, his victories in battle and his eventual establishing Jerusalem as the Holy city; David’s time was always empowered by God.
To follow David’s life is to see danger and risk and threat constantly; to see David’s life is to see love for God, faithfulness, obedience; to know David’s life is to know God’s love and grace and even forgiveness.
God was always using the darkness and the danger. Many of my soldiers have names for the valley of the shadow of death; they know that valley and what it feels like in there. It is also translated the valley of deepest darkness; David knew what it was like to be there and David knew that God was always with him, always protecting him, always leading him through that valley.
I know many young people who when they embark on their careers want to be tested; they want to prove to themselves and to others how good they are. Young soldiers and officers want to prove themselves by winning in battle; prove their skill, strength, their bravery. Firefighters want to fight the biggest fires, to make the boldest bravest rescues. Paramedics want to save in the most life-threatening situations. This wanting to prove oneself great is a thing of youth.
In God’s plans that we see in the Bible this morning, it is God who is proven great and powerful; we see God’s greatness in his love and rescue and protection in the deepest darkness.
If our thanks for God is only for his love and blessings then we don’t yet really know our God.
If this man had not been born blind, I wonder if he would have recognised Jesus as Messiah and saviour and healer. From this wonderful miracle we don’t see his parents or the religious leaders or the crowds worshipping and following God. The only one who finds God’s healing and love and salvation is the one who has been in the deepest darkness his whole life.
Here and in many other passages God warns us of the risks of following His plan, the dangers of following Jesus. God wants us to know of these dangers. We want our soldiers, our fire fighters, our paramedics and our airline pilots to know of and to be prepared to deal with the likely dangers.
God similarly wants us, wants our children to be aware of the dangers – so that we are prepared to deal with them – so that we aren’t shocked and stunned when they occur. Death and pain and suffering are real dangers in our world. We need to be prepared for them; need to know what to do. God wants us to use His power and His protection to defeat them.
Jesus shows us God and his power and might. Jesus brings us God’s love and light and life and hope and meaning and purpose. Jesus is God’s rescuer and way home and even our heavenly brother forever.
Cheri Keaggey sings, “He gives us the treasures of darkness where faith’s greatest riches are stored, for, a faith that has never been tested is just growth that is long overdue.”
No darkness has ever overcome God’s light – but we need to open our eyes and let it shine in and accept God’s life. King David shows us no sin is unforgiveable – but we need to ask for forgiveness and accept God’s cleansing. No situation in this world is so impossible that God can not rescue us from it – but we need to be prepared to give up trusting everything else to know the goodness of the King of Love.
Like Will Robinson, God’s wants us to know the dangers ahead and to survive and to come home.
My ongoing questions for Lent:
· Am I prepared for this world’s dangers?
· In what areas of my life am I not trusting that God loves me?
· Of what am I not prepared to let go so that I can know God’s love and power?
Children’s Talk –
Have you ever been through a tunnel?
Was it dark?
What about at night – how do we walk or drive?
What are the dangers?
Have you heard of King David?
He is the one who defeated Goliath the warrior with just a stone in his sling
He was a boy who became a mighty king.
He says that when he was a boy looking after the sheep God protected him against lions.
He says that God protected him in battles and wars.
He describes this as going through the valley of deepest darkness or the valley of the shadow of death with God protecting him with his staff.
This world is dangerous but God promises to protect us and to bring us to God’s house when we die.
OT Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
NT Romans 5:1-11
Gospel John 4:5-42
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
To understand what is really happening here for Jesus and what we should learn, I’m going to leave the traditions of the church to one side. The church over the centuries has added much to this passage in the Bible that is just not there. I don’t see God’s purpose in this passage being giving up chocolate or cake or butter or eggs for Lent.
Is it good to give up chocolate or alcohol or TV? Perhaps. Is it a Biblical requirement? That would be tough to argue directly given TV and chocolate came into our lives a long time later.
Jesus’s journey into the wilderness is included by all of the Gospel writers except St John, so it must be important but why and for what?
Jesus is about 30 years old. Christmas might seem like only 2 months ago but the story has skipped forward pretty quickly and St Mark, who ignores the first 30 years of Jesus life, pretty much begins here.
Jesus has been well prepared by God. He knows the Scriptures and has a good pattern of prayer and worship; he is in the prime of his life. Before Jesus begins His ministry two things happen. And then straight away, before the end of this chapter, Jesus begins to preach, proclaiming the Kingdom of God; he calls his firsts disciples and starts miraculously healing the sick.
In God’s wisdom, these two important events occur. First, Jesus is baptised by John in the River Jordan. It’s a special God breathed action, profound for John and for Jesus. They (and they alone) see the Spirit of God descending upon Jesus like a dove and a voice from heaven said, “This is my son whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Before Jesus commences his public ministry, God the Father gives him this sign of God’s commissioning, God’s affirmation. Our baptisms similarly are a commissioning by God our Father for our personal ministries.
The second thing that happens is Jesus is taken out into the wilderness; what happens there has been much misunderstood. Yes, he fasted; yes, he was tempted; but why? For what purpose?
The Greek word that we have translated here as tempted is also appropriately translated tested and both are happening.
In the Army, before we send soldiers off to war, we assess, we test their readiness. There are lots of basic level tests including medical and practical tests on ability to use equipment. We test that drivers can actually drive the vehicles that they are going to use. Can they change a tyre, fix basic failures such as a flat battery? Can they recover a vehicle that is bogged? We test everyone on their weapon proficiency, that is safety and effective use.
The final activity before we deploy any team overseas is a Mission Rehearsal Activity, an MRA. The MRA tests the team in their performance under conditions as close to operational as possible. We actually try to make things even harder than they are likely to encounter on their deployment. On an MRA there is never ‘nothing happening’. We try to test everything and every procedure and scenario, not just in ideal conditions but we include things like power outages, equipment failures and lack of sleep. We expect people and teams to be able to perform when all is going well but what about when they are tired, hot, confused and stressed?
This is similar to the ‘refresher’ training that aircraft flight crew have to undertake before they are certified to fly. They are tested in dealing with issues that we hope they will never have to encounter. They are tested just in case. I’m told that while some flying might be boring, simulator sessions are never boring. The end result is pilots who are confident in their ability to deal with situations that might arise and passengers who have confidence in those flying our planes.
This is what is happening here for Jesus. God is letting Him prove himself, letting Him face the temptations that will follow for the rest of His life and ministry. In Jesus’s MRA, God tests His ability to resist and deal with hardship and frustration and temptation to not follow his Father. God the Father tests Jesus’s ability to remain faithful – no matter what.
We know that God’s plan will see Jesus, betrayed by one of his disciples, betrayed by his own religious leaders, deserted by his closest friends, betrayed by Roman justice, tortured and killed. The MRA doesn’t deal with all of these but we see Jesus being prepared to wait 40 days alone and hungry for God’s action; prepared to do things the humble way – God’s way; prepared to resist evil – no matter how tempting.
Cherie Keaggy, in her Grindstone song, sings, “a faith that’s never been tested is just growth that’s long overdue.”
God first tests Jesus ability to deal with temptation to use God’s power and resources for His own personal comfort ahead of God’s plan. This is the point of the 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. It might be easy to avoid the temptation to turn the stones into bread when you aren’t hungry, but what about when you are famished, when you are faint through lack of food? Any how what harm would it do? Wouldn’t God be glorified by the miracle of stone to bread? Wouldn’t I be stronger for God if I ate something?
Jesus proves to himself and to God that He will faithfully use what God gives Him and will wait for God’s perfect timing in everything including his physical needs.
This isn’t a sermon about temptation, but briefly, the second test involves multiple components. It’s dealing with temptation to seek personal glory as part of God’s ministry. Also temptation to bring God into our timeline. Waiting 40 days seems tough; why does God make us wait?
The final test is to compromise God’s standards of conduct to achieve the mission. Bowing down to Satan might be as simple as lying, cheating, seeking personal comfort or possessions while supposedly still going on God’s path.
In all of this, Jesus showed that he was completely trusting His Father’s will and perfect plan.
Jesus’s baptism was important; the voice from heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit proved again how much God the Father loved Jesus. He would need that assurance of God’s love in the wilderness and beyond.
As I said, this isn’t a sermon about temptation or sin. God, the Father, was testing, Jesus, His beloved son; testing and proving that Jesus was:
· Focussed on His Father’s mission, both God’s plan and also God’s method
· Able to not just know the Bible but to interpret and use it’s content
· Able to defeat temptation
· Completely trusting and reliant upon His Heavenly Father’s love, power and wisdom.
So, this Lent, I want to take us on a journey that like a pilot or a soldier evaluates our relationship with God. We will have our own Mission Rehearsal Activity.
My question to begin Lent, ‘In what areas of my life do I not trust that God loves me; trust God’s spirit dwells in me; trust that God is in control and that God will provide?’
Readings
OT Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Psalm 32
NT Rom 5:12-21
Gospel Matt 4:1-11
Hymns
147 To God be the glory
149 This is my Father’s world
591 Forty days and forty nights
599 Take my life and let it be (Tune Nottingham)
We learnt last week that we are very precious to God and our lives are like God’s precious building. God’s own spirit lives in us.
Jesus is the foundation on which we are to build our lives.
Jesus himself is anchored and built upon his relationship to God the Father through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the foundation for my life
Jesus’s foundation is his connection to God
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always in your power and
for your glory, O Lord our God, Amen So, I want to again thank our young people for helping us get
into these readings. I suspect adults too remember my children’s talks better than my sermons.
For the final time, “Have you unwrapped, opened and are you using your Christmas gift from God?”
Last week with the children’s help we looked at Jesus, God’s Christmas present to us, being sent by God as a cleaner. Why?
Because God’s heaven is so perfect that we can’t get in there unless we are washed clean by Jesus.
This week Jesus is again setting a standard that no human being has ever achieved; I’m certainly guilty of not loving my
enemies. Only Jesus has perfectly kept God’s standard. It might be a humanly impossible standard but it is God’s
perfect, holy standard. In God’s heaven, God’s house, everyone there, will love everyone else who is there,
perfectly. Everyone in heaven will be perfectly loved by God and everyone else.
I don’t want a heaven where human standards are good enough, a heaven that we can achieve ourselves – I want, we
all long for much, much better. Before we leave the Gospel, I want to look at the final verse.
You shall be holy as your Father in heaven is holy. Our Father in heaven is holy, this is great news. The even
better news is that Jesus is both saying and then Jesus is the doing of this. Because of the salvation, the rescue, the
cleansing that Jesus announces and brings and does, because of this we can and will be as holy as God is holy. We are to
be, we will be as holy as God. Anything less is not acceptable.
God has made us in His image, breathed spirit into our bodies with His breath and called us to a destiny as holy children in His holy heaven.
But only if we choose that destiny. Just as the carwash is only going to clean our car if we take it
there; our lives will only lead to heaven if we accept God’s help.
So, our Christmas gift from God.
God gives each person that He has made, freedom to build, to live their lives. We are free to live as we choose.
Our lives reflect our beliefs. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there your heart is also.”
Sociologists say that whatever people spend their money, time and energy on is their god. Whatever we spend our lives
doing, whatever we invest our time and precious things on is our god. We might try to hide it but, our lives tell others what we really believe.
Jesus would rather be refining or polishing you as pure gold, gemstones or silver but if you need to have a blow-torch taken to some of the things in your life so that you can get into heaven, that can be arranged He will lovingly do that too.
There is a place in God’s plan for each of us for our jobs, our families, our homes and our leisure activities. Each of these
can, depending on how we build them, be useful to God and His mission or purpose. But each of these can also be
contrary to God’s plan and purposes. What is right for me might not be right for you. I was called to be a priest in God’s
church and an Army chaplain and a parent and grandparent. You might be called to none of these but, I’m not called to be
what you are. We each are called to build our lives in God’s power and for God’s glory in accordance with God’s plan. For we are made in God’s image with God’s spirit within us. We are to build our lives well but what matters most,
according to St Paul, is on what we are building. If I build a great life on a plane that’s ultimately going to crash, I’m still
going to crash. I deal with far too many people who are devastated when they find that they have been building their lives and their hopes and their dreams on a lie. This Epistle reading reminds us that only a life built with Jesus as foundation will survive when God tests us at the end of our lives. I am surrounded daily by the sadness of those who no longer
have a career or family or home or who can’t exercise anymore; this – it’s called moral injury – it comes from being
betrayed by what we believed in. This moral injury destroys our self esteem, our purpose, our hopes. These things can all
be good but unless our lives are built on a relationship with God through Jesus we are destined not for heaven.
All my hope on God is founded St Paul’s message, and the final part of the Christmas gift, Jesus is our foundation. He is the basis upon which we are to build our lives, the plane heading for heaven. We are to build on the rock and not upon the sand.
God’s Christmas gift to us is His most precious thing, a part of His very Godself. God’s gift to us is:
The light of the world that no darkness has ever overcome; The cleanser for every possible sin; and The foundation of a life that no- matter what leads to heaven Throughout Lent we will be checking to see if we are
building on the rock and at what we are building. For, we are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.
We are God’s precious building and His spirit lives in us if we build on the rock.
Amen
Hymns:
TIS 316 O little town of Bethlehem v 1,3&4
TIS 560 All my hope on God is founded
TIS 699 A new commandment I give unto you (x2)
TIS 675 Shine, Jesus shine
Children’s Talk –
We are very precious to God and our lives are like God’s building. God
wants us to build our lives with jewels and beautiful things. God’s own spirit lives in us.
Jesus is our Christmas gift from God. He is the foundation on which we are to build our
lives.
Jesus is the foundation for my life
My life is God’s precious building
God’s spirit lives in me
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God, Amen
So, I want to thank our young people for helping us get into these readings. Have you unwrapped, opened and started to use your Christmas gift from God?
We have all sorts of good reasons why we may have unused Christmas gifts. It’s the wrong size, colour or design; it’s lovely (or not) but it’s not me (it’s not what I wanted, not what I could wear). Other good reasons include: I already have one or it’s for winter or for holidays, so I’ll use it when I need it. I’m not pretending to be innocent here.
Sometimes it is the giving that has been more important than the gift and so the gift becomes the physical token or representation of the love involved, however, the question remains, “have you unwrapped and started using your Christmas gift from God?”
At first glance, this Gospel passage is very negative and legalistic. It’s full of commands, and Jesus is taking the law and making it almost, no not almost, Jesus is actually making the rules impossibly hard; setting a standard that is humanly impossible to meet.
I here admit to you all:
My righteousness doesn’t exceed that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
I get angry with people.
I have called people names and
You don’t need me to share all of my failings – I’m not proud many things I’ve done.
As we know the only person who has ever kept all of God’s commandments and laws perfectly has been Jesus. For everyone else St Paul bluntly says in Romans “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”
What to do?
Option 1 appears to be what Jesus hyperbolically suggests here; I could pluck out my eye or cut out my tongue.
Option 2 appears to be the line the Pharisees have taken and that is to define the law in terms that are achievable for them.
Perhaps we could try, “I’m not perfect but I’ve never committed murder.” We can play down our transgressions particularly if we can point to others who are worse sinners.
This is Jesus criticism of the Pharisees; they have brought the standard of God down to their level. They have set a standard above the level that most of the people could achieve. It’s comparatively easy for a rich person to afford to give 10% of their income to God. The remaining 90% is still a quite liveable amount. For the poorest who struggle to house, clothe and feed their families having to find 10% more to give back to God is so very much harder.
It is this trying to bring God down to human standards that Jesus is so passionately criticising.
I don’t want a heaven where human standards are good enough – I want much, much better.
Option 3 is to explain away Jesus words. People use excuses like culture or context to avoid Jesus’s message. None of these work; Jesus is pointing out God’s standard; perfection, perfect love.
Option 4 is ignore this altogether; this is popular with the world around us – just ignore God; ignore His Son and we can make our own way in the world. We can set our own standards and do whatever we define as good. This might work for some, for those with power and resources but in the end we can’t ignore God. Hebrews 9, “and just as it is appointed for people to die once and after that comes judgement.” If not for these two inevitable realities death and judgement, there would be no problem ignoring God.
Moses in Deuteronomy has just been given, by God, the second copy of the 10 Commandments, God’s law and, once he has come down from the mountain, he tells the people of God that God has given us these commandments, God’s law, because God loves us.
The reality is that Jesus is right. Wanting to hurt someone even if we don’t actually do so is wrong. Belittling, humiliating someone, even if it’s just in our minds and not to their faces is still wrong.
Everyone, every human being is made in God’s image. Every person has God’s own life breathed into them. So, when we bully, belittle, humiliate, oppress, cheat, abuse as well as assault or murder and the sexual sins of rape, when we do not love those around us – we are doing so to someone made personally by God, in God’s image with God’s life in them.
We are to love our neighbours because they are special, very special to God and because God loves them.
War, policing, self-defence and protecting the innocent are another sermon; Jesus here is talking about how we treat those around us. The standard is God’s standard, the standard of heaven.
The great news is this is how we will be treated in heaven. In heaven there will be no rape, no murder, no bullying or humiliation, no gossip only love. In heaven we will be perfectly loved by everyone and by God. Jesus is outlining; God’s standard; heaven’s standard. We are to love those who have been created by God in God’s image as God does.
God has given us these rules, Deuteronomy reminds us, because God loves both us and our neighbours.
I’ve included the opening verse of our Gospel, which was the final verse from last Sunday because it was so absolutely shocking for those Jesus spoke to. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees you won’t ever get into heaven.
This was insulting but also a shock to the Pharisees and Scribes; they knew they were the good guys. No criminal offences; lots of charitable works to be seen by everyone. They went to church, prayed regularly, dressed appropriately.
Jesus is criticising the apparently righteous for trying to get into heaven the wrong way; that is by bringing God’s standard down to their level; Jesus says to everyone; no one has ever achieved this standard. All the Old testament good guys, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David and many more; none was ever righteous enough to get into heaven.
The punishment for not achieving God’s perfect standard is separation from God; not allowed to enter God’s house. God justly and rightly says that no one who carries the stain of guilt can enter His perfect heaven.
We know that God’s solution was not to lower the standard but to send Jesus to wash away the guilt of our sins. And for those of us who come to Him and ask He will forgive us again and again and again but God would prefer that we didn’t sin. Those we live with would prefer that we didn’t sin.
Each of my children and now my grandchildren have at some stage refused my offer of help “I can do it myself!” When I hear that I am both proud of them for trying but I put a safety net around both the child and whatever they are doing. I do this because I love them.
The truth with God is that we can’t do it ourselves – we aren’t supposed to be able to do it ourselves. God’s glory and His love is in helping us.
God gives us things to help us to not sin for we can’t do it ourselves.
We have Jesus and the Bible as example; we have a church to support and encourage us and we have God’s indwelling Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide us.
Remember, the fruit of the Spirit as well as love joy and peace is also patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Jesus would rather be refining or polishing you as pure gold or silver but if you need it he can be a pressure hose and scourer.
Today’s hard readings are great news:
· Heaven and God’s standard are perfect
· God gives us His perfect rules because He loves us.
· When we fail Jesus longs to help and to clean us.
· We can’t do it ourselves, God lovingly wants to help us but we have to ask.
So now, O people of God, what does the Lord require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul… Amen
Hymns:
304 O Come all ye faithful v 1,2 & 5
745 Seek ye first the kingdom of God
590 What a friend we have in Jesus
569 Guide me, O thou great Redeemer
Children’s Talk – Jesus, God’s gift is a cleaner
God loves me so much
If I do something wrong
Jesus can wash me clean
So I can go into God’s house
I can go into God’s house
May every breath we breathe in and every word we speak out, be always in your power and for your glory, O Lord our God, Amen
I feel as if God chose these readings long ago, put them in place around the world especially for us on this day. I looked at the readings very soon after I had agreed that I should come here and knew that this message from our God is for our time together
The Gospel is about you (and me) – “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.’
Salt brings out flavour; what are chips without salt? We are the salt of the earth. Some might say that you need sauce or mustard or even gravy on chips – I’m not denying the value of sauces and gravy but, they have the opposite effect. Sauces are designed to take over the dish, to provide the flavour. Salt brings out the flavour that was already in the food.
This is what Jesus means when he says that we are to be the salt of Moggill. We are to show those around us what their true God intended flavour really is. We are called to point out to a world that may prefer to add its own flavour, we are to point out the flavour that God put into the world. This might mean living a life or being a person who is like a mirror so that those around us can see themselves as God sees them. We might be called to stand or live or speak in contrast to the people around us. We are to be God flavour enhancers and if we don’t do this then we are of little value in God’s mission.
Somehow, I’m stuck with the image of hot chips with salt.
Jesus goes on, “You are the light of the world.”
My favourite image of Jesus the Son of God and Saviour is ‘light of the world’. This image flows from the first chapter to the last in our Bible. In Genesis 1 just after God had created the heavens and earth, God said, “Let there be light;” and God saw that there was light and that the light was good.
If we go forward to the New Testament in the other creation narrative, John v 3. ‘What has come into being in Him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and no darkness has ever overcome it.
In very last chapter of the Bible, in Revelation, John’s vision of heaven – ‘they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever.’
Light and life, what a great start for our journey together with God.
God’s very first message to us here is:
Light and life come from God;
God is the source of life and light;
they always have and always will come from God.
No darkness has ever overcome God’s light.
The Epistle is also an important beginning for us. God is warning you not to expect ‘lofty words of wisdom’ from me. God has sent me to you AND I come to you as one who doesn’t know everything. I don’t have all the answers; I’m not supposed to even pretend to have all the anssers BUT, I just have to know and follow and point always to Jesus.
You will come to know some of my many weaknesses and vulnerabilities but:
I have been called here;
I have committed to know and to teach Jesus as Son of God and Saviour.
We will see the Holy Spirit acting powerfully
Our faith will rest on the power of God
God promises to reveal His wisdom to us through His spirit. In this church we have and we will receive not the spirit of the world, not the wisdom of the world, but the Spirit of God.
We will see and know the gifts bestowed on us not by the world but by God.
As we begin together:
God is going to bring life in us; God is going to create anew in us His light and life; His light that no darkness has ever overcome.
Back to our world.
In Genesis, God separated the light from the darkness. The prophets promised that the people in darkness would see a great light.
In the Gospels;
By the tender mercy of God the dawn from on high will break upon us to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide their feet into the way of peace.
My beloved sisters and brothers, the world around us and our families and we ourselves KNOW this world’s darkness. We know pain; we know suffering; we know fear; we know loneliness; we know guilt and much more.
God is promising to always shine His light into our darkness, even the deepest darkness. Not light into light but light, life, love, hope, peace and even joy into our greatest pain and fear and shame.
God is also promising to shine His light and life to those around us – to do this through us.
We always have a choice to hide God’s light from others – they might laugh at us; they might ridicule us; BUT, they might find hope.
Jesus here in this morning’s Gospel calls, tasks or ordains us, you and me.
When God heals us we are to share what God has done; we shine God’s light. We are the light of the world when share God’s work in our own lives.
First, we need to let God, through the power of the Holy Spirit to shine into our darkness then, we need to stop being embarrassed and afraid of sharing. We are to expect, as our Psalm reminds us, that the wicked will be angry at our message – expect this. Our darkness is probably embarrassing – but so is everyone else’s.
We here, are to be a church of the forgiven, a church of the healed, a church of the rescued. God hasn’t called the perfect into His church; next week’s sermon is about this.
God longs to heal and to save you from every darkness; will you let him? Then, God wants us to tell what God has done for us.
I’ve been sent to help you but, we all are called to shine God’s light and love.
Let your light (which is what God has done in your life); let you light so shine before those around you that they may see what God has done and give glory to your Father in heaven. Amen
Hymns:
268 Joy to the world
105 Let all the world
693 Come as you are
675 Shine Jesus shine
Children’s Talk – light
When we love other people like God loves us we shine God’s light in all the world.
Second Sunday of Advent
Malachi 3:1-14
Song of Zachariah
Philippians 1: 1-11
Luke 3:1-6
Luke 3.1-61 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ’
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
What’s in a name?
Most of us have probably seen the advert on the tv when the midwife asks the new dad what they were going to call their new son and he replies, Callum, Callum Murray. It certainly made me chuckle the first time I heard it and it is a good reminder to us all that when choosing a name you have to be so careful.
Many expectant parents when they know that a baby is on the way, will start to wonder what to call their new babe. Years ago, before the wonders of medical technology could identify the sex of a baby before it was born, there was the planning for a boy or a girl. I know that when I found out I was expecting, John and I drew up lists of girl and boys names! Some people give their children a name because they like the sound of it or its popular with celebrities, or it may have a special meaning for them.
I remember looking through a baby name book – and choosing boy and girls names some which had meanings such as divine, beautiful, protector or a Biblical name such John, James or Luke etc.
I remember asking my Mum why she called me Angela. She said she wanted to call me Jane but that it was my Dad, that when I was born just said no her name is Angela. My Mum still had her wish as my middle is Jane – so happy parents all round.
When the Angel Gabriel visited Mary and Joseph to tell them that Mary was going to have a baby, the Angel Gabriel also told them that the child’s name would be called Jesus.
So, what’s in a name? Do our names reflect who we are?
As mentioned earlier some parents choose a name because it has a meaning.
I must admit when I was a little girl, I did not really like my name. However, when I researched my name as a teenager, I found out that Angela was derived from the Latin angelicus meaning angelic which was ultimately related to the Greek angelos meaning messenger – I liked that! By the way Jane has the meaning of God’s mercy!
But there is more. In preparing todays sermon, I dug a little deeper on names with the meaning of messenger and I was presented with a list of names, many that I was not familiar with but there were a couple that caught my attention.
Driscoll – is an Irish surname that is an anglicized form of O Eidirsceol meaning descendant of the messenger. What’s so special about that I hear you say – well Driscoll is my maidan name. That fact made me very excited.
Another name that came up on my list was Malachi (our OT reading today) – From the Hebrew, Malachi means ‘my messenger’ or my angel – the primary role of angels in the Bible was to share messages from God.
In reflecting on all our readings today they all have a theme of messenger’s and messages from God.
As I have already said, our Old Testament reading today has come from the book of Malachi. Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, thought to be named after a prophet although there is some debate whether Malachi was an actual person or just a book best understood or known as ‘my messenger’. As an aside, I also did a little research on prophets. Now in the OT and the NT and there are 68 named prophets - which is really quite fitting, as our OT, NT and Gospel readings today all are linked by names on this list meaning messengers – Malachi, John the Baptist, Isaiah, Paul and Jesus himself.
So, what was Malachi’s message to the people of the day – Verse 1 refers to two messengers, the first is usually understood to be John the Baptist, with the second being Jesus - the Messiah for whom both Malachi and John the Baptist prepared the way. Verse 7 reminds us that God’s patience is endless, despite his chosen people continually turning away from his laws. Another Malachi message, was to urge his audience to stop holding back their tithes – tithes in those days were a type of contribution or an expected tax in the form of crops, fruit or animals that went to supporting the priests. God promised blessings to those who gave freely and with love. However, in not giving or refusing to give, it was implied that the people were robbing God. Despite that, Malachi’s message to the people also included how God shows forgiveness and accepts those that sin, back into the fold. However, the main message here, is that God’s love for his faithful people is being demonstrated by the announcing that the Messiah is coming.
Now the Song of Zachariah that we all said together, is also known as The Benedictus or the canticle of Zachary. It is a song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the circumcision of his son, John the Baptist. Zachariah was a Jewish Priest who was also visited by an angel. The angel’s message was that God was going to send a saviour - the Messiah. The angel promised Zachariah and Elizabeth - Zachariah’s wife, a child who would be the forerunner to the Messiah. The Song of Zachariah is divided into two halves – The first part is a thanksgiving and all about the big picture, how in the birth of John the Baptist, bigger and better things are on the way in the realisation of the Messiah; fulfilling the hopes of the Jewish nation. The second half of this song is an address by Zachariah to his son John the Baptist – ‘you child shall be called a prophet of the Most High’ – John would be the forerunner of the Lord, to go before him, to prepare his way. John would come to preach salvation and the forgiveness of sins.
Our New Testament reading is the beginning of a letter from Paul to the Philippians. What better way to send a message than in a letter! Within the letter, Paul’s point was to proclaim the message of God’s love for us and that Jesus died to save us sinners. However, this letter was so much more. It was a letter of joy and happiness which is a very apt reading during Advent, and in the run up to Christmas. What was unusual about this letter of joy though, was that Paul was writing it from prison. How could someone who was in prison be so positive and joyful? Paul dedicated his life to spreading God’s message, his joy was grounded in his relationship with Christ. We all want to be happy and joyful but more often or not we are challenged by our daily successes, failures and other so-called inconveniences that leads us to become more complaining and discontent. Paul’s ultimate message is that Christ still reigns and in getting to know him we too can be happy and rejoice.
The message from our Gospel reading in Luke, also reaffirms this message from God that was originally quoted from the prophet Isaiah involving John the Baptist.
‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness – prepare the way for the Lord’
The important message here, remembering that Luke was writing to a non-Jewish audience, is that no matter who you are, John was calling ‘all people’ to prepare to meet Jesus – that includes all of us, whatever our nationality, social standing, religious faith – God’s call is to all people. No one is an outsider - anyone who wants to follow Jesus are always welcome.
As your newly ordained priest, I have promised to take up my calling with joy and dedication. As per my name as one of the Lord’s messengers, I have promised to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, build up the body of Christ and lead God’s people in prayer.
I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason - so what’s in a name?
As someone whose name means messenger, I hope and pray that I meet your expectations as we continue our journey in faith together.
Amen.
Reverend Booth outlined the essence of the sermon known in the military circles as the BLUF or Bottom-Line Up Front:
As we hear the story of Hannah and reflect on it in this season of Remembrance let us remember
those who laid down their lives in time of war, but also the sacrifice made once and for all by our
Lord Jesus Christ. Let us affirm that in God we are not alone.
Elkanah had two wives, one who was fertile (Peninnah) the other barren (Han-
nah). For a woman of this time, bareness was like a death sentence, it was the
woman’s main purpose in life to bear children. Here is a story that digs deep into
the Psyche of meaning and purpose. What is it that gives you meaning and
purpose in your life?
For Hannah it was bearing a child.
As a military chaplain I work at the coal face of our members sense of meaning
and purpose as many struggle to make sense of public and private betrayals and
the life and death ethical dilemmas that are necessarily part of the dark side of
what is known as “the profession of arms”.
Whilst this is a dark and dangerous place, there is good news for both my soldiers and Hannah as her story unfolds.
Year after year Hannah visited the sacred shrine at Shiloh (these were the days
before Jerusalem was the designated holy place of the people of Israel). There was
much bitterness, jealousy and rivalry as her calls for a child went unanswered.
Do you struggle with unanswered prayer? Why do some things just go
unanswered at all?
Mark recalls a conversation between Jesus and his followers in preparation for
the time after his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven:
13:7 When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed;
this must take place, but the end is still to come.
13:8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will
be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
Jesus promised to return and set everything straight, but in the meantime we live
in a ‘provisional’ world. We are given responsibility and stewardship as his people
as we await his return.
Returning to Hannah’s story; on the day of this story God hears and answers
her prayer. I take up the story at 1 Samuel 1 verse 18
1:18 And she said, "Let your servant find favour in your sight."
Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her
husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
1:19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the
LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew
his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.
1:20 In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him
Samuel, for she said, "I have asked him of the LORD."
The Lord Remembered her!
At the heart of the English word we use for ‘remember’ is a greek word, ‘meno’ which means,
‘to remain’ or ‘to stand’. God ‘stands’ with Hannah, she is not alone. God ‘stands’ with our soldiers,
they are not alone. God ’stands’ with you, whatever your circumstances, you are not alone.
This is in part what my call as a Priest in the Australian Defence Force is all about. It is not about sanctioning killing,
it is about ‘standing with’ our men and women in very dark places.
This week I was honoured to be able to lead the soldiers and officers of the 9th
Force Support Battalion in prayer, as they commemorated the life and sacrifice of
those who have gone before them in war. I was able to remind them that God remembers them.
I was also able to encourage them to meaningfully ’stand’ with those who had sacrificed their lives.
In one sense my presence was a symbol of that, that they are not alone. I deeply value your prayers
and support of me, because I do not stand alone on such occasions, I represent you and God to them.
Some have a Christian Faith, others either a faith in God more generally or another faith, others a faith only in
what they can see in front of them.... regardless, all will have times when they struggle
with concepts of betrayal and guilt in the pursuit of their profession and in our service as a nation.
Our reading from Hebrews highlights the good news that God has already
made a way back to himself through Jesus sacrifice once and for all.
10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time
those who are sanctified.
We also read of things to be remembered and things that by God’s grace are
forgotten.
If at the heart of ‘remembering’ means ’standing with’ someone, God places his
law and the covenant of grace in our hearts. The writer says:
10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds,"
The military life is governed not only by the constitution of our land, but by military
law it can be perplexing at times - ethical guidance is often sought through the
Chaplains. The rule of God however is written on our hearts and in our minds
often times the chaplain’s role is to facilitate reflection, to help our members search
for what God has already placed in their hearts and minds.
How is the rule of God going in your life at the moment?
By the Grace of God there are also things that are forgotten for those who believe in Christ.
10:17 he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless
deeds no more."
10:18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any
offering for sin.
This is such good news for all people. Military Chaplaincy provides an opportunity
for this forgiveness to be made known and applied into service men and women’s
lives through the provision of confession and absolution.
And finally, so it was that:
1:20 In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him
Samuel, for she said, "I have asked him of the LORD."
Hannah, in all her tumult, leant an invaluable life lesson: The provision of a child
was a sign that God was with her - she was not alone and in that relationship she
found meaning and purpose.
May we also be blessed with this power to persevere, knowing that we are re-
membered by God. In a very few short weeks we will hear again this promise of
hope to us all from Isaiah 9:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
May we also be a people of remembrance. As we remember what others have sacrificed for us, let us also ‘stand with God’ remembering all he has done for us in Jesus and sharing that remembrance with others in word and deed. AMEN
Ruth 3.1-5;4.3-17
Heb 9. (19-22) 23-28
Mark 12.38-44
Mark 12.38-4438 As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places,39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’ 41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’(Prayer): May the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts be all acceptable to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The book of Ruth could also have been called “the making of a servant of God’’. Obed, the “child of Destiny” born at the end of this story, bears the Name” servant of God”.
Tenacious faith in God proves trustworthy. The “child of destiny”, Obed, is born. He is the Father of the faithful conduit, Jesse, and Jesse of David, the very model of covenantal kingship, the seed of Messiah, the one closest to God’s heart. The date for the book of Ruth is hard to pin down. It could be from any time between the early monarchy and the third century BCE. The theme is earthly, familiar, accessible, and real. Part of the community’s strength is its realization that the Holy one is at work in the simplest, the earthiest, and the most authentic human experiences.
Ruth presents a recipe of elements by which the Holy one continues a faithful presence. It comes as a story and telling offers much more animation and delight. God, mentioned only in passing, is assumed to be the glue in life rather than some extraneous royal being before whom all ordinary conversation stops. The ingredients take us into all the corners of living. There is no place God’s work is not in process. There are no circumstances through which God’s grace cannot appear.
First comes the loss of livelihood and the temporary life of migrants. Then, high hopes fill the sails. Big dreams pave the way. A family settles, passes through strangeness, and begins to make its way. Then tragedy strikes, and death claims the men of the family, the young and old. Great and caring thought lies behind that voice, which then releases the two young widows to find strength in their own native culture. Deep loyalty appears, and the bond of love, which holds across all differences, shines through.
The young widow Ruth and Naomi return to their starting place, where, of course, all has changed. Again, it is countless adjustments for both Naomi and Ruth. But the wily wisdom of the older woman (Naomi), and the courage of the young concubine (Ruth), with the generous heart of an older man, (Boaz), and, through risk in the field and self-interest in the court, a new and thrilling love appears. An old and broken heart is healed.
The Ruth story is a firebreak between the Jewish and Gentiles aspirations of the whole tribe, and it calls for us to remember that God works in every situation in life. God labours on the ground, in the heart, among the society, and through life circumstances. God weaves simple gestures, feeling, decisions and actions in ways that bring good things. All this arises despite loss and trouble, opposition and tyranny, displacement, and pain. That is huge.
The story itself tells about the ups and downs of human lives, and this case, for Elimelech and Naomi’s family. Feel the pain and joy. Lift the importance of our human nature, sensibilities, and steadfastness in the face of life’s waves. Israel, in its long life of faith, has known every aspect of Ruth’s journey.
Mark 12:38-44
A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which were worth a penny. Jesus calls the disciples, the Church, to himself and points out this poor widow and her manner of giving. Of course, he was watching her would not lead to sincere support for religious institutions. But could it reinforce the call of Christ to the Church to give the whole of its life for the sake of those who do not deserve such a gift?
One governing document from a mainline church in this country declares, “The Church is called to be a sign in and for the world of the new reality which God has made available to the people in Jesus Christ.” How will it be such a sign? By healing and reconciling and binding up wounds, ministering to the needs of the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the powerless, engaging in the struggle to free people from sin, fear, oppression, hunger, and injustice, giving itself and its substance to the service of those who suffer sharing with Christ in the establishing of his just, peaceable, and loving rule in the world. The Church is called to undertake this mission even at the risk of losing its life.”
The poor widow gives her whole life for the worthy only of being condemned. Is this the calling Jesus gifts for the entire Church?
Application:
The book of Ruth teaches us today about loyalty, Mercy, and love for one another. In this broken world, there is much for us to meditate on and reflect on Ruth’s story. It teaches us more about the love of God for both Jewish and Gentiles. Naomi reminds us of our people in exile. God has never forsaken the Jewish people even when they have been driven away from the land. God used this Moabitess (Ruth) to facilitate the redemption of Naomi and the family of Elimelech as a whole. The apostle Paul laments the fact that our people have rejected the Messiah of Israel, but he admonishes the Gentiles followers of Messiah to bring the message of salvation to the Jewish people. In the story of Ruth, we see the concept of mutual blessing.
A gentile blesses a Jew, and the Gentile is blessed. The story of Ruth bears this out. Although Ruth became Jews through Marriage, she is always being remembered and referred to as a “Moabitess” all the way through the story. Ruth story reminds us of God, who is the light of salvation to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. Both Ruth and Naomi are models of Mercy, love, and loyalty to us; the Christ-followers we see in this story is a picture of a gentile being “grafted in” to the blessing of Jewish inheritance. In God, there is no Jewish or Gentile, or even the slave. We are one faith family of New Covenant through Christ. As a congregation may take and reflect on this story as this story of inclusion. Jesus is looking at every one of us as the sons and daughters of the living God, without any distinction.
In the name of Christ,
Amen.
B - Lent 3
______________________________________________________________
Wells, Samuel
2020 A Cross in the Heart of God. Reflections on the death of Jesus. Norwich: Canterbury Press.