Author: admin

Reflecting the true light

The Text: John 1:6-8, 19-28

A few years ago, China landed a rocket on the moon and obtained some samples from the moon’s surface. We humans are fascinated by moon travel and expeditions to other planets.

Sometimes, when we see a full moon rising in the early evening, it appears so big and bright that we can see so much detail on it.

In some ways, John the Baptist is like the moon. He came rising onto the scene out of nowhere – from the wilderness – and told the people that he is not the light but was pointing the people to the light: He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. And that’s what the moon does. The moon does not produce its own light but it merely reflects the light of the sun. And what’s interesting is that the sun is nowhere to be seen – it’s at the opposite end of the world, and yet it shines bright enough to bring light to the deepest darkness.

In the same way, we Christians have been called to reflect the light of Christ. Jesus says – “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” So just as John was a witness to the light, we are to be a witness to the light. The light of Christ. And we do that by reflecting the light of Christ in all that we do. Because people look at us and they don’t just judge us by the things we do or say but they judge God as well.

As we look to see how we are reflecting the light of God it is often helpful to look in the mirror to see what others are seeing. Quite often we don’t realise what we are reflecting. We might think we are looking okay – until we look in the mirror and see our shirt button isn’t done up or we have some breakfast remains on our face. We might think we are leading great examples of Christian living; but it’s not important what we think, but what others see in us.

Luther’s explanation to the 10 commandments in his Small Catechism, helps us reflect on how we break each of the commandments in 2 ways – known as acts of commission and acts of omission. We break the commandments not just by what we do – acts of commission – but by what we don’t do – acts of omission.

Usually we’re pretty good at refraining from doing the wrong thing – acts of commission, such as in the 5th Commandment: “You shall not kill. What does this mean? We are to fear and love God so that we do not hurt our neighbour in any way.”  Yep, I can check that one off.

But Luther continues – “BUT, I am to help him in all his physical needs.” That’s the part I’m not always so good at. “Look, I’m a little busy at the moment – can’t somebody else help you?” Or the seventh commandment: “You shall not steal – we are to fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbour’s money or property.” Check. No worries with that one.

“BUT – we are to help him improve and protect his property and means of making a living.”

“Sorry but I’ve got my own business to worry about – I have to make enough to pay my mortgage – my credit card – and save up for my retirement. Can’t my neighbour get his act into gear? I’ve worked hard to get where I am – why can’t he do the same?”

 Sometimes it’s not the light of what we are doing that is reflecting on people around us – but what we are NOT doing that people are taking notice of. As the old saying goes – “all it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.” Sometimes it’s the acts of omission that do the most harm. And so it can be a real struggle reflecting the light of Christ because of the things that we don’t do to help our neighbour.  

And there are also times when we can fall into the danger of not reflecting the light of Christ because we are trying too hard to reflect our own light. A sort of, “Look at me – look at all the good things I’m doing.” And that’s where John had to try hard to keep reminding people that he is NOT the light. He said – I’m not even Elijah or one of the prophets. I’m just one who is pointing you to the true light of Christ.

St Paul shares with us how we CAN reflect God’s light not by doing good works in order for the world to be impressed with our service. No, Paul says – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. What a freeing thing that is when we forget about trying to impress others by our good works and just rejoice, pray and give thanks for all the good things God has done for us..

It’s so easy to rejoice, pray and give thanks when we realise how much God has done for us in Christ. But it’s just as easy to reflect the opposite, to grumble about everything instead of rejoicing. Like the Israelites who grumbled about their conditions rather than rejoicing that God had freed them from slavery in Egypt, many of us complained about the restrictions that were imposed upon us during the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead of rejoicing that God had saved many lives through the actions of the medical profession, and some of the restrictions put in place by the government of the time, we grumbled that we had to wear masks in church and use individual cups for holy communion. It’s so easy to forget to rejoice and give thanks and pray for our government and our medical profession, even though they’re not perfect, like all of us.  That’s when we need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves, “What image are we reflecting to the world? What light are we shining? Are we shining our own light or Christ’s?”

 So often we believe it is up to us to take the ‘fight’ to the world. We think that it is up to us to defend the rights of God and the church. And often what happens is that we replace God’s light with our own. And that’s what John was avoiding when he said: “I’m not the Christ, I’m not Elijah – I’m not one of the prophets. In fact I’m not even worthy enough to untie the sandals of the one I’m pointing you to.”

Yes, we all want to defend God – we all want to defend the church – we want to defend the name of Christ in an increasingly Godless world. But the best way we can do that is by rejoicing in the midst of it all – giving thanks in the midst of it all – and praying for all. And Paul says – pray without ceasing – because the challenges on the church and on God’s name are without ceasing. And in doing that we will be reflecting the light of Christ even if sometimes we don’t always live perfect lives. And even when that happens, we are assured by the Word of God, that, “the God of peace himself will sanctify you entirely; and your spirit and soul and body will be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The one who calls us is faithful, and he will do this. Amen.

Same story – different challenges

Text Mark 1:1-8

Same story – different challenges

One of the challenges during Advent and Christmas is hearing the familiar story we all know so well.  Not that there’s anything wrong with the story, but sometimes we sort of switch off – we’ve heard it all before – we want to hear something new. We all know the story. We’ve all seen the Christmas pageants and know the script.  We’ve seen the Nativity scenes with Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus in a manger, the cow, donkey, the sheep and shepherds. It’s become almost too familiar.  And what is the old saying: ‘Familiarity breeds contempt’”?

The season of Advent prepares the way to Christmas through the wilderness. Advent makes a straight path for Jesus – the path which is usually hindered by the busyness of shopping and food preparation and the organising of holidays. Every year has different challenges hindering our preparations for Christmas.  During this Advent season let this be a time of reflection and contemplation as we hear the good news of Jesus coming to us in the flesh. Let the gospel sink more deeply into our lives, let the story of Jesus’ birth speak to us differently this year. The story of Jesus may be familiar – it may be the same – but our lives are not the same so let us hear the story with eager ears.

But before we do, let us remember haw very different it was during COVID. For many, it was not the usual joyous march toward Christmas.  Everything might have been planned – parents were thinking about roles for their children – the play was organised and being rehearsed, the carols and readings were all worked out. But how to fit the usual crowds into one per 4 square metres and 1.5 metres apart? And how to account for any visitors that may turn up? It was anything but the straight path to Christmas that John the Baptist proclaimed-  for us there were many road blocks and potholes to be faced along the way.

During COVID all people were anxious and waiting in the wilderness of lockdowns. For many, Advent was a wilderness experience in lockdown. For many there was no clear path forward. It was a time of uncertainty, fear and grief. Christmas may have been the same familiar story but our lives were not. But while the harshness of wilderness may have confronted us during those times of church closure, the ageless truth remained the same and it is what got us through. When the angel announced to Mary and Joseph that Mary would give birth he said that this child would be called Immanuel – which means God is with us. And that kept us going, knowing that in the wilderness we were not alone.

The season of Advent reminds us that no matter where we are or what experiences we are going through that God is with us in Jesus. The wilderness is an uncomfortable place if we are alone. Peter was writing to a Christian community who were in the wilderness. They too needed reminding that the Christmas story was a story of hope in times of wilderness. The wilderness can seem like an eternity when you are alone but Peter reminds us that with God a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day.

Peter was writing to a Christian community experiencing persecution at the hands of the ruling empire. They were looking for Jesus’ return and immediate relief from their suffering.  But God does not always act in our timeline.  A thousand years is like a day, and a day is like a thousand years to God.  And when we are suffering, the lonely nights can seem like an eternity in the wilderness but, as the Psalmist writes: ‘Weeping may last for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.’

During Advent we are given a word of hope for the future while our present seems like wilderness. The prophet John the Baptist proclaimed in the wilderness a familiar message to a people who were in the wilderness themselves. Israel has been invaded by the Roman Empire and they had no king.  John pointed away from himself and toward someone greater to come. John pointed to a hopeful future by promising one who would come baptizing, not with mere water but with the eternal Holy Spirit. And we are to live out our hope by looking away from ourselves and our wilderness to one more powerful than us.

Our Advent message is that we are called to be a people that await the coming of the Lord in all circumstances.  We are always in waiting—through victory and defeat, triumph and loss. And as the church, we are to proclaim peace on earth, goodwill towards all, and joy to the world – all the messages of Christmas.

And that’s what Peter said also: “While you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation”. And it’s the patience of the Lord that creates the seeming slowness in times of wilderness – his patience of not wanting anyone to be lost forever.

So just as we are pointed by John to Christ, we point the world to the Christ, the one who is more powerful, more patient, and more loving. We point to the Christ, the one who is to come.

This Advent, many of us feel like we are still in the wilderness. But let us remember that all things here on earth are temporary. Let our lives be shaped by our hope in the truth that God is coming – that God has come in Jesus who is with us always. Amen.

Christmas is coming.

The Text: Mark 13:24-37

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so that we may keep watch for the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Have you noticed what’s coming? For example, have you noticed that Christmas is coming, and how can you tell?

You can tell because the shops and streets are full of Christmas decorations, wrappings, lights, gift ideas, etc. You can tell because Christmas music is playing. You can tell because the TV advertisements let you know what you need to buy to make yourself or your loved ones happy.

Or, have you noticed a number of new films coming soon? Boxing Day is traditionally when many blockbuster films open in cinemas around the country.

Or, have you noticed that the days are getting longer and warmer, and the agapanthus and jacarandas are flowering?

Or, have you noticed the Lord is coming, and how can you tell?

Well, you can tell by the signs.

Just like a television advertisement or movie trailer which changes scenes rapidly, today’s gospel reading, or rather Jesus through St Mark, is using a montage of pictures which advertise the Lord’s coming in a very contemporary way.

Try to imagine what he’s saying, picturing the signs:

The opening scene: Cosmic chaos! You watch the sun go dark; the moon goes black without the sun, the stars fall from their positions, and the heavenly authorities and powers are shaken from their foundations.

Change of scene: You see the Son of man coming on the clouds surrounded by the light of his glory. The angels whizz backwards and forwards to the ends of the earth, gathering all the chosen ones.

Change of scene: You see a fig tree at spring time, sprouting a new, green, tender shoot, advertising the coming summer; then you see a picture of the universe, and you’re disturbed to see everything, including the heavens and the earth disappear over time, yet you also notice the words spoken by God strangely remain unaffected by the ravages of time and don’t fade at all.

Change of scene: You see an alarm clock about to go off, but because it hasn’t got any hands to tell what time it will happen, no-one can figure out what time it will go off. You even see the Son of God go up and inspect it, but he too doesn’t know what time it’ll go off.

Change of scene: You watch a man going away on a journey, leaving his servants in charge of all his belongings. You see the doorkeeper of his property stand at watch. Time goes by and you notice the same doorkeeper at different times of the night and day still standing, still watching, still waiting.

Change of scene: everything is going dark, but as you see this, you notice more and more people falling asleep, and fewer staying awake. The scene ends with a word, strong and clear: Watch!

Like a richly colourful and startling advertisement, this montage of pictures creates a sense of anticipation.

In the church we anticipate and eagerly look forward to the coming of the Day of the Lord. This is what the Advent season is all about. Advent isn’t designed just to make us ready for Christmas, but to remind us and make us ready for Christ coming in his glory. And while we may not see the sun going black or see any stars fall, we know the moment of his return is getting nearer all the time.

But, we are not very good at keeping watch!

We aren’t very good at waiting because we want things NOW. We’re not even patient at watching sport. Many people prefer the quick action games like one-day cricket or 20-20 cricket to the slower battle of the tests. We also want our meals NOW, that’s why we have microwaves and fast food. We want to sing Christmas carols now and then by the time Christmas is here we are tired of them. We want to see the films now. We want the new products now so we can be first in our social circle to have the latest thing. We want to get better now rather than letting nature take its course. We want the highly paid positions now rather than working our way up the ladder. We want to get paid for our crops now. We want to receive the blessings of retirement now. We want to be wise now. Even emails and mobile phones demand our immediate attention.

Why are we all so busy and feeling stressed out? Because everything has to be done…NOW! But who said everything has to be that way?

Have you noticed how we’ve become so impatient? Is this healthy for us? We have forgotten how to be patient, to watch and wait. We need to re-learn the art of silence. We need to re-learn the teaching of rest and relaxation instead of our constant work and busy-ness.

But that’s not all! We’ve also become passive watchers. What once used to make our blood boil or cause us to cry, no longer affects us or moves us to action. Many of us were deeply affected when we first saw the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre buildings or the Bali bombings on our television screens. But what about now? Terrible atrocities seem to be reported on every night in our news bulletins. What is our reaction? Not another terrorist attack that we are tired of hearing about. It also seems as the amount of violence increases on our TV screens, the less we notice it; we become conditioned to it. Violence and terror don’t move us to action the way it used to. The most we do is shake our heads and change the television channel to find something else more appealing.

In other words, we’re becoming people that hide or ignore our emotions. What once used to shock us, we now turn a blind eye to. What once used to terrify us, we now only shrug our shoulders.

Unfortunately this same attitude affects the church. For example, when the Word of God strikes deeply at our hearts, we might just consider it an “itch” and ignore it. When God urges repentance, we self-justify our actions and excuse ourselves from self-examination. When God announces peace, forgiveness, comfort and love, we simply shrug our shoulders as if nothing has happened.

Yet we are called to watch – actively and patiently. The Spirit calls us to action like a concierge standing watch. He calls us to have patience as we wait in constant anticipation.

But just like a scary movie, we might be afraid to watch. Some of us are afraid to look for the signs of the Lord’s coming, because it reminds us of our fragility, our feebleness, our weakness, or our sinfulness. Yet for those in Christ, watching for Jesus isn’t something to fear.

Even though some of the signs Jesus talks about may be scary to some, to Christians they’re something to look forward to. We look forward to them because we’re among the chosen ones!

Since we’re God’s chosen ones, even if the sun were to lose its light and energy, we’ve nothing to fear. Even if the stars were to fall from the sky, we can instead celebrate the coming of the Lord. Even when Jesus comes in glory and many shake with fear, we can clap our hands and cheer our victorious King.

We can do this because we’re among those he’ll gather up into his eternal kingdom. He’s already placed his name on us in baptism, claiming us to be his own. Therefore, confident of his love and faithfulness, we can constantly watch and look forward to his promised return.

This is the story of Advent. When Advent comes, we’re called to watch. We’re to watch ourselves and admit our impatience, our inaction and our laziness. We’re to repent of our busyness that has squeezed Jesus and his word out of our lives. We’re to repent of our sinfulness, but in such a manner that we don’t fear his anger, but instead we are confident of his mercy, compassion and forgiveness.

When Advent comes, we’re called to watch for Jesus. We’re to watch for the signs of his coming and listen to his Words of promise. We’re to look to Jesus who truly comes to us already, hidden in a child born in Bethlehem, hidden in the words of a sermon, hidden in water mixed with his holy name, and hidden with bread and wine that truly becomes his body and blood.

Just like an advertisement announcing the arrival of a film, product or celebration, Advent creates sense of anticipation. We anticipate that Jesus will return, for that’s what he said. Jesus doesn’t lie. His word remains true and valid today as the day he first promised.

Therefore stay awake and watch, actively and patiently! Watch, knowing that salvation is ours and we’re the chosen ones who’ll be gathered up to enter his kingdom. Rejoice that we’ve been selected to enter his kingdom without fear.

As we stand and watch, clinging to God’s word, we’re assured that he’s not far off, but here with us, standing beside us patiently. In this way as we listen attentively, eat and drink eagerly, we’re assured that salvation is ours even now. So the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds as we wait and watch for our coming Lord Christ Jesus. Amen.

The final Judgment.

The Text: Matthew 25:31-46

 As good Lutherans, we’ve all been taught we’re saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. We’re not saved by our good works because we’ll never be good enough. Only Christ is good enough. We believe this.

But at first glance, what Jesus says to us today challenges our thinking a bit. It seems in that great and glorious Day of the Lord when we stand in front of our God in judgment, we’re going to be split up into two teams. These two teams will not compete against each other to see who wins, because the result has already been decided.

The ones selected for the winning team will inherit the kingdom of God, which has been prepared for them since the foundation of the universe. Obviously we want to be on that team!

Why? Because the other team of losers are the ones who will enter the eternal fire of hell, which has been prepared for the devil and all his angels.

It’s entry into heaven or hell. We’ll be blessed or cursed. That’s the choice, but it’s not our choice. God chooses. By this time the result is already decided and we can’t appeal his decision.

So the obvious question is: ‘How do we know which team we’re going to be on?’

You might think from today’s text that the answer seems to be based on good works. In other words, those who do all those good things like feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison, and so on, well, they’re in. They go to heaven.

But if you’re not merciful and gracious enough, then you’re out!

So, how many of us are confident we’ve done enough, we’ve ticked all the boxes and willingly and regularly helped those in need?

I thought so!

It seems that the greatest and most unforgivable sin Jesus mentions here is inaction! If you don’t help, serve, show mercy, or welcome people, you’re in deep trouble!

For this reason, this text has the power to make us very worried! After all, how many times have we not acted when we should have? How many times have we kept our hands in our pockets when we saw someone in need of basic help, and did nothing? How many times have we made a conscious decision not to help, or serve, or provide, or give, or visit, or bless?

How often do we think or hope that someone else will feed them, give them a drink, donate to that appeal, or visit them, and so on? How often do we think it’s only the pastor’s job or the elder’s job to visit the shut in and help the needy?

In this case, when you stand in front of Jesus, how do you think he’ll answer you when you say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, but I thought so-and-so was supposed to do that!’?

Jesus is saying our acts of grace and mercy to other people are not optional, but essential – in fact our salvation is dependent on them!

Well, so far it sounds like if we don’t perform acts of mercy by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, providing clothes for those without, or visiting the sick or those in prison, then we’re not going to heaven!

So does that mean faith in Jesus isn’t essential anymore? Isn’t this a little different to what we’ve been taught?

Haven’t we all been taught we’re saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone and not by what we do or don’t do? Have we got it all wrong?

No, because there’s something else strange in this text.

Note the ‘blessed ones’ didn’t even know they were helping Jesus!

They’ve been naturally feeding the hungry, providing drink to the thirsty, welcoming the strangers, covering the naked with clothing, and visiting the sick and those in prison.

For them it was no surprise Jesus expected them to do these things, because they did it naturally anyway, but the surprise for them is when they did these things, no matter what the person looked like or how they acted, they were doing it to Jesus himself!

So here Jesus tells us he fully identifies himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the sick and those in prison, so much so, that when we provide for these people’s basic needs, we’re doing it for Jesus himself!

This is because Jesus doesn’t abandon the needy, but is there with them in their hunger, in their thirst, in their sicknesses, and in prison with them.

And we thought Jesus is only present in churches! Imagine going to prison and seeing Jesus there! Imagine seeing a homeless person sleeping under a bridge, and that’s where Jesus is!

Now, this doesn’t mean we do these things just because we know we’re doing it for Jesus, but because we’re naturally merciful to all people.

You see, for those who believe in Jesus, helping the needy isn’t an optional extra, but a natural part of their life; a natural extension of their faith in Jesus. In fact only a believer will live in the way this text directs.

To make it plain: Good works won’t save you and get you into heaven. Jesus alone saves you. So yes, you’re saved by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

But what Jesus is saying here is this gift of grace to have faith in Christ alone doesn’t come alone.

The more we are exposed to the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God and his holy Sacraments, the more we receive Christ’s nature. The more of Christ’s nature we receive, then the more naturally we care for the needy because Jesus identifies and cares for the needy.

So, although faith in Jesus isn’t mentioned, it’s implied because:

Only those who have received the grace of God will become gracious people.

Only those fed and nourished by God will feed and nourish others.

Only those visited by God will visit other people.

Only those healed through the blood of Jesus will visit and care for those who are still sick.

Only those clothed by the righteousness of Christ will seek to cover up other people’s shame by clothing them.

Only those who have been freed from the prisons of hate and fear and guilt will go to visit those in prison.

In other words, Christ-centred people will naturally become needy-centred people. It almost goes without saying then: self-centred people will naturally ignore the needy.

Notice we’re not expected to heal people or release them from prison, etc, but simply supply their basic needs – a meal, a drink, clothing, welcoming, and visiting. No big miracles required, just little ministries of grace and mercy. Those who love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, will also love their neighbours, and show it in real, tangible actions. This is something we can all do, no matter how young or how old – just to help as you are able.

All of us have the ability to help those who are vulnerable and needy in society: the ones most other people isolate or ignore, such as the infirm, the lonely, those in nursing homes, the foreigner, the outcast, the unborn, and so on.

Strangely, as we attend to the needs of others, we’re also attending to our own salvation. Notice this doesn’t mean we’re saved by our good works. Again, to make it clear, we’re saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone! But the result of having faith in Christ is our natural service to those around you.

This is because the fruit of our faith is shown – not through our holier-than-thou attitudes or long-winded sermons, but through our actions. Jesus expects good fruit to be produced on a good tree; and good fruit will naturally be produced on every tree firmly rooted in Christ alone. Those who don’t produce good fruit simply aren’t firmly rooted in Christ.

Christ is preparing us through his Word and feeding us with his very own body and blood, which carries his grace-filled and merciful nature to us.

The Holy Spirit is equipping us for works of service which will minister to the needs of those around us – to feed the hungry, provide a drink to the thirsty, welcome the alien or stranger, clothe those not adequately dressed, and visit those who are sick or who feel imprisoned.

Our help may not always be appreciated, but if we choose not to ignore their needs and do these things Jesus talks about, we may be surprised to find we’re feeding and helping Jesus himself.

Then we’ll be on the team surprised to hear those most welcome words of Jesus, ‘Come into the kingdom of heaven which has been prepared for you since the foundation of the universe.’

And may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Do you have Talents?

The Text: Matthew 25:14-30 

Often when we read the parable of the talents we see the word talent and we immediately think of abilities and the things we are good at. We often say of someone who is good at something—you’re talented. But when we look carefully at this parable we see that these talents are in fact large portions of money that are given to each servant to manage. So what might this parable be about?

Jesus uses this parable to teach us about the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus’ parable begins with a man who was about to leave on a journey. And he entrusted his servants with the task of managing his financial affairs while he was away. He divided this responsibility amongst his three workers according to their ability. He gave five talents to one worker, two talents to another worker and one talent to another worker. I guess you could call this ‘diversification’—putting your eggs in several baskets rather than one. Dividing your assets to provide more opportunities for growth and reduce risk.

And then, when the master returned, he called his workers before him to give an account of how they managed his money. Two of the workers doubled what they were first entrusted with and the master was full of praise for them.  He said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servants. You have been faithful in handling these small amounts, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

But the third worker did nothing with the one talent that he was entrusted with. He had simply buried it. When this worker gave account of his actions, the money was taken from him and given to servant with ten talents.

Now, in Jesus days a talent was used in two ways: it was used as form of currency and also as a measure of weight. Bible scholars believe that for the average worker one talent was worth more than 15 years of wages.

Now if we look at this in today’s environment what might a talent be worth today? In Australia, in 2020 a person on the minimum wage working full time would earn about $40,000 a year. This suggests that in today’s context a talent could be worth at least $600,000 Australian dollars. Can you start to see what an incredible responsibility the master has entrusted to each of these three workers!

Even the person who has received one talent has received an incredible responsibility and an awesome opportunity. If only this servant had recognized this opportunity!

Now like all the parables, we need to look for the principles that Jesus is teaching us through them and ask: what does this mean for us?

Firstly, notice the trust that the master puts in his servants. How he delegates responsibility for so much of what belongs to him to his servants. He believes in his servants. He has full confidence in his servants. Secondly, notice the way he divides the responsibility – that he does not divide it evenly but he divides it according to their ability. In other words he knows the ability of each of his servants and divides responsibility appropriately.

In this parable we may choose to see the Master as Jesus, and we, his church, are his servants. He has given each of us responsibilities. In giving us responsibilities he recognizes our unique ability and gives us responsibilities according to our abilities.

This parabIe has often been interpreted as a frank and simple call to work hard at developing the gifts and talents that God has given us. Sadly, too many of us feel we have failed to fulfill the responsibilities God has given to us.

Maybe we feel we have failed to recognise the responsibilities God first gave us and have failed to try, to take risks, to learn, to grow, to ask questions. Maybe we feel we have failed to use our abilities to fulfill our responsibilities.  The challenge we face is to recognize our responsibilities and use our abilities to fulfill our responsibilities while we have them.

While it is true that God wants us to use his gifts and to multiply them for the benefit of his Kingdom, we are not judged according to the quantity of the work we do for God, nor even by the quality of that work. Rather, we are judged by our attitude: by our willingness to do as God wants us to do, by our willingness to risk all that we have been given for the sake of the Kingdom just as Jesus risked all of himself for our sake.

As Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

But if we reduce the parable of the talents simply to saying that we must be productive for God or else be condemned, then we miss what is so good about the Christian life! We miss the good news of Jesus Christ, the good news of the grace and mercy won for us on the Cross.

If we see this parable as all about productivity, we will end up like the servant who failed to invest the talent that his master gave him. We will end up being afraid—worried more about how well we are doing in the eyes of God than we are about actually doing anything at all.

Consider the servant who buried the talent entrusted to him. He was afraid and he took no risks. He did not see the potential for growth and he buried what he had to keep it safe. He did nothing. In what areas of your life are we burying our responsibilities and not exercising them according to our abilities?

The parable of the talents is not a lesson about success or our degree of productivity. It is a lesson about our attitude and responsibility. It is about faithfully stepping out with God’s treasure in our hands for the sake of others.

The servant was afraid – and so he did not try. What counts is not whether we win or lose, but whether or not we even try. What counts is whether or not we dare to risk those things that God has given us.

What counts is whether or not we invest ourselves in God’s kingdom:
– Whether we take what we have and use it for God’s purposes.
– Whether we pass on the blessings we have received.
– Whether we seek to build community and bring hope to the strangers among us.
– Whether we reach out to those in need and show them the love that God first showed to us.
– Whether we try to multiply joy and divide sorrow.
– Whether we willingly use what we have been given in the service of God.

Do we work with the resources that God has given us for his sake or do we focus on the fact that we might fail and so refuse to try? Do we use the gifts we have been given to build up the church and to bring praise to God or do we use those gifts only for our own benefit?

God gives us many gifts and resources. Why he does so is not always clear, but what God expects of us is clear. God expects us to develop the good things we have so that the world around us can benefit from them, so that those gifts might be fruitful in us, and add to the good things that God’s world needs.

God, like the master in today’s parable, trusts us to do well with his love, to develop the gifts he gives us so that all the citizens of his kingdom may benefit from them. God has blessed you with the priceless gift of salvation. Therefore we have nothing to fear! We can love God and love life. We can take risks with what God has given to us so that others may experience God’s love and his kingdom may grow near and far. Amen.

Are you wise?

The Text: Matthew 25:1-13

 

A famous teacher of the church once said: There are only two types of people in the world – fools who think they are wise, and the wise who know they are fools. What he meant was that the first step towards true godly wisdom is to know you are not wise, for there is always more to learn along the journey of faith. A person who thinks they have no more to learn is the person who still has a great deal more to learn.

In the Scriptures, to be wise does not necessarily mean having a head full of facts and figures. To be wise is not necessarily to be smart. The smart are not always wise, especially when it comes to the things of God; and the wise are not always smart, particularly when it comes to the things of this world.

In an earlier parable, Jesus describes the wise as those who build the house of their faith on the Rock (that is, on himself). He says that the wise are those who not only hear the word of God but also do it; that is, live it out in their daily lives. The fools, on the other hand, though they may hear the word of God, don’t do it; don’t live according to it. Instead they build their houses on the shifting sands of personal desires, opinion, culture, fashion.

Notice in the parable that both the wise and the foolish virgins are waiting for the Bridegroom. In other words, this is not a parable about believers and unbelievers, but about two different types of believers. The wise are wise because they have prepared for every contingency by keeping their lamps filled with oil. The foolish, on the other hand, presume that they have enough oil to get them through to the end. In this parable, oil is faith. The wise keep their faith continually replenished. The foolish think the faith they have now is sufficient until Christ returns.

It is only when the point of crisis comes – the delay of the bridegroom – that they two groups are finally distinguished. Just as the two groups of builders are distinguished only when the storm comes. So, what are we to do? Well first we are to recognise that we cannot manufacture our own oil. Faith is not something we work up in ourselves; it is God’s gift that we keep on receiving from him through the means that he has provided. That’s why true disciples are those who continue in Jesus’ Word. This means not only reading and hearing it but also doing it, for that is faith’s purpose – to shine with the light of Christ, just as the oil’s purpose is to allow the lamp to stay lit.

Wisdom, therefore, is both knowing and doing. Not only does it keep faith replenished and thus prepared for any eventuality, but it also maintains one’s spiritual health. The story is told of someone talking to an old school friend who was telling him about his mother who is dying of emphysema. He said that she now has to be hooked up to an oxygen tank for 15 hours a day, and that the doctors have given her little time left. But the really sad part of the story is that in spite of this, she still chain-smokes more than a packet of cigarettes a day, removing her mask to take another drag. Now that is foolish – not only because she knows better, but also because she is knowingly continuing in the very behaviour that has made her so sick in the first place.

We do the same in a spiritual sense when we continue in a sin, fully knowing that it is wrong and that by continuing in it we are hurting ourselves (and others) and endangering our faith. I think we all have experienced such folly. We all know the lack of peace, the joylessness, the regret, the shame, the hiding and the self-deception and the self-loathing that comes on the heels of committing a deliberate sin. And we know who it is that we abandon when we do so; for sin is not just a ‘no’ to God’s law but to God himself, who is love, and the secret of joy.

That is why true wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, with the wisdom of repentance; of knowing what to do and what to leave behind. Presbyterian minister, Frederick Speakman, tells the story of shaking hands at the door one Sunday when the service was over. As he came back down the aisle on the church after everyone had left, he noticed that some things had been left behind. A bulletin with a shopping list in the margins. In this pew, a pair of gloves; in the next, a pencil on the floor and a lolly wrapper on the seat. As he reached the altar he looked once more at the empty sanctuary and thought to himself, “I wonder what else has been left behind.”

Wouldn’t it be every pastor’s dream to come down the aisle after worship and find other items there. You know, in this pew someone’s deep grief; there, another’s bitter disappointment or sense of failure. In another section some secret sin, real or imagined, not all that important now it had been discarded. Further on, the bulkier rubbish of a badly bruised ego, or the remains of a heated argument on the way to church; or a deep, longstanding resentment between members. Anger, guilt, hurt – all this stuff that so easily beats us up and burns the oil of faith out of us – all swept up and thrown out with the rest of the leftover trash. For it is forgiveness that both replenishes our spiritual resources and greases the community of faith. “Received forgiveness – God’s grace as a renewable resource,” Speakman whispered to himself, “that’s the only thing that keeps us going, keeps our lamps burning.”

In many ways life uses us up; we get burnt out and depleted. But the message of the gospel is that there is also the possibility of replenishment. Drained, we can be refilled as we continue to draw our life from God through the forgiveness of sins. So, if you feel the flame of your faith burning low, then listen again to words the prophet Isaiah wrote so long ago, “a bruised reed [the Lord] will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.” Remember: the folly of the foolish was not that they didn’t believe that the Bridegroom was coming; it’s that they figured had enough oil to last, that they could do it on their own, without God’s ongoing help. But they couldn’t and we can’t, and it is wisdom to realise that.

Meanwhile, we wait for the Lord, and as we wait, we have the option either to stay prepared, or not. It is up to us. So let us be and remain prepared by replenishing our faith through prayer and God’s word and shining Christ’s light to others through our heartfelt works of love and Christian example. And don’t worry that you will get burned out; for Jesus not only gave himself for us on the cross, but he gives himself to us at every step of the journey. “Ask, and you shall receive.” That is his promise to each of us. Ask, and you will find that there is rest and replenishment! There is forgiveness. There is hope. And the wise still trim their lamps with the oil of his grace. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

All Saints Day

Matthew 5:1-12

 

 ‘I feel so blessed’. It’s surprising how much you hear people say things like that these days.

Some of you may know that in the online world of social media and all that people use the word ‘blessed’ quite a bit too, on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook there’s a tag which has been surprisingly popular: ‘hashtag blessed’.

The idea basically is that when something good happens to you and you feel thankful, it’s something people to add to their photo or news acknowledging that they feel some gratitude for their good fortune.

But what’s really interesting about the phenomenon from a Christian perspective is what people understand it means to be truly blessed.

Because as we turn to the words of Jesus, we discover that he has quite a different vision for what true blessedness is. For Jesus, true blessedness is not so much dependent on our circumstances in life, but on the action of God for us in those varied circumstances.

So let’s see how Jesus speaks of true blessedness in three steps today,

First that we are blessed in our helplessness,

Second that we are blessed in our helpfulness,

And third that we are blessed in Christ.

So first Jesus pronounces his blessings on us in his our helplessness. This has to be some of the most surprising teaching for us about what Jesus considers true blessedness. Notice what Jesus speaks blessing into here:

Those who are ‘poor in spirit’ or who are ‘spiritual beggars’.

Those who mourn or are sorrowful.

Those who are meek, lowly, little ones.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

Who lack something,

Those even who are ‘persecuted for righteousness sake’.

Now don’t we begin to see straight away how Jesus has a very different vision for true blessedness in life. Let me tell you, you’re not going to go on the internet and find too many people posting pictures of Christian churches being burnt down and pastors being arrested and put in jail, ‘Hashtag blessed’.

And yet blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you. How about ‘blessed are those who mourn, who grieve, who are sorrowful’?

Here we are celebrating All Saints’ Day. Maybe some of us in this room have had loved ones die in the past year and mourn for them. Others might still carry the grief from the past when you lost someone dear to you.  Still others may experience mourning and sorrow over other forms of loss in life. We don’t normally think of these painful circumstances in life as being states of blessedness do we?

Yet Jesus does. There is blessing in helplessness.

And here’s the really important point:

It’s not blessed are the poor in spirit, FULL STOP.

It’s not blessed are those who mourn, FULL STOP.

It’s not blessed are those who are persecuted, FULL STOP.

In each case the blessing is not because of the circumstances, but the blessing is because in the circumstances God is at work, God is doing something, giving something, bringing something, either now or in the future.

We are blessed because of what God can and will do for us in our helplessness.

We can miss this basic point because the second half of each of these beatitudes is in the passive voice: ‘they will be comforted’, and so on. And so we ask, by who? Who’s doing the action here? When we hear these passives in the Bible, God is the one doing the action.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—for God will fill them with that righteousness.

Blessed are those who mourn, because the Lord your God will comfort them.

Pastors conduct quite a few funerals. One thing they observe around funerals, is that it can be a tremendous time for families and friends to be drawn together. Not always, for funerals can be difficult times in family life too when there’s significant conflict. But often, as one of our funeral prayers say, people are drawn together in their sorrow. They comfort each other, and they receive comfort. It can be quite a wonderful thing to witness.

Now we don’t want to have to go through the grief and sorrow, but even at this human level perhaps we get a glimpse of the blessing of receiving comfort from another in the midst of mourning.

Jesus is saying is that true blessedness can be found even in mourning and sorrow, because God himself – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – will personally comfort us. Remember one of the names for the Holy Spirit is the comforter. That theme came up in our Revelation reading as well, ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eye’. This is a promise of the closeness of God to bring comfort.

So Jesus blesses us in our helplessness.

But secondly, Jesus blesses us in our help-ful-ness. We notice that there seems to be a movement in the list of the beatitudes from situations where people are lacking something – poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry and thirsty  – to the next pronouncements of blessing where people are doing and being something.

‘Blessed are the merciful, for their will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’

There’s an image that one writer uses in this movement of the beatitudes which might be helpful.

“Start by imagining a person down on their knees, in the posture of a beggar. This is where it begins, the poor in the spirit, the spiritual beggar, the one who acknowledges they have nothing to give God, but everything to receive.

What does God do?

He blesses you,

He gives extravagantly to you,

He fills you.

And then he lifts you from your knees and puts you on your feet. So now you’re on your feet, you can do something, you can be active. You can pass on what you’ve received.

The poor in spirit have received mercy from God, now they can be merciful to others. And then as they show mercy to others, they receive even more mercy from God. It’s like a loop of mercy.

Jesus says there is true blessedness on our knees receiving from God in our helplessness, but there’s also true blessedness in being on our feet. Being help-ful. Showing mercy, living pure lives toward those around us, making peace in our relationships, our families, our communities, our church.

Again we can get a window onto this through human experience.

Isn’t this true at a very basic level: that if we aren’t feeling too good about life, and we simply go out and intentionally engage in an act of mercy for other person, that it’s almost guaranteed, we’ll feel better?

This is prominent in the literature on anxiety and depression. A part of the problem it seems is that we’re so easily curved in on ourselves, and there is a true blessedness in us being lifted out of ourselves to look to the needs of others. ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy’.

All Saints’ day is also a day for giving thanks for qualities like these we’ve seen in God’s people who have died. Here’s a quote from the Lutheran Confessions:

“It is also taught among us that saints should be kept in remembrance so that our faith may be strengthened when we see what grace they received and how they were sustained by faith. Moreover, their good works are to be an example for us, each of us in his own calling. 

There’s a nice parallel here with the movement of the beatitudes.

As we remember those dear Christian people who have died, first we are to focus on the grace they received, we remember that they like all of us were by nature spiritual beggars who now live in the true blessedness before the face of God only by his grace.

But secondly, we can also give thanks for the good things they did in their life, and they can be an example to us. Perhaps a mother or grandfather or Christian friend who has died, was an especially merciful person, or strove for purity in their life, or endeavored to live a peacemaker.

Let’s learn from them and follow their example. There is true blessedness in our helpfulness.

Finally, true blessedness is in Christ.

As is so often the case in Jesus’ teaching, He finally is the one who embodies most fully his own words. We hear Jesus give this teaching in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, but then read the rest of the Gospel, and look for the one who actually does it.

Who is the truly merciful one, who is the one who is truly pure in heart, who is it that come to bring peace?” It’s the one who speaks these words, it’s Jesus Christ himself. As we read the rest of the Gospel and look for the one who is persecuted for righteousness sake, we’ll be drawn to Jesus, the one rejected, despised, handed over into the hands of sinful men.

Read the Gospel and look for the ultimate one who is poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry and thirsty. We will find him on the cross.

It’s finally only in Jesus Christ himself that we find true blessedness, because in his death and resurrection he opens up the kingdom of heaven for the poor in spirit, he defeats death so those who mourn can be comforted, he reveals the righteousness of God to those who are hungry and thirsty for it, he makes peace, and he gives it to you as a gift.

True blessedness is found in Christ.

Sometimes people ask, but is all this only for in the future, or is for this life now? According to Jesus it’s both. Six times he promises future blessings, ‘they will be…, they will be…’, But these are bracketed by two promises in the present tense, There is – right here, right now – yours is the kingdom of God.

True blessedness is both now, and not yet.

So what is it to be truly blessed? We all desire it from the core of our being, And Jesus points to the work of God as its ultimate source. There’s true blessedness in our helplessness, there’s true blessedness in our helpfulness, there’s ultimate blessing in Christ. May God grant it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Reformation Sunday

The Text: John 8:31-36

 Some 500 years ago a stocky, German monk with a love of beer and an even greater love of God’s word, took a ten-minute walk from his cloister to the castle church in Wittenberg. On to this insignificant church door he nailed 95 theses – a list of teachings and practices within the church that he wanted to discuss. He’d come to believe on the basis of the Scriptures that there were some problems with the way the church was doing things. And Martin Luther only wanted to speak the truth of God’s Word. So he asked the church to engage in a conversation about the truth.

Luther couldn’t have dreamed of the stink his theses were going to create. The whole of Europe ended up in uproar. Excommunication followed for Luther and others. There was even a bounty placed on his head and princes and knights hunted him down like a common criminal. All because he dared to speak the truth.

The medieval church had strayed a long way from the teachings of Jesus and by 1517 their power and wealth depended on their man-made version of the truth. They’d come to believe that people had the ability and means to earn their salvation. That eternal life could be secured by doing good deeds such as paying money to the church. Luther had lived with this teaching all his life – he did more good works than you or I can imagine – and yet he still knew in his heart that he didn’t match up to God’s commandments. As he studied Jesus’ teachings, he came to realise that the church had distorted the truth and that salvation was supposed to be the gift of a gracious God – not a reward for our good deeds. But as he reminded the church of the truth, he discovered that not everyone really wants to know the truth.

But Jesus makes it clear in today’s reading that the truth is vitally important – but not just someone’s own version of the truth. We will know the truth, he says, when we hold to His teaching. In other words, if we stop and listen to what Jesus teaches, He will reveal the truth to us, and it will set us free. The question is, do we want to hear the truth?

In the Middle Ages the Roman church certainly didn’t want the truth of Jesus’ teaching because they were so committed to their own distorted version of religious truth – a version that filled their coffers and kept people under their control. And today most people don’t want to know the truth of Jesus’ teaching either, because it challenges our comfortable lives and reveals the reality of the struggles we suppress deep inside. If the truth first challenges us and forces us to rethink what’s real and what’s important before it sets us free, perhaps we’d be more comfortable just remaining enslaved to the lies we’ve bought into.

Central to the Reformation and to Jesus’ teaching is the fact that we are born sinful and unclean and cannot save ourselves – no exceptions! Regardless of how good a life we seem to lead, all of us fall short of God’s expectations – we sin. This is the truth. But when we see a beautiful, innocent little baby, we find ourselves challenged by this. How can he or she be a sinner? How can they need forgiveness? Such were the questions that the Roman church had allowed to shape their thinking and practice to such an extent that they believed  we could co-operate with God in saving ourselves – a little bit of money here, an act of charity and love there, would make up for our lapses into bad behaviour. But how much money was enough? How many good deeds would make things right? The end result was that nobody could be certain about their forgiveness – consciences were enslaved to a never-ending treadmill of good deeds and Jesus’ teaching became obscured behind a wall of falsehood.

Jesus’ teaching reveals the truth. And one of the key things it reveals is that we are dead in sin – from the newborn babe to the convicted criminal to the gentle old grandma. In big and small ways, we rebel against the will and ways of God – not just in actions, but in our thoughts and words as well. We tend to think that we’re not that bad – that our sins are not as serious as other’s. But Jesus’ teaching proclaims that all sins have the same consequence, they separate us from God and leave us as good as dead. Now I ask you, can a dead man bring himself back to life? Of course not. And whether we are an infant or an adult, if we’ve inherited our sinful condition and are dead in sin, there’s nothing we can do to bring ourselves back to life. Nothing we can do to free ourselves from this sin and death. Resurrection, new life, freedom from sin and everlasting death have to be a gift of God.

Unfortunately, many people hear the beginning of Jesus’ teaching – they hear the truth about our sin – but don’t hang around long enough to hear the whole picture. Because just as the Word reveals our helpless, sinful condition, it also reveals our help in the person of Jesus. The truth of God does not leave us enslaved to sin and death. It shows us the only way out. Not by our own efforts or understanding. But by the good news of our Lord Jesus, who loved us enough to allow himself to be sacrificed in punishment for our sins.

Luther’s 95 theses nailed to that church door aimed to do one thing. To get the church to remember where our help lies. To open people’s eyes once again to the source of our freedom. To deliver the comfort of the gospel to people in the pews so that they could rest easy knowing that Jesus had done everything to secure their salvation.

We are presented with so many different interpretations of the truth in this day. Everyone puts their own spin on things to try to sell their version. And we’re tempted to pick and choose what suits us – what makes us comfortable, what allows us to do what we want, and what provides us with the least challenge.

Why do we celebrate the Reformation? Well it’s because you and I and the world we live in desperately need this good news just as much as the people of Luther’s day did. We need to be constantly reminded of God’s saving love in Christ. Of our sinfulness and the Lord’s mercy. Of our helplessness and the Lord’s promise to rescue us. We need to be reminded of the truth that when Jesus said ‘It is finished’ – he meant it – in that moment our salvation was secured. No more payment required.

So dear Lord, keep us and our hearts in your Word, that we may know the truth and the truth will set us free. Amen.

Who likes paying tax?

Matthew 22:15-22 

Who likes paying taxes?
Who thinks paying tax is good?

Some of the biggest political questions today are: Who should pay taxes? How much should you pay? Who should decide how your tax money is spent and what it is spent on?

If we had Jesus standing here today, and if I asked Jesus those questions, what would he say? And would you like the answers? It was a political question back then too, even more political than it is today.

When you have an election you get a say in who gets our tax money, and how they might spend our tax money. The overseer of the government in 1st Century Palestine was a king, Herod Antipas. He wasn’t elected to this position but was the king because he had agreed to exercise his rule within the great Roman Empire.

He would remain king as long as he toed their line, which included paying plenty of tax money to Rome. Herod exercised his authority with military might and the political will of the Roman government.

So there was a lot of political feeling about this question about whether a good Jew should pay taxes to the Roman Emperor. If you paid your tax money you were supporting the enemy. If you didn’t pay your tax money you could be arrested for treason.

The Pharisees were good politicians. They resented Jesus, because he was a threat to their petty power and religious status. They wanted to embarrass Jesus, discredit Jesus, keep him quiet, or get rid of him any way they could. They knew how to play the political games.

First, they butter him up. Jesus, we know that you always tell the truth. And that you are impartial, because you don’t consider people’s status.

And then they put the question. They know how to use a question that will force him to incriminate himself or to embarrass him in front of the people.

They have made sure that they are in a crowd where there a lots of witnesses, including people who are opposed to the Romans.

But they have also made sure that there are some supporters of King Herod there as well, who will report him if he says anything against the government.

Their question: Is it right to pay taxes to the Emperor, or not?

Jesus is not a politician, and he is not going to get sucked into their political games.

First, he exposes their devious motives: You hypocrites, he calls them. Why are you trying to trap me?

He knows that their respectful approach is just flattery. And he knows their question is meant to be a double-edged sword.

Their question: Is it right to pay taxes to the Emperor,
really means: is it right in God’s eyes, according to God’s will, in accordance with God’s commands of the Old Testament?

But he knows that they are not really interested in God’s will, except in using God’s commands when they suit their own purposes.

An astute politician would probably say: No comment.
Or try to evade the question. So instead of beating around the bush with their question, he gives them a much bigger picture of life, of life in their community, and life in God’s world.

He uses the question to teach the people a true God-pleasing relationship to their society. And a true God-pleasing relationship to God.

He asks someone to show him a coin. They all had coins in their pockets or purses. You all have coins and notes in your pockets or bags or wallets.

If you look at the coin, whose image is on the coin? Or the note? Queen Elizabeth, as symbolic head of state?

Whose image was on those old coins? Whose name was written there? Emperor Tiberius!

And that is significant. The government is responsible for pressing coins, and printing money. Can you print your own money? Governments tend to frown on people who print their own money.

The government has the right to print money, and if you have the right to make coins that shows that you are the government. And the government has the responsibility of maintaining the value of money.

If you have this money in your pockets, if you use this money for your daily life, then you have a responsibility to the government who provides the coins. Yes, you have a responsibility to pay your taxes.

Money was a very important invention that allowed societies to grow and become more complex. Now you produce something or provide some service, and you earn money. And you use that money to buy something that someone else has produced. That is the basis of the very complex financial systems that we have today.

But for Christians there is another dimension. Work is not just work – work is serving. Whatever you do, do it to glorify God, and to serve the needs of people.

How can you serve people who are long way away, whose needs are beyond your ability to help? Money can be a way of reaching them, as you give for their welfare according to their needs, so that they can afford to get the help they need.

This brings us back to taxes. What are taxes? You can think of taxes as a means of service. Taxes are the means of serving the community as a whole. Our taxes provide for our roads and our hospitals and our defence and our education. You are serving the people of your community, as together you are providing for your own needs.

You are also providing for the needs of people in your community who do not have the means to provide for themselves. If you have needs, you may also be benefitting from those means. So your taxes are a way of sharing, according to needs.

There are still always questions of how taxes should best be administered. But when you compare a community that has fair taxes, with a community that has no taxes, because it is has no effective government, then you can even be thankful for taxes.

You may even be able to pay your taxes with a smile. And you may be able to dedicate your taxes – God use these taxes for the benefit of many people.

So give back to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. Pay the coins that have the image of the Emperor stamped onto it.

But that is only half of Jesus’ answer. And pay to God what belongs to God.

What belongs to God? We often think that this means give some of your money to the government and give some of your money to God.

But I do not think that is what it means, and I do not think that is what Jesus intended.

Pay to the Emperor, because the Emperors image is on your coins. Pay to God, what bears the image of God.

Where do you find the image of God? Where do you look if you want to see the image of God? Look in a mirror. Look at yourself.

Think back to the story of creation. God created the world, everything in the world, and every creature in the world. Then God created human beings. In the image of God he created them. Male and female he created them. God created us, as human beings, in his own image.

What does that mean? It means that we are different to all of God’s other creatures. It means that God has put something of himself into us. Not in a physical sense, because God is beyond any physical image, but in a spiritual sense. God has breathed his Spirit of life into us.

It means that God has created us to share in his creation, and to pass on his gift of life. It means that God has created us to share a relationship with himself.

It means that God has given us a will to serve his will, to know and choose and do what is good and right and holy. It means that we have been created to live with God forever.

But we know that we have sinned against our God. As a human race, and each of us individually, we have sinned against our God.

Which means that this image of God in us has been spoiled. We have trouble seeing the image of God in one another. We have trouble seeing the image of God in ourselves.

Our sinful selfishness gets in the way. It ruins this relationship with God. It blots out life the way it should be, the life that reflects the image of God.

Our God has given us Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God coming into our world. But now God is in a form that we can see, God with a real physical human presence. St Paul says that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation, the image of the invisible God.

Jesus is God coming to us. And Jesus shows us what human life, our life, is, and what our life should be.

Not only shows us. Jesus brings us back to God. Jesus overcomes our sin. Jesus restores our life. Jesus gives us God’s Spirit anew. Jesus gives us a whole new life,
a life formed again according to the image of God.

So where is the image of God? The image of God is in you. You have been created in the image of God. As Christians, you have been re-created by the salvation of Jesus Christ into the image of God.

Now, pay to God what belongs to God. Pay to God, give to God, what has the image of God imprinted onto it. Give to God yourself. Give to God your own life.

That is the challenge that Jesus gives. To receive our life as God’s precious gift, God’s precious gift given twice over. And then to give our live to him. Because we belong to him.

To give our lives for serving him. For worshipping him. For loving him. To dedicate our lives as we trust him. And then to dedicate ourselves to serve as Jesus serves.

With a deep love that reaches out to other people, in all their needs, a love that embraces them into the love of God.

Jesus challenges us to see ourselves, and all of our lives, as an opportunity to live for our Lord, to serve and to give.

Now, it is not just how much money do I think I should give? Yes, our money belongs to God too, the money that we present as an offering, but also all the money that we need and spend for every purpose.

Now there is no room for silly political questions. Now there is just one question, one spiritual question. How can I best give myself to my God and Lord? Amen.

You are invited

The Text: Matthew 22 1-14

Have you ever been to a themed party where you had to wear a costume to get in?

In the Northern Territory, bush sports weekends often have a ball on the Saturday night, even though everyone is camping out in the bush in tents or swags. The ladies get dressed up in their fancy dresses and the blokes put on a tie. In fact if you don’t have tie, you don’t get in. But so that no one misses out, the organisers often have a collection of ties at the door so that any man who doesn’t bring one could put it on and meet the dress code.

This I think gives us a clue as to what Jesus was on about in his parable where the man is thrown out of the feast. He didn’t have the correct celebration clothes on. But how did all those others get the right clothes?

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:

2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Kingdom parables often begin with that word “like”, or the ESV uses the phrase “can be compared to.”

Not everything about heaven is ‘like’ a wedding feast, but there are some similarities. We need to know what are those similarities and where does the likeness stop.

For instance Jesus doesn’t talk about the drunk uncle boozing up in the corner, or the bride who over indulges – he tell us the things that are similar.

Invitations go out, maybe even save-the-date-invitations, sometimes months in advance. In the parable the first recipients don’t want to come; some are too busy on the farm, others in the office and then the rest of them kill the messenger. It is obvious by where Matthew has put this parable who these people are. The invited guests are the nation of Israel, especially the religious leaders, the Scribes and Pharisees. The same nation who killed the prophets, God’s messengers. It matches exactly with the previous parable we heard last week.

However, this parable is not in the Bible so we can point the finger. As those who have heard the message of the Gospel, we also have the invitation. This parable is now a warning for us, to not be like the Pharisees and ignore the invitation. The invitation is quite simple, all it requires is for us to believe the Gospel – that our righteousness is not righteousness at all and that we instead need the righteousness of Christ. Christ’s righteousness is our only hope to stand before God with a good conscience and receive his favour. The problem with the Pharisees was that they looked to themselves and mistakenly thought that God would be pleased with them by how they measured up. We are tempted to think like this too. We are inclined to think, ‘I’m a good Christian’, or ‘I’m not as bad as those other people’. When we think like that, we’ve become self-righteous and when we are self-righteous we have decided we don’t need Jesus and we’ve rejected his invitation.

So the self-righteous are out.

The party must go on, the feast is ready, the tables are spread, the wine is about to flow, so we need some guests.

Bring in all those who never thought they would ever get an invite!

Just we would at our wedding, God invited his family first, his people, the nation he had chosen. When the tables are not filled he brings in all those who are left on the streets, good and bad. He doesn’t send them home to get dressed, he doesn’t give them a chance to get busy, he just brings them in to the feast. Truth be told this was the intention all along, that the whole world would be invited, but the Scribes and Pharisees don’t realise that.

Weddings have a dress code, guests need to wear the right clothes. But none of those dragged in off the street would have been suitably attired, yet they are all dragged in.

Why is it that one person is singled out as not being dressed correctly? Shouldn’t all those rushed in at the last minute be in the same situation? Obviously not, somehow they managed to meet the dress code, to put on the right clothes. The only logical conclusion is that the host graciously provided clothing for his guests. How else would they have met the dress code? But one obviously wouldn’t receive the gift, he would not put on the free clothes.

So who is he like?

The clothes that we are provided when we are rushed in at the last minute to the feast, rushed in at that last minute to heaven, is Christ’s righteousness. We see it all through the New Testament, and even in the Old, ‘Put on Christ’, ‘be covered with his righteousness’. That is the dress code for the feast, either perfect obedience where we fulfil the law ourselves – that’s impossible – or righteousness that is not our own but a gift of the host.

All those who missed out on the feast were self-righteous. The one singled out for not wearing the right garment was self-righteous because he obviously didn’t think he needed to put on anything else than his own clothes. He was good enough in himself. He had a take-me-as-I-am attitude. But he wasn’t good enough in himself; only one garment gets you in and that is the righteousness of Christ. The nation of Israel were self-righteous and the incorrectly dressed man was self-righteous; the warning for us is not to be self-righteous, but to put on the righteousness of Christ.

We put on this righteousness every day, and sometimes many times a day. Whenever Christ proclaims his forgiveness to us he puts his righteousness on us. Every time we see that we are sinners and receive forgiveness, Christ puts his righteousness on us. Jesus didn’t say ‘the kingdom will be like’ as if it was to happen sometime in the future, he said ‘it is like’, it is happening now. The king has already been crowned, the table has already been spread and we are already living in the kingdom. We might not see the table, the food or the wine, but the feast is happening, heaven isn’t waiting for us to die or be ready before the celebration can begin. The celebration is continuous, and we need to be dressed in his righteousness in preparation and participation.

This parable must be a warning to us on both accounts. We are just like the nation of Israel, in that we have the invitation but are inclined to reject it saying; ‘I’m too busy’, ‘I’m shearing this week’, ‘I’ll get to that another day’, or ‘I’ve got a crop to plant’. We have the message of salvation but are we accepting the invitation?

This is a warning also not to think we deserve to be at the feast without the proper clothes. It’s a bit rude really that a man dragged in off the street after being offered fresh clean party clothes would not put them on. It’s not as if he deserved to be there in his own right, so we must realise we don’t deserve to be at the feast in our own right, but we are assured that our clothing is provided, new and bright, ready for the celebration.

While the celebration is continuous in heaven we get a taste of it here on earth, not just as we put on Christ’s righteousness when we receive forgiveness, but also when we join in his heavenly meal kneeling at the table. So we get a foretaste of the feast that is yet to come for us, but is already in progress.

You are invited to the feast of the King!

And the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.