Author: admin

Shame is painfull.

The Text: Luke 15:20

He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him.Shame is a painful feeling we have when our improper behaviour, incompetence, and bad judgement are brought out into the open. As we feel shame we feel guilt and disappointment in ourselves and the judgement of others as they wonder how we could have disgraced ourselves in such a way. Embarrassment, dishonour, disgrace, inadequacy and humiliation are associated with shame.

The origin of the word ‘shame’ is connected to an older word meaning to cover. We see this in the account of Adam and Eve when they realised that they had disobeyed God and heard him calling for them in the Garden of Eden. They felt shame for what they had done and so what did they do? They covered their nakedness and went undercover as they tried to hide from God. When we feel shame we want to hide from others, not make eye contact, and feel as if our faces are on fire as we blush.

Look into the history of our country you will find attitudes and events that are shameful. Every country has those times in their history that bring shame.

Shame and dishonour are very important concepts in the Middle East and one’s honour and that of the family are very valuable and to be protected at all costs. It was like that in Jesus’ time.

Remember the wedding at Cana when the wine ran out? That kind of thing brought shame upon the groom and his family and that stigma would stay with them for a long time.

You can imagine the shame Peter felt as he heard the rooster crow and realised that he had done exactly what he had so boldly stated he wouldn’t do – not once but three times he had denied that he ever knew Jesus. We are told he wept bitterly out of shame.

Today’s gospel reading from Luke gives us the story Jesus’ told about the father and his two sons and even though the word shame doesn’t appear in the text, there is still plenty of shame involved in this story. Let’s take a look at the instances of shame in this story. Part of understanding this parable is to view it from its Middle Eastern context.

Firstly, there is the shameful thing the youngest son does. He does something that is really low and unkind. He demands that his father immediately give him his share of the inheritance that would normally come his way when his father died. Making this kind of demand is like wishing his dad was dead so that he could get his hands on dad’s money. This is another way of saying to his father, “I no longer want to have anything to do with you. Give me what is mine so that I can cut loose from this family.”

Research has shown that this kind of demand is unheard of in Jewish culture and if the request was granted and a son was given a part of his inheritance that didn’t give the son the right to cash in his share. By selling his father’s property he would deprive his father of his own livelihood. Does the son care? No! His action in selling his share of the property only heaps more shame on himself. He is self-centred, ungrateful, and greedy and doesn’t care how much his family will suffer. He only cares about himself. In a Middle Eastern community that was very much family and community oriented, this kind of attitude is indeed shameful.

To treat his father and family like this not only brought shame on himself but also brought shame on his father. In fact, the whole of the community would feel the shame of the way this lad had treated his father and so the only way a father could restore dignity and pride again in the sight of his neighbours was to wash his hands of this shame by never speaking to his son again or even acknowledge that he ever existed. As far as the family was concerned that son was dead and there was no coming back again.

But the son’s shameful deeds don’t end there with his leaving father and brother to live off what they had left; he goes to a far off land indicating that he never intended to return and there he wastes his father’s hard-earned money with wild parties and spending as if there was a never ending supply of cash.

He ends up in a pig pen. Pigs were animals that Jews considered to be unclean and totally repulsive. Pigs were the garbage collectors of the time and were the way of getting rid of any household rubbish. What a pitiful and shameful picture this young man must have made as he sat amongst the filth of snorting, messy, sometimes dangerous pigs, especially if someone tried to muscle in on their food. He even tried begging from passers-by but no one cared. Maybe they had heard how he had treated his father and so believed he got what he deserved.

I think you get the picture and though his shame is so overwhelming his desperate situation calls for desperate measures. He is aware that he has cut himself off from his family and can never go back as a son, so he trudges toward home to ask for a job as a hired servant, and to live with the servants. As he takes the long journey back home, his heart is likely heavy with shame and guilt for what he has done and the broken relationship between him and his father.

We know what happens when his father sees him coming in the distance. He doesn’t walk or shuffle slowly but races down the road to meet him; throws his arms around him; there is no rebuke or accusations; only the joy of a loving father welcoming home a son whom he had considered dead. In the eyes of the people in his village, it was most undignified for a father to be seen running through the streets let alone running to greet and hugging this son who has acted so shamefully toward his father and his family. He is humiliating himself, likely demonstrating a spineless and weak character he is by treating his son in a way he doesn’t deserve and seemingly rewarding him with his love.

The father has become an embarrassment to the whole village because by accepting his son back he is also bringing shame on himself and he is doing this gladly. He is happy to take on his son’s shame because his son is back; this son that had once disowned his family is now back and can be restored to the family; this son who was once dead is now alive.

To our western way of thinking this is a feel good story – father and son are reconciled – but it’s not. This story is scandalous. To Jewish hearers, the behaviour of father and son is downright shameful. To Christian hearers this is an illustration of our relationship with God – we are the spiteful son and God is the loving Father who leaves his house and takes up this humiliating posture on the road. He has no shame and at a great personal cost greets, hugs and throws a feast for the one who had treated him so badly. The father takes on the shame of the son and becomes shameful in the eyes of the world as he restores the boy to his home and reconciliation between them occurs.

You can see why this reading has been included in the lead up to Good Friday because the father’s action is a symbol of what God has done and is doing for us through Christ. Like the son we have been oblivious to the pain that we have caused our heavenly Father. Just as the son wasn’t even aware that he had hurt his father, likewise we are too often quite indifferent to the way our speech and actions hurt our heavenly Father. But our Father in heaven was prepared to take on our shame and guilt, to embrace us, and welcome us back home. God takes our shame, our humiliation, guilt, and disgrace on himself and he is punished for us and as Isaiah tells us, is despised, struck, beaten for our sins. He is brought low and put to shame for us. He hung in shame from a cross – an innocent man treated as a criminal and mocked as a fraud all the while taking on our shame and reconciling us to our heavenly Father.

On the cross, Jesus is the greatest and most shameful of sinners – there he is made a liar and a thief and an adulterer and a murder, for you and me. Just as love was the driving force that led the father in Jesus’ story to be shamed in front of all his friends and neighbours so that he could welcome back his son, so Jesus’ love for us is the driving force that led him to be shamed and humiliated, nailed naked to a cross so he could welcome us back as his sons and daughters. This shame he gladly bears and makes it possible for those who were dead to now be alive; those who were lost to be found.

There are those who have used this parable to show that God is an old softy when it comes to sin and like a doting old father doesn’t take his children’s waywardness seriously. To our modern minds, this parable might be understood that way, but to look at it in its Middle Eastern context we can see that reconciliation is a painful thing. The father could have easily severed his relationship with his son and quite rightfully forgotten that he ever had a son. He and his family had been terribly shamed by his behaviour by Jewish standards. And so he could have quite rightly ignored the boy as he came up the road but instead he shamelessly raced to meet his son and, in spite of the stares of his neighbours, embraced and welcomed his son home.

As we move closer to Good Friday we become aware again just how much God has done for us and continues do for us especially when we come limping home and smelling as unclean as pigs in Jewish culture. Just as the father in Jesus’ parable wrapped his arms around his smelly, filthy, shameful child so also our heavenly Father wraps his arms around us when we are smelly and filthy and shameful because of our sin.

Our God loves us with a divine love. One who runs and leaps for joy when every sinner returns home. Amen.

Free Stuff!

3 Lent 2025
Isaiah 55:1-9

The large cardboard sign propped up against the curb and written in bold, black texta said ‘FREE STUFF’. 

It was as apt description. Behind the sign was a pile of what could only be described as ‘stuff’. Someone had clearly had a long-overdue clean out of their garage. Or perhaps they were moving.

I cast an eye at the pile of ‘stuff’ as I drove past. It was the usual. There was a lounge chair without cushions, and three-legged coffee table, a couple of old car tyres, a couple of stacks of old 8-tracks, a rusted bicycle frame, a rolled up old carpet.

And what was that in the back? An old piano? No. I think it was a roll top desk. But then I was past.

Later that morning I thought about that pile of stuff. Was that a roll top desk? I had been looking for one of them for a while. They are not cheap, even second hand. And this one appeared to be about the right size. But who in their right mind would give away something like that. Surely there was something wrong with it. It was badly damaged or warped, poorly constructed, etc.

All day my mind went back to that roll top desk. I finally decided that afternoon to drive back past and have another look. Perhaps it really was a roll-top desk for free.

As I pulled up alongside the curb in front of the pile of free stuff, I could see clearly that it was indeed an old roll-top desk. And it was clearly in very good condition. I could see all this because it was being loaded into the back of a ute parked just in front of me!

I had waited and dithered too long, disbelieving that anything that good was actually being given away, or thinking surely there was something seriously wrong with it that I would notice as soon as I stopped to inspect it. Many other passersby had likely had the same thought.

It would have been a great desk. Just what I was looking for. But now it was gone. I had missed the opportunity.

In today’s Old Testament reading from the prophet Isaiah we have a similar situation. Isaiah is writing to a people in exile in Babylon. They are not accustomed to expecting much, and certainly nothing for free.

The prophet gets their attention in words that echoed the well-known calls of the spruikers in the market places of the ancient world selling food and fresh drinking water.

‘Ho! Everyone who thirsts come to the waters; and you that have no money; come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price!’

Many of you have travelled to places where this kind of selling still occurs. ‘You there, yes, you, Mam. You look like you could use a new hat. I have one just your colour that would match your outfit!’

Or, ‘You sir. You look like someone how could use a cool drink. I have fresh coconuts here. Just one dollar, and I will slice it open for you and include a straw. No extra charge!’

We tend to tune out these calls unless it is something we were looking for. But what if someone starts calling out, ‘You there! No money? No worries! I have food and drink for free. No gimmick. No charge.’

Well, that would get our attention. And that is the intention of the prophet in this passage. They now the familiar words of the spruikers. But who spruiks stuff for free?

We would likely be very skeptical of such an offer. It makes so sense. Surely there is a catch. Like most, we would likely walk on past, known free food and drink was too good to be true.

But that is exactly what God is doing. He is offering a people in captivity and exile grace. He is promising that they will return home. He reminds them of the great king David from their past. Those days will be restored. So come and drink and eat from the Lord’s table. By grace, he is providing this all for free.

The words of the prophet are a foretaste of the call God issues to us all in and through Christ. Come, eat and drink. Forgiveness and life everlasting are on offer – for free.

Well, as we know, free stuff, stuff that is not actually junk, just doesn’t make sense. Nor does it make sense that God would be giving away salvation for free. There must be a catch.

But the prophet knows that his readers are going to be asking these same questions. He reminds them (in verses 8 and 9) that God says ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’

Yes, free stuff – from God – doesn’t make sense. Not from a human perspective. But God reminds us that he is not us. God does’t think and act as we do. God acts on a whole new level. And in God’s world, and God’s reality, new life, forgiveness and salvation really are being given away.

But there is a proviso. We are warned that the offer is not unlimited. Now is the time to turn to God’s love, now is the time to choose to follow the path God has set before us. Now is the time to do those things we know God wants us to do. God calls us to choose him, to follow him. God calls us to his love. And he offers us life and life everlasting for free. But now is the time to respond to this unbelievable offer.

The prophet Isaiah writes these well-known words: ‘Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let that return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them and will abundantly pardon.’ (verse 7).

It is a bit like me and the free roll-top desk. I spent so long convincing myself that there was not a catch, and that perhaps it was a perfectly good old roll-top desk behind that pile of stuff that by the time I finally decided to go back and check it out, the desk was taken. I had dithered too long.

When we know what God wants us to do, when we know that we need to change our lives or actions, when we know that we need to respond to the love that God shows to us in Jesus, there is no point putting it off, forever considering our options or trying to find the catch.

God is near to us now, he is able to be found now.

We do not know what the future might bring. Jesus, if very strong words in today’s Gospel reading, made the same point that Isaiah is making. He reminded the crowds of a couple recent tragedies, including a tower falling over and killing eighteen people. None of these eighteen expected that this would be their last day. No one saw the tower collapse coming. Some of them may have been thinking: I need to start doing the things God wants me to do. I need to make amends with my neighbour, my parents, my siblings. I need to give up some thins I am doing that are wrong. Perhaps they had been considering these things for some days, or weeks, or months, or years. But now it was too late. Jesus warns his listeners that their time might also be limited. He finishes with the story of the fig tree. It has no born fruit and the owner (God) says it is time to cut it down. But the gardener (Jesus) says give it another year. Let me work on it for another year.

Jesus does not easily give up on us. But he also warns us that and end may well come to the opportunity to choose to follow him, to choose to return to him, to do that thing that we know God wants us to do.

Free stuff? Hard for us to believe, but in God’s case, he really does offer us his love for free. And now is the time to seek him, while he is near and may be found.

Free love and mercy. It’s a deal that is hard to believe. But God’s thoughts and ways are very different to our own.

But we may not always be is position to respond to God. We do not know when Christ will return, we do not know when our own earthly journey will end, we do not know when circumstances will change and the opportunity to do something that we felt God was calling us to do will pass.

So the message of both Jesus, expressed in stark terms in today’s Gospel text, and that of Isaiah, expressed more gently, is the same. It is one of urgency. God’s grace is on offer. God wants us to return to him. But now is the time to respond.
Amen.

Pastor Mark Worthing.
Port Macquarie.

The Citizenship of Heaven’

2 Lent 2025

Philippians 3:17-4:1 

Citizenship is a big issue today. There has been much in the news about citizenship ceremonies and when to hold them, and each election year several pre-selected political candidates are forced to withdraw because it is found that they are citizens of more than one country. We read also of those who have live most of their lives in Australia, but never formally took up citizenship, being deported if they are convicted of a serious criminal offence.

In our own congregation we have a number of people currently working through the ever more complex process of getting a visa that will eventually allow them to obtain Australian citizenship.

Being a citizen is a big deal.

It was a big deal in earlier generations also. Early German Lutheran migrants in the mid-19th century were keen to swear their allegiance to the king and be Australian citizens. It was symbolic of their new life and the fact they were here to stay.

After the second world war waves of migrants came to Australia, most eager to take up citizenship as soon as they could.

But others in this period resisted taking up Australian citizenship, choosing to live their whole lives here as permaent residents. They were reluctant migrants in the aftermath of war and it was too hard emotionally to let go of their previous citizenship – because that citizenship continued to mean a great deal to them.

Citizenship also becomes important if someone gets into any legal or medical strife while traveling overseas. Citizens of strong countries who actively care for their citizens get consular assistance quickly and are often flown out of dangerous situations by special flights. Citizens of impoverished nations get no such help. So in such cases, again, the question of citizenship becomes important.

In the Roman world, the world in which the Apostle Paul lived, citizenship was also important. The prized citizenship to have at that time was Roman citizenship.  If you had Roman citizenship you had some special rights. You could not simply be arrested and tried anywhere in the world by local authorities without Roman involvement. And if you were convicted of a series offence anywhere, you had the right to appeal, all the way to Ceasar.

Paul, by virtue of his birth in Tarsus and other considerations, was in the rare situation of being a Roman citizen. This is something that assisted him often in his travels and in times of difficulty. Many would have been envious of him for having Roman citizenship as it was greatly prized.

Paul uses citizenship several times in his writings to illustrate a point. Today’s Epistle reading is one such text.

After talking about the way some who do not know Christ live, Paul reminds his readers that they are not to be like that. ‘But our citizenship is in heaven,’ he says.

There are three important points about citizenship that the Apostle makes in this text.

First, citizenship is about identity and belonging.

Everyone wants to belong somewhere. There are few things more difficult than the situation of those people who are considered ‘stateless.’ They are in a terrible limbo in which no country will officially recognise or claim them. When we migrate to a new country, it is often very important to officially belong to this new country. That is why citizenship ceremonies continue to be very popular despite disputes about when they are held. New citizens want to celebrate that they are now officially Australian. They want to celebrate that they belong here.

Paul reminds his readers that there is a citizenship that is even more prized and more important than Roman citizenship. That is the citizenship of heaven.

It is nearly impossible to gain citizenship to some countries if you were not born there, and born to citizens of that country. Even immigrant countries like Australia, the US, Canada and NZ are increasingly difficult to gain citizenship to.

In Paul’s time, if you were not born a Roman, Roman citizenship was not only prized, it was rare.

But the greatest and most powerful kingdom of all, Paul reminds us, is the kingdom of heaven. And citizenship of heaven belongs to everyone who is in Christ. If you are a follower of Jesus, then you are a citizen of heaven. That is our true identity. The citizenship of heaven trumps all other citizenships. When we are in Christ, we belong to Christ. And we are citizens of his heavenly kingdom, and of the kingdom that will one day also be manifest on earth.

The second point the Apostle makes is this: Citizenship comes with expectations.

We see this in our own context today. When one takes an oath of citizenship, it is clear that there are certain expectations. It is expected that one will be loyal to one’s country, follow its laws, etc.

Paul reminds us that as citizens of heaven we are expected to live like citizens of Christ’s kingdom. We are not to live like those who care only about the flesh, about filling our bellies, about earthly glory. We are to live as those following the Way that Jesus showed us. We are to live lives modelled on the love we have in Christ and the love he calls us to show to one another. We are to live lives focused on the importance of heavenly things. We are to live lives of service and discipleship.

Paul is telling us that being a citizen makes a difference. And being a citizenship comes with certain rights and expectations. And this is true especially of being a citizen of the heavenly kingdom.

Finally, citizenship brings with it the right and expectation of assistance.

I think we are all familiar with the expectation of consular assistance that we, and citizens of most other countries, can expect if we get into strife abroad.

Paul reminds us that as citizens of Christ’s heavenly kingdom, we are all living ‘abroad’ on this earth. Our true citizenship is in heaven. And we can expect help from there. The Apostle writes: ‘It is from heaven that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.’

The kingdom of heaven does not simply send some consular staff member to check on our well-being. The king himself will come to us, and will come as the one who rescues and saves us.

And what services can we expect when this heavenly assistance comes to its citizens? It is a pretty impressive. Pual tells us that when our king, Jesus, comes to the citizens of his kingdom, ‘he will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.’ In other words, when Jesus returns, he will transform us all and we will be given resurrected bodies that no longer faulter under the strain of sickness and age and other mortal limitations.

And Jesus can do this because his is the king, he can do it through ‘the power that enables him to make all things subject to himself.’ Our king is more powerful than any other king, and he does not forget the citizens of his kingdom.

So in knowledge of who we are in Jesus, of who we are as citizens of Chrit’s heavenly kingdom, Paul urges us to stand firm. That is, we are not to become overwhelmed. We are not to lose heart. We are not to stop living as citizens of Christ’s kingdom.

We know who Jesus is. And we know who we are citizens of his heavenly kingdom, awaiting the return of our king.

 Amen.

Pastor Mark Worthing.
Port Macquarie

Are you tempted?

The Text: Luke 4:1-13

 

It’s one of the most recognisable icons throughout the world—the logo behind the i-Phone, i-Pad and i-Mac computer brand: Apple. So I thought this memo that has been circulating on the internet is quite ingenious: “Adam and Eve—the first people to not read the apple terms and conditions.”

That’s a clever pun referring to the Devil’s tempting Adam and Eve to disobey God and take a bite from the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. The temptation, though, was so much more than simply taking a bite from an apple—or whatever the fruit was. It was a temptation to be like God, knowing good and evil…in other words, to put themselves in the place of God himself and decide right and wrong for themselves. The consequences of this were serious; a matter of life and death…actually, just death…for everyone. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “…sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all humankind…” (Romans 5:12).

In today’s Gospel reading, there is also a temptation involving food. Luke tells us that Jesus returned from the Jordan after he was baptised, to be tempted by the Devil in the desert for 40 days. During that time Jesus ate nothing, and at the end of the 40 days he was hungry. Remember that Jesus is fully human, born to Joseph and Mary. He has real human cravings and needs. Imagine how difficult going without food for 40 days would have been. Then the devil comes to Jesus and strikes right at the centre of his need: “If you are the Son of God tell this stone to become bread.”

Like it was for Adam and Eve back in the Garden of Eden, how Jesus responds to this temptation is also a matter of life and death. With his tempting of Jesus, I wonder whether Satan is really questioning if Jesus is the Son of God. The Greek word for ‘if’ can also mean ‘since’—and I think that’s how ‘if’ is functioning here. Even the demons know Jesus’ identity; it is later in this chapter that Luke tells us that “demons also came out of many, crying, ‘You are the Son of God!’”

Although Satan doesn’t know all things, he does know that Jesus is the Saviour that God promised right back in the beginning in Genesis 3; the one who would bruise his heel as he crushed Satan’s head. He knows that Jesus is the Saviour of the world the whole Old Testament pointed to. This is the Messiah the prophets spoke of and the people were waiting for. What the devil is saying is: “Since you are the Son of God tell this stone to become bread.”

For Satan knew that all that stood between him and the human race being forever enslaved to his demonic power, is Jesus. Right there in the desert, with Jesus famished and physically and emotionally weak from hunger, there’s never been a better opportunity. Satan knows Jesus could turn the stones into loaves so he tempts Jesus at Jesus’ time of desperate need, to live independently of his Father’s will. If he can get Jesus to think of himself and use his power to satisfy his cravings instead of being obedient to his Heavenly Father, Jesus will be his, and the whole world will be lost and condemned forever.This is Satan’s power play for eternal world domination.

This is most clear with the second temptation in the text. The devil led Jesus up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to Jesus, “I will give you all their authority and splendour, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours” (verses 5-7). What a lie! For we hear at the close of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus say to his disciples: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

It was Satan who had bitten off more than he could chew. For Jesus is not only fully human, he shares the same divine nature of his Father and the Holy Spirit from all eternity. Where Adam and Eve failed to live by God’s word and sought their own will, Jesus, the second Adam, faithfully lives by God’s word and rebukes Satan with Scripture.

In response to the first temptation to turn the stone into bread, Jesus responds with Deuteronomy 8:3: “one does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” The context of this was God feeding his people Israel with manna as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They too, like Jesus, were hungry. God had freed them. But unlike Jesus they lacked faith. They complained against God by complaining against his leader, Moses. They despised the manna God sent from heaven. God was teaching them that they should trust him. There in the desert, Jesus trusted that just as his Father fed the Israelites in their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, so too his Father will provide for him in his 40th day of hunger.

To the temptation of worshipping Satan to gain the world’s kingdoms, Jesus responds with Deuteronomy 6:13: “Fear the LORD your God and serve him only” and then from a few verses on: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” All temptation is a temptation to live independently of God, to be masters of our own fate, to do what we feel like doing for a fleeting moment of pleasure, or to feel good about ourselves, or to cope with stresses or problems in ways that clearly contradict God’s word. When we succumb to temptations, we say “No thanks God, I’ll do it my way” We break the first commandment, to fear, love and trust God above everything else and we put God to the test. That’s a complete reversal of things for it is God who is the perfectly faithful one to test us; to refine our faith.

As much as we hate to hear it, we put God to the test and often live by bread alone, failing to fear and serve God only. We might think we do OK because we haven’t taken drugs or robbed a bank or murdered anyone. But Satan tempts us to live by bread alone in everyday, subtle ways. The Ten Commandments show us that our missing the mark of God’s standards is endless: using God’s name in vain in grumbling against him like the Israelites in the desert. Laying his word aside rather than gladly hearing and learning it, or maybe using our way of helping in the church, or our worship, as a way of trying to get God to show us more favour than he has before. To criticise rather than respect, or using our tongue to get even with those who have caused hurt, rather than to forgive them. To covet what our neighbours have and think we are not really complete unless we have it, rather than be content with what God has already blessed us with, and to work hard at gaining the approval of others instead of resting in the approval the Father gives us through faith in Christ.

There is another way the Devil tempts all of us. When we follow Adam and Eve’s footsteps and live independently of God’s word, and the Devil heaps condemnation upon us, and tempts us to disbelieve the promise of God’s word—that we are justified by faith alone and there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. The Devil tempts us to think that we need something in addition to Jesus for us to be properly reconciled to God. He tempts us to doubt God’s favour could be for us, or to think that God is punishing or cursing us for past sins when calamity comes our way. He tempts us to disbelieve that God’s love for the world could ever really be for us.

But Satan is the one without hope! What happened in our Gospel reading is part of Jesus’ total redemptive work for the world. Jesus’ overcoming temptation in the desert points ahead to the Cross, where further on in Luke’s Gospel, we again hear those mocking words and the temptation to Jesus to not carry out God’s plan: “The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself“ (23:35-36).

But again Jesus thinks not of displaying his power and authority for his own sake—although completely innocent and blameless, he suffered to the end of his bloody and brutal death, and once for all overcame sin, death and the devil, so that we might live. And just when Satan thought he had Jesus where he had him, comes the glorious afterglow of the resurrection, which our Lenten season culminates with. Satan’s empire has collapsed!

Baptised into that same death and resurrection, we are united with Christ and are clothed in his own perfect righteousness as the Father’s dear child. We are freed from Satan’s power and his dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of glorious light in the life of Jesus. In our baptism we have received the same Holy Spirit that Jesus did in his baptism, and our Heavenly Father continues to pour out his Spirit on us through his Son as he meets us and serves us through his life-giving word. This word brings divine nourishment for our body and soul that cannot come from bread alone.

Though we all struggle to a lesser or greater degree as Satan waits for the opportune times to tempt us, God promises to bless us through Jesus’ powerful, life-giving gospel, with grace and strength to resist temptation. Jesus himself prays for us, as the crucified risen Christ leads us in prayer to his Father: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

Jesus gives us food for the journey in your times in the desert. He is the bread of life who feeds you, God’s people, with true bread from heaven. He doesn’t make stones become loaves, but when he speaks, simple wafers are at the same time his true body, and the wine his precious blood. As he gives it to you, hear him say: “This is my body, given for you. This is my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. Believe him because then we have the fullness of what he promises: forgiveness, life and salvation; the sharing in of Jesus’ own victory for the world over sin death Satan and hell.

Satan cannot give us anything. He can only lie, deceive and bring fear. But our Father in heaven has given us a Kingdom greater than all the kingdoms of the world. For his kingdom has come to us in the Christ, the Son of God, who does not just give us an example to follow. He has given himself, for us. So when the devil knocks at the door, send Jesus to answer it—since he is the Son of God who has already won the victory over sin, death and the devil for you. Amen.

A nice guy?

The Text: Luke 9:28-36

 

Who is he? A nice guy? An inspiring teacher? A social reformer? Many of his opponents thought he was demon-possessed and raving mad. Who is he?

The question isn’t whether Jesus existed or not. There is too much ancient evidence—even from non-Christian sources such as the Jewish historian Josephus and Roman historian Tacitus—to be able to dismiss the fact that Jesus lived on earth. Even a recent internet study declared Jesus to be the most famous person on earth[1].

Yes, Jesus’ life on earth is well documented. But who is this carpenter from Nazareth; the son of Joseph and Mary? Just before our text today, Jesus himself had asked his disciples this very question: “Who do the people say that I am?” They answered, “Some say John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the prophets has risen. “But what about you?” Jesus asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

“Who do you say I am?” That is Jesus’ question to you also. The most important question anyone will ever be faced with.

Who is Jesus? Today Luke takes us to the mountaintop with Jesus, Peter, James and John for the most dazzling show and tell presentation ever. As Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, and were talking with him.

For Luke’s original audience, familiar with the Old Testament and longing for the Messiah it pointed to, this conversation with Moses and Elijah is most significant. In Exodus 24, it was Moses who took three companions (Aaron, Nadab and Ahibu) up the mountain to meet with God where the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain. A cloud covered the mountain and Moses went up into it and there God spoke to him. Afterwards Moses’ face shone after being in God’s presence. And it was believed by the people of old that Elijah would literally return as the forerunner to the coming of the Saviour, based on what the prophet Malachi had said: “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.” (Malachi 4:5).

So Luke tells us that there on the Mount of Transfiguration, Elijah stands in the presence of the Saviour his return was supposed to herald. Moses, also, stands in the presence of one who is greater than he. For whereas Moses could only give the Ten Commandments—which cannot save us but only show us how much we need a Saviour—Jesus has brought his saving help to the world by fulfilling them perfectly for all people, and freeing us from the condemnation of the law with his sacrificial death, to win forgiveness of sins for the life of the world.

This is the ‘departure’ which Jesus was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem, which Moses and Elijah were speaking with him about—his betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion where he bore the sins of the world on his shoulders. This is what Jesus had already explained to his disciples himself, just before today’s text: that he must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

But his disciples didn’t understand. Jesus’ talk of his departure seemed impossible. It all sounded like such a defeat—as today’s colloquial language would put it—“an epic fail.” Up until this point, Jesus had brought people freedom, life, hope and peace by miraculously triumphing over the forces of nature, the demonic realm, sickness and even death itself. If he had overcome even death how could he now possibly succumb to it? They didn’t understand that Jesus could only be the Saviour of the world by taking our place on the Cross, dying to save us.

So the disciples are given a fleeting revelation of Jesus’ glory to assure them about Jesus’ identity and mission. Jesus was shown plainly to be much more than merely a special person; a good moral teacher or social revolutionary—but in Christ, the glory of God has come to earth and is in the midst of his people. He is not merely Joseph and Mary’s son, but the Son of God from all eternity, confirmed by the booming voice from heaven: “This is my Son whom I have chosen, listen to him.”

This fleeting revelation of Jesus’ divine glory was to assure the disciples that even though he would be handed over to the ruling authorities to unjustly suffer and die, this was no failure—in fact the very way he would conquer sin, death and the devil. His death would not end with death, but with his resurrection, and new life with God for all those who trust in him. All that was shown on the mount of Transfiguration, preserved for us in today’s Gospel text—the presence of the key Old Testament figures Elijah and Moses, the mountain, the glory cloud, the voice of God, Jesus’ shining face and garments—all powerfully show that Jesus is the fulfilment of everything that God had promised his people from of old.

Peter said to Jesus: “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters–one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Peter was right. It was good to be there, in the presence of the Saviour of the world. But Peter hasn’t listened. He can’t hang on to the moment. They can’t have glory without the Cross. Jesus must continue on the pathway of God’s mission and go to Jerusalem to suffer and die for the sins of the world, and restore the world to God through his own precious blood. Just as he did with Moses and his companions from ancient days, God again speaks to those on the mountain top. “This is my Son, whom I have chosen” he says of Jesus. “Listen to him.”

We’ve heard the profound connections that the Old Testament has with our text today, showing God’s glory in Jesus, and Jesus being the fulfilment of all that was promised. Yet there is a noticeable difference too. In Exodus, when Moses went up on the mountain, and the glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day God called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud (Exodus 24:15-16).

Seven days. That reminds us of the six days of creation and God’s resting on the seventh day—the pattern of our 7 day week. Yet in today’s text Luke speaks of 8 days. It was about 8 days after Jesus had spoken of his death and resurrection that he went up the mountain with Peter, John and James.

In the theological journal First Things, Dale Coulter explains: “…the eighth day signals a day that is beyond the seven-day cycle of weeks and thus stands outside of the normal movement of time. It is the dawn of a new age in which time comes to be fulfilled in a kind of eternal stable movement around God. This kind of talk about the eighth day underscores the in-breaking of the divine into the movement of history to bring it to a final consummation.”[2] In simple terms, the 8th day represents Gods eternal ‘out of this world’ realm that is beyond our worldly time of 24 hours 7 days a week.

Who is Jesus? The dazzling manifestation of his glory and the mention of 8 days shows he is the Son of God from all eternity; the Christ in whom God’s 8th day of eternal reign of glory and grace has come into our world that is trapped in bondage to sin, death and decay. Although we don’t have the sound and light show that the disciples did on the Mount of Transfiguration in our Gospel reading, we don’t have to ascend the mountain to find God.

He comes down to us. While we gather in this simple church building, we don’t see Jesus in radiant glory with clothes as bright as a flash of lightning. Nonetheless, God who is present everywhere is personally present here working in a special way unlike anywhere else. He brings his grace and divine help and salvation through his word, through baptism and Holy Communion, bringing divine forgiveness, favour, help and blessing for us.

And so it is good for us to be here…in the presence of Christ who faithfully followed his Father’s will all the way to the Cross, suffering and dying for the sins of the world, and triumphing over death with his mighty resurrection. Here, and now, in the Person of the risen, crucified Christ, the 8th day that is God’s reign of grace and his realm of eternity comes into our world and our time, and the Christ continues to bless his people.

Even though he is invisible to human eyes Jesus stands before us, in the fullness of his glory, at the font. It is not the pastor that baptises a person, but really it is Jesus. That is why from the earliest times, baptism fonts were Octagonal in shape—with 8 sides, symbolising the reality that by baptism into Christ, God brings about a new creation; ransoming sinners from the prison of sin, death and hell and bringing them into his kingdom of light and life, giving them ears to hear God’s word and mouths to proclaim it, recreating hearts to love and serve him, and incorporating them into the eighth day of Jesus’ resurrection, and eternal life.

That is what he did for all of us in our baptism. But baptism is not a magic act that saves apart from faith. Baptism and faith go together. Baptism is the means by which God promises to send his Spirit to begin the work of faith that justifies us in God’s presence; faith that must be nurtured throughout life. Faith that comes from gladly hearing and learning God’s word.

And so it is vital that we all keep coming to continue to listen to Jesus, for if we keep firm in our faith by continuing to listen to him, we share in everything that he promises, and what Peter James and John saw in today’s Gospel reading is a preview of what we will see. Through faith in Christ, we will be in the company of Moses and Elijah and Peter and James and John, and all the saints throughout time. Through faith in Christ, we will see his shining face and clothes as white as lightning. We will see our Saviour in all his glory, not just for a fleeting glimpse, but for all eternity. Amen.

[1] https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/jesus-famous-person-world-study-article-1.1548305

[2] https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/04/the-eighth-day

Food for thought.

The Text: Luke 6:27-36

 

A few years ago Matt Corby’s local Subway restaurant in Perth was caught short…literally. Matt measured the sandwich he bought, advertised as a “foot-long,” and found it stopped at 11 inches. After Matt posted a photo of the sandwich next to a tape measure on Subway’s Facebook page, his photo went viral. The Facebook page was flooded with thousands of angry customers demanding to know why the sub didn’t measure up. Who would think 25 millimetres of missing bread could cause such a furore!

Across the other side of the world, two men in New Jersey saw Matt’s Facebook post and decided to sue the company because their foot-long sandwiches also allegedly fell an inch short. Their lawyer, Stephen DeNittis, said: “The case is about holding companies to deliver what they’ve promised.”1 The two men from New Jersey represented a huge class action against Subway―all persons in the United States who purchased a 6-inch or Foot-long sandwich at a Subway restaurant between January 1st, 2003 and October 2nd, 2015. The class action alleged that sandwiches sold by the Subway restaurant franchise:

“…sometimes fell short of the chain’s “foot-long” marketing claims. But there was no dispute that the actual weight of the dough and the amount of ingredients was, in fact, uniform for each sandwich; and even the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit conceded that the exact length of the sandwiches didn’t affect their purchases or change their future plans to eat at Subway.2

What was the result? The class action against Subway was successful and the court approved a $US 525,000 settlement. But every cent of that amount ended up with the lawyers, reimbursing their legal fees. The people they represented didn’t get anything. So then the US Centre for Class Action Fairness filed an appeal…and to cut a long story short, the appeal ended up being dismissed.

This is all a bit of food for thought, if you’ll pardon the pun, and I found the argument of those bringing the action against Subway a bit hard to swallow. Big business does need to be accountable―but this wasn’t about a failure to meet minimum working standards or a breach of health and hygiene in food preparation. We’re talking about 25 millimetres of missing bread. Did that really warrant a tirade of over 130,000 Facebook posts—the trial by social media where everyone has a right to say whatever they want to in the name of freedom of speech, no matter how or defamatory—and the subsequent legal action resulting in over half a million dollars?

The plaintiffs’ own admissions that this wouldn’t stop them visiting Subway stores in the future says this was more about individuals defining what their rights are and enforcing them at all costs without thinking through how that might impact others around them.

The Subway saga is just one instance of today’s culture exalting ‘the great me’. Yet some 2,000 years ago, Jesus addressed the same issue, with his words in today’s Gospel reading. With a series of short statements in his ‘Sermon on the mount’, Jesus gives his audience a pattern of life that is radically distinct form the world’s way of insisting on our rights and getting even, and making our others pay for their transgressions. They are to bless those who curse them, pray for those who mistreat them. If someone slaps them on one cheek, they are to turn to them the other also. If someone takes their coat, they are not withhold their shirt from them. They are to do good to those who hate them. They are to be merciful just as their Heavenly Father is merciful.

This pattern for living that Jesus gives is not in order to earn special blessing from God. It is the pattern of life for those who are already blessed; those who are children of their Father in heaven, not children of the world, and this pattern mirrors God’s own merciful, self-giving love. With what Jesus calls the disciples to do―turn the other cheek to be slapped, or giving their overcoat as well as their shirt, or being compelled to walk with a heavy load for two miles rather than one (Roman miles at that; nearly 5 kilometres each), lending to those who cannot repay, loving one’s enemies and praying for those who persecute them―Jesus is not saying that his people should become doormats to be trampled all over.

But Jesus is giving a visualisation of how radically different from the self-centred world their lives are to be. They are not to be self-absorbed as the world is and insist on their rights while sacrificing the good of others at the altar of the self. They are not to give only if they can get something in return. They are not to breathe hatred, bear grudges, place conditions on forgiveness, or seek revenge and pursue litigation if their sandwich isn’t quite right. But they are to love all people and be merciful just like their Heavenly Father. They are even to love their enemies, Jesus says.

And so are we.

Now surely that can’t be right?! We love those who love us, the ‘good’ people like ourselves. But surely not our enemies! Why would Jesus say that? If we were God, we would wipe evil out, right?

But what behaviour would be evil enough to stir us to take action? What standard, or benchmark would we use? Really big stuff, like drug trafficking, prostitution and terrorism would be fairly straight forward. Or would it? Would keeping the wrong amount of change mistakenly given to us be deplored as quickly as robbery, tax avoidance and embezzling church funds? If people did not get hurt would something that was wrong change to being OK? Would we be quick to condemn genocide, yet be more permissive about legalising abortion? Would situations, or our needs, determine what was right or wrong? What kind of behaviours would even determine who our enemies were anyway?

We would all most likely have different morals and tolerances towards evil and what is acceptable—and that is the issue. Only God’s standard is universally consistent. He gave us his commandments, to show us what his will is for our relationship with himself and others, and to curb and restrain hurt and wrongdoing. Yet the chilling shock for us is that when we reflect on the commandments we come to the realisation that the end to evil we wish for would leave none of us standing. Even the worst atrocities we witness on the news begin with a hurtful attitude, a selfish thought; attitudes and thoughts which none of us are exempt from.

Jesus says today “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” We can’t do that ourselves, for the problem of the ‘great me’ is part of our natural human condition ever since Adam and Eve listened to Satan’s temptation to distrust God’s word and want their own way. “Did God really say?” the serpent hissed, and they fell for the serpent’s lie, seeds, core and all. Ever since then we have all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.

In today’s text, Jesus is addressing his disciples…and you, his disciples of today. By ‘enemies’ Jesus means enemies of the church; those who reject Christ by persecuting and rejecting his people and his message they bring. They are whoever refuses to listen to God or worship him. The Apostle Paul explains that, because of sin, in our natural state we are all enemies of God, hostile to him (Romans 5:10 and 8:7). The problem is that in our enthusiasm to wipe out evil by hating our enemies rather than loving them, we place ourselves under the same sentence, for none of us can perfectly fulfil God’s law.

When we determine who is worthy of our love and mercy and forgiveness and to whom we should turn the other cheek or go the extra mile with―we in effect are saying to God that when we fail and fall short we should be judged by the same standards: ‘Refuse to forgive our sins as we refuse to forgive others” or “Place limits and conditions on your mercy to us as we place limits and conditions on showing mercy to others.” That’s not a good place to be for we have just passed the same judgment on ourselves. When we refuse to love our enemies, seeking revenge and retaliation; getting even with our offenders and insisting on our rights, we are only treating them the way the world does.

But God did not try to get even with us and make us pay. It was while we were sinners; while we were enemies of God, that God not only loaned to us—we who have nothing to repay him with—but opened the storehouses of heaven and poured out the treasure trove of his riches for us, sending his own Son into the world.

This is how God showed his mercy to us. It was Christ who came all the way from heaven to earth for you, to perfectly fulfil the law for us. Although he was completely innocent and righteous, he walked to the Cross to take our place, receiving the punishment for evil and sin that we deserved. It was Christ who was persecuted for us. He turned the other cheek when he was struck and slapped before the High Priest, he was forced to walk the extra mile to Golgotha and bear the crushing burden of the sin of the world upon his shoulders. Jesus came to reconcile the world―even those most wretched criminals, the least deserving―to his Father in Heaven by his precious blood.

Through faith in Jesus, we are no longer enemies of God but his friends. Even more, united to Christ and his own death and resurrection in baptism, Jesus’ Father is now our Father who loves us perfectly and calls us his own dear children. He has washed us and given us his forgiveness, freedom and fullness of life through faith in Christ. We receive Jesus’ own righteousness so that even though we can’t be perfect, our Heavenly Father says you have lived as perfectly as Jesus himself. God gives to us and does for us what we are powerless to do ourselves. He plunges the ‘great me’ into our baptism each day to be drowned. Then we shift from ‘my will be done’ to ‘Thy will be done’—and really mean it.

We are really free―not as the world defines freedom, but as God does. Jesus has made the way for us to overcome evil with good and to sacrifice self for the good of others by showing mercy to others.

He has freed us to die to ourselves and with it the human desire to get even, and make those who wrong us pay.

He has freed us to pray for our enemies rather than curse them.

He has freed us to welcome those who are not our brothers and sisters.

He has freed us to really love, not just a shallow reciprocal love like the world, showing care if we can get something in return, but loving with the merciful love of Christ, even to our enemies, just as God has first loved us and still shows us his mercy each day.  

And so living out our baptism each day is a life which focuses on the extra mile rather than the missing inch―for it is a life redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, freed by God’s own mercy, and shaped by his love. Amen.

Blessings and Woes

The Text: Luke 6:20-31  

                                                           

Looking at his disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you…”

How blessed am I! How blessed are we! Have you ever made such an observation before? Have you found yourself in a situation where you feel truly and deeply blessed?

There are any number of circumstances that occur on a daily basis where we could make this observation. We probably don’t say it or think it enough. 

We could all say it in response to a good harvest or as we consider the abundance of good things that come under the umbrella of ‘our daily bread’. We can feel blessed to have good health, blessed to have a job, a roof over our heads, family and friends, a certain quality of life and on and on the list could go.

In our Christian context we of course include God when it comes to our understanding of being blessed. To receive God’s blessing means to have his favour upon us. We even include a blessing at the conclusion of every worship service to bring God’s blessing to us. It is such a blessing to be blessed, to feel blessed…until of course you don’t: until you don’t feel it; until you don’t think you are!

Every reason you can think of for being blessed has its opposite. What about when there is no harvest and has been no significant harvest for a number of years in succession? What about when your health is failing or when your relationships are breaking? What about when the roof over your head is no longer affordable or when your income is no longer reliable? What about when the blessings of life are torn away through death? 

If a number of things have gone wrong for you, when the bad news comes in threes and sometimes even more, then you might be hard pressed to consider yourself blessed. At such times you can start to doubt that you have God’s favour. You can feel as though you have earned God’s displeasure for something you have done or failed to do. You might even wonder what you have to do to get him on side again.

It is natural to think this way. But when it comes to God’s blessings we are not meant to think in terms of what is natural. The normal/natural rules don’t apply. You only need to listen to the teaching of Jesus in our Gospel reading from Luke to see that!

This bracket of teaching is similar to the beatitudes in Matthew 5 that Jesus included in his sermon on the mount. In Luke’s version Jesus is on a plain (6:17), but as with the Matthew account there is a large crowd of people who have gathered to hear him.

You can imagine there would have been people from all walks of life who were listening to Jesus that day. There would have been the rich and the poor, the young and the old, males and females. Some had come to be healed of their diseases; others were troubled by evil spirits (v18-19). All of these people would have heard the same teaching of Jesus – but I imagine they would have received in completely different ways. The same is true for us as we hear it. So what did they hear? What do we hear? We hear a radically different take on life, a radically different take on what it means to be blessed in life.

Jesus said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man’.

Jesus connects blessing with precisely the opposite things we would. How blessed do you feel when you are poor, hungry, sad or oppressed?

As the crowd listened to Jesus that day there would have been those who were in one or more of those situations. Surely some might have been angry or, at the very least, annoyed at these words. Try telling someone who is suffering that ‘she’ll be right – it will all work out in the end’, and see what response you get.

But others would have taken comfort from them. If you are poor or down-trodden with limited prospects of improving your lot in life, then these words appear to offer hope. The assurance that things will work out in the end, the promise of eternal life, has brought many people comfort during grief and other trials.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. His topsy-turvy definition of blessing has a flip-side that could create even more issues for certain sections of his audience, us included. For he continued: “…woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets” (v24-26).

How might these words have been received? The downtrodden and poor probably liked them. There might be some consolation for the disadvantaged in hearing Jesus take a swipe at the rich, promising that they would get their just desserts.

But anyone who was well off, or even just content in life, could have been confused, challenged, angered or unsettled by these words. Many of us probably fit into the ‘well-off’ category, don’t we? We are wealthy in comparison to others in the world. We are well fed. We laugh. Is it so wrong to receive comfort from some of the pleasures of life? Is it wrong to have sufficient food on the table, to have laughter in your life and to have a good reputation among others?

It can be hard to get to the bottom of the message Jesus is trying to convey here. But at the heart of it is the way Jesus challenges our natural understanding of what it means to be blessed. If you simply conclude from this teaching that Jesus is talking about future blessings, then you have missed the point of it.

Yes, there will be a day of reckoning at a time to be determined. We confess that Jesus ‘will come again to judge the living and the dead’. As to how he is going to sort out everything so that justice can be done on the one hand and mercy exercised on the other, is up to him to work out. That is why he has the job of Lord, not us.

But this teaching is primarily about understanding what it means to be blessed here and now. Listen to the opening line of Jesus’ teaching again: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God’. This teaching on blessing was not about a future reality but a present one – ‘yours is the kingdom of God’.

This went against everything that was ingrained in them. Wealth and health and happiness were seen as signs of God’s favour. Poverty and sickness and misfortune were seen as signs of God’s displeasure. Thankfully we are not so simplistic or superstitious in our understanding these days. Or are we?

The connection between what we have and how blessed we feel is still very much ingrained in us – as is the understanding that bad things shouldn’t really happen to God’s good, blessed people. It is ingrained so deep that Jesus had to use this provocative, in your face, teaching to try and draw it out. He made it very clear that our level of blessing is not dependent on circumstances: ‘blessed are you who are poor – woe to you who are rich: blessed are you who hunger – woe to you who are well-fed: blessed are you who weep – woe to you who laugh’.  

Wealth and health and popularity do not signify that a person is blessed, even though they might feel it. Poverty and sickness and oppression do not signify that a person is cursed, even though they may feel it. It is not circumstances that determine whether or not a person is blessed or cursed. God alone determines this!

And thank God for that! This means that a run of misfortune in your life does not affect your blessed status in God’s eyes one bit. Another way we could translate this teaching of Jesus is to say: ‘even if you are poor or hungry or sad or persecuted you are still very much blessed, because you belong to the kingdom of God’.    

We could also translate the flip-side in a slightly different way, as a warning: ‘if your wealth, provisions, happiness and popularity are coming between you and the things of God’s kingdom, then you could be living in a fool’s paradise that will come crashing down’. 

Being blessed is not about what we have. It is about who we are! We are God’s children. We are members of his family. We had nothing of worth to offer God in order to secure a place in his family. It has come about purely through his actions of grace. And that makes us truly, richly and fully blessed – already now and also in the future. Wealth and health and reputation can all be taken away – but ‘nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:39).

With this definition and understanding of what it means to be blessed, it transforms the way we see and live our lives. Irrespective of our own circumstances, irrespective of how much or how little we think we might have, we can still be a blessing. When you know that no one can take away God’s blessing from your life you are suddenly free to be a blessing in so many ways. A miraculous healing can bear witness to the grace and power of God. But a believer who trusts in God, even in the midst of their suffering and grief and pain, can also be a powerful witness.  

The normal rules don’t apply anymore because there are no limits to the way God’s grace is received by us and no limits to the way it can flow through us. So regardless of whether we are rich or poor, well-fed or hungry, happy or sad, respected or oppressed, we can show the world through our faith, hope and love what it means to be truly, richly and fully blessed by God! Amen.    

Let’s go Fishing

Luke 5:1-11

 Do you have a favourite food to eat? In the times of Jesus, fish was most commonly eaten. There were many boats on the Lake of Gennesaret trying to catch fish during the night when the fish came closer to the surface of the water. Fish were even exported to Rome. The opening letters in the Greek word fish (ICTHUS) were used to symbolise what was central to the Christian Faith: Jesus Christ, God’s Own Saviour”. Boats were seen as symbols for the Christian community, the Christian Church.

It’s fascinating to watch people catch fish from a jetty. We can’t help but admire their dedication, patience and persistence. I wonder if this doesn’t have something to do with Jesus calling fishing folk to become His full-time disciples. Just before this event, Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Now Jesus is preaching at the lakeside, where a great crowd has come to hear Him speak God’s Word to them. He hops onto Peter’s boat and continues teaching from it so the people crowded around them can hear Him better.

Jesus is especially keen to make an impact on Peter, so after His preaching, He asks Peter to go out into deeper waters and let his nets down for a catch. Peter shows a bit of reluctance initially, because they had caught nothing all night, but ends up obeying Jesus and discovering what a blessing it is to obey our Lord. In today’s Gospel we see how Jesus calls the most unlikely and most unexpected of people to assist Him in the most important work in the world. Our Lord does His best work through those who have no tickets on themselves, those who are initially reluctant to serve Him because they feel not up to the task. Jesus can do wonders through such folk because they, in their humility, depend on Christ from start to finish. Jesus values those who come to Him only too aware of their failures and faults.

Jesus enters the workplace of Peter and his fellow fishermen, just when they’d been unsuccessful in their daily work. It’s there that He finally gets through to Peter and changes his life forever. When Jesus has finished preaching, he asks Peter to resume his work. Will you also do what Jesus wants you to do once today’s sermon is finished? Jesus asks Peter to do something contrary to regular practice. Now Peter often puts his foot in his mouth and speaks without thinking. He responds to Jesus’ request, saying, “Master, we have worked all night long, but caught nothing. Yet, if You say so, I will let down the nets.” Peter is no doubt tired from a night of unsuccessful fishing and is unsure about what to do. Who can blame him? Sometimes Jesus asks us to do something for Him when we feel too tired to do it. But when Jesus wants us to do something for Him He will provide us with the energy needed to obey Him.

Miracles often occur when someone takes Jesus at His Word and obeys Him. Taking on board our Lord’s agenda for our lives becomes a privilege rather than an interruption, the privilege of winning followers for Jesus among the people around us, and a privilege that creates persistence. Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine prayed for the conversion of her son for 30 years before her prayers were answered and he became Saint Augustine, the greatest biblical scholar who lived between New Testament times and the time of Martin Luther.  

Peter and his fishing friends experience the greatest catch of fish ever. They’re overwhelmed, not just at the catch of fish, but more so at discovering who Jesus is. Jesus isn’t just another teacher or preacher. Rather, He is the Lord of everyone, worthy of our wholehearted, lifelong loyalty and devotion. Peter, instead of being filled with immense joy and happiness at his good fortune, is overwhelmed with his own unworthiness and sinfulness. He feels he doesn’t deserve Jesus’ bountiful goodness and generosity. He feels all he can do is to kneel at Jesus’ feet and say, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Peter feels he is in God’s presence, full of regret for his failure to do what God expects of him.

Peter now realises that Jesus, the Son of God, treats him so much better than he deserves. Jesus is delighted with Peter’s confession and instead of rejecting him, calls him into lifelong service. We too are never more pleasing to our Lord than when we confess to Him our own unworthiness and feelings of inadequacy. He then welcomes us with open arms and helps us do things for Him that we never thought possible before. With Christ as part of our daily lives, we can do so much more than we could ever do on our own.

Jesus also says to us, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching people alive”, that is, bringing them into close connection with Christ Himself, so that He can bestow on them life abundant, life that’s a joyful foretaste of eternity.

Above all, our Lord is seeking teachable people of all ages, people who never want to stop learning more about Him. That’s why He called Peter to follow Him. Peter becomes someone who is never satisfied with what he knows about Jesus so far. He wants to know all he can about Jesus, asking more questions of Jesus than does anyone else in all our four Gospels. Luther says, “God’s Word is a beautiful flower, the longer I have to enjoy it the better.” In the Book of Acts we see how Peter grew in his knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. For all Peter’s weaknesses, Jesus calls him to be His lifelong apostle because He sees Peter as He sees us, in terms of our future potential.

It’s so exciting to think that our best days of serving our Saviour may still be ahead of us. To encourage us, we’re assured that whatever we do for our Lord will never be in vain. Jesus reassures us that our service for Him will bear fruit beyond what we may see in our lifetime. Our best way forward is simply to serve Him faithfully day by day, week by week. It’s a contradiction is terms, is it not, to be a Christian and yet not serve Christ as best we can.

The story of the Fishless Fishing Folk illustrates this:

There were fishing folk who lived by a big lake full of fish.

They met regularly and spoke of their call to fish. They defined what fishing means and what were the best fish to catch.

They built beautiful places called “Fishing Centres”, where everyone was encouraged to go out into the lake and fish.

One thing they never did, though, was to go and catch any fish.

They appointed boards of enquiry to find out why this was so. The thick reports of these boards took lots of time to study and make recommendations.

Some folk felt their job was to relate to the fish in a good way so that the fish would know the difference between good and bad fishermen.

After a meeting on “The Necessity for Fishing”, one young person went fishing and caught two outstanding fish. He was honoured for his catch and, as a result, quit fishing to tell others of his experience.

They were all shocked when someone asked one day: “Is a person a fisherman if he or she never goes fishing?”

Don’t let this be true of you. Today or tomorrow, pray for the conversion or return to God of one of your friends or family members who has wandered away from Him. Ask God to give them a living, active faith in Jesus. And pray, “Revive Your Church, O Lord, beginning with me.”

Amen.

Jesus is rejected.

The Text: Luke 4:21-30  

Today Luke brings us back to the synagogue at Nazareth where we visited last week, to hear the amazing touring preacher, Jesus. Reports have circulated about him throughout the whole region and people who heard about the miracles he has performed in Capernaum have flocked to listen. The atmosphere is bubbling with anticipation and as you look forward intently, you can see Jesus step up to the lectern. A few people make shushing noises and the excited chatter of the crowd suddenly dissipates as the synagogue attendant hands Jesus the scroll of Isaiah the prophet. Jesus reads from chapter 61:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor, He has sent me to preach deliverance to the captives and that the blind will receive their sight to free those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

Everyone leans forward on the edge of the stone benches they are sitting on and every pair of eyes is glued on Jesus. Without any fuss, he rolls up the scroll, hands it back to the synagogue ruler, and sits down. Then Jesus begins his sermon: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Wow!! What does Jesus’ mean? It soon dawns on them that Jesus is proclaiming himself as the long-promised Messiah. He’s come to bring freedom at last—the freedom Israel longed for from the hated Romans who have taken over. And so everyone speaks well of him. This is exactly what they wanted to hear! All are amazed at the words of grace coming out of his mouth.

Then someone asks: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” And then it clicks for you—yes, you know this guy. He is Joseph’s son! He’s a hometown boy. Jesus continues:

“Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ Truly I say to you that no prophet is accepted in his own town.”

To illustrate this, Jesus points to Elijah and Elisha who were well known for their teaching and miracles. But at critical times they and the message from God they brought were not welcomed in Israel, so God sent them to help those outside of Israel instead. When there was a chronic drought and a terrible famine affected the whole land, there were many widows in Israel, but God sent Elijah to bless a widow of Zarephath in Sidon, beyond Israel’s borders. Even though she had nothing to give God, God miraculously provided food for her. And in the time of Elisha none of the lepers in Israel were cleansed, but only Naaman from Syria.

Uh oh! This isn’t going to go down too well. Is Jesus daring to suggest that the gifts of God’s grace are not tied to one’s nationality? Does Jesus seriously think God would help and bless these Gentile outsiders…this unholy rabble!? God favours Sidon, not Israel?! Does God heal in Syria, not Nazareth?! How dare Jesus suggest that God should care about them—as if they are deserving of God’s help and favour. It’s impossible! The widow and Naaman are both Gentiles; pagans; heathens, they should get what they deserve! Whoever proof-read Jesus’ sermon should have told him this would have upset the Nazareth crowd. Is Jesus saying that Nazareth doesn’t have any special claim to blessing and God would turn from them to other nations?

That is the very thing that Jesus is saying. The episodes with Naaman the Syrian and the widow of Zarephath was the first glimpse that God was sending his saving help to all people…because he cared about them. His love and compassion for all people would be found in Christ, the one sitting there before them in the Synagogue at Nazareth, in whom is the fulfilment of Isaiah 61 for their deepest and most desperate needs: freedom from bondage to sin, death and Satan.

When the people thought Jesus meant that he would bring them political freedom they loved his ‘gracious words’. When they realised that he was saying Nazareth had no special claims to God’s blessing, and that they themselves needed forgiveness, they exploded with hostile rejection. In one of the biggest backflips ever, those who were so delighted with his words of grace are now fuming with outrage. In their eyes Jesus has gone from hometown hero to lowdown zero. He’s not the kind of Messiah these people wanted, and certainly didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear. So rising up they cast him out of the city and led him away to edge of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down.

This attempt at murdering Jesus foreshadows his later rejection in Holy Week. The shouts of ‘Hosanna!’ and welcome by people lining the streets who waved branches and threw their cloaks before Jesus as he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, would wildly swing just days later to shouts of “Crucify him!” by those baying for his blood.

How unexpected that God should use the bitter darkness of human evil in which to shine his love so brightly. How unexpected that God should send Jesus into the world to love even those who rejected him and sought to kill him. How unexpected that Jesus should come for those so undeserving of his love. But that is what Jesus did all throughout his ministry, welcoming sinners and tax collectors and eating with them, ministering to the broken and unclean, those deemed by society not good enough to be included, let alone to be considered righteous.

The people at Nazareth didn’t realise that God’s love and favour was not just for them. They couldn’t comprehend that God could possibly care for and desire a relationship with the so-called no-hopers in this world; those who were outsiders; those who didn’t present well; those who didn’t measure up; those who were unclean; those who were offensive. But then again, God’s love is radically different from human understandings of what love is and should be like.

Paul describes what love is in our second reading today from 1 Corinthians 13. But it is not in our human efforts but in Christ that we see what true love is. Jesus did not come to boast, but to serve. He wasn’t proud or arrogant, but gentle and humble. He wasn’t envious, but self-emptying. He wasn’t self-seeking, but seeks the lost. Throughout Jesus’ life and ministry, in his perfect obedience to his Father, but especially in his brutal death on the Cross, the love of God and his compassion for all people—which is not just a feeling but a doing—has been shown to the whole world. The characteristics of love that Paul describes are the very characteristics of God’s enduring, long-suffering love that went to such astonishing lengths as Jesus, the son of Joseph and Son of God hung on the Cross, patient and suffering, for all people, patient and suffering for you. A love not counting our wrongs against us…but counting them against Christ.

God’s love is not just for us. It’s not just for those from a particular area. It’s not just for those in a particular group. It’s not just for those who meet our expectations or standards. God’s love is not just for those we like. God’s love is not dependent on what people look like, or what they are good at, or how well they perform, or whether they fit in. Nor does God withhold his love for those who we think are beyond love or who have gone past the point of no return. Jesus’ confronting words to the synagogue crowd in Nazareth show us that none of us have a monopoly on God’s blessing over and above others. The Cross shows us that. The Cross didn’t come with a list of postcodes or behaviour codes or dress standards. In his ministry Jesus came to those who had nothing, he came to sinners and tax collectors, those who were unwell, broken and disabled.

And he still does today.

Everyone needs Christians to show them God’s love. That’s why the Devil loves nothing more than to tempt us to write other people off; to tempt us to think they are beyond the point of no return; to think of ourselves more deserving of God’s love than others; to think of some people deserving of our kindness and others deserving of our rejection. That’s so dangerous. For there is a part of ourselves in every person we are tempted to write off. And when we fall to the temptation to do that, we have condemned ourselves. For you and I are like the destitute widow of Zarephath. We have absolutely nothing to give to God to earn his blessing. Indeed we were once outside the nation of heaven; once enemies of God. You and I were like Naaman the Syrian, unclean with the leprosy of sin.

Yet just as God showed his favour to those people for no other reason other than that he loved them, so too he has shown his favour to each of you here today. He paid the price that you were unable to pay, by giving what you were unable to give: the holy and precious blood of his own Son, purifying you from all your sin. And through the waters of baptism, God sought you and brought his love for the world to you personally so that, even though you don’t deserve it, all the saving benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection have been given to you. In gentleness and kindness, Jesus washed you and gave you his very own righteousness so that you have the right to be called a child of God, and can join with him in having access to his Heavenly Father’s peace.

2000 years after Jesus preached in the place of worship at Nazareth, God continues to show his saving love to his baptised faithful, here in this place of worship today. For today, this Scripture Jesus first read at Nazareth is again fulfilled in your hearing. He is here again to read the Gospel for you. He is here to give the gospel to you, by not counting your wrongs against you but instead forgiving your sins. He proclaims his peace is with you, so that you and I and all those who have only ever known rejection can look forward to eternal acceptance as God’s own dear children.
Amen.

The best news!

The Text: Luke 4:14-21

When was the last time you heard good news? Good news rarely features on our radio or television news programmes or on the front page of our newspapers. The greater the disaster, the more space is given to it. Our media believes bad news attracts a bigger audience than does good news.

Into a world of bad news, Jesus brings us the best news we will ever hear. He wants to help us keep the bad news we hear in focus; and speaks to us a message tailor-made to our needs. He helps us to overcome the negative thoughts in our minds so we can concentrate on all the good things God has done for us.

The first word we hear from Jesus is the word “Today”. Today Jesus can bless us in wonderful and unexpected ways and meet our deepest needs with His grace and mercy. Through His word and sacraments, Jesus is with us this morning to strengthen and refresh our faith and equip us for the week ahead. St. Luke tells us that “on the Sabbath, as was His custom, Jesus went to the synagogue” (Luke 4:16) in His home town of Nazareth..

What a resounding endorsement of weekly worship in God’s House this is for all of us! Few people had a busier Sabbath day than Jesus. Whenever and wherever Jesus could, He helped those in desperate need, even if it meant interrupting the Service to heal someone in their desperate need. Being in God’s House as often as we can is more important than we may think it is. Our time here can bring us blessings and benefits which we may only recognize many years into the future. Nowhere else on earth can we become better equipped for life in this world and for life in the world to come than in the Divine Service each Sunday. Jesus treasured worshipping and praising with fellow worshippers.

Jesus’ first sermon in His home town was eagerly anticipated. It turned out to be a time of high drama. Everyone’s eyes were focussed on Jesus as He stood up to read the passage set aside for that day from the Sacred Scriptures. The book of Isaiah, a book filled with prophecies about Christ’s coming, was handed to Him. The passage Jesus read tells us about all the good news of what He wants to do for us. First of all it tells us that the Holy Spirit is actively involved in what Jesus does for us. When the Holy Spirit rests on us, God is present in our lives. The Holy Spirit was already active in Christ’s conception, baptism and temptation.

Our Lord’s listeners hear the best news they’ve ever heard. He shows them, and us today, how God’s Word speaks into the present situation with a message of joy, hope and peace. Above all, Jesus has come “with good news for the poor”. “The poor” are those of us who are aware of our spiritual poverty and needs which only our Lord can meet. Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount with this amazing blessing: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

The poor are those who, suffering distress, pain or grief, plead for God to help them. Our own disappointments are God’s appointments with us. He is genuinely interested in everything about us. He is our “…present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) He has shared life’s negative experiences with us and seeks to apply His healing touch to where we hurt the most. Jesus’ sympathetic ear is of such great benefit to us and His compassionate presence uplifts and strengthens us in our difficult days.

In the time of Jesus’ incarnation, the word “gospel” was an electrifying term announcing victory. Jesus brings us the good news of His victory over our worst enemies: sin, death and the Devil. His gospel of grace and favour wants to bring release from those addictions and enslaving habits which make life miserable for us. He longs to bring us liberation from all of our sinful habits and selfish desires, and cure the wounds our sins and the sins of others have inflicted on us. Jesus’ gift of forgiveness can free us from the guilt of the past and make life seem brand new for us. Jesus’ forgiveness means we can live as if today is the first day of our life.

Our Lord Jesus has come to bring “recovery of sight to the blind”. By this He also means giving us a faith which is ‘’super-sighted, a faith that sees God at work in our daily life both for our good and for the good of those near and dear to us. Faith sees what God is doing now. Jesus says, “Did I not tell you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40)?” When we let Jesus heal what’s broken in our lives, He gives us His unbroken peace, a peace which nothing can destroy.

We long to be in favour with others. We want them to like us despite our weaknesses and faults. We sometimes do things to earn their favour. But we don’t have to do anything to earn God’s favour. Jesus came to announce “a year of the Lord’s favour”. This year is also a year of His favour. Jesus wants to treat us so much better than our past deserves. He gives us new status and worth before God. Let all the good news about Jesus crowd out all the bad news we’ll hear this year. Jesus’ gospel is both an undeserved gift and a transforming power which seeks to make us Christlike in all we do or say.

The Gospel is the light which salvation throws ahead to lead us. This means the Gospel isn’t a utopian description of some far off future. It is the daybreak of this future in God’s forgiveness which sets us free from fear. “For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.” (Martin Luther) The Lord’s Supper is good news which equips us to handle the week ahead creatively. Our God does more than say, “I love you”. He gives Himself to us in Holy Communion as a gift of love. The forgiveness given to us in Holy Communion is God’s barrier-breaking, future-opening gift to us.   

Our prospects for the future are as bright as God’s good promises to us. His presence can make this year a year of unexpected blessings coming our way. Holy Communion gives us a foretaste of the Feast to come in heaven. The weight of the past need no more dampen tomorrow’s outlook. As we go into this new year, remember, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8).” Don’t let the bad secular predictions about the future make you afraid of it. Embrace your Lord’s words to you: “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) May these words fill us with a triumphant faith! “And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” (1 John 5:4).” There’s nothing tame or timid about genuine Christian faith!  

To those of us who delight in listening to the words of Jesus He says: “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) What a blessing it is to know of His unconditional care for us.

Jesus Christ, the dearly loved Son of God, makes our Creator so approachable and endearing to us. Because of all that Christ has done for us, God looks at us as recipients of Christ’s victory and smiles on us. God’s will won’t take us where His grace can’t keep us in His loving care. God promises us: “…as your days, so shall your strength be.” (Deuteronomy 33:25)

Our deepest desire for each other over the coming months can be that we “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18).

Amen.