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Rest and recuperation

The Text: Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus said: Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Something strange has happened in the way we live our lives.
Once upon a time most people spent most of their lives doing things that were
physical—working the land with hand tools; running the household with great effort; making things with hard physical labour.
We can think of God’s word to Adam after he was thrown out of the Garden of
Eden: Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. By the sweat of the brow you will eat food, until you return to the ground.
People would work hard all day, and by the end of the day they were exhausted.
People would work hard all their lives, and by the time they were old, their bodies were worn out.
Then people started to get cleverer. People invented all sorts of machines that took over many of the hard tasks – machines for the household, and for working the land, and for manufacturing things in the factories.
I think that most of you would agree that our lives today are much easier than the lives of previous generations. Much of the burden of hard physical labour has been lifted off our shoulders.
But then something strange happened. We have realised that we need physical activity. We need physical exercise to keep us healthy. We need to do things that make us tired.
So what did we do? We invented some more machines, machines that we use to exercise, and we put them in gymnasiums, and sometimes in our own homes, and we use them, not to take away the physical efforts of life, but to give us the sort of physical effort that will help us to stay healthy.
Our text today talks about hard work, about the burdens of life, that leave us
exhausted, worn out. It talks about relief from your burdens, and rest, and
refreshment, and recuperation.
But then it also talks about a new burden, a new exercise that you need for the
good of your health.
Jesus says: Come to me all you who are weary and weighed down with heavy
burdens. Jesus promises: Come to me, and I will give you rest, and refreshment. But then he challenges us: And now pick up my yoke, and learn from me. Learn how to live a life that is healthy and strong.
What are the burdens that weigh people down? What makes you tired?
Do you get tired physically? For all the labour-saving devices that we have, life can still be physically demanding. At the end of the day we may feel tired and worn out.
Our bodies have their limits, and when we have been doing physical work, we
reach the point where our bodies tell us. If we are ill, if we are carrying injuries, then we become even more aware of our physical limits.
We feel tired. We need rest.
As you grow old, you become more and more aware of the loss of physical
strength. You cannot do the same tasks you used to do. You appreciate rest and
quietness more and more.
But there are other kinds of burdens and other kinds of weariness.
Today, when we spend less time and effort on physical work, our levels of mental stress have grown at least as much. As life has become more and more
complicated, our emotional stress keeps going higher. We talk about the pressures of life. There are pressures all around us—we are expected to succeed, to be able to manage new tasks, new technology, and we often get to the point when we cry out: I can’t cope with it all. Give me a break.
We have financial pressures—all the things that we want to get, the security we hope for. We struggle to make ends meet.
We have relationship pressures. We want to love and be loved. So often our
relationships become difficult and we carry disappointments and regrets.
There are pressures within us. We want to be successful. We want to be able to
manage. We want to be independent. But again and again we are reminded of
our own limitations. We feel that we have failed.
But the greatest pressure, and our greatest failures, are spiritual.
If we are honest, we know that we are not the people that we would like to be. We do not live the life that we know that we should live.
I know that I am not the person that God wants me to be, and expects me to be, and commands me to be. I know I should obey my God, and I should live
according to the life that God has set up for me. But I don’t. I fail. I disobey God, and I break God’s commands. The greatest burden we carry is our moral failure.
We try to get around it and think that as long as we do our best, that should be OK.
But it does not work. We carry a great and terrible burden of guilt. We have sinned against our God.
If we think back to Paul’s words in Romans 7, it is one of the most honest cases of facing the guilt within our human hearts: I am a prisoner to the law of sin which is at work in my body. What a wretched man I am! We can hear his frustration, his anger, almost despair. If we are honest, we know that we all share in the same sort of
struggle.
I once shared this passage with a person who was struggling with addictions
gambling addiction, alcohol and drug addiction, sexual addiction. This person
wanted to break free, but the reality is that an addiction keeps grabbing you and dragging you back.
So you have the burden of terrible frustration and guilt. You want to do what is right and healthy, but the urges to do something to satisfy your desires is so great that it keeps dragging you back.
Sin is an addiction. We don’t want to sin – but we do. Those desires to do
something, even if we know that it is hurtful—they keep grabbing us and dragging us down.
That is what Paul is speaking about, and we feel it too: I don’t understand what I am doing, and why I keep on doing it. I don’t do what I want to do, but I do what I hate. I know that God’s law is good, and I want to do what is right. But sin is living in me, and I keep on giving way to sin. I have the desire to do what is right, but I do not have the strength to carry it out. ….I don’t do the good I want to do, but I do the evil I don’t want to do.
We hear his great frustration, and we share that frustration. Who will rescue me from this body of death?
But Paul also has an answer. Paul knows where to go for relief, for release, for rest.
Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
That is also the answer that Jesus himself has given. That is the invitation that Christ gives to us: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. Come to me and I will give you rest.
One of the great gifts of God is rest. Rest is peace, relief, refreshment. When we have rest, our bodies, and our minds, and our spirits, have the opportunity to recover, to gather strength again.
When we are tired, we just want to stop, to put our feet up, to crawl into bed, to go to sleep. When we are rested, we are ready to start again. Our energy and our strength have returned.
We have been made in a way so that while we rest we are made strong. Our
bodies and our minds are refreshed and rejuvenated. If we are sick, often a good rest is the best medicine, so that your bodies can heal themselves, and overcome fevers and infections.
There is a beautiful psalm verse: “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for God grants sleep to those he loves” (Psalm 127:2)
Jesus Christ offers rest. But now it is rest that brings health and recovery from our spiritual weariness, from our burdens of sin and guilt. Jesus Christ offers to take our burden. Jesus Christ has taken the burden of our sin and guilt all the way to the
Cross. He has carried that burden and he has paid for that guilt with his own life. So
Jesus says to us that we do not have to try to prove your own goodness—not to
God, nor to ourselves, nor to anyone else. Jesus takes away that pressure.
And Jesus tells us that as we come to him in repentance, he forgives us. He takes
= away our sin. He sets us free from the burden of guilt, and that terrible frustration when we can never avoid following our human sinful desires.
Jesus gives us that deep rest and peace, for we know that our sins are forgiven.
With that rest we are refreshed, rejuvenated, recuperated. We are ready to live
again, with the strength and energy that comes from God’s Spirit.
But just when we think that all of our problems have been solved, Jesus comes back and says: But now I have something for you to carry. Take my yoke on upon you. A yoke is the big heavy beam of wood that was placed over the shoulders of a team of oxen, so that they could pull heavy loads. Jesus is putting a load on us.
Is it easy to be a Christian, to follow Jesus, to live for Christ? No, because Jesus also has very high expectations on us. Jesus calls on us to be totally dedicated to our God, to serve God with our bodies, minds and spirits. That is demanding, and it can mean a huge effort, a deep sacrifice.
Has Jesus lifted off one burden, and replaced it with another? Yes—and no! Jesus takes away the real burdens that wear us out and threaten to destroy us. But remember how we spoke about another sort of effort, about work, about exercise, which is part of healthy living that creates a healthy tiredness.
That is the sort of task and challenge that Jesus gives us. Jesus says: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
If you look at a yoke, you will see that it is not meant to be carried alone—it is
always carried by a pair of oxen. Jesus tells you, I am giving you a burden, but I am not expecting to carry it by yourself. I am not plonking it on top of you to weigh you down and oppress you and destroy you.
No, I am gentle and humble in heart. I am giving you something that is going to help you and build you up.
Jesus says that he is carrying that burden with us. Learn from me. When you share the tasks and challenges of Christian life, you are sharing in the life of Jesus Christ.
You are sharing the life that comes from God. That is a privilege, not a burden. And it is a challenge that makes you stronger, that builds up your faith. The more you respond, the more you grow, and you appreciate more and more what God is doing through you and what God is doing in you.
With Jesus Christ, this yoke is easy, this burden is not too heavy. As you commit to God’s tasks, yes, you do get tired. You know that you have been putting your body and mind and soul into it. But it is a healthy tiredness. It is the tiredness that brings refreshment and new life.
Until you finally have finished all of your tasks. Then you have a new rest and an eternal peace. Then you are living in the peace of your heavenly Father. For Christ has given you the rest for your souls. Amen.

Volunteers for Jesus

Text: Matthew 9:35 – 10:8

There are different organisations committed to encouraging the act of volunteering across the Australia and New Zealand. They encourage organizations which are involved in any sort of service to invite volunteers to come and join them. They encourage people to look for opportunities to volunteer.
During National Volunteers Week you might read stories about volunteers in your local newspapers. National Volunteers Week is also a reminder to show appreciation to the volunteers who are often taken for granted.
It is hard to volunteer. To volunteer means that you are giving your time, and making a considerable effort, and maybe it is going to cost you some money too, because volunteers are not always well supported.
• Volunteering means letting go of your own commitments and giving
something of yourself for the sake of others, or for the sake of some worthy
cause.
• Volunteering means doing. Your hands are busy. But it goes deeper, to your
heart.
• Volunteers are committed with a sense of love and care, and a willingness to commit yourself to others in some way because you see a need.
Volunteering can be a hard slog. But ‘National Volunteer Week’ tells us it can also be rewarding, with inner satisfaction and joy. Volunteering for something worthwhile can bring out the deeper satisfaction of life and can enrich you in relationship with others – others who work with you, or others you help and who laugh with you as you share together.
Think of all the volunteers who touch your life. Think of how and where you
volunteer.
One of the areas where many people volunteer is in our church life. Church
volunteers are included among the volunteers in the community. In fact, figures show that church volunteers are more likely to volunteer in other organisations and causes as well.
So first of all, thank you. Thank you to all of you who give considerable time and effort in the life of your church and community. I know that doing some of the tasks which need to be done can be demanding and you can feel unrewarded. So, thank you on behalf of all who benefit. We do see, and we do appreciate. And I hope that through your voluntary work in your church and community you can live and enjoy life, and that you can laugh together and share together.
That all gives us a very good introduction to today’s Gospel text. Because Jesus is calling for volunteers, for willing workers to work for His Kingdom. And He is sending out volunteers into His communities.
Jesus went round visiting all the towns and villages. He taught in the synagogues, preached the Good News about the Kingdom, and healed people with every kind of disease and sickness.
The best way to enlist volunteers is by example. Never ask anyone else to do
anything which you are not willing to do yourself. Jesus shows us how. Jesus was a ‘doer’. He was out there, out there moving from town to town and village to village.
He was out there where the need was greatest. He spoke the Good News because He saw that the people were desperate and despondent. He saw the pain and suffering of the people, and He came with His healing power.
Jesus was on a mission. He came to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the people of earth. That was not just a wonderful idea. It was bringing the grace of God into the real needs of people. He was out there, doing it. As He saw the crowds, His heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus was motivated by a deep compassion. He saw the needs on the outside. He saw broken bodies, and troubled life-styles. He saw the needs on the inside. He saw the addiction to sin, which is the deepest addiction of all. He felt the pain and anguish which it brought in the lives of all these people.
He saw it in each person He met. He saw it multiplied in the crowds of people who came out into the streets hopefully when they heard He was coming. He could see that they were desperate, looking for something. They were like sheep wandering around, confused, defenceless, without a shepherd.
He was coming as the Shepherd. He was coming as the Good Shepherd, who had true care and compassion for each of His sheep, and for all of His sheep together, a true dedication to their protection and their welfare. He was coming with the mercy of God to lift the burden of sin and suffering and to bring these wandering sheep into the Kingdom of Heaven.
So He said to His disciples, “The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that He will send out workers to gather in His harvest.”
Now Jesus looks even further. He knows that the deep human needs are
experienced everywhere all over the world. He changes the metaphor from a
shepherd to that of a farmer. Now He sees a paddock of wheat, a vast paddock stretching beyond sight. He knows that a crop of wheat has to be harvested at just the right time, when it is ripe and before it is spoiled. He knows now is the right time.
But in those days harvesting was by hand with a sickle. To harvest a paddock of wheat you needed a team. To harvest a paddock this size you needed an army of workers.
We need workers, Jesus says. We have so few workers, we need many, many more.
This is not just our task. This is God’s task. This is God’s world. So, let’s pray to our heavenly Father, who is the Lord of the Harvest. Let’s pray for the workers, so that we can do this great work. Let’s get lots of people in, all involved in bringing in this great harvest.
Jesus called His twelve disciples together and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness. When you pray for something, you also commit yourself to being an answer to prayer. Jesus called on His disciples to pray for workers in the harvest. The very next thing He does is call them to be workers.
Jesus calls on us to pray for workers in the harvest. I hope that we do pray that God will provide the workers He wants for His harvest, for His mission, all over the world. I hope that we pray for God’s workers in every situation of mission and ministry all over the world.
But when we pray for workers, we pray that God will use us as His workers however and wherever He chooses. Jesus calls His disciples to be His workers. Jesus calls us to be His workers in today’s world too.
One of the principles of good human resources management is that if you give someone a job to do, you have to give them the authority to do it. It is no good expecting them to do a job, but not letting them get on and do it, because they have to refer everything back to you.
Jesus gives His disciples, His workers, His harvesters, His own authority. Just as He had been going around with the authority of God to proclaim the message, and to back up the message with the actions that show God’s power over all evil, He sent
His disciples out with that same authority. They were to go out in His name, to speak His Word and to do His deeds.
Matthew then gives us the names of these twelve disciples. We don’t have to go through those names now. But we are talking about real people, each with their own family history, own character and now their own mission. Jesus calls people like us to do His work too.
These twelve men were sent out by Jesus with the following instructions: “Do not go to any Gentile territory or any Samaritan towns. Instead, you are to go to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.”
There would come a time when Jesus would send His disciples far and wide. Before ascending to Heaven He told them: “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. (Acts 1:8) As we follow the story of the disciples, they started in Jerusalem and Judea and they travelled with the Gospel to many distant places. We can follow the story of those who followed, literally reaching to the most distant places of the world.
Initially Jesus was telling the disciples to work where they were. He was sending them back to their own people and then to the wider world. He was telling the disciples to look and see the needs right there, all around them. He had looked with compassion on the people wandering around aimlessly, like sheep without a shepherd. He was sending His disciples to more of these people in their own communities.
Today too, Jesus calls some people to go to distant places, to places and people who have not yet heard the Gospel. We support missionaries who are bringing the Gospel to people for the first time.
God is calling us to work for Him, to take His message and His love to the people in our own communities. That is where He has put us and that is where He sends us.
Because there are needs right here, all around us, people in need, people
wandering around aimless, hopeless and defenceless. There are people right where you are, who desperately need to hear the Gospel spoken into their lives.
You are the best person to do that.
A volunteer is someone who acts voluntarily. That means you do something of your own free will. The word ‘volunteer’ means you are acting out of your free will or choice. A Christian volunteer is someone who is acting with a will that has been transformed by the Spirit of God.
If you ‘have to’ do it, you are not a volunteer. If you are ‘forced to’ do it, you are not a volunteer. If you do it because you are getting ‘paid to’ do it you are not a volunteer.
Jesus gives the very best reason to volunteer. You have received without payment, so give without payment. (Matthew 10:8b, ISV), or “Freely you have received. Freely give.” (Matthew 10:8b, NIV)
It is all about grace. God’s grace is the free gift of life with God, through the free gift of forgiveness and the free gift of God’s Spirit. Freely you have received.
That is the very best reason for giving, for doing, for being willing to respond to call
of Jesus, for volunteering in His service.
Jesus, with a wonderful free will, gave Himself for you, gave His life on a cross, out of compassion for you. He comes to you when you are wandering aimlessly and hopelessly and shepherds you into His Kingdom. This is the very best reason to give of yourself, freely and generously, to give your time and effort for His Kingdom.
We started by talking about all the different sorts of volunteering. People volunteer for many causes, and most are great examples of generous and willing service: serving people and serving the community in some worthwhile way. If you are involved in voluntary community service, I hope it brings you joy and fulfilment.
We talked about volunteering in your church life. We are here today sharing in this worship because many people have given of their time and effort. I hope and pray that as you serve in the life of the church that you find it fulfilling, and that you can rejoice because you share in this very special time with our God and each other.
Jesus calls you, like His first disciples, to give in a way that goes deeper. He calls on you to respond to the needs of the people around you with love and compassion, and to bring His love and the Gospel of His grace and care to people in every need.
Your volunteering may be in some sort of planned or organized way. It may simply be in your everyday life that no one organizes, where you act spontaneously.
Give freely, give voluntarily, give generously of yourself, of your time, with your efforts and dedication. Because God has given so freely and wonderfully to you.
Amen.

All about Faith

The Text: Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26
Today’s gospel is about faith – the faith of Matthew (the tax-collector), the faith of the
woman with the flow of blood, and the faith of a Gentile ruler named Jairus. But what is faith?
The first thing we must do is distinguish two sides to faith – the human act of believing from
the divine object that we believe in. “So faith comes from hearing…” (Romans 10:17) But to
believe what? Well, if we were Jews, it would be Torah (the Old Testament law). If we were Buddhists, it would be Buddha. If we were Muslims, it would be the Koran. But since we are Christians, the object of our faith is the Word of God, the Bible. More specifically it is Jesus, who is the Word of God in human flesh. We believe the Bible because it tells us about Jesus.
It is our means of encountering Jesus today.
For the three people in today’s Gospel, they didn’t need the Bible because they had Jesus right there in front of them. Each of them are called to faith in Jesus (Matthew, by accepting Jesus’ call to follow; the woman by seeking to touch his garment; and Jairus by trusting that Jesus will raise his daughter from death). In each of these three people we see their faith in Jesus by how they relate to him. They don’t just believe; they believe Jesus.
And they believe Jesus because of what they had seen and heard about him. This is not a blind faith; a leap in the dark (as Christian are often accused of doing). But neither is it complete seeing. It is seeing through a glass darkly.
Now it is common for people today to say something like this: It doesn’t matter what you believe just so long as you are sincere. In other words, what matters is not the object of faith (what we believe) but the act of faith (our believing). If you are sincere (that is, if you genuinely believe from the heart) then that’s all God requires, because God wants sincere hearts.
Well, it’s true that God wants sincere hearts, but he wants more than that. Sincerity is necessary but not sufficient for true faith. Actually, even we want more than mere sincerity.
Who of us would be satisfied with a doctor, for example, who sincerely believed that cancer could be cured by magic? Or who of us would be satisfied with an accountant who sincerely believed that 2 + 2 = 5? Or who of us would trust a travel agent who sincerely believed that every road ultimately leads to the same place? Muslim suicide bombers are very sincere that what they are doing is God-pleasing, and so is the Ku Klux Klan, but both are sincerely wrong.
Today’s Gospel shows that beyond sincerity, faith must have the right object. A map is no good if it is inaccurate; but neither is it of any use if it is accurate, but we don’t trust it or follow it. Faith in your doctor means both trusting his advice and following it. So too, faith in Jesus. That’s why Matthew’s example is so important, for it shows what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus. It means being willing to forsake everything to follow him. Discipleship is not only of the heart but of the will – it is our willing response to Jesus’ call.
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What’s interesting is that most education programmes today presume the opposite – that knowledge comes first, and then action. First you learn what to do – then you do it. It makes perfect sense, only that’s not the way Jesus does it. To the Jews who questioned Jesus’ learning, he said, “If your will were to do the will of my Father, you would understand my
teaching”.
In other words, for Jesus doing what is right (the will of the Father), comes before understanding. Only by doing will our understanding become clear.
Dostoyevsky, in his famous book, The Brother’s Karamazov, provides an excellent example of this. Madame Holocov (called a woman of little faith) is going through a crisis of faith, and she confesses her doubts to the great priest, Father Zossima. “I had faith as a little girl,”
she says, “but I went to college, and I lost it. I was taught that everything can be explained by science, that there is no immortal soul and that when I die there are only the flowers on my grave. Please give me back my faith.” And Father Zossima says, “I can’t do that.” And she says, “Well, I’ve got to get it back somehow. Prove it to me.” And he says again, “I can’t prove it, but there is a way you can get your faith back. You have doubts – you
doubt whether there is an immortal soul; you doubt whether you are something more than a complicated machine. Here is the way to deal with that doubt – love your neighbour with an active love. Show mercy on the poor and miserable, and you will gradually come to perceive that your neighbour is not just a complicated machine but has an immortal soul.” She replies, “I understand, but the trouble is that I find that I can love humanity but I
can’t love my neighbour.“ Father Zossima replies, “Then I have nothing else to tell you, because love in action is a much more harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”
That’s true, isn’t it? It is much easier to have feelings of love for someone who is absent than actions of love when they are present. But that’s what God wants. He wants us to love, not merely humanity, but whoever crosses our path in our daily lives. And he wants us to love not only those neighbours who are loveable, but also those who treat us badly, those who hurt us, abuse us, slander us, cause us grief. For that is what mercy is – it is love for the
loveless shown that they might lovely be.
Thus Jesus says to the Pharisees in today’s Gospel: “Go and find out what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Actions without sincerity (the heart) are as false as sincerity without action. God wants both, our hearts as well as our lives. Sacrifice is more about what we don’t do. Mercy is more about what we do. Thus, we are to measure our faith not by what we deny ourselves, what we resist, or who we exclude, but rather by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include. Mercy shows compassion for the weak, the fallen, the helpless and the miserable. Mercy is the soul of sacrifice, and thus of the essence of God.
Yubis was a middle-aged woman filled with grief who didn’t know where to turn. In 2007, Yubis’s husband, a missionary in Columbia (South America), was brutally murdered for his faith and teachings about Jesus Christ. Her two-year-old daughter became so despondent that she stopped speaking. She would only draw pictures, with each one just saying one word: “Daddy”. However, with the help of a Christian Mission organisation, Yubis received
support and healing, along with counselling for her daughter. In a recent interview she said,
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“I wanted vengeance on those who killed my husband – I know who they are. But now God has shown me that the best vengeance would be for me to tell them about Jesus. So that is what I plan to do.” That’s mercy.
In this we see that mercy is not weakness, as it is often supposed. Nor is it acquiescence to sin. Russian leader, Catherine the Great, once quipped when caught in sin: “The good Lord will pardon; that is his trade.” Perhaps you’ve heard people say something similar: “It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
But any who know what it costs to forgive someone who sins against them, knows this is false. And anyone who knows what God paid for our forgiveness will not dare make light of his mercy. God is both just and merciful, which is why the Father sent his Son to die in our place. On the Cross, Jesus got the justice while we got the mercy.
“Your faith has saved you.” In the end, it is faith in Jesus that makes all the difference. It is faith that saves us. It is faith that lets Jesus into our souls; and to have Jesus in our souls is what salvation is. At the end of the movie, Saving Private Ryan, the old Ryan stands before the grave of Tom Hanks (who died saving Ryan’s life many years before). He recalls Hank’s last words to him as he lay dying: “Earn this”. As an old man, Ryan is still unsure whether he
has done enough good to “earn his life” and repay Hank’s for his sacrifice for him. Thank God, Jesus did not say “Earn this” from the cross. Instead, he said: “Forgive them”, and so he has, and so he does, and so he calls us who are forgiven to pass it on, to follow him in showing mercy to those around us, for that is our faith, and that is our sure and certain hope. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Sermon for Trinity Sunday.

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

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

Pentecost Sunday

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

Sermon – Easter 6A

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

Sermon for Easter 5

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

Easter.4

The Text: John 10: 1-10
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. On this day we recognise that Jesus our
risen Lord is indeed our Good Shepherd. As Psalm 23 says, he leads us to
green pastures, and beside still waters. In our Gospel reading it cuts short of
the part where Jesus says, ‘I am the good shepherd’.
In this reading from beginning of John chapter 10, Jesus describes himself as
a door or a gate. The word for door can also mean opportunity.
Let’s look at what we know about doors and gates. What is their purpose?
Why do you have doors in your house? Obvious isn’t it? You want to keep out
those whom you don’t want in your house. The ones who you allow in your
house are the ones you invite into your house. Even within your house are
doors. You may close the door to your room for this may be your private
sanctuary, and the ones you allow into your room are the people who are
closest to you.
Jesus describes the people who try to get into your house by other means
than invited through the door, are thieves and robbers. That is why our doors
have locks on them, to prevent thieves and robbers from entering through
the door uninvited. Of course, as Jesus tells us what we already know, they
will try to find another way in.
It’s the same when you have a gate to your property, or a gate to the
paddocks on your farms. The gates are there for a reason, to keep safe what
is within, and to keep out that which is not allowed.
So, who is allowed through the door? Why is Jesus describing himself as the
door? Jesus may be alluding to the ways that shepherds would gather their
sheep into a pen by calling their names. They would follow the shepherd into
the pen and the shepherd would sleep in the opening as there was no gate.
Why is Jesus telling us this? What has bought him to this point where he
teaches about himself as the door or the gate?
You may recall the Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday in Lent, about the
man born blind. When Jesus healed this man born blind on the Sabbath, it
was the talk of the town. The man was bought before the Pharisees and they
interrogated him and his parents. During the interrogation the man said to the
Pharisees: “Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become one
of his disciples?” This led the Pharisees to cast him out of the temple where
2
Jesus came to the man and asked him: “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
The man replied: “Who is he sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus answered:
“You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.” What did the man do
then? He confessed his faith and worshipped Jesus.
Now today, Jesus says he is the door, he is the opportunity for all those who
hear his voice, to come to him, to worship him and say, ‘Lord I believe’.
Jesus calls you into the safety of his kingdom. There is no other way to enter.
The way is through Jesus. Anyone who tries otherwise to snatch you away
from the love and mercy of Jesus is a thief and a robber who tries to rob you
of the joy of being saved.
The Pharisees tried to rob the man born blind of the grace that Jesus had
shown to him, claiming it to be a sinful deed done on the Sabbath. They
denied the joy the parents should have felt of their son receiving his sight.
Even as we read further into John chapter 10 in verse 27, Jesus says: “My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them
eternal life, and no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has
given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of my
hand. I and the Father are one.”
It was that comment that stirred the pot for the Jews. When John speaks of
the Jews here, it is all those who opposed Jesus. Just as they rejected what
the man born blind said, they now rejected Jesus, accused him of
blasphemy, they picked up stones and tried to arrest him, but his time had
not yet come. Remember this happened before the events of Easter.
What does this mean for us? It means that there is life and salvation for all
who hear Jesus’ call to follow. Jesus has come to bring forgiveness and
healing. Jesus has come to make his voice known. How is it known? Through
his word. Through his word we hear that Jesus suffered greatly that we may
know him.
As 1 Peter 2: 22-25 says: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his
mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he
suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges
justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die
to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For
“you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the
Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
What more can we say than, ‘worthy is the lamb who was slain’? Despite our
sinfulness, Jesus still calls us by name, and invites us into his kingdom. He invites
us in and sets out a banqueting table of forgiveness, mercy, healing,
acceptance and compassion.
3
You are all welcome. Do you hear his voice? A voice that says: Come all you
who are weary and burdened. I will give you rest. Come, I will give you
abundant life. Come in, I will keep you safe from the evil one.
The Pharisee, the Jews, the crowd, Satan, all may have thought they had
silenced Jesus when he died on the Cross, but the Cross only showed to the
world that Jesus is worthy to follow, for he was willing to give his life for his
sheep.
Jesus is calling your name. Do you hear his voice? The blind man heard Jesus
ask: “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He responded: “Lord I believe”.
Jesus is the door. Jesus is your opportunity to know the love of God and be
accepted into his family, simply by listening to his voice. Any other voices that
want to rob you of receiving this grace that Jesus offers to you are thieves
and robbers. You don’t need to listen to those voices, because Jesus is
calling your name. His is the voice that calls to you as you come and go in
this world. Just as you come and go from the safety of your home, Jesus tells
you to come and go knowing he is watching over as your good shepherd.
Jesus knows you by name. May that be your comfort and peace. Amen

Sermon for Easter 2A

The text: John 20:24-29
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them
when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen
the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the
nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my
hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was
with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to
Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your
hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him,
“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Many people say: ‘seeing is believing’.
In fact, they don’t just say it, they live it. Perhaps you do too. This means if someone
told you something remarkable, you’d want to see it for yourself.
Perhaps this means we reckon the sense of sight (and perhaps also the sense of
touch) is the sense by which we judge truth. If we see it, or can touch it, we’ll
believe it.
But this may also mean we won’t always believe what we hear (unless we can
confirm by the senses of sight and touch that what we’ve heard is actually true).
But what if seeing is not believing? Or to put it another way: we often want to see
things because we don’t believe them.
For example, imagine you’re Thomas. For some reason you weren’t with the
apostles on that night when Jesus came. You meet up with them later and they
joyfully tell you of their experience of seeing the risen Lord Jesus among them. But
you weren’t there! You didn’t see what they saw. So instead of believing the words
of the apostles through your ears, you say you’re not going to believe unless you
see him for yourself. You don’t believe your ears and want your eyes to confirm this
truth.
In fact, you’re not going to believe your ears and eyes unless you put your fingers
on the nail marks on Jesus’ hands and thrust your hand into his speared side. Until
you see and touch this news you’ve heard, you’re not going to believe. After all,
don’t people say: ‘seeing is believing’!
But that’s the twist. You want to see because you don’t believe.
I wonder if you can relate to Thomas. Of the remaining apostles, he was the only
one not there. But you weren’t there either. You and I haven’t had the chance to
witness our risen Lord for ourselves and use our senses of sight and touch to confirm
the good news of his resurrection. None of us were in that locked room and saw
the risen Jesus standing among us.
This is why we have this story in St John’s gospel account, because we weren’t
there. This true story was written down for all who, like Thomas, weren’t in that
room. In some ways, Thomas was fortunate in so far as Jesus came to him so he
could confirm this truth of the resurrection eight days later, but what about us?
We still haven’t been given the opportunity to see Jesus in the flesh and place our
fingers into his wounds, and so we continue to struggle with our doubts and fears.
No matter what we hear in God’s Word, we still demand to see or experience
certain things before we believe.
In this way, you and I are Thomas in this story. We’re Thomas whenever say or think
such things like:
“Unless God answers my prayers the way I want him to, then I won’t believe.”
“Unless I get something special out of worship today, then I don’t think this church is
any good for me.”
“Unless I feel something when I’m baptised, confirmed, or when I receive the Lord’s
Supper, then I’ll question its validity.”
“Unless I get what I want or expect, and can confirm it with my own senses of sight
and sound and touch and taste and even with my emotions, then I won’t believe.”
But these types of questions or statements means we only want to meet God on
our own terms. It shows we’re struggling to believe. It shows we’re like Thomas. So,
while we may believe, we ask God to help our unbelief!
The strange thing about faith is it never stops in one place. While we’d like to think
our faith will always increase and get better during our life; it doesn’t. It often
wavers between faith and doubt; trust and suspicion. Some people expect that
once you’re baptised, once you’re confirmed, once you’ve made a decision for
Christ, or once you’ve received faith, then everything’s ok from that time on. But
this isn’t true. At times we’ll be strong in our faith, but there will be times of doubt.
For this reason we can also learn a lot from Thomas.
When he doubted or struggled to believe, he didn’t dismiss or ignore the fellowship
with his fellow disciples. He didn’t stay away, but came back into their little
congregation to hear, see, and touch.
We’re encouraged to do the same.
We’re encouraged to hear the Word of God read and explained. We use our
sense of hearing so we may listen for God speaking to us through the bible
readings and the sermon.
We’re also encouraged to attend the Lord’s Supper where we use our senses of
touch and taste as we receive our risen Lord’s body and blood on our fingers, on
our lips, and on our tongue. But, while our senses of sight and touch and taste will
tell us ‘this is simply bread and wine’, the Holy Spirit will ask our sense of hearing to
be the more powerful sense so we may believe what we hear: That this is Jesus’
body and blood, given and shed for you and me.
The fact is, a faith which doesn’t constantly look to our Lord Jesus Christ, and listen
to him, will slowly die. A faith which refuses to come into his presence and receive
his spiritual benefits will shrivel up. A faith which makes demands for proof of God’s
love outside of the written Word, the cross of Christ, and his holy Sacraments, is in
danger of leading to despair.
This means if we want to see and experience Jesus on our own terms, or if we want
to keep away from the place where his people meet, then we’re becoming an
unbeliever. Then, just like Jesus said to Thomas, he says to you and me, ‘Stop
doubting and believe’, or literally, ‘Stop becoming an unbeliever and become a
believer’.
This is why Thomas, in his time of doubt, went to the place where Jesus promised to
be – with his people.
In our own times of doubt we need to do the same, after all, we know Jesus
promises to be wherever his people gather in his name. We know his Holy Spirit is
present as we hear the Word of God read and proclaimed. We know Jesus
promises to wash, adopt, forgive, and give new life to those who are baptised. We
know Jesus promises his true body and blood is present on his holy Supper.
Seeing isn’t always believing, because the demand to see is a sign of unbelief. On
the other hand, believing is seeing. Faith instead gives us a greater sight so we may
believe what we hear, despite what we see and don’t see.
By believing what we hear, we see Jesus is our Lord and our God. We stand beside
Thomas and see Jesus is more than just a man. By faith, we see Jesus is also the Son
of God who came to suffer, die, and rise again for us so that, by believing, we may
have life in his name.
By believing what we hear, we can see God truly comes to us, hidden in times of
simple worship to grant forgiveness, peace, and hope. He comes to challenge our
unbelief and comfort us through his Spirit-filled words. He comes to wash us and
claim us as his own people who will live with him forever. He comes and wraps his
body and blood in humble bread and wine and offers them for us to eat and drink.
He comes, hidden in the people joined to him through faith to love and care for us.
He comes, sometimes despite our best efforts to lock him out.
Yes, Thomas was blessed to see his Lord and Saviour in the flesh and use his senses
of sight and touch. On the other hand, blessed are those who haven’t seen, yet still
believe because they trust their sense of hearing.
You and I are blessed because we believe what we’ve heard. Jesus is our Lord
and God even though we haven’t seen him with our own eyes or touched him
with our own fingers. And through faith in Jesus’ word our bodies will also be
resurrected and we will see Jesus in heavenly glory forever. Amen.

Easter Day

The Text: Matthew 28:1-10
That first Good Friday must have seemed anything but good. Along with
some other faithful followers, the two Marys had seen their Lord tortured and
suffering in unthinkable agony. Mocked, humiliated and left to die. They sat
on the sidelines and watched the life drain from His once strong body. The
One who had spoken with such authority and hope, now lifeless and hanging
on a cross. All their hopes were snuffed out just as surely as His life was. After
taking His body down from the cross, they had done all they could. Hurriedly
preparing Him for burial so they could observe the Sabbath, they left that
garden tomb with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.
And so when dawn breaks on the first day of the week, they tentatively make
their way back to the tomb. Every step bringing them closer to the
hopelessness they left behind on Friday. Every step bringing them closer to
the tears and grief and despair they know is coming as they prepare
themselves for the sadistic mocking that seems to come from every tomb
and grave.
Jesus final words from the cross were ‘it is finished’. But to the ladies and to all
who looked on, it seemed as though death had had the final word.
Isn’t that the way we experience life and death as well? Even as Christians
we live out our days, knowing the hope that is ours in Christ, and yet every
grave we visit seems to mock us. Every funeral we attend seems to taunt us to
doubt the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ. Tempting us to despair, to heart
break, to hopelessness. As long as we remain this side of eternity, the grave
will always seem deceptively powerful. And now that he is defeated, the
Devil will always try to convince you that it is the end. But today the Holy Spirit
reveals the hidden truth for all who trust in Jesus for forgiveness. He reveals the
divine reality that death is not strong enough to hold our Lord and so is no
longer strong enough to hold any of us who have our lives in Him. Christ is
risen! [He is risen indeed!] And because He is risen, death and the grave look
completely different to us.
It’s not that we’re supposed to suddenly see death as a good thing. But in
light of the Easter resurrection death is no longer the fiercesome enemy it
once was. Jesus has made His way through death to life. In paying the
penalty for our sins, He has broken death’s hold on us and transformed it into
a doorway to eternity. As we live and even as we die, we can do so knowing
that our Lord and Saviour has been through the valley of the shadow death
and has come out the other side. He knows the way and has promised to be
us to the very end of the age – and so He will even lead us through death to
life. Because Jesus lives, because His tomb is empty, our graves are no longer
the pits of hopelessness they once were.
Is there any better news than that? Why is it then, that most of the time our
lives don’t seem any less filled with anxieties than the disciples’ were? If we
know that Jesus is risen from the dead, if we know He has conquered our
greatest enemies, why are we so often just as afraid, just as worked up, just as
worried as the ladies were on that first Easter morning?
From our text it is clear that the reason the two Marys were despairing is the
same reason our lives lose that resurrection joy and confidence shortly after
the chocolate buzz wears off each Easter. And that reason is that we forget
what Jesus has told us. You see when the ladies showed up at the tomb, we
get all distracted by the fact that an angel spoke to them. But all that angel
did was remind them of what Jesus had already said.
“Do not be alarmed”, the angel said, “I know who you’re looking for. Jesus of
Nazareth, who was crucified; nailed to the tree; taken down dead and
carried right here! Well, ladies, you are lookin in the wrong place. He has
risen. He is not here. He’s alive! You didn’t really think that death could hold
Him down, did you? I mean, you knew Him! You saw what His Word could do.
Off you go. Go tell His disciples that He is going ahead of you all to Galilee.
You’ll see Him there, just as He told you.”
Just as He told you! If the ladies had simply remembered Jesus’ Word, they
would have spared themselves a whole lot of heartache! But so often we
forget what He has said, and even when we remember the words, we forget
how reliable they are. Jesus’ promises come true no matter what. The
problem lies with us forgetting or doubting what He has told us. Today we are
encouraged to give up arguing with Jesus and believe and rejoice in what
He tells us. You’ll find that every word of the Lord proves true. The ladies did,
and when they remembered the words Jesus had told them, their fear of the
unknown was now mixed with an overwhelming sense of joy. “Just as He told
you.” How many of the anxieties and worries of our lives would evaporate if
we always remembered what our Lord told us and what He has
accomplished?
But, of course, wrapping your mind around the resurrection is no easy task
when the reality of life starts to bite. Death and all sorts of other hassles seem
to be the only things that are guaranteed in this world. We’re used to carrying
each other to the grave. We’re used to saying “goodbyes” that are forever in
this age. We’re used to trying to sort things out ourselves. Feeling responsible
for our failures. Overwhelmed by the sin and shame that still weighs us down.
Feeling condemned that even after celebrating a life time of Easters, you still
don’t have your act together.
But remember what Jesus has told you. Remember what His word declares
has taken place over these three holy days. He is the Resurrection and the
Life, whoever believes in Him, even though they die, will live forever. He came
not for the healthy, not for those who had their act together, but for the sick
and stumbling like you and me. He has swallowed up your sin and shame
and left it lifeless in the tomb. His blood has washed you clean as snow and
He has promised to keep you in true faith as you simply listen to Him. Jesus has
conquered death and the grave and is risen to reign eternally for you
Listen to these words of the risen One. He told us that death couldn’t hold
Him – and He was right! And He tells us that He will meet us today to fills us
with His resurrection blessings as He comes to us in bread and wine. At the
altar this morning, He will pour more life into you than you’ll ever need; more
forgiveness than all the world’s sin; more joy than all the sorrows of this age;
more peace than all the fretting of your life. Just as He told you! Amen.