Author: admin

Love as I have loved you

Text: John 13:33-34

It was Sunday morning and the choir was in the sanctuary and had just completed singing an anthem.  The pastor was already in the pulpit.  As the last notes of the choir faded he opened his mouth to speak, a teenage girl stepped down from the front row of the choir, walked around the choir conductor, down the steps of the sanctuary and with her choir robes gently flowing behind her, continued down the aisle.  Everyone, including the pastor stared.  They thought she was leaving and were beginning to feel a little awkward that a choir member should walk out straight after the choir had done its bit in the service.

But she wasn’t leaving.  She walked half way down the church and slid into a pew and sat next to her friend and put her arm around her.  She had seen her friend, Bethany, come in late and was sitting by herself.  Twelve hours earlier Bethany’s mother had died after suffering an illness.  As the teenager sat next to Bethany and gently hugged her, those in the congregation smiled and shed small tears of joy, of love for the friend who showed Christ’s love through a simple act of companionship.  She risked causing a distraction to serve a friend.

Then the pastor broke the silence saying, “I was going to preach on Jesus’ command to love one another as he has loved us, but that sermon has just been delivered in a much more powerful way” and he announced the next hymn.

Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples”.  I’m sure you’ve heard dozens of sermons and devotions and Bible studies on these words and yet what Jesus says here remains one of the most difficult things he asks his followers to do.

The English language has either trivialised the word ‘love’ when we say “I love chocolate” or sexualised it in literature and movies.

“Love as I have loved you”, Jesus says.  What did Jesus mean by love and how did Jesus love people?  It follows that if we can answer this and the better we understand Jesus’ love the more we will know what true love is all about. 

We need only look at how Jesus accepted and respected people regardless of their position in the community – whether the person was

  • a learned scholar and Pharisee like Nicodemus,
  • a foreign divorcee like the Samaritan woman at the well,
  • a cheat and a traitor like Zaccheus,
  • a grotesque and unsightly leper or
  • those possessed by demons who behaved wildly and dangerously.

It made no difference to Jesus what kind of background the person had, that person was still a person who needed not to be put down, not to be looked down on, not to be ignored but was a unique and precious child of God.  No matter what their condition or what their sin, each person was of immeasurable value to their Creator and loved and respected by Jesus. 

Jesus’ love for these people was not simply a warm fuzzy feeling but he put himself out there for them.  He stood alongside, embraced, and welcomed those who were considered morally corrupt, outsiders and outcasts, those condemned for their shameful lives or for their seeming guilt because of the diseases they carried in their bodies.  He stood with these people, healing them and forgiving them.

Jesus didn’t care what others thought because all he could see were people who needed to know that someone cared; that God cared; that they were precious and dearly loved. 

The teenager who walked from the choir down to where her friend sat didn’t care that she was holding up the service and that people would glare and disapprove of the disruption.  I’m sure it took a great deal of courage but she didn’t care because all she could see at that moment was a person who needed to experience Jesus’ love in her grief and she was going to do something about it.

That leads me to say that the kind of love that Jesus had was sacrificial.  Throughout his ministry his own safety and comfort were always last.  And then there was the cross – the ultimate symbol of loving sacrifice.  He gave all that he had and that included his own life because of his love for all humanity, because of his love for you and me. 

That night in the Garden of Gethsemane the thought of the cross did not arouse warm fuzzy feelings of love in Jesus.  His love was more than that.
It was a love that valued people more than his own life.
It was a love that was determined to let nothing stand in the way of God’s love bringing salvation to all people.
It was a love that was prepared to give up everything even though it seemed that the recipients of that love didn’t deserve it.  Pauls says, “God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.” (Rom 5:8 The Message).

“Love as I have loved you”, Jesus said.  We could talk about this a long time.  We haven’t even mentioned Jesus’ parables, like the Good Samaritan, that leave no doubt that love knows no boundaries.  What about Jesus’ love for his disciples when they tested his patience again and again.  His love changed this bunch of slow-minded losers into bold leaders of the church.

So what does it mean to love one another in the same way that Jesus has loved us? Let’s be clear who Jesus is talking to.  He is speaking to his disciples, “I give you a new commandment: love one another”.  He is saying this to us the people of the church, “Love one another as I have loved you”.

Paul emphasises this in his letter to the Philippian Christians saying, “Sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind … the attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had” (Phil 2:3,5). 

In the letters of the New Testament we find the words “one another” again and again.  Where we find the words “one another” we find a description of what it means to love as Christ has loved us; what it means to have the same attitude or the same mind as Christ.  We are told:

  • let love make you serve one another (Gal 5:13) ;
  • accept one another as Christ has accepted you (Rom 15:7);
  • carry one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2);
  • be tolerant of one another (Eph 4:2);
  • be kind and tender-hearted toward one another (Eph 4:32);
  • forgive one another (Eph 4:32);
  • be subject to one another (Eph 5:21);
  • be humble towards one another, always considering others better than yourselves (Phil 2:3);
  • look out for one another’s interests (Phil 2:4);
  • encourage one another (1 Thess 4:18);
  • help one another every day (Heb 3:13);
  • share your belongings with one another (Acts 2:43);
  • do good to one another and to all people (1 Thess 5:15);
  • be at peace with one another (1Thess 5:13);
  • pray for one another (James 5:16);
  • open your homes to one another (1 Peter 4:9);
  • show respect for one another (Rom 12:10);

and the do nots – don’t criticise one another, don’t judge one another, don’t complain against one another and so on.

As you can see the Bible describes love as action.  Often it’s an action that is the result of an act of the will because if we relied on the feeling of love we wouldn’t do anything.

Jesus is talking about rolling up our sleeves and doing what is the more difficult.
He is talking about doing good to one another even though that other person is awfully irritating or we just don’t like that person.
It might mean forgiving and making peace even though we feel as though we are the ones who have been wronged and that it’s the other person who should be saying sorry first.
It means going out of our way to give encouragement even though we don’t know the person very well or perhaps don’t particularly get on with them very well or we don’t have a clue what to say.
There may be people who don’t like us, hate us, and who disagree with us – some of them might be in the church and some might be in the community.  They may hold us and our faith in contempt, put us down, ignore us, make us feel bad.  There may be times when people in the congregation will upset us and our natural reaction would be to return as good as we are given and turn our backs on those we dislike and disagree with.
There may be times when we will want to be selfish and self-centred and say, “I want it my way and to hell with everyone else”. And if we don’t get our own way then it’s easy to walk away.

How does that fit in with Jesus’ words, “I give you a new commandment: love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another” or Paul’s instruction to have the same attitude as Christ.  There is no way around it.  There is no other alternative.  The only response that a Christian can give is to love in the same sacrificial, forgiving, accepting, generous way as Jesus did.  There are no exceptions;
there is no room for an eye for an eye;
no argument whatsoever for turning your back on a fellow-Christian;
no room for intolerance, impatience and rudeness;
no reason for walking away because you have been offended.

Love always calls for reconciliation.  Love always makes the first move toward breaking down walls regardless of who is right or wrong.  The more we know Christ and his love, the more we will reflect that love in our lives, especially in the church.

The kind of love that Jesus is talking about here, especially toward our fellow Christians, is very demanding.  As we reflect on our own lives it’s easy to see that it’s hard to love as Christ has loved us. It’s clear that we need a fresh start and a clean page.  We go back to the love of Jesus that led him to the cross and seek forgiveness and renewal.  We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us as we walk together as Christ’s Church, that we serve and encourage one another in love. 

“If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples”.
Amen.

Hear, Know, Follow

Text: John 10: 27-28

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27–28 ESV)

To hear, to know, to follow! These three little verbs sum up God’s interaction with each of us in one succinct little statement. If we ask ourselves, “What is my purpose in this life? Why did God put me here in this body, in this place?” The answer simply comes back, “hear and follow”!

However, humanity has gone and become confused in the chaos of this world. No longer is the simple call to hear, suffice. We have immersed ourselves in the complexities of ourselves and what’s seen around us. And in all the questions and searching we lose ourselves.

So what is the purpose of living? With all the science and technology, with all the advances in medicine and health, with the ever increasing knowledge of humanity’s social interaction and the plight of peoples around the world, why is it that we are further from a satisfactory answer than ever before? Why is our society more depressed and hopeless knowing the very things that are meant to get us into the secrets of our social fabric; the meaning of life?

Last week’s Gospel reading recounts Peter’s reinstatement where Jesus asks him three times if he loves him to, “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” And here the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world, takes away the sins of Peter, and now raised to life as the glorified Shepherd in victory over sin, death and the devil, appoints Peter as the first under-shepherd, the first pastor, to feed his lambs.

Now lambs are helpless little creatures. They sit at the bottom of a merciless food chain, potential victims of foxes, eagles, crows, and other carnivorous characters. They’re also victims of themselves it seems. My grandfather often use to say after seeing a sheep flop down and sulk to death, “they die for practise”! And anyone who’s ever tried to yard weaner lambs will see just how frustrating it must be for God who seeks to keep us safe in his fold.

Yet the secret of our salvation is really no secret at all. It just we’re so much like a sullen sulking sheep most of the time, we don’t realise the Shepherd of our souls seeks us. But listening to our own hearts, we take flight from the safety of God and his salvation and run further into trouble. Surely it is me who’s the greatest hindrance to my Heavenly Father! Humanity certainly is helpless!

And so we are! Lambs and sheep that run amuck! We run away, running from the arms of safety into the sins of self. But our helplessness, your hopeless hunt for meaning in your life, that leaves you battered and bruised, unable to think straight anymore makes you …blessedly …helpless! But how can that be?

Today we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday! Jesus is that Shepherd! He has endured Good Friday to be our Good Shepherd. Jesus became the broken man on the cross, blessedly helpless, and now he is our help! The Blessedly Helpless Lamb of God is now the Good Shepherd tending us his blessedly helpless lambs.

You see this man, who proclaimed to be the Son of God, who is the Son of God – One with the Father from eternity, bore the eternity of death and now leads us and carries us through the valley of the shadow of death into the eternity of life forevermore. He lifts you out of the helplessness of yourself, your questions, your doubts, your tribulations and troubles in this life. How? The Good Shepherd washes you in his Good Friday blood so you stand in robes of white before the Father in the eternal house of the Lord.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For in the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3–11 ESV)

And so we return to the text for today and the three verbs, “to hear, to know, to follow”. Our purpose, having been made his children, his lambs, is to follow him. We were created to glorify God, to worship him, to look to him and trust him. Heartache comes in every person’s life, both Christian and not, when we turn from this reality. So how do we follow the Good Shepherd when we in our very nature constantly return to our silly sheepish ways?

To follow him requires knowing! But it’s here there’s a subtle surprise in the text. We wrongly assume that it is us who need to know God by our own strength. But being blessedly helpless we know that’s just not possible. Rather it is not us who knows God but Jesus says, “I know them!” He knows you, his sheep!

“Knowing” is nothing short of being faithful, so Jesus is faithful to you. The Good Shepherd constantly leaves the ninety-nine to look for you, the blessedly helpless, lost one! You are his little lamb, he is the Good Friday Good Shepherd. You can trust the Lamb of God who was faithful even unto death, and now continues in faithfulness sending the Holy Spirit into your heart, willing you to believe he who believes in you.

So Jesus knows you and you’re now free to follow him. He sends the Holy Spirit to grow faith within, faith that hold fast to Jesus’ faithfulness towards you, demonstrated on the cross. As faithful sheep of the Faithful Shepherd, the Holy Spirit does in us who know we are blessedly helpless lambs that which we are called to do, namely, to glorify God. And that is listening to him; hearing his voice.

You hear the Shepherd’s voice when you hear the Word of God, the law and the gospel. This is God’s rod and staff. God’s Word is our comfort as we pass through the valley of the shadow of death. It teaches us about ourselves and it guides us. It protects us from the self, and from the old evil foe. And it returns us to the loving embrace of Jesus coming down from the cross in victory over our sin.

…the Lamb in the midst of the throne is our Shepherd, and he guides us to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from your eyes.

Jesus says to you, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27–28 ESV)

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 7:12 ESV)

I’m going fishing!

Text: John 21:1-19

Those who go fishing regularly are very good at counting. If they tell you they’ve caught 153 fish, one doesn’t dispute it. I admire the patience of our fishing folk. The persistence, perseverance and patience they display is rare in today’s world, bugged as it is by road rage, impatience in queues and check-outs.

Peter is a man of action. He can’t stand waiting around for Pentecost to come. “I am going fishing”, Peter, the impulsive disciple of Jesus announces. Six others decide to join him. Seven is a symbolic number for completeness. These seven disciples represent what Jesus can do for His whole Church. They venture onto the lake without first seeking Jesus’ blessings on their endeavours. After trying all night, their fishing trip is a dismal failure. Every experienced fisherman can identify with their frustration. It seems Peter went fishing to suppress the memory of how he failed Jesus on the evening of Maundy Thursday.

No failure which results in a learning experience, need get us down. The glory isn’t in never failing, but in rising each time you fall. Before Thomas Edison successfully invented our light globe, someone taunted him with being a failure. “Ten thousand experiments and you haven’t learned a thing!” Edison replied: “You’re wrong. I’ve learned ten thousand ways not to invent the incandescent electric light.” Many people are greater at handling failure than they are at handling success. Jesus can often do more for us in our failures than in our successes. The preoccupation of these seven men on the lake with their failure hinders them from recognising Jesus’ presence nearby.

Now, experienced fishermen don’t normally take advice from a stranger. But these men detect a note of authority in this stranger’s voice. After confessing their failure to him, they find they’ve been fishing on the wrong side of the boat. Fishing from the wrong side of a boat represents making a decision or going ahead with some endeavour without involving our Lord. Don’t we, too, often embark on some course of action without first praying about it? Then the success that occurs is often short-lived or turns sour. We need to remember every day that great resurrection promise: “In the Lord your labour is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).”

The Lord can resurrect us from our failures just as He did for these fishermen. When we involve Jesus in what we do, unexpected blessings come our way. Jesus had surprises in store for those who obey Him. These seven disciples discover how fruitful obedience in Jesus can be. One can’t help but think that St. John himself, the writer of this Gospel, counted the 153 fish himself. St. John refers to himself as “the disciple who is loved by Jesus”. What a wonderful way for a Christian to describe himself or herself. John could never forget the fact that Jesus loves us despite our failures, our faults, our imperfections.

There’s something special and unique about Jesus’ love for us, a love that’s both human and divine. Jesus makes God’s love real, tangible and concrete for us. Nothing we can do can separate us from His transforming love. St. John is the first to recognise that the stranger on the shore is Jesus. Only Jesus could perform a miracle like that. John understands what Jesus does before Peter reaches understanding, while Peter is the first to act. John possesses the keener insight; Peter, the ability to show spontaneous enthusiasm. We have the comic picture of Peter getting fully dressed before he jumps into the water to be with Jesus as soon as he can.

They all come ashore now to a meal prepared for them solely by Jesus. Jesus reveals Himself in something as tangible as a meal, a meal of bread and fish. This is to remind them of the time He fed the five thousand with specially consecrated bread and fish. From that time on, fish quickly became a symbol in Christian art for both our Lord (ICHTHUS) and His Holy Supper (Holy Communion).

As Jesus invites them to eat, they now have not the slightest doubt that all this is the Lord’s doing. It is His gift of love to them. It is in Holy Communion that Jesus can be found. Holy Communion is His gift to us, His gift that strengthens and renews His relationship with us, and our relationship with Him. In Holy Communion, Jesus gives us His heaven-sent gifts of grace, acceptance, peace and encouragement. To His Sacred Supper, Jesus invites unfruitful failures, so that nothing that’s happened in the past will stop them serving Him in the present. First our Lord feeds us with the gifts of Holy Communion, before He sends us out to feed others with His life-giving Word.

After we’ve failed, or let our Lord down, He rehabilitates us by asking us: “Do you still love Me?” Our love for Jesus may not be as strong as we’d like it to be, and in need of regular support and nourishment, but it must be genuine. In today’s Gospel, repentance involves re-affirming our love for Jesus, because we need never doubt His love for each one of us. To know Jesus personally is to love Him with a deepening devotion and a growing desire to serve Him faithfully.

Finally, Jesus gives Peter opportunity to wipe out the memory of his threefold denial of Jesus, with a threefold public declaration of love. Just when Peter’s on “cloud nine” over the miraculous catch of 153 fish, Jesus challenges him to re-dedicate his life to his Lord. In one of the most celebrated dialogues in the Bible, instead of reproaching Peter, Jesus gives him a chance to renew His loyalty. “Do you love Me more than these?” Jesus uses the word for divine love (Agape); Peter replies with the Greek word for friendship-love (Philia): “Yes, Lord, You know I’m Your friend.” Jesus doesn’t ask Peter about his faith, courage or ability. Jesus doesn’t ask: “Do you trust Me?” We can trust someone without loving them.

What matters most, what’s all-important, is: “Do I love Jesus?” God will only entrust His lambs to the care of those who love Him.

In the third question, Jesus comes down to Peter’s level and uses His word for love: “Do you love Me as your Friend?” Peter lets everything depend on Jesus’ knowledge of him: “Lord, You know everything, You know I love You!” Jesus graciously honours Peter with the care of His lambs and sheep: “Show your love for Me by loving the members of My Church.” Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it. He now says to all of us: “If you love Me, keep My commandments”, the most important one of which is to love each other as Christ has loved us.

Christ’s love for us motivates us to no longer live for ourselves, but for Him and for those He loves so dearly. In our worship and in Holy Communion, we receive His love, so that our love will cause us to honour, praise and adore Him. When we love our Lord, we will go the second mile for Him. Love leads us to go beyond the call of duty for the One we love.

Jesus said that the woman who anointed His feet with perfume would be remembered forever because of her extravagant gesture of love for Him. May our Love for Christ lead us to respond generously to His unfailing love for each of us. “We love because He first loved us.”

“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love (Ephesians 6:24).”

Amen.

Easter foegiveness

 

Text: John 20:20-21
Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.”

Easter forgiveness

One of the strangest and perhaps most counter cultural aspects of the Good Friday are Jesus’ words from the cross just moments before he dies. He is in extreme agony as the nails bearing his weight tear at his flesh and he gasps to fill his lungs with air; the crowds gathered on Golgotha are mocking with loud laughter and taunting him to come down from the cross if he is truly the Son of God. The soldiers are laughing and joking at the foot of the cross as they gamble for his clothes as Jesus was dying. Most of his disciples – his closest friends – are nowhere to be seen; they are afraid and scatter to find somewhere to hide. In excruciating pain and in his dying moments Jesus says, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing”.

When Jesus says, “Father forgive them” – the ‘them’ are all those who have been involved in his crucifixion – leaders of the community and the church, government officials, soldiers, disciples and friends – those who were mocking, jeering, taunting, gambling, hiding. The ‘them’ Jesus is referring to is every person who has had a hand in causing such extreme pain and torture. He prays that they would be forgiven.

That’s not supposed to be how things work – forgiveness in the face of so much hatred and shame. That’s not normal. Anger, hatred, abusive language, shouts about his innocence, cursing his tormenters – that would be normal behaviour.

Today we hear of when Jesus comes into the room where his disciples were hiding. They had deserted him in the Garden of Gethsemane, one had denied that he ever knew Jesus three times, others had said they were prepared to give up their own life for Jesus but in the end fear overcame them, not one of them stood up to defend Jesus and declare his innocence. Jesus’ first words to them are, “Peace be with you”.

Jesus had come back from the dead and cannot resume talking with them until he says exactly what he said on the cross to his tormentors and his failed disciples, “Father forgive them.” He puts their guilt and their shame and their fear aside and says, “Peace be with you” – “The peace of God that brings forgiveness and reconciliation and calmness fill your hearts and quieten your fear”.

These first words of the risen Jesus to the disciples are so much at odds with the way the world thinks of forgiveness. The way forgiveness works for most of us is like this, “Let the person who has offended me, say that he or she is sorry, then I might be prepared to offer my forgiveness”.

When Jesus appeared the disciples didn’t say,
“Oops, I guess we really let you down;”
or “I’m sorry we ran away when you needed us the most;”
or “I beg your forgiveness for not supporting you in your greatest hour of need – in the garden I couldn’t even stay awake and pray for you;
or “I’m sorry that when Judas appeared my confidence disappeared”.
Neither do we hear any reprimand from Jesus for their betrayal; no criticism of their absence to encourage and support Jesus.

There is none of that. Only “Peace be with you. I forgive you, now let’s talk”. These words indicate more than just peace of mind and the absence of fear and guilt. The peace that Jesus offers heals the desolation, the hurt and sorrow that Jesus himself must have felt as saw no sign of his closest friends from the cross. The peace Jesus offers heals the guilt, the fear, the mistakes and misguided loyalties of the disciples.

The peace that Jesus gives puts all of that in the past; it is forgotten and it’s time to start again. We often think that Jesus’ work of forgiveness was confined to the cross but it’s clear from the Easter appearances of Jesus that Jesus’ work of forgiveness continues after Easter. The first words he says to his disciples are words of forgiveness.

Today we also have this whole incident with Thomas who missed seeing the resurrected Jesus the first time. He can’t believe that Jesus could be dead one day and alive the next. It is impossible. It is illogical. It is stupidity at its worst. He had heard Jesus talk about this kind of thing happening and he had heard the eye witness accounts of his friends but he states firmly, “Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later Jesus appears again and this time Thomas is there and what are Jesus first words? “Peace be with you”. These are words of forgiveness and grace and Jesus treats Thomas the same way he treated the disciples on his first appearance – with grace and love. That’s enough for Thomas. Jesus offers to let Thomas touch his scars but there is no need. All Thomas needed was to hear Jesus’ words of forgiveness and healing. Thomas’ faith is the result of nothing but grace, the grace of Jesus Christ who did not wait for Thomas to “come to faith” but who came to him.

One day Jesus told a story about a farmer who had a fig tree (Luke 13:6-9). The farmer came looking for fruit. For three years he’s been looking for fruit and there has been nothing. “Cut it down!” he says. His servant pleads, “Master, let it alone. I’ll dig around it, give it a good dose of manure, and then let’s see what happens”. The word Jesus used for “Let it alone” is the same as “forgive it”.

“Cut it down!” That would have been the logical and right thing to do. However, the story ends with, “Master, forgive”. And that’s what Jesus does with us. When we are up to our necks in the muck and manure of sin or we have not been bearing the fruit that comes as a result of the love Jesus has shown to us, he could quite rightly say “Cut it down!” but instead he permits us to begin again with forgiveness and a new start. He did that with the disciples the first Easter and he does that with us.

No matter how you have failed in your walk with God, no matter how you have betrayed Jesus, remember what he said to those who had let him down so badly – “Peace, I forgive you. Sisters and brothers, I still love you”.

But it is not only the nature of God to forgive but it is also the nature of the Christians to forgive. “Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’” Jesus breathes on his disciples reminding them how God breathed into Adam and gave him life. Here Jesus is breathing over his new creation and giving the invigorating life-breath of the Holy Spirit to those who will continue Jesus’ work of forgiveness and reconciliation after he is gone.

Jesus says, “I am sending you on a mission to announce the gospel of forgiveness but not only to talk about it but to make forgiveness a part of your everyday life. It is through forgiveness that the Holy Spirit cleanses, makes new, restores relationships and give us the peace that only Jesus can give”. In other words, Jesus is passing on to us the ministry of sharing forgiveness; to deal with others with grace and mercy even though it’s hard work especially if we feel we are the people who have been wronged.

We live as if every day is Easter Day. Just as forgiveness was very much a part of Jesus’ Easter appearances likewise forgiveness is very much part of the life of the disciple as we live out the victory of Jesus’ death and resurrection every day.

Bruce Prewer tells this story. A friend of mine was touring in England.  Among his delights was visiting not just cathedrals, but village churches which were steeped in generations of the joy and sorrow of ordinary Christians. Arriving in one village, he headed for the parish church, opened the door and stepped into its secluded beauty.

Near the back of the building, a man was kneeling and weeping. Without saying a word, my friend knelt a few paces away. When with a heavy sigh the villager sat up, the visitor put his hand gently on the man’s shoulder and said, “My friend, you seem to be doing it tough. Can I be of any assistance?”  The stranger, recognising genuine compassion, blurted out his story. Ten years earlier when he was in his late teens, he had committed a crime, was arrested, tried and sentenced. He had been free for nine months. But he still felt terribly ashamed and came (not on Sunday with others) but alone during each week to pray for the Lord’s help.

The visitor said, “But God forgives you. Forgives you utterly. You know that, don’t you? You don’t need to pray alone, you should be here on Sunday with other Christians.”

The stranger commenced to sob again, and then whispered, “Yes, I know God forgives me, but the people in my church and village don’t. Until they do, I am trapped with a feeling of ongoing disgrace. I cannot face them on Sunday. That is why I come here alone to pray during the week.” 

This is precisely what Jesus was saying to his disciples, “If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” This is where the rubber hits the road and this whole business of forgiveness becomes very challenging. Christ has commissioned us to offer forgiveness when relationships go wrong. And there is no doubt that friendships do go pear-shaped more often than we care to admit. We have a choice – either we make real the forgiveness of Christ in our lives and offer it to those who have offended us or we withhold our forgiveness and so tie everyone involved in the bonds of guilt.

We might say, “I don’t care if he/she feels guilty – it serves them right after what has been done to me”. But is that what Jesus is telling us in his Easter appearances? It’s easier to be unforgiving than to reach out with kindness and mercy and be reconciled with another person. That’s why Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” before he commissions his disciples to forgive people’s sins. It is only under the power of the Holy Spirit that this kind of forgiveness is possible.

To conclude, I’m sure that there are many amongst us here today who have had issues with people in the past and it seems that as much as we would like to do something about it, it is too late to be reconciled with that person. If that is the case, then we need to listen to Jesus as he speaks to his disciples. He knows our hearts and he knows our guilt and he says, “Peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven.”

He is Risen indeed.

Luke 24:1-12

‘From perplexity of the empty tomb to the promise of a risen Lord’  

Introduction

 

For most people there’s something very special about Easter morning isn’t there?

If you had to pick three words which come to mind when you think of Easter morning,

I wonder what would they’d be? Perhaps for the kids those three words would be chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate!

Perhaps for most adults in our society it would be something like, family, and long-weekend, and chocolate!

What about us in the church?

As we celebrate this great festival of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead, what words come to mind? Perhaps words like hope, joy, new life.


This is of course as it should be; it’s because of the resurrection of Jesus that we can receive new life, that we do rejoice, that we live in hope.

But how strange then, that when we turn to the accounts of the first Easter morning, we find very little of these things. Not just a lack of chocolate, but a lack of hope and joy, certainly at first.

Instead, we find confusion, fear, and doubt.

What’s going on?

This is what we want to consider this morning.

There are three main points I want to touch on this morning:

Why did they come to the tomb?

How did they react at the tomb?

And what changed them as they left the tomb?

Overall, we’ll see how they are moved from the perplexity of the empty tomb, to the promise of a risen Lord.

 

Why did they come?

 

So, why did these women come to the tomb?  Jesus died on the Friday afternoon of course.

Pilate granted permission for his body to be taken down to be buried, and these women were there to see that by the way, but it was all a bit of a rush.

 

Once the sun went down that was it, Sabbath time, no more work for the next 24 hours or so,

including anointing a dead body for burial.

 Now incidentally, I can’t imagine that Sabbath was much of a rest for the disciples, or for Pilate, or even the religious leaders.

Ironically, the only one really resting was the Lord himself in the tomb.

God rested only the seventh day after his work of creation, now Jesus rests on the seventh day after his work of salvation.

That’s why your tomb has become a place of rest in Jesus. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

So when the Sabbath is over, the women wait for the first glimmer of light in the deep dark dawn, to guide their way to the tomb.

What was on their minds and hearts? 

We could say first, love. Perhaps this is their last act of love for their Lord. We can understand this dynamic can’t we? A loved one dies overseas and the family can’t rest until the body is found and properly cared for. So the women go to the tomb to honour their master even in his death by caring for his body. So there’s love. 

What else is going on? Surely grief. Grief makes people do things that aren’t always completely thought through, doesn’t it? The heart tends to rule the head in grief. Grief makes people do things like taking large amounts of embalming spices to a tomb with a huge stone in front of it, when you have no idea how you’re going to move that stone. So yes, grief.

They loved their Lord, they grieved for their Lord,

But what we need to see very clearly here, is that one thing they almost certainly were not feeling, was hope. One thing they were almost certainly not coming with, was faith that Jesus had risen.

It is very clear as you read the Gospel accounts, that what happened on Easter morning was something no one expected.

And that is truly wonderful.

Because thanks be to God, that he does not wait to act for us, until we are ready.

Thanks be to God, he does not make his power contingent on us maintaining our faith and hope.

Thanks be to God, he does not wait to ask our advice on how he should accomplish his plans for our good in this world. 

No, when the apostles were scattered and hidden, and the women came only to complete the rituals of death, already then, God was at work, to undo death and its power, by raising his Son from the dead.

As people, our tendency is to look at ourselves and become immersed in our little world and think it all depends on us, what we do, what we don’t do, what happens to us. Our biggest problem is thinking that goes like this: I am the centre of the universe.

But in the resurrection of Jesus we are called to take our eyes off ourselves, to see God acting for our salvation. It’s what he does in Jesus Christ that is the centre of the universe.

 

And he did it when no one expected it, and when no one was even watching. He did it for the whole world. And for me and for you – for all of us.

Even before we had ever so much as thought of God, or talked to God, or reached out for him, he had already determined to send his Son to live, die and rise again for us , so that you we could live with him forever.

How did they react?

 

So that’s the lead up to these reactions and helps us understand them a bit better. But now let’s linger a little on these reactions themselves.

When the women see the tomb empty, we read simply in verse 4 that ‘they were perplexed’.

It’s very important to see this, that the first reaction to the empty tomb is not for them to jump up for joy and say Christ is risen! Let’s start a world-wide movement, build cathedrals, start hospitals and homeless shelters, send missionaries to the four corners of the earth, organize fellowship breakfasts and so on.

No, they are perplexed, they are confused.

When the angels show up they don’t expect the best, they are frightened.

Then, when the women take the good news to the other disciples, their reaction is even worse.

Verses 9 and 10,

9and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest… 11But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

The disciples’ first reaction to the report of Jesus’ empty tomb is to completely dismiss it, they think it’s nonsense. They aren’t just confused and perplexed, but we actually read they did not believe. Their first reaction is unbelief.

And what’s even more interesting is that this theme continues through the rest of the chapter. On the road to Emmaus and later in a larger group, the same sorts of reactions, and there Jesus even actually appeared to them.

There’s something important for us to learn here.

The empty tomb, and even an appearance of Jesus, does not automatically lead to faith in his resurrection. There’s more to it, which we’ll get to in the third point today.

Perhaps some of us here today are actually a bit sceptical when it comes to all this resurrection stuff.

Well what we see in this text is that actually, we’re in good company. The company of the first disciples.  They didn’t stay there, but they started there.

If that’s any of us, let’s hope we don’t stay there either, let’s hope we are on the path to faith in the risen Lord Jesus. Then we are in good company.

Or for others of us, perhaps we have family and friends who are in that boat? Perhaps Easter is even a difficult time in family life.  For many of us it can be a time to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ and worship the risen Lord, while for others it’s not, and this can sometimes create tensions in family life.

 

To put it simply, this text teaches us to be patient with unbelievers.

The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the whole Christian faith, and we believe it’s the most wonderful truth in the world, but it’s not easy to believe. The very first thing it caused was perplexity, confusion and doubt.

It doesn’t end there, but it does start there.

What brought the change?

 

So we’ve seen why they came to the tomb, then how they reacted to the tomb, but finally now, we want to see what brings the change in them when they leave the tomb.

Because one of the most remarkable changes in the New Testament, is the change in the disciples of Jesus. They go from hiding in fear after Jesus dies, to being courageous witnesses to him, which we see especially in the book of Acts.

What brought this change?

For Peter and the others that change doesn’t happen until later, but for the women, this change begins right here in our text:

5The women* were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men (angels we’re told later)* said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. * 6Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ 8Then they remembered his words,

That empty tomb of Jesus on its own, is not enough for faith.

Even the appearance of Jesus is not enough for faith.

It’s wasn’t enough for the first disciples,

It isn’t for us today.

Instead it’s as if the angels point these women back to Word of Jesus, to the promise of Jesus that he must be crucified and rise again. It’s not until they hear again that Word of promise, that then they begin to make sense of this strange set of events.

And again, this is exactly what happens right through this final chapter of Luke three times.  On the Emmaus road, Jesus appears to them but they don’t recognize him, but when he begins to teach them from the Scriptures about himself, then, their hearts begin to burn within them.

And when later Jesus appears to the disciples and eats fish and shows them his hands and feet, they still do not believe in him, but then he says,

‘These are my words that I spoke to you…’ (v 44)

 And it says then he ‘opened their minds to understand the Scriptures’.

It’s ultimately not the empty tomb or even Jesus appearing to his disciples that seals the deal, that moves them from perplexity to faith, it’s Jesus’ Word, and remembering that Word.

And it’s as he opens their minds to understand and believe it, it’s then the change happens.

 

Sometimes we might struggle to believe in Jesus and his resurrection, and we might think,

‘If only I could’ve seen the empty tomb, then I’d believe.

‘if only Jesus appeared to me, then I’d believe’.

 

Nope, not how it works.

It’s not our experience which seals the deal, It’s Jesus’ words, and even more it’s when by the power of his Sprit he opens our minds to understand and believe in his words of promise,

Then the change comes.

Jesus had spoken on this point before in the parable about Lazarus and the rich man. There the rich man finds himself in hell and wants to warn his brothers, and so he pleads for someone to be sent to warn them.

He’s told, no, they have the Moses and the prophets. But the man is insistent, no if someone goes from the dead then they’ll repent.

And it’s amazing the way that parable ends,

‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,

Neither will they be convinced even is someone rises from the dead’.

 

It’s the same in the Transfiguration too. They see one thing and interpret it wrongly. So the Father says, ‘Listen to him’.

And this teaches us something more generally too about our Christian life, namely that our experience and emotion are not definitive for us. We do not interpret the word of God through the lens of our life experience, we interpret our experience through the lens of the Word of God.

This is so important.

Because the experience of our Christian life is so diverse. It’s often confusing and hard to make sense of.

So for example, we don’t always feel like a forgiven child of God, do we?

But remember Jesus’ word to us. He says we are.

And we don’t always experience the presence of the risen Jesus with us in every moment of your life, but remember Jesus’ word to us,

He says ‘he is with us always’.

And we can think about this dynamic in relation to the whole world’s experience. We look at this world, we want to experience the evidence that Jesus has conquered evil and death in his resurrection.

And yet we turn on the news and see another terrorist attack, we speak to a friend and hear of another bad diagnosis, and it seems as if the power of death continues to reign.

But then we remember the Word of God, that word of promise, where he tells us that in his resurrection Christ has destroyed death and the power of the devil.

In his resurrection the first fruits have been gathered. The rest of the harvest is coming.

That Christ has won the victory. That is his promise to you and to me – to us all.

May Jesus open our minds to understand it, to believe it, to cling to this wonderful Word in life and death,

‘Why do you seek the living one among the dead?

He is not here, he is risen’.

 

Conclusion

 

We saw why they came,

We saw how they reacted,

We saw what changed them.

 

From the perplexity of the empty tomb, to the promise of a risen Lord.

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Who do you say that I am?

John 18:33-39

Every Christian has a calling to publicly confess and speak of our faith in Christ and our faith in the Triune God, before others, before the world and even before governors and kings. This confession the Church in our day is called to make—our confession of faith—goes right back to the Lord Jesus himself.

So let’s take a closer look at this good confession that Jesus himself makes, as we heard in our Gospel reading.

We encounter Jesus here in the middle of his trial, before Pontius Pilate. There has been this back and forth with the religious leaders outside, but now we’re inside, behind closed doors, and the focus is very much just on Jesus and Pilate.

Pilate wants to cut straight to the chase, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’

But like he often does Jesus is not too keen on answering questions directly. He responds in this sort of cryptic way, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ He immediately shifts the conversation onto his terms and it’s almost as if Pilate is the one under interrogation.

It seems that Jesus is trying to get back behind Pilate’s tough, matter-of-fact demeanor, and dig deeper, trying to engage Pilate about what really matters.

It reminds me a little of the way Jesus speaks to his disciples elsewhere: “What about you? Who do you say that I am?”

We can’t keep Jesus at arms-length forever and only be interested in information about him. It must become personal at some point, and Pilate, whether he like it or not, is having that encounter.

But Pilate doesn’t respond well. He is dismissive and scornful of Jesus’ question. It’s as if he’s saying, ‘Of course it’s others who have told me, I don’t care about your little Jewish squabbles, I’m not personally interested in whether you’re the king of the Jews or not, except that it’s beginning to cause me political problems and I want to sort it out. So–what have you done Jesus?

Again Jesus answers in an indirect and somewhat cryptic way, saying: ‘My Kingdom is not from this world. If my Kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to other Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here’.

Now why does Jesus answer like this? 

Pilate gets the implication. “So you are a King?” he says. For Jesus to say he has a kingdom is to admit he is a King. But perhaps Jesus answers like this because he knows that old rule of discussion and debate, about the need to define one’s terms. Pilate wants to talk about kingship, but he has in mind a very particular definition of what it means to be a King, which is about political strength, military action, and this worldly power.

And although Jesus is the true King, He is such a different sort of King. His kingdom has such a different character, that he can hardly name it as the same thing Pilate has in mind.

It comes from a whole other world, from above, from heaven, from God. And one thing this means then, that Jesus outlines here, is that his kingdom does not come and does not advance itself by human strength, not by political power and military might, and especially not by violence.

Jesus wants Pilate to consider that, if he were a King like the kings of this world, wouldn’t his followers be rising up in violent rebellion?

And yet they’re not! In fact when one of them did, Jesus stopped him and healed the one he had struck, because he’s an entirely different King, with an entirely different sort of Kingdom.

Now after this incredible statement it’s tragic that Pilate seems to miss all that and go back to the basic question, ‘So you are a King’. Pilate isn’t interested in these deeper questions and the nature of Jesus’ Kingdom, he just wants to work out if Jesus is claiming to be a King or not, and he wants to get on with the job.

But Jesus, in his graciousness and patience, comes at it from another angle, describing his Kingship and kingdom in another way. ‘For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice’.

Yes—Jesus is a king. And Jesus has a kingdom. But its primary concern is not land and wealth. It’s not bigger palaces and more luxury for the King and his court.

But notice this too, it’s primary concern is not in the first place even just making the lives of its subjects ‘better’ in worldly terms.

The primary concern of this King and this kingdom is truth, Jesus says. He’s come to testify to what’s real and what’s true.

Now this evidently grated with Pilate, as much as it still does with people in our day. Our human instinct is toward being pragmatic, even at the expense of the truth, finding what works, what’s relevant for me now today. But truth—well that can be in the too hard basket.

And this is also the temptation for us in the Church. It’s good for us to remember that although the Christian faith brings practical benefits in our lives, ultimately no one should be or become a Christian just because it works for them, but because it’s true.

Pilate’s final response though is the most dismissive and tragic of them all: ‘What is truth?’ And he simply walks away.

And yet Pilate’s encounter with Jesus had meant enough for him to be able to go back out and say, ‘I find no case against him.’

Although Pilate eventually let them have their way and crucify Jesus, his encounters with Jesus did mean enough that the inscription above him on the cross read ‘This is the King of Jews’, and Pilate would say, again somewhat mysteriously and cryptically: ‘what I have written, I have written’.

Little did Pilate know that the one in front of him was not only the true King of the Jews, but the very Son of God in human flesh, come to save the world.

Little did Pilate know, that the one who said he came to testify to the truth, was in fact himself the way, the truth, and the life, who came from heaven to earth, full of grace and truth.

Little did Pilate know that the one he sent to be crucified, had come to lay down his life for the Jews. For Pilate, for the world…and for each one of us.

And as he died and rose again from the dead, as he ascended to his Father, he has ushered in this kingdom, and has invited us into it. Jesus made his good confession before Pilate, as he went the way of the Cross for us. Let us be prepared to make our good confession before the world, of Christ, our King, the crucified and risen Saviour of the world. Amen.

Palm Sunday

The text: Luke 19:28-44 

The coming of Jesus Christ riding on a donkey into Jerusalem, which we celebrate today, is a beautiful moments of glory, praise and thanksgiving. At last the Messiah, the King of the Jews has finally come! God himself has come to his people and all the Jews of Jersualem should have all welcomed their King with open arms.

But the response to Jesus is sadly quite mixed. Jesus’ disciples and other members of the large crowd celebrate him, but the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders stand there scowling and frowning at their King. They wish to truly spoil the party.

But is not as if this was a surprise to them. They knew Jesus was coming. Jesus as he approached Bethany did all the appropriate cultural practices of a true King or visiting member of state. Created originally by the Persian King Cyrus, visiting Kings and officials in the Middle East engaged in a practice called ‘angaria’ which everyone understood. You sent a representative ahead of the visit to borrow a donkey or horse from someone for official state business and there was often very few questions asked. So when the disciples obey Jesus and get the colt they utter words to the owner: ‘The Lord, or the master needs it’. That signaled that someone important was coming and so the borrow of the colt was culturally allowed.

Furthermore, as Jesus the King of Kings comes closer and closer to Jerusalem, people lay down their coats, palms and branches on the ground, creating a passageway for Jesus to ride through. It’s an exciting time when Jesus finally comes close, and the disciples are shouting out and praising God. But then suddenly a disapproving voice rings out:  ‘Teacher rebuke your disciples!’ Jesus is very quick to answer: ‘If they remain silent even the stones will cry out!’

This is the turning point in the journey, where happiness turns to sadness. The Pharisees, blind to who Jesus really is, are shamed by simple stones! Even inanimate objects of creation know more about the Messiah than the Pharisees do!’ This is a true case of the Pharisees ‘missing the moment’.

Some words begin to get highly descriptive. In the original Greek language the stones are said to ‘shriek out’. It’s hard to know whether the stones are crying out in praise or they are crying out in protest because of the disapproval of the Pharisees. But now it is Jesus’ turn to cry out. As he gets close to Jerusalem’s walls in verse 41 Jesus doesn’t just shed a few tears, he cries a loud lament, his heart burnt with pain and anguish. In his pain he says:

“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

This is a striking prophecy from God himself, of the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. The Romans did indeed build an embankment and surrounded it. They starved it to death causing terrible suffering, and then once inside killed thousands. But those stones of the temple were also all truly overturned just as Jesus said. Jewish historian Josephus records that as the temple stone walls were lined inside with pure gold, once it was all set on fire, the fire melted the gold, and it ran into the crevices of the stones. The Romans then got large crowbars and overturned every stone so that they could search for that melted gold.

This indeed was a tragic case of Jerusalem ‘missing the moment’. They had rejected and crucified their own king, and that rejection created a chain of rebellious events that would lead to the Romans destroying the temple. Jesus came to bring them peace, but their stones were overturned simply because they did not recognize God’s coming to them. 

Friends, today we celebrate the coming of our King our Saviour. And he regularly comes to us in our lives in so many different ways; in his word the Bible, communion, through people, through events, and also through little things too. Although we do experience the coming of Jesus into our lives we also can miss him too. Sometimes we are too caught up in our own anxieties, habits and distractions. We can be so caught up with our Facebook feed we might unconsciously ignore a little child whose drawn a picture of Jesus and is very busy tugging at our legs to tell us all about it. That may be another form of God coming to us, yet we might be too busy or too distracted to notice.

But even though we can be like the Pharisees sometimes, where we are blind to God’s coming, we can be thankful that God is gracious and keeps on coming to us. He finds other passages and gates into our little ‘Jerusalems’ and he lives to help us and bless us. As Christians, we have the Spirit of God inside us. The Spirit not only forgives our missed moments but also helps us see the beautiful moments that Jesus comes to us in our lives; people like friends and family that he puts around us, as well as the small joys and innocent moments of young children. He reminds us of the words Jesus speaks to us as he comes to us through his word. He points us to fix our gaze on Jesus our King who has come to us, who continues to come to us through his word and sacraments, and the King who will come again.

During this Holy week and the weeks ahead, may we all see and experience more of God’s coming to us, and rejoice in the wonderful truth that we are his people, whom he loves dearly.

Amen.

What was Mary Thinking?

5 Lent
John 12:1-8

Mary is the central character in this story. John tells us that Martha served at the meal (which is reminiscent of what we know of Martha from the account of her and Mary in Luke’s gospel). In the same sentence we are told that Lazarus was also at the table with Jesus. Next to Jesus, Lazarus was the second guest of honour that night. But other than to link this story to the account of the rising of Lazarus in the preceding chapter, there is no role for Martha and Lazarus in the story that follows. Their presence is noted, and then it is just Mary and Jesus.

And Mary does something unexpected. Something extraordinary. Seemingly, something very extravagant and wasteful. She pour out a jar of scented oil on Jesus’ feet that was worth about a year’s wages for the average labourer of the day.

So what in the world was she thinking.

The other gospels tell us that all the disciples objected. John focuses on Judas.

This perfume could have been sold the money given to support the poor, he said.

And to be honest, Judas’ argument would have won the day in just about any church AGM. It was a poor use of limited resources.

So just what was Mary thinking?

Some have argued that that was exactly the point. She wasn’t thinking at all. She was feeling. She acted on impulse and out of love. And there was probably an element of this to her action that day.

But I am not convinced that this is not something she did without thinking it through. We learn from Lukes Gospel that it was Mary who was more concerned to hear the teachings of Jesus that to worry about serving her guests. And this caused some friction with her sister, Martha.

Mary was a thinker. She wanted to hear what Jesus had to say, and the weigh it up.

I think rather than being a purely emotional response to what Jesus was saying, Mary is the one person who actually thought through and understood his words that day.

 

[story]

Mary was a friend of Jesus. She was one of his followers. And Jesus had been talking openly to his followers about his impending death.

But the disciples did not understand what he was saying.

Judas completely misunderstood Jesus and ended up betraying him.

Peter, misunderstanding the kind of kingdom Jesus is brining, would take up a sword to defend Jesus, then later deny he knew him.

The high priest announced Jesus will die for the people and approves him for death, but did not understand the role he himself is playing because he does not understand who Jesus is and what he is about to do.

Pilate, the Roman governor, is more open than the high priest to considering the claims of Jesus, but he too fails to comprehend just who Jesus is and what he is about to do, though Jesus tells him plainly.

In fact, in the last days that Jesus dwelt among us only one person really seems to understand who he is, and what he is about to do – and that is Mary of Bethany.

Mary is the friend who is there for Jesus in those dark few days leading to the cross to support him, and anoint him, for what is about to come. And so, before his triumphal entry, we have this intriguing and vital story about Mary and Jesus.

The context of the event is that after some days in a remote place, in order to avoid those who were plotting to kill him after the furor caused by the raising of Lazarus, Jesus shows up at Bethany, at the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. And we learn from the other gospels that it is also the home of Simon the former leper. Putting it all together, Simon is likely the uncle of these siblings, who live with him.

In any event, some days after Lazarus is raised from the dead, Jesus shows up at his home – a place to which he was no stranger, for this is where Jesus and his disciples appeared to regularly stay when visiting Jerusalem. And we are told that this took place six days before the Passover, which would have made it a Saturday night. This is the meal that came after the Sabbath had officially ended at sunset.

The response of Lazarus’ family to Jesus’ appearance again in Bethany is exactly what we would expect. They through a big party for Jesus, their friend and teacher, who just a few days earlier turned a tragic wake into the biggest miracle anyone had ever seen. So there is one very big party taking place, with guests likely squeezed into the inner courtyard of the house, and many others packed outside hoping to catch of glimpse of Jesus or Lazarus.

And that’s when it happened.

That’s when Mary, the one person present at the meal that night who truly understood what Jesus had been telling everyone is about to happen, does the unthinkable. She produces a large jar of expensive perfume, worth a year’s wages and likely kept as part of the family’s savings, or perhaps as a dowry for her or her sister Martha. Then she takes the perfume to Jesus and pours it on his feet. On the surface, this action would seem to be an imitation of a ceremony of washing the feet of a guest, usually done by a servant or one of the children. But her act also reminds us of the anointing of the body for burial, often done from head to foot. And kings sometimes had their feet anointed as a part of the coronation ceremony so they could go forth and conquer. So there is plenty of symbolism here.

So Mary washes Jesus’ feet. But she uses very expensive perfume, and not water. She is doing more than washing his feet. And I believe she knew exactly what she was doing. She had thought this through. She is not only preparing him for his death, but she is anointing him.

Then, just when the disciples and other guests thought here actions could not be more scandalous, Mary undoes her hair in public (something a respectable Jewish woman does not do) and uses her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet. It is an act of great and unexpected humility. One matched only by Jesus’ own act of washing the disciples’ feet a few days later.

What Mary does is an act motivated by love and devotion for Jesus. It is an act that is at the same time one of extraordinary extravagance and extraordinary humility.

First, consider the extravagance of Mary’s act.

In a few seconds’ time she used up a year’s worth of wages in highly prized, scented oil. And remember, Mary’s much loved brother Lazarus had only recently died and gone through his burial rites – and Mary did not bring out the scented oil for that occasion. That reminds us just how valuable this ointment was. Buying a bouquet of flowers for my wife for her birthday would be a modest symbol of my affection for her. Buying her the entire florist’s shop would be an extravagant and extraordinary display of love – and one that would probably get me in more trouble than simply buying a bouquet of flowers. Essentially, Mary buys Jesus the whole flower shop. She does not hold back in her display of love and devotion.

Now, let us consider the humility of Mary’s act.

If I were to offend my wife in some way – which over the course of 40 years of marriage may from time to time have happened (theoretically, of course), the expected thing for me to do would be to humble myself and say ‘sorry.’ An extreme act of humility on my part would be to sit outside our front door covered in ashes with a sign hanging over by head saying ‘I am sorry.’ Again, such action on my part would likely cause a good deal of embarrassment for my wife, who would more likely have preferred a simple apology. Well, Mary’s basically sits on her doorstep covered in ashes. She washes Jesus’ feet, which the host or hostess would not normally do themselves. She undoes her hair, which a grown Jewish woman never does in public without shaming herself. Then she uses her hair rather than a towel to rub the ointment into Jesus’ feet. It was an act of extreme humility.

As you can imagine, Mary’s actions stopped every conversation in the room. There would have been absolute shocked silence. Then Judas speaks up. The other gospels tell us that the disciples as a group complained about this, but John puts the focus on Judas. He says what everyone else is thinking. Mary had not only embarrassed herself, but has just wasted a great deal of money that could have been used to help the poor.

But here’s the thing. Jesus was neither concerned by the extravagance of Mary’s display of love, nor embarrassed by her public display of extreme humility.

Jesus puts Judas and all Mary’s other critics to silence with his words: ‘Leave her alone. She bought the perfume so that she could keep it for the day of my burial.’

Jesus confirms that Mary alone had been paying attention to what he was saying. Mary alone had thought about his words, and acted accordingly.

Jesus accepts Mary’s gift, and explains that she is preparing him for his day of burial.

Mary performed a two-fold service for Jesus that day. She is prepared him for his death and burial. And she anointed him to take up his kingdom. This becomes particularly significant in the order in which John places the anointing in Bethany and the triumphal entry. Matthew and Mark place the triumphal entry first. John puts the anointing in Bethany first. John’s point is clear. Jesus enters Jerusalem as the anointed king. And he goes to his death on the cross as the anointed king.

In the midst of his final week – filled with so much misunderstanding, betrayal, denial, abandonment, rejection and condemnation – one woman, Mary of Bethany, was paying attention to what Jesus was saying. One woman understood what was happening. And through an act of both extravagance and great humility, she anointted Jesus for what is to come as he sets out on his path to the cross.

Then it is Jesus’ turn to act on our behalf. For it is on the cross that Jesus shows us the greatest extravagance of love, and the greatest act of humility, that the world would ever see.

Amen.

Pastor Mark Worthing.
Port Macquarie.

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.