Month: May 2026

Sermon for Trinity Sunday.

The Text: Matthew 28:16-20
And the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mount where Jesus had
arranged for them to go. And having seen Him they worshipped Him,
but some doubted. And having come up, Jesus spoke to them saying:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go and
make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
everything I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the
days until the end of the age.”

Today’s Old Testament reading from Genesis 1 shows us the Triune God at work in creating the world. The Spirit of God is named as hovering over the waters. Creation comes about by God speaking it into existence. For us with the benefit of the New Testament we know that John’s Gospel tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us—a clear reference to Jesus—and that through Him all things were made. So Jesus is also at work in the Genesis creation account even though He is not named.
In our Genesis reading the Triune God creates the universe culminating with the creation of humanity. Human beings have the incredible dignity, honour, security, purpose and value of being created in the image of God. The ultimate purpose God created humanity for was relationship—to be in relationship with one another but ultimately to be in daily personal relationship with God, receiving His blessing.
It is in only in today’s Gospel reading that Jesus Himself gives us a clear name for the one God as three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In our gospel text for today we have the last of Jesus’ appearances after His resurrection. The risen Jesus speaks to His disciples, saying: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.
The assurance of this text is that Jesus has all authority, even authority over death, the wages of our sin. Jesus triumphed over the grave for us to free us from eternal separation from God and to restore us to the relationship God originally intended all people to have with Him. Just as all three Persons of the one God shared in the work of Creation, so too all three Persons of the one God participate in our salvation. We see that with the word ‘name’ being connected with each member of the Trinity—
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. The Triune God desires to save all people (making disciples; followers of Jesus from all nations) and each Person of theTrinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—actively participates in that universal goal.
This relationship with God happens through trusting in Jesus word’ and following Him, trusting in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and His perfect fulfilling of the law for us for our righteousness. This is the promise of the gospel.
In baptism the Holy Spirit comes to us and gives us the faith to do what is humanly impossible for us humans to do in our own strength: trust in Christ, the Lord of all, as our crucified and risen Saviour. But in our text Jesus talks about Discipleship. Jesus doesn’t strictly speak about baptism as a stand-alone matter. His focus is on making disciples; people who follow Him by trusting in His words of life throughout their life.
We might be very good at focusing on baptism and all the gifts God gives us in
baptism, but here Jesus shows us that baptism is the beginning of being a disciple; the rest of the journey is teaching and therefore learning the faith: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you”.
Just like the wedding day is the first part of a marriage; God’s ideal of two people living together with his blessing for the rest of their lives, so too baptism is the beginning of the rest of our life together with God, being nurtured by His Word. But many couples who marry focus on the wedding day to the exclusion of the marriage. They’ve thought about what ‘the rest of life together’ means, but they haven’t really prepared for it.
I wonder too if there’s a similar situation with discipleship? Do we focus on baptism and perhaps confirmation in isolation from life-long learning the faith and growing in it? But Jesus says that Baptism and even confirmation is a part, not the whole. He commands: baptise them in the name of the Father, and Son and Holy Spirit, and teach them everything I have commanded you…” Teaching everything Jesus commanded us is huge. It is a life-long exercise! We can never reach a point where we learn everything there is to know about God and who we are as His people and the mission and ministry He calls us to. Baptising is only the first step. To focus on Baptism without life-long teaching is to have a distinction that Jesus never intended.
The two go together. We baptise children and adults. We teach children the faith after they are baptised and those who have come to faith as adults are confirmed in their Christian faith which leads to and desires baptism. Baptism, faith and teaching always go together.
In the creation of the world God blesses humankind and gives them the mandate to “rule over the earth and subdue it.” He calls them to be His vice-regents as His representatives in preserving and sustaining His creation. Here in our text from Matthew, God also commissions His people to be His partners for the purpose of the redemption of His creation: baptising sinners and teaching them the Scriptures to reconcile broken people to relationship with God and nurture them in faith as they grow to be more like Christ.
Just as Creation came into existence through God speaking, so too the church
comes into existence through God speaking—God saying: “I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” as Mum or Dad or Godparent holds a precious child over the font – God speaking and shaping His baptised people into disciples; followers of Jesus and His word. As parents and Sunday school teachers, [and] Christian studies teachers and Bible study leaders, [and] people who read the Sunday texts at the lectern and when the pastor preaches and leads the liturgy God is speaking and shaping His baptised people into disciples.
What Jesus gives in our text is often called the “Great Commission”. It is not the “Great Suggestion”, or even, the “Great Omission.” Often there is a disconnect between baptism and teaching—and a confusion over whose role that is. There I think is a problem. That we think of church in terms of a building rather than people.
So discipleship happens in the church building on a Sunday and not through the week at home. Discipleship really begins in the home. When parents bring their children for baptism they are asked to promise if they will teach their children the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments, if they will remind their children of their baptism (and what it means) and bring them to the services in God’s house.
The church can be pretty good at pointing out and judging those who, for
whatever reason, fail to do that. But we need to realise that none of us do it
perfectly. For those whose absence from the divine service we lament, we need to
consider: what have we actually done to encourage them to the divine service
and help them feel welcome here? How have we helped them as the family of
God see the urgency of what they have promised? As Christ’s church we need to help them find a place in their hearts for the word of the Lord and the holy things
He serves us in His church.
Most churches in the Western world are struggling with declining numbers as they try to combat the decadence of a society lost in affluence and materialism and a pick-and-mix spirituality, with many other things vying for attention on a Sunday morning. Most churches in the West are in the same struggle we are—of not just keeping the younger generation connected, but all generations connected. If the parents aren’t coming to church, their children won’t be.
In our Gospel reading Jesus did not say: wait for more disciples…or lament that
disciples aren’t coming. He said “Go and make disciples.” As Christians we are
called to bear witness, to testify to the hope we have in Christ, to tell people about
Jesus–to make disciples. This is a daunting thought! For fear of failing or not knowing where to start, parents and church alike retreat and the Great Commission becomes the Great Omission. But take heart and listen closely—none of us do this in our own strength or authority, but by the grace of Jesus. Knowing His Word is the starting place. As we read and study, Jesus comes and guides us and grows us on our own discipleship journey. Soak up His Word, for Jesus said: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you until the end of the age.”
We who are baptised in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit are
brought into the very life and presence of God. We have God as our Father, we are united to Christ and His death and resurrection and receive all the benefits of it through his means of grace. At the font and through the Word we receive the life- giving, life-sustaining presence of the Spirit who leads us to trust in Jesus so that we can have access to God as our Father as His sons and daughters and have a family relationship of permanency with our God, enjoying the privileges that a child has with their father. As parents, if there were two people outside your house, knocking on your door wanting to come in, one is your son or daughter and the other, a person you’ve never met—which one will you let in and give family privileges to?
Your son or daughter, of course!
That’s the reality that God brought about for you through the Cross. We confess that the Triune God is truly with us each Divine service, by using His name at the beginning of the service. And when we hear the invocation, you are reminded that you come into the presence of the Triune God as His forgiven, redeemed, holy and precious child only by virtue of His grace given to you in your baptism. That’s the basis for our growth as followers of Jesus. God’s love. His love which will lead us to freely sacrifice more and more of the self and follow Him in joy.
The Triune God doesn’t wipe us off when we don’t measure up to what He has
called us to. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perfect communion of love has
brought you into His life, drawing you deeper into His unconditional love, so that through Jesus, no matter where you are on your discipleship journey, no matter what your failings have been, no matter how much your faith flickers, no matter what assails you, no matter what fears or doubts you may have, you are all sons and daughters through the faith in God’s Word given to you by the Holy Spirit in your baptism into Christ, the One who promises you: “Surely I am with you to the very end of the age.” Amen.

Pentecost Sunday

Text: John 20:19-23
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
This joyful cry leads us beautifully into our Pentecost celebrations. As part of
God’s magnificent plan of making peace throughout the whole creation,
Christ’s resurrection is followed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Each of the readings today tell us something about the gift and the work of
the Holy Spirit, giving us a taste for the richness of the Spirit’s activity. It’s
wonderful that we hear four Bible readings each Sunday. The four readings
we’ve heard today, from Psalms, Acts, 1 Corinthians and the gospel of John
each tell us something different. This is wonderful because it shows us how
diverse and generous God’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit is.
We’re taught not to become trapped in a prescriptive and limited
understanding of how the Holy Spirit is given and what the Spirit does. For
example, it would be quite wrong to say that the Spirit hasn’t come to a
person, or group of people, if there is no sound of rushing wind, or tongues of
flame, or speaking in tongues. We hear about those dramatic signs as Acts
chapter two describes the day of Pentecost. Later in chapter 2 we read how
3000 people were convicted by what they heard and, we believe, prompted
by the Holy Spirit to repentance and baptism.
However, Acts chapter two is not everything that the book of Acts, let alone
the Bible, says about the Holy Spirit.
For example, in our psalm for this day (Psalm 140), we sang about God’s
abundant, overflowing, joyful, playful creative activity, where the Spirit is very
much involved in creating and sustaining life, in quite a concrete way.
Instead of trying to limit God’s activity, the psalmist simply stands in awe of
God’s wondrous and ongoing work of creating and sustaining all that exists,
even some things that we’re not so sure about, like the Leviathan frolicking in
the ocean.
For another example, there’s John’s gospel, which has no fire or rushing wind
to signal the presence and work of God. The gospel reading we heard today
is a section of the same gospel reading that we heard on the second Sunday
of Easter. On that Sunday we tend to be captivated by the action involving
Thomas. Today the focus is on Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We clearly
heard about the risen Lord Jesus himself, God in the midst of the disciples,
who breathed on them and said “receive the Holy Spirit”. In both the gospel
of John and in the book of Acts it is clearly God who gives his Holy Spirit to the
church. Jesus and the Father send the Spirit so that God’s mission to the world
will be carried on as the church’s mission to the world.
It’s helpful to hear these different accounts which have both obvious
differences and important similarities. We can be encouraged to notice that
in both the reading from Acts and John’s gospel, the Holy Spirit is given to
empower God’s mission through the church. In both cases the proclamation
of the good news of salvation in Jesus’ name is central. In Acts we heard
Peter’s pithy sermon using the book of Joel, when he proclaimed that
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. The same
wonderful, gracious message is contained in Jesus’ instructions to the disciples
when he said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you
retain the sins of any, they are retained.”(John 20:23)
The heart of the work of the church is to go out and tell the news that
reconciliation has been won. Jesus has taken away the sin of the world. In
Jesus there is peace. God is bringing everything into harmony in Jesus, and
we have been baptised into Jesus. The Spirit empowers us to live in this
wonderful truth, trusting completely in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and
sharing this wonderful news in word and deed.
Jesus has given us the Spirit so that everything we say and do becomes a
proclamation of the good news of God’s salvation.
We’ve already mentioned God’s overflowing creative genius. The beauty of
God’s outpouring of the Spirit is the sheer diversity which works for a common
goal. St Paul teaches us that we all have the same Spirit, but we are not all
the same.
The basic gift is the gift of faith, which allows us to live confessing and trusting
Jesus as our Lord, the Lord.
But then the wondrous diversity opens up. St Paul writes,
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are
varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of
activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good.”(1 Cor 12:4-7)
There are many gifts with one overarching goal and purpose.
What a wonderful insight it is, to realise that the working of the Spirit doesn’t
look the same in each Christian, and it doesn’t need to look the same. The
working of the Spirit is not the same from Christian to Christian. We can
expect differences; differences which add to the health and richness of the
body; differences which reflect God’s unstoppable creative genius.
Our differences are a reason for rejoicing. These differences are evidence of
the presence and working of the Spirit.
Fully in keeping with God’s wonderful creativity is a church full of people of
different abilities doing different activities. We can rejoice in our differences.
We can rejoice that the Father and the Son have poured out the Spirit so
richly on the whole church, including us.
It’s true that, from time to time, there have been profound signs and activities
in conjunction with the Spirit’s presence, but mostly the Spirit’s work is to build
up the body of Christ in all sorts of ways that people easily overlook. The
activities of the Spirit are for the building up of the body, as St Paul wrote “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.”
Today we’re encouraged when we hear that Jesus gives us the Spirit so that
we can proclaim his forgiveness, an essential part of building up the body.
He’s not saying that you or I can decide on whether or not we forgive other
people. That would be to jump out of the story and to pretend that we’re
God. No, Jesus does something very important so that we trust that we are
forgiven and can live in a good relationship with God and each other.
Jesus gives his church the authority to declare that sins are forgiven. We have
the privilege and responsibility of telling people, including one another, that
sin is forgiven. When someone confesses their sin, we can declare
confidently: Your sin is forgiven for Christ’s sake. The Holy Spirit helps us to trust
in that forgiveness and to live in it. We have peace with God. The barrier is
gone. Jesus has taken our sin away.
There is another side to that message. Since Christ’s work is so wonderful and
complete, it’s not to be taken lightly or ignored, and we might sometimes
have to tell people that they are not forgiven. Who would that be, we might
wonder? Certainly not any despairing sinner, since forgiveness comes from
Jesus and isn’t dependent on us pulling our socks up by ourselves. It might
come as a shock to realize that those who may need to hear that their sin is
not forgiven are the proud and self-righteous, who are often seen as ‘good
people’, like the Pharisees, who considered that they had little that needed
to be forgiven. Jesus wants everyone to turn to him and accept his gracious
forgiveness – that includes you and me. In turn, he sends us to proclaim God’s
mercy in the power of the Spirit.
Today, we rejoice in the gift of the Spirit’s presence and work. We rejoice in
the rich and diverse activities of the Spirit among us. We rejoice in God’s
manifold creative works that are evident in the creation and in the church.
Let us rejoice in his creative, life-giving presence, knowing that God’s Spirit is
at work in us.
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Sermon – Easter 6A

The Text: John 14:18
Jesus said to his disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans”.
At home
Orphans the world over are a tragedy of tremendous proportions. According
to UNICEF there are 153 million orphan children worldwide with over five and
half thousand being becoming orphans every day. Whether in refugee
camps in Africa, India, Romania, Bulgaria, or South East Asia these figures are
mind blowing especially knowing the tragic affect that the loss of parents has
on children and how this loss shapes the rest of their lives.
Even a child left without parents here in our country, although infinitely far
better off than those in the countries I have just mentioned, is affected in
ways that we don’t fully understand. Children who lose their parents lose their
security and are vulnerable and powerless physically, emotionally and
psychologically. The love and care given to them by others will, in time, make
up for this but unfortunately some children never get over their loss. Some
never get over the psychological wounds that comes with being an orphan.
It’s as if they have lost their story, their roots, their history, their identity, their
sense of direction.
In the light of this, the words of Jesus take on a special meaning. “I will not
leave you orphaned” Jesus says to his disciples. Or this could be translated, “I
will not leave you desolate, deserted, alone, abandoned, unloved,
futureless”.
The disciples knew Jesus in a very close and personal way. They had walked
together, talked together, eaten together, shared good and bad times
together. They had been constant companions of Jesus. They felt confident
and safe in the presence of Jesus.
When they experienced doubt, pain and suffering, they felt Jesus understood
what was happening to them.
When they were filled with joy and happiness or overcome with sadness and
sorrow, they felt secure in the knowledge that Jesus experienced the same
emotions and feelings as they did.
When they were hungry, Jesus fed them and a great crowd with a few loaves
and fish.
When they were in danger on the sea, Jesus was nearby to rescue them.
When they witnessed the grief that death brought into their lives, Jesus was at
hand to comfort and raise the dead to life.
You see there is a kind of fatherly or perhaps brotherly relationship between
Jesus and the disciples.
Jesus could see that his disciples were dependent on him. In fact, Jesus
occasionally addressed them as “little children”. In the presence of Jesus they
were like “little children” who relied on his love and comfort.
When Jesus warned the disciples that he will no longer be with them he had
to quickly assure them not to be worried and upset, but to trust him. Now if
that’s how they felt before Jesus’ death imagine how alone and abandoned
they must have felt after Jesus’ death on the cross. Under the shadow of the
cross, Jesus knew that they will feel like orphans—lost, without hope, helpless,
powerless, uncertain about their future and confused. So he makes them a
promise:
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and
be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…I will not leave you as orphans; I will
come to you….Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John
14.16,18,27).
Note this unique way Jesus reminds us that we will always have a home and
a family. He says, “I am in the Father, and you are in me, just as I am in you
(John 14:20).
This is a good passage to pause and meditate on. Simply what Jesus is
expressing is the very close and intimate relationship between himself and the
Father, himself and his disciples and his disciples and God. That tiny word “in”
describes a special bond, a unique oneness. A family relationship.
You who believe in Jesus already have the Holy Spirit. God the Father has
sent you the Holy Spirit through the Son. He did this for you at baptism.
Because of God’s work for us in baptism you have a place of belonging in
the family of God, by which you are no longer orphans, for God our Father
has made you heirs with Jesus his Son. We are sons and daughters together
with the Son. And since that is the case for every person who is in Christ then
we are all a part of that Triune God’s loving, supporting family. We are all
brothers and sisters joined together in God’s family, the church.
In this family God the Father continues to give you the Holy Spirit, through the
Son, who meets you in the word, the scriptures. Through the Scriptures the
Holy Spirit continually comes to us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are
given a new direction, a new future and a new life.
This new life is one in which we will always have a home. We will always have
a loving family—God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These words of comfort
carry the message that we won’t ever be orphans—we will know exactly who
we are and where we belong.
True enough Satan will always try to break up that togetherness we have. He
just loves to drive wedges of doubt, anger, hostility, and jealousy, either
between us and God, or between each another in his family. He will
constantly tempt us to sin and break the bond and put up barriers between
the members of the family, and break apart from it. But that’s not what God
has planned for any of us.
God wants no one to feel like an orphan. When Jesus says to us “I will not
leave you as orphans” he means that we belong to the Father, adopted and
claimed through Jesus the Son. We are loved by the Father. We are forgiven
by the Son. When there are members of the family who are feeling like an
orphan because we have had a falling out with someone, as a member of
this special family, it becomes our responsibility to make amends, whether it
was our fault or not.
When there is a member of the family who is feeling like an orphan—lonely,
scared, uncertain because they are facing illness and even death—as a
member of this special family, it becomes our responsibility to pass on the
love and care that we have received from our heavenly Father.
When there are members of the family who are feeling like orphans—feeling
unloved, needing a guiding hand, wanting someone to know their pain—as
a member of this special family, it becomes our responsibility to be a brother
and sister to that person and let them see the love of our heavenly parent
through us.
When there are members of this special family who are feeling like orphans,
needing someone to provide them with basic essentials and to empathise
with them in their circumstances, it becomes our responsibility to be a brother
and sister to that person and let them see in us the love of our heavenly
Father as we meet those needs.
Jesus’ words need to become our words to one another as people of God’s
family “I will not leave you as an orphan”, as we reflect the love and care of
God into the lives of the people around us. Let Jesus inspire us to say to our
fellow brothers and sisters, “I will not leave you desolate, feeling deserted,
alone, abandoned, unloved, futureless”.
At the 400 metre race at the 1992 summer Olympics a young Englishman,
Derek Redmond was hungry to win a gold medal after being forced to
withdraw from the previous Olympics because of injury. However, shortly after
the start of the race, he popped his right hamstring. All the other runners
continued the race leaving him like an orphan alone on the track. Amazingly
Redmond got back up and started hopping towards the finish line. The other
runners had all finished the race in a matter of seconds. Redmond, in tears,
slowly and laboriously kept hopping. It looked as if he would fall any moment.
Suddenly, a man appeared beside Derek. It was his father. He had run down
from the stands and pushed his way through the security guards to reach his
son. Redmond’s father put his arm around his son and let him cry on his
shoulder. Then, with his father holding him up, Derek hobbled to the finish line
and then he hopped over the line by himself to finish the race.
There’s a word of hope for you and me, to help us finish the race of life. It is
God’s own word. When we are feeling like orphans to run the race of life in
this world—a race we cannot run by our own strength—we have a Father
who gives us his strength to keep on going, a Saviour who walks beside us
and the Spirit who comforts us, and strengthens us in faith, pointing us to
everything Jesus said and still speaks, enabling us to cross the finishing line.
We are not abandoned because we have a God who loves us. He says to
each of personally and individually, “I will not leave you as orphans”. Amen.

Sermon for Easter 5

The Text: John 14:1-14
A Place prepared
Clean sheets on the spare bed. check.
House clean and tidy. check.
Plenty of Food in the house. check
Yep ready for the visitors to arrive.
Is that something you do to prepare for visitors to come and stay with you? A special meal, the spare bed has clean fresh sheets, and the house is tidied?
It is special when children who have grown and left home, come home. For a
mother, it is a joyous occasion when all the family are together and are at peace with one another.
Depending on where the children are geographically, there may be different ways they can travel to come home. Even when we go to places there is generally more than one way to take to reach a destination. If there is a more scenic way to get to a destination, sometimes that is a better wat than to travel on a major highway.
We can’t do that at the moment. We aren’t allowed to travel. We can’t be with our mother’s today if they live away from us. But that’s okay we can still connect with, phone, Facebook, Skype, email. Once this pandemic is over, once again we can go to their place.
Jesus tells about a place for us to go to today. He calls it his Father’s house. It’s a place where there is not just one spare room, but there are many rooms. But as Jesus says to Thomas, you can’t get there on your own. Jesus says: “I am the way”.
To know Jesus is to know the Father. In the same way, the Father knows the ones who listen to the voice of Jesus, and follow him along the way. It’s interesting that before early believers were called Christians they were called people who followed ‘The Way’.
Jesus fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah spoke of, “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall
belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray”. (Isaiah 35:8).
How are we ever able to walk the way of holiness and be invited into our heavenly
room that is prepared for us? For we know that daily we struggle with our humanity and its sinful desires. Rather than daily concentrate on the Holy life God desires of us, we follow our own ambitions.
The way to God was completely closed, and sin was the roadblock. It was like when the Israelites had been rescued out of Egypt they were filled with fear because they thought the way to freedom was blocked by the Red Sea as the Egyptian chariots were closing in behind them. It’s the same in our lives. If we think our way to freedom depends on us, then we fail to trust that Jesus has provided away for our freedom.
The way was blocked because of sin, but God wanted to rescue us from this world in which sin entered and blocked the way to the place where our Heavenly Father has these many rooms prepared. God could not simply excuse or overlook our sin
and allow us to enter his place in our sinful state. Yes God is merciful, but He is also just. Justice requires that sin be paid for. At great cost, he himself paid that price. God offers salvation to everyone who accepts it through faith in Jesus. Jesus
describes this way as entering through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Perhaps the way through Jesus doesn’t look appealing enough or has too many restrictions. But in reality, the way through Jesus is bigger than you think, because God sent Jesus to save the world. It isn’t God’s fault that many don’t accept that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
We know the way to heaven by trusting in what Jesus has done for us and what he continues to do for us through his gifts to the Church. Our journey begins in Baptism.
Through God’s Word and water Jesus dwells in our hearts through faith. Faith receives the promises of God and clings to Jesus as the true and only way. Faith receives Jesus as the way and rejects all other ways that are contrary to what God’s word says. Just like a mother, God has a lot of love to give, even lots more. God’s love is an everlasting steadfast love that endures rejection, as he sees people go on a journey in other directions to fulfil their needs. However, through the Holy Spirit, God never stops trying to alert us if we go in the wrong direction. It’s like when your TomTom or Navman tells you perform a U-turn where possible.
What I really dislike about relying on GPS is when they try to take you down a road that isn’t there. It makes us end up feeling lost and not sure where I am. Then I need to back track to get on the right way.
Likewise, God gives us a conscience to alert us when we follow a way that leads away from his way. His ways are written on our hearts, and supported through his written word to show us his way.
When it comes to walking the way of holiness, it’s the way of repentance and forgiveness. Repentance because we fail to live holy lives and need to turn back and confess our failures to God. God hears our cries for mercy and forgives us for Jesus’ sake.
He is always waiting like a mother for her children to come home. One of the best images we have of this in the bible is the story of the prodigal son.
When Jesus says, “I am the Way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me” he is not meaning this to be a threat. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples, as a word of comfort.
They are a comfort for us as well, for we don’t need to panic and search for a
hidden map or look for clues, or guess if we are on the road to salvation. It’s clear and simple. As Jesus says “Do not let your heart be troubled. There are many rooms in my Father’s house. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going away to
make a place for you. After I go and make a place for you, I will come back and take you with me. Then you may be where I am.”
A mother’s desire is to protect her children. Have you felt the anxious wait to see your children safely arrive home? You hope they will not get lost, but will follow the way that leads to you, to the place you have prepared for them. Sometimes things occur where as parents, as a mother, you need to go and bring your child to the safety of home.
This is what Jesus did for all of us. He came down from heaven into the world, where we were lost and heading in all sorts of directions and he shows the way home. His desire is for us to be where he is. There is no other way than the way Jesus paved at a great cost to himself.
He calls us to follow him with hearts that forgive, and have compassion. With hearts that welcome home into the family a child who had lost their way. With hearts that even go looking when we notice we haven’t seen them for a while. It’s what a mother does for her child so she knows her child is safe.
It’s what Jesus does for us. There is only one true way to eternal life. That is the way of Jesus. Amen