Hebrews 12:1-2
Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Beginner and Completer of our faith.

            In these last four years we have seen trials and troubles, drought, fire and flood; pandemic; death and for some family break up. Life in this world is hard. Imagine being driven out of your country, fleeing an army coming to slaughter you; being in a city as walls and buildings collapse around you; being rejected by your family and friends, being locked away not allowed outside. Now, I’m not talking about fleeing Prussia or Ethiopia, or the war in Ukraine, or disownment because of conversion, or even those Covid lockdowns; rather the Exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, Rahab seeing her corrupt city’s walls fall around her, David rejected by his people for a time, and Samson imprisoned. There is nothing new under the sun. God’s people have always struggled since our first failure in Adam and Eve when pain, tears and death came into the world. And yet God came to help, He comes to save.

            The saints of old suffered because of their own sins and the sins of others. In the face of that sin, in the face of death, and before the face of the devil; they suffered, yet God provided for them. The Lord God gave them strength! “Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; they shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; their weakness was turned to strength; and they became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.” You know these saints, Joshua, Josiah, David, Daniel, Elijah and Elisha. You know what God has done through them and for them in their struggles, the same struggles you now face.

            And yet God did not take their suffering away. “There were those who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.” They suffered sickness, cancer, rejection and ridicule even by their own family, their own children. “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God has planned something better for us so that only together with us they would be made perfect.” That we would be made perfect in Jesus, by His suffering, death and His resurrection and ascension.

            Before Christ, the Old Testament saints were longing for the reconciliation to come, yet they could not see or understand what God was doing. Now with Christ, in the Year of our Lord 2022, we know Jesus our Saviour and Lord. We know what He has done for us and all people, all His Creation. United in Him, we join His suffering, His joy, His peace, and His faithfulness; yet still often we cannot see what God has done. And so Lewis, John, Ruth, Bev, Geoff, Joy, Vee, and Bill also joined Christ in His suffering and death and in His Resurrection being made children of God; yet still not seeing God’s promises fully come to pass.
We have commended them into God’s care, put in a eulogy, a good word, for them because of their faith. Yet God has planned something better for us all, that all together at the end of this world we will not just see the fulfilment of His wonderful promises, peace, joy and love everlasting; not just see Jesus; not just see each other; but also hold each other, and dwell with each other forever. This is the Resurrection when this fallen world finally passes away with all brokenness, corruption, pain and death passing away with it. When all those things that separate us, sin, hurt, death, and not enough hours in the day, when all these things that separate us pass away and we dwell together, with all the saints, with Jesus the founder and completer of our faith.

            He is the one who began the good work in you, and He is the one who completes it. He is the one who sends the Holy Spirit from the Father to guide you and draw you to His gifts. He is the one into whom you were baptised, united with Him in His life, death and resurrection. And He is the one who gathers the souls of those who fall asleep in faith, bringing them with Him wherever He goes. And finally He is the one who will raise the dead, the faithful to continue in His love together forever, and those who reject to continue in their rejection and hatred of Him forever. Now we see as through a dirty glass, but then we will see the truth clearly (1 Corinthians 13:12); that as we are in Christ, you are surrounded by all these saints whose souls rest in Jesus, resting in peace as we together await the consummation of God’s promises. You are today surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, even if we cannot yet see; these who kept the faith despite all that the world and that pathetic devil threw at them. Who through many of the same sufferings you face, by the strength the same Spirit provides, stood against the same enemies, and now stand together with Christ in Victory.

            This is our goal, to stand with them in the Resurrection, in Christ. So throw off all the things that hinder you and the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing your eyes on the goal in everything you do; your focus on Jesus the author and perfector of your faith, on Jesus who began and completes your salvation and the salvation of all the saints.

            So together with this great cloud of witnesses, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now and to life everlasting. Amen.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Luke 12:40
You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.

            In a little over a week from now, my family and I will be driving out of Dubbo toward Biloela. Are we ready? No. To be honest it’s an overwhelming thing to have to leave those you love, and the work you’ve done in the garden, and the connections you’ve made in the communities, and the hurts you’ve caused and the failures you’ve made. To leave the stability you’ve found in this world, and uproot yourself, your spouse and your children and drive off to another place. It’s an overwhelming change, and yet it will be nothing in comparison to the coming of Christ. I’m packing to leave on Tuesday week, and I’m not ready. Christ might come tonight. Are you ready?

            Are you ready for this world to pass away? Are you ready to die tonight? Are you ready to never sin again? Are you ready to give up all your plans for this world and rest in the everlasting work of God? If you are, act like it. Provide for those in need, those in your family, among your friends, especially among your brothers and sisters in Christ. I’ve been told that, in the past people spent time to save money, yet now we want to spend money to save time; but money doesn’t fix every problem, often time with another is what is needed. This is why a pastor who visits is much more loved than one that doesn’t, yet it doesn’t have to be the pastor to come and listen, to eat a biscuit and lead another sibling in Christ to prayer. You can bring the love of our Lord to each other, you be Christ to one another, after all that is who every child of God is called to be. You are called to be Christ; to live in His life, death and resurrection, to love as He loves and serve as He serves. And that is who we will be when Jesus returns either to take you home, or to make all things right.

            This is why we do not need to fear. All the things that may terrify us, pain, loss, death; those things we fear, hurt, failure, sin; all the awful things, hate, murder, the demonic; Jesus is greater than all these. For in Him all things are made right with God. Jesus is stronger than all demons; the Holy Spirit more powerful than the zeitgeist, than the spirit of the age; and of course Our Father in Heaven is far greater than any king, president or prime minister, or father on earth. So do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
Do not be afraid of the future, for Jesus is coming back in glory; do not be afraid of your past failures and sins, for you have been reconciled with Our Father in Christ; do not be afraid of lacking a full time pastor, for you have the Holy Spirit the greatest and most caring companion and guide. And you have each other, the kingdom of God; distance cannot separate us who are united by God’s love, not even death can separate us from Jesus or each other. As we gather in Christ’s presence, we gather with every Christian, every saint, from the beginning of Creation to now, and with all the angels, with Michael and Gabriel, we sing and glorify the King of kings!

            And yet we don’t see this treasure. We await that time when Christ finalises His victory, like servants waiting for their master to return from a feast; He won’t abandon His people, He won’t forsake His Kingdom. And so we wait, for 2000 years the Church has waited, now Phoebe joins us as we await Christ’s appearing in glory; the rest at the end of this fallen world, when He comes, our treasure, God’s love, joy, peace and life everlasting with all our brothers and sisters in Christ; the destruction of sin, death and the devil. What a wonderful gift to Phoebe and to all of you, Christ Himself, His eternal life, His victory. And today a foretaste of this treasure, a family right here! We might not see all the heavenly hosts, or all the saints from across the world and who have fallen asleep in Christ; but I see you and you see me.

Thank you for your love and for showing me Christ, and God continue to bless you through His Word through His sacraments and through each other. This is how we prepare for the life to come, to live in Christ now, to live in His Words and live in His authority, to live in love and trust with other Christians and for the benefit of all people and all Creation. This is the way of life the Son of Man will bring when He appears in glory, are you ready for it?

As you await our Lord, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now into the everlasting life. Amen.

The Text: Hebrews 11:1-6, 8-16

Your Faith in God Is Your Most Precious Treasure

There is a lot written in our newspapers these days about trust. Our political leaders are calling on us to trust them even though many people feel they have betrayed our trust. Perhaps that’s why God’s Word says, “It is better to trust the Lord for protection than to trust anyone else, including strong leaders (Psalm 118:8).” So much of life is a matter of trust. If you don’t have faith in the safety of aeroplanes, you’d be reluctant to fly on them, just as it’s important to trust our doctors for our health’s sake. The playwright G.B. Shaw believes “We have not lost faith, but we have transferred it from God to the medical profession.”

Yet the remarkable thing is that so many people still see their faith in God as their most precious possession. What you believe is the most important thing about you, will make all the difference both for this life and for all eternity. The kind of faith today’s text speaks about is something we can be sure of. We are assured that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (v1).” Faith in God is defined as a conviction that inspires confidence in God and leads to God-pleasing actions. The first example of God-pleasing faith in Hebrews 11 is that of Abel’s faith-inspired worship of God. The desire to worship God is in itself a significant form of faith. The truest expression of trust in God will always be worship.

A faith that loves to worship God pleases God immensely. One of the best ways of showing our love for someone dear to us is by praising them a lot. We show our love for God by our praise, thanks and adoration of our Creator. We say that actions speak louder than words. Worship is faith in action for the benefit and blessing of both ourselves and those around us. We can worship God on behalf of absent family members, relatives and friends, as we plead with God to be as merciful to them as God has been to us. Our worship of God together seeks to get us thinking more about others than about ourselves. Worship is education in unselfishness. Worship seeks to make us other-centred in our thinking and our actions.

This is what made Abraham’s faith so praiseworthy. His whole life was one great adventure in faith as he obeyed God and left his homeland for Canaan. Although Abraham engaged in lies and deceit on more than one occasion, his faith enabled him to think of others and put their needs ahead of his own. Abraham let his nephew Lot choose the better land for his flocks and herds. When God informed Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham interceded on their behalf and pleaded with God to spare them. God encouraged Abraham to listen to his wife Sarah and heed what she said. “Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you (Genesis 21:12).”

Sarah’s faith in God enabled her to make great sacrifices. She had to wait a long, long time before she became a mother. At first she laughed at the impossibility of becoming a parent in her old age. But when God said, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”, her misgivings turned into faith as she looked forward to God fulfilling His promise. We’re told that she received strength to conceive because “she judged that God who has promised would keep faith (v11).” When her son Isaac was born, Sarah confesses, “God has brought laughter for me (Genesis 21:6).”

The heroes of faith celebrated in Hebrews 11 are less models for us than they are part of that great “cloud of witnesses” already in our Lord’s presence, urging us on to run the race of faith with diligence and single-mindedness. “And what of ourselves? With all these witnesses to faith around us like a cloud, we must throw off every encumbrance, every sin to which we cling, and run with resolution the race for which we are entered, our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom faith depends from start to finish: Jesus who, for the sake of the joy that lay ahead of Him, endured the cross, making light of its disgrace, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).”

Abraham is mentioned seventy two times in the New Testament. The writers of the New Testament believed that Christ’s coming into our world has made it possible to recapture the pristine faith of Abraham, a faith that continually pleases God. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, made it easier for us to believe by becoming one of us. The God we believe in, love and trust, is a Christlike God. Jesus Christ is God with a human face and a human heart, overflowing with a love for you that is both human and divine.

Faith in our Lord expects great things from Him. Expect little from your Saviour and you will receive little, but if you come with eager expectation, you will be blessed beyond all your expectations. In the Gospels, our Lord honours the faith of all who come to Him for mercy and help. When two blind people come to our Lord asking Him to have mercy on them, Jesus asks them, “Do you expect that I am able to do this?” After they say, “Yes, Lord”, Jesus responds, “According to your faith let it be done to you.”

The first thing that Jesus seeks from those who come to Him is faith. Faith in Christ alone is so powerful it suffices initially in the absence of other virtues. Often Jesus first wants faith, before He performs a miracle. Faith in Jesus needs to be constantly fed if it isn’t going to shrivel up and die. God’s Word says, “Faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ (Romans 10:17).”

Christ-centred preaching strengthens our convictions about our Lord and all He has done for us and seeks to still do for us. Faith enables us to view life differently from those with no faith. Faith in our Lord gives us both insight and super-sight. Jesus said to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory (John 11:40)?” In other words, “believing is seeing”. Faith enables us to see God all around us where we didn’t see Him before. Faith involves believing in advance what often only makes sense in hindsight. We cannot rely on our feelings, but we rely on God’s promises to sustain our faith in our Lord. We can trust God to keep His promises. Our prospects for the future are as bright as the promises of God.

One Monday a man went to his pastor to complain: “Yesterday I was filled with joy in the service but now all is gone and I do not know what to do. All is dark as night.”

His pastor replied, “I’m glad!”

“Glad?” asked the astonished man, “Glad! What do you mean?”

His pastor continued, “Yesterday, God gave you joy, and today He sees you are resting on your emotions instead of on the promises of Christ.”

You see, our feelings are like the weather; they change from time to time. They’re not necessarily reliable indicators of the state of our faith. When we feel depressed about our faith, we must focus on our Lord’s promises like John 10:27-28:”My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of My hand.”

For the person stressed and worried about how she’s going to care for her elderly parents, God gives a promise: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).”

For the parents fearful about where their wayward child is, worried about whom he is with and what he is doing, He gives a promise: “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you (Hebrewws13:5).”

For the out-of-work person desperate to get a job, God offers a promise: “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).”

William James, a great psychologist, described a time in his early life when he was in the grip of a deep despair. “Fear was so incisive and powerful that if I had not clung to Scripture texts like “The eternal God is my refuge”, and “Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden”, and “I am the resurrection and the life”, I think I should really have gone insane.”

Our faith is sustained and strengthened by constant exposure to God’s Word, on which we can fully rely and completely trust. At present we walk by faith and not by sight. But one day soon, faith will give way to sight.

“So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).”

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).” Amen.

The Text: Luke 12:13-21

Better a Poor Farmer Than a Rich Fool

Few things are sadder than family members fighting over an inheritance. The possibility of gaining from a substantial inheritance can turn lambs into wolves. Imagine interrupting a sermon to seek help to get more wealth! That’s what the brother in today’s Gospel does. In dispute over assets, this man wants Jesus to decide in his favour. Both brothers are captive to covetousness. The man with the lion’s share of the inheritance could have divided it equally with his brother.

No mediating of one dispute by our Lord will solve the deeper problem of the human heart. People who covet what they don’t have are unaware of their covetous attitude. A priest has reported that in 25 years of hearing confessions, he’s heard every sin confessed except that of covetousness! The man who seeks Jesus’ help wants the broken relationship between he and his brother finalised by complete separation. Jesus points out that He hasn’t come as a divider. He’s come as a reconciler. He wants to reconcile people to each other, not to finalise divisions between them. Reconciliation will require the petitioner to gain a new perspective on himself.

Receiving his portion of the inheritance won’t solve the antagonism between the brothers, for the issue is greed rather than justice. Jesus’ parable seeks to change human hearts, to free them from being possessed by their possessions. His story of a “successful” farmer is a subversive story. It calls into question so much of what we hold dear in our culture. Our culture holds up successful people as an inspiration for us. Any book with the words How To Succeed In …   in the title is assured of large popularity.

The farmer in today’s Gospel is an outstanding success in earthly terms. But Jesus calls him a dismal failure in what really matters, what matters eternally. The irony of success is that it can limit as well as expand our horizons. This farmer was locked in by his success. What he’s mastered had come to master him. No other story is so full of “I” disease. In its short space, there are eight “I”s  and four “my”s.  All goes well for him in his business. His wealth isn’t ill-gotten. There’s no mention of him being a bad employer. Many people see nothing wrong with his attitude. After all, he’s acting with prudence and common sense. Our modern society would consider him an eminent success.

It is significant that in light of the gregarious nature of life then, the rich man dialogues only with himself. He has no one else with whom he talks. He consults no neighbour or friend to exchange ideas. His speech is pitiful. This affluent person has arrived! He has made it! And he needs an audience for his arrival speech. He exclaims, “Who will rejoice with me?” He can only address himself, his only audience!

This self-serving individual deals only with things – things like the bigger barns he’ll build, the profit he’ll make from selling his grain when the prices go up, and the richer selection of food and drink for himself to indulge in. The greatest good he can imagine in life is maximising his own pleasure. It never enters his head to give to the needy, or to assist the poor. He has no need of anyone else. He lives only for himself. Not only does he give no thought to thanking God for his huge harvest, he reveals that he’s forgotten that his own body is mortal and he won’t necessarily live on for many years. The existence of others has totally dropped out of the picture. His formula for the “good life” is sheer stupidity. He cannot take any of his immense possessions into the grave with him. In his hour of greatest need, all his possessions will prove of no use to him.

Though this man may have had nothing to say to God, God had something to say to him: “You fool! This very night your life is being required of you (v.20).” The verb “to require” is used for the return of a loan. His life was on loan and now God, the Owner, wants the loan returned. Jesus makes it clear that our lives are not our own to do with as we like, but are a gift from God. God thunders to the rich farmer: “Look at what you’ve done to yourself! You plan alone, build alone, indulge alone and now you’ll die alone.”  The man doesn’t know who will end up with his assets and riches after his death. A fool is someone whose plans end at the grave. Was there ever a more searching question concerning the meaning of life than our Lord’s question, “What does it profit any of us if we gain the whole world, but lose our lives? (Luke 9:25)”

There are few things our Lord condemns more than greed. He attacks the false evaluation of life in economic terms. As if we can measure life in such narrow terms! Greed prevents so much generosity from occurring. Greed never delivers all the benefits it promises, benefits like peace of mind, security and happiness. We need five things for a reasonably contented life: (1) food; (2) clothing; (3) shelter; (4) medical care; and (5) the means to purchase the first four things. Jesus doesn’t oppose an appreciation of the good things of life. The best way to enjoy all the good things God has given us is by thanking Him for them. Nothing sustains joy and happiness better than gratitude.

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord” for life and health and daily food. “Life doesn’t consist in the abundance of possessions.” Life consists in the abundance of God’s undeserved goodness to us. God’s goodness is first of all evident in His gifts of family, friends, and neighbours. Where would any of us be without all that our grandparents, parents and siblings have done for us? Relationships with others are the true God-given riches of life. Relationships take time to keep together. Sadly, we see marriages breaking apart because couples are not spending sufficient time with each other. We hear of children becoming estranged from their mothers and fathers, because their busy parents haven’t spent sufficient time with them.

Advertisers give people unrealistic expectations of the benefits of material goods and possessions. God never meant these things to be the focus and goal of life. A TV interview with someone who had lost his home and possessions in a fire provides a vivid contrast to the rich fool in Jesus’ parable. He recalled that his brother had recently said they should avoid letting their possessions possess them. The victim of the house fire announced to the TV reporter with a note of unexpected triumph: “I am a free man now!” Jesus can free us from being enslaved to our possessions.

Jesus came into our world to help us become rich toward God. We become rich before God when we accept God as the Giver, and all we have as His gifts to us. We’re rich as far as God is concerned when we see the existence of everyone else in our lives as God’s gifts to us. We see and acknowledge faith, hope and love as life’s true riches, and Jesus Christ as God’s crowning gift to us. Thank God, His Son Jesus Christ shares the riches of His love, goodness and glory with us. “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).” Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life in all fullness and richness (John 10:10).” It’s a life too rich and wonderful to end in death. Let this good news of great joy possess you and overwhelm you with all its glorious possibilities.

Those who are contented with what God has given them are truly rich indeed. What better can we hope for in this life than God-given contentment? “Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these (1 Timothy 6:6-8).” The more grateful we are for all we have already, the more contented we will be. Saying “I love you” as often as possible to those near and dear to us fills them with a sense of contentment. We can be content in the knowledge that what God chooses for us is better than what we may choose for ourselves.

Better a poor farmer than a rich fool!

“Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him? (James 2:5)”

Amen.

Text: Luke 11:1-13

 

It’s wonderful, isn’t it, when someone tells you they’re remembering you in their prayers. It can lift your spirits marvellously and transform your day. Today’s Gospel encourages us to pray. It seeks to impress on us that our prayers are welcomed by God and responded to as He sees best. Prayer is an essential part of being a Christian. Faith in our Lord and praying to Him belong inseparably together. Prayer isn’t just one expression of faith among others. To believe is to pray, because prayer is our response to God speaking to us in grace and love. The deepest expression of faith is to seek good things from God in prayer. So then think highly of your prayers, because we have God’s Word to trust that He welcomes them and encourages them.

God wants the best for you. He responds to your prayers in ways that are best for us. In prayer God either gives us what we ask for or something better. The great tragedy isn‘t unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer. God won’t let your prayers be for nothing or be wasted. Our spiritual safety and protection lie only in prayer. It’s the strongest shield we have against the devil. Prayer is the door through which God enters our home, our workplace and our community, in order to bless us in unexpected ways. When we pray we’re, as it were, sitting at Jesus’ feet speaking to Him as one friend to another. Prayer is an expression of Jesus’ friendship with us and our friendship with Him.

Prayers in the Bible display a fervour and frankness not often seen in prayers today. They remind us that God seeks honesty from us in our prayers. God is thrilled when we honestly face ourselves and bring our real needs to Him. The weaker our faith, the more essential is prayer. The degree of our faith is the degree of our praying. Luther said, “Prayer is the most important thing in my life. If I should neglect prayer for a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.” No one can say their prayers are poor when they’re using the language of love. There’s nothing that can lead us to love someone as much as prayer can. The most important purpose of prayer may be to let God love us as He listens to us. What a wonderful expression of love listening to someone is!

Prayer changes us in ways we never dreamed of, for the blessing and benefit of those around us. A bad prayer is better than no prayer at all because we learn to pray by praying. When we’re feeling low, prayer seeks to take us out of ourselves and into our Saviour’s healing presence. For prayer is first of all about communion with our Lord to maintain, sustain and strengthen our friendship with Him. It’s more about having a conversation with Him than about presenting Him with a shopping list. Prayer is both a gift and a duty. The Lord’s Prayer is His gift of grace to us. It is one of the greatest treasures of our Christian Faith.

Jesus’ disciples had recently heard Jesus pray a prayer of thanksgiving to His heavenly Father. So now in order to pray like Jesus did, they ask Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” This is the only time they ask Jesus to teach them anything. Jesus knows of no better prayer He can give us. He gives it to us in two versions with the version in St. Luke’s Gospel slightly shorter than the one in Matthew 6. In this prayer, Jesus lists the things we need to pray about every day. The purpose of the petitions is that we’ll never have an excuse not to pray. The Lord’s Prayer opens our eyes to our real needs. In the first two petitions, Jesus invites us to identify with Him as God’s Son. In the next three petitions, our Lord identifies with us and our human needs.

Jesus prayed in a revolutionary way, by addressing God as “Father”. He used the title and form of address of “Father” for God more than any other. By doing so, Jesus changed the way people viewed God. “Abba” means “Dear Father”, that is, God as someone near and easy to approach rather than someone distant and aloof from us. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus invites us to either address God as “our Father in Heaven” or “Father (Luke 11:21).” A father is someone who is close at hand and approachable at all times. The Father whom Jesus reveals to us is the Father of prodigal children who continues to think fondly of us even when we’ve wandered away from him. He’s our ever-present help in trouble who sympathizes with us in our distress and wants to share it with us.

Fathers delight in giving to their children. So our heavenly Father wants above all to give us the Holy Spirit to pray for us when we’re weak and vulnerable. Our heavenly Father acts towards us as His Son Jesus acted towards little children, the sick and the needy. If someone wants to know what God is like, we point them to Christ. Our God is a Christlike God. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9).” He is a model for earthly fathers. There’s no one more like a father than God. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus reveals to us a Father who provides for our daily needs, forgives and protects us. Fathers know what their children want, but love it when they ask for these things. So it is with our Father in heaven. “Father! To God Himself we cannot give a holier name (Wordsworth)” That’s why Jesus wants us to honour God’s name and treat it with reverence and awe. To love and honour His name is to love and praise Him. God’s name represents His nature, His works and words. Jesus hallowed God’s name by showing us why God is worthy of our worship, honour and glory. God’s power is released on us when we do that. God’s holiness is revealed when He reveals His glory to us, especially in and through His Son Jesus. His glory is part of the majesty and beauty of His holiness.

God has vested His name on us as His children. His reputation is at stake in how we live. We praise and adore His name in our worship together because His name for us is all about His gifts of hope and love, joy and forgiveness. We hallow His name by eagerly hearing His Word and gladly putting it into daily practice.

Where God’s name is so honoured, there His Kingdom with all its unique blessings embraces us. Wherever Jesus went, He brought the good news of His Kingdom to those who welcomed Him. The secret of God’s Kingdom is that its King is our Father. Jesus says to us, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Through baptism we’re brought into God’s royal household as His adopted children. God advances His Kingdom through its embassies, our churches, and through us as its ambassadors. As its ambassadors, we pass on and promote God’s work of reconciliation so that living in reconciliation with one another, the routines of daily life can become celebrations of love. “In the Kingdom of God, eating and drinking aren’t important. The important things are living right with God, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).”

The next petition concerns our daily needs, which Jesus wants us to pray about. “Give us day by day our daily bread”. The technological development of our modern world only seems to increase our sense of insecurity. The more scientific our world becomes, the more insecure we feel. God wants us to trust that He will provide for both today and tomorrow’s needs. “Our bread” reminds us of the unselfish nature of Christian prayer. We pray the Lord’s Prayer for each other, on behalf of one another. There’s no room for any prayer that seeks advantage over someone else. Gandhi said, “There is enough food in our world for everyone’s need, but not for anyone’s greed.”

“Daily bread” involves everyday necessities, not luxuries. It includes caring fathers and mothers, healthy children, pleasant people to work with, good government, good friends and good weather. Here we acknowledge that God is behind all that goes right in our lives each day. Instead of taking everyday blessings for granted, this petition leads us to receive them with gratitude. “We are conscious of that, in normal life, so much more has been received than we have given, and that it is gratitude that first makes life rich (Bonhoeffer).”

We need God’s forgiveness, God’s most characteristic quality as our heavenly Father, as much as we need daily bread. Forgiveness is God’s barrier-breaking, future-opening gift to us. “Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and blessedness.” Forgiveness meets our longing to make a fresh start in our relationships with God and with one another. Forgiveness means you can live as if today is the first day of your life, because God promises to remember no more the sins He has forgiven. Passing on God’s forgiveness to each other frees us from past hurts and resentments and helps our love for one another to grow warm instead of cold. A school boy, after confessing his sins to his school chaplain, was reassured of God’s love and forgiveness. He then rushed outside and turned cartwheels right across the football pitch. The reassurance of God’s forgiveness can make us want to turn cartwheels of joy, in spirit at least. What a priceless expression of love is forgiveness!

“Save us from the time of trial” is our battle cry. We realise how easily we can be tempted to sin. Here we need our Father’s help more than anywhere else. It’s a prayer we pray for each other as well, realising how vulnerable we are to giving in to what we know is wrong. Here we pray that we won’t be caught off guard when we’re tired or depressed, but ask Jesus to pray for us as He has promised. Jesus prays on your behalf to His heavenly Father: “I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but I ask You to protect them from the Evil One (John 17:15).” God’s Word reassures you, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing He will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).”

Victory over a time of temptation and testing brings you closer to Christ and more grateful than ever for all that He has done for you. When you then face temptation, pray passionately, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”. God knows how to rescue you from temptation in ways that may surprise you. In this petition, we pray that we will always remain citizens of God’s eternal Kingdom until we hear our Saviour’s words, “Come, O blest of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you (Matthew 25:34).”

In conclusion, remember if you’ve had an earthly parent who let you down, God is the most reliable Father you can have. “There’s no one more like a Father than God is (Tertullian).” Amen.

Text Luke 10:38-42

Easily distracted

 

We are a society distracted by many things, like Martha.

Text messages – Facebook messages – Twitter messages – Snapchats – come all the time to distract us.

You go out for dinner these days and the diners aren’t talking with each other, they are looking down at their phones. Conversations are interrupted by the need to check out a text message or answer a call.

They are distracted by many things.

But in today’s Gospel Reading we are talking about a different type of distraction. We are talking about a distraction away from God.

There are many distractions in our lives that take us away from God, as it did to Martha.

It reminds me of the time when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and asked to join him. Peter was fine while he was focused on Jesus, like Mary was. But as soon as he was distracted, like Martha, by the waves crashing around him he began to sink. The waves of fear and worry distracted him. Just as the waves of worry for Martha about getting things right at home for the guests distracted her away from Jesus.

So too the waves of fear and worry distract people away from God. Martha had gotten to the point of her worry that her work had stopped being a joy and vocation to God and had become a distraction to her faith in God. It had therefore stopped being a blessing to her and others and became a source of worry and anger.

Martha obviously had the gift of hospitality, making sure everything was right to welcome Jesus, but had become distracted by the worry. Instead of being a source of blessings to others it caused a division between her and her sister Mary.

It is easy for us also to become distracted by the worries of life and believe that we have to solve our problems rather than taking them to the Lord in Prayer. Like Martha, we have all been given a vocation in life by which we can serve God and our neighbour.

However, Martha’s distraction now saw her go to Jesus antagonised and angry with Mary. The love of God and neighbour was gone.

Our human nature can easily turn our love for God and neighbour around where we love ourselves only and forget to use our gifts to serve God and our neighbour. As Christians that’s where we can easily find ourselves, as we are reminded in the Parable of the Sower –

The seeds that were sown among thorns were the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the distraction of riches choke the word.

And so we need to keep coming back to the feet of Jesus and allow him to remove those thorns in the flesh in our lives.

This is where worship plays a vital role in the life of the Christian to keep breaking that cycle of distraction. We need to see our worship in the same way that Mary sees it as it nurtures our faith to keep us focused on our vocation as serving God and our neighbour.

We need to see our worship as sitting at the feet of Jesus being nurtured for our life for when we leave to go into our daily vocation and not as a duty to God.

And remember that vocation is not just employment. It is how God uses you each day as mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, sister, brother, friend.

Just look at how the distraction affected the 2 sisters of Mary and Martha. Sadly, to many Christians, church becomes another task in their already hectic lives. And when that happens we can begin to see the friction between brothers and sisters in the faith.

We become distracted by the tasks rather than the service of God. Church should never be seen in such a way.

No, it needs to be seen in the light of what Paul says about the church being the body of Christ where the riches of God’s glory have been placed.

And so the message of Martha and Mary also speaks a message to the church that its core message is always the Gospel that has freed us from our cares and burdens. The church needs to help us place our burdens on Jesus who says – come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.

The gathering around the Word and the Sacraments is not another thing for the Martha in us to add to our schedule. Remember, Jesus is the host here and we are the guests.

We are called to be Mary here and be prepared for our vocations as Marthas in the world. Martha had sadly confused the two.

The Gospel allows us to revalue our gifts to become our calling and vocation rather than a burden that distracts us away from God.

How do you see your life?

Do you see what you are doing as a burden, like Martha, or do you see it as a calling and vocation from God, like Mary. The work that Martha was doing was not the problem. It was her gift and calling. But she had let them distract her away from her service towards Jesus.

Martha does not let her gift of hospitality become a service to God but a distraction from the spiritual blessings that would come from it. The work she was doing needed to be done – but allowing them to burden her the way they did was the issue.

Our lives are going to be busy and burdensome at times. But in our busyness and burdens we are energised by our worship life and seeing our work as a vocation and calling by God.

Jesus didn’t say – you shouldn’t be burdened – but come unto me you who are burdened and I will give you rest. You can find that rest in your worship but you can also find it each day.

Luther in his Catechism teaches us how:

In the morning when you get up, make the sign of the holy cross and say: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. Then go joyfully to your work,

In the evening when you go to bed, make the sign of the holy cross and say: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then kneeling or standing, repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. Then go to sleep at once and sleep in peace.

Begin each day at the feet of Jesus. End each day at Jesus’ feet – and see how a new perspective of life comes on you. Our identity comes from Jesus Christ not from the work we do.

So when our work becomes our identity, like Martha, then the burdens take over as it did to Martha.

When our identity comes from sitting at Jesus feet, like Mary, then the burdens are easily transferred to Christ to receive his rest.

So choose the better part – choose to sit at Jesus’ feet and it will not be taken away from you. Amen

Dt 30:14
No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it.

            Do you remember passing by McDonalds, and a child asks their mum, “mum can we have Maccas?” the mum replies, “No, we’ve got food at home”. How often do we look away from what we have, to say, ‘the grass is greener on the other side’? To forget the wonders we have been given, sun, clouds, rain, the precious breath of life; and chase after other things we don’t have or need. Of course we need food, drink, shelter and community; yet we don’t need all the money, power, or pleasure that the world can give. However, sometimes mum’s home cooked food gets boring; it’s not as exciting as Macca’s; so off we go to try and find something better, forgetting mum, her food and her love, and going out into this world of wealth, power and pleasure.

            Now Moses, after leading God’s people from Egypt through the desert to Moab, calls God’s covenant people together. He lays out God’s Law to them again and says, “if you listen to the Lord your God and keep His commands and decrees that are written in the Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul; He will delight in you and prosper you.” (Deuteronomy 30:9-10). Then Moses says, ‘this is not difficult or beyond your reach.’ Wait a minute … To keep the 10 commandments is not difficult? To remember and keep the 600 odd other decrees is not difficult? What is God saying here? What is the Holy Spirit teaching through Moses? Is it that you should look to yourself for your salvation, whether you checked the boxes or not? No, rather that, just as Christ and the Apostles taught, when God makes you alive, when He frees you from slavery and gives you the treasures of His Word, even Himself; don’t forget Him or throw those gifts away even if you get bored of them. Simply put, live the life of Christ that you have been given, then you won’t cause Him pain.

            Yet so often we see and hear people give up listening to God and reject the life He has given. Throughout the Old Testament we see the Israelites constantly chasing after other gods, reaching up to bring spirits down from the heavens, like Baal the storm god, or reaching down to bring up omens from the dead, as Saul went to the witch at Endor, or reaching out to other lands for their salvation, when Jonah fled toward Spain. And today so many Christian people are tempted to chase after wealth, power, pleasure, all sorts of things, all sorts of gods. And so often we feel bored with the gifts of God, we read novels or magazines rather than God’s Word, we listen to the radio or TV instead of reflections on God’s Word, we obey the commands of the broader culture living first as Australians then perhaps later as Christians. Reaching for salvation, for comfort, for truth, apart from God. This is sin, and it leads us away from Jesus, the one who loves you and gives you life.

            Even if you may be bored or tired, why should you give up the treasure of peace, love and joy in Christ. Have we forgotten our first love? Are we chasing after other things running into idolatry, into adultery? Can we not come back together to Christ, gather around Him not just of a Sunday, hear His Word together? This Word you have here by your side, not something far off that you need to run a get, you know what He has said, the Holy Spirit has even preserved His Words in that handy little book. Can we not come together to sing glory and thanks to God with the songs of scripture and the songs we know, as well as the good songs that God might drop into our laps? Can we not dust off our hymnals and pray these written prayers and be guided by the Psalms, the litany and the prayers of the Church in your own prayer lives? Remember and celebrate the festivals we have recorded, lighting candles for the saints who now live hidden in Christ on All Saints Day, use the season of Advent as prayerful preparation for the coming New Creation in Christ, perhaps water games for the Baptism of Jesus, and think of how this community could celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit’s fire at Pentecost, could remember the conception of Jesus on March the 25^th, how as a community we can enliven and encourage each other, in our day to day, to see the treasures of what God has put in your pocket, your ear, your heart.

            You have the greatest and most precious gifts in all of creation! Do not forget it! More than Maccas’ more than green grass, even more than mum’s home cooking, you have the Holy Spirit, you have Jesus. You have the One who sustains all life, you have your loving Lord and Saviour. What wonderful Good News, God Almighty is not far off, He is here now with you and He is for you.

            And so the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now unto life everlasting. Amen.

Pastor Joseph Graham.

Galatians 6:8
Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

            Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. You reap what you sow. If you act to please your flesh, forgetting your soul, from your flesh you will reap destruction. If you act to please the Holy Spirit, from Him you will reap eternal life. What is Paul saying? He is telling us what the Law of God teaches, what happens most everyday in this world; that drunkards sow to please their fleshly appetite and reap alcohol poisoning and death; that those who live according to God’s way receive blessings, like Elijah taken to heaven in chariots of fire, or like those who pray for small blessings that God grants like a parking spot. And yet this is still God’s Law, how you are to live and what will happen as a result: You reap what you sow.

            At the end of this wonderful letter to the Galatians, Paul returns to the Law of God, to how we are to live. He has said that the Law was our guardian, a harsh schoolmaster; He has said we are now free to live in Christ. He has told us of Christ’s victory over sin, death and the devil; of how Christ saves us, of the promise of salvation kept and guarded by God’s people from Adam to John the Baptist. That by trust, by faith in this promise Abraham was made right with God. That it is in trusting Jesus that we have a good and right relationship with Him, after all what is a relationship without trust? Yet now Paul points to your life, how this works out after Christ has started His work, after He has begun speaking with you and you with Him. What does God’s promise mean for your life?

            It means you live by the Holy Spirit. It means you do not live according to the flesh, your own selfish and bodily desires. It means you can live according to the Law of God given by Jesus and enlivened by the Holy Spirit. This is the third use of the Law. As a short refresher, we can talk about three ways we receive God’s Law, curb, mirror and guide. It is a curb in that God’s Law keeps us from sinning (you will not murder). It is a mirror in that God’s Law reveals to us our failings and sin, our need for Jesus. It is a guide in that it shows us, who live in Christ, the right way to live with God and other people. And it’s this third way, the guide, which Paul applies today. That when one lives against the Spirit, we are to restore them to God’s right way gently; to care for those who have known Christ and been a part of the Church, yet have fallen for a time, be that 10 minutes or 50 years. That we together do not weary in doing good. That, as often as we have opportunity, we do good to all people and especially to our brothers and sisters in Christ, those of the Family of God. To carry each others burdens, here in this congregation, amongst our members here, especially those struggling or unable to gather with us. Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the Law of Christ. By this you live according to God’s Law, to let yourself be guided by these words given by the Holy Spirit who lives in you. To live by the Holy Spirit.

            Yet it is not your prayers that died for you. It is not the money and loving care you give that paid for your ransom. It is not your abstinence that stands victorious in the Highest Heavens. It is Christ Jesus our righteousness. He is the one who has made you right with Him, who has given you the Holy Spirit that you might live by the Spirit. It is His work that saves you and He is the New Creation, God and humanity at one, Creator and Creation reconciled. So, with Paul we may never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to you and you to the world. In Christ you are dead to the corruption in the world, you are a New Creation; therefore let the corruption in the world be as though it is dead to you, just as death is dead to Christ. For if anyone falls into sin and rejects the promise of God, they receive the wages of their sinful works. Death. But for those who fall into sin yet turn back to the promise of God, their sinful works are taken from them and they receive the wages of their life in the Spirit. The Life of Christ. So boast in the Cross of Christ, for it is His Work that forgives and reconciles; yet don’t be lazy in the faith for now you have life you are called to live it.

            And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now unto life everlasting. Amen.

Pastor Joseph Graham.

Galatians 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free; Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

            For freedom Christ has set us free! I graduated from school 12 years ago. The next day I rode past a school bus near my school; “Ha! I never have to do that again,” I thought, “I’m free!” Young and free, the whole world before this teenager; work or study, adventure, love, fear and danger; this young adult: free. But free for what? Last week we heard that God’s Law was our guardian, like a harsh schoolmaster; yet now that Christ has come you are free! Free from school, free to go out and live, free to make your own choices. But what choices will you make? Will you respect your old schooling, or make a new way? What now will you do?

Today there is so much freedom across the western world. You are free to study, free to work, free to own land, free to marry whoever, free to divorce, free to do so much that our ancestors even 200years ago were not free to do. So much freedom, so much choice that people are creating their own answers as to what they are free to do. But we don’t always make good choices, if you are free to travel the world, free to live as a different gender, free to work or to just brood in a basement; if you are free yet don’t stand firm in what is good, true and beautiful then you submit yourself again to slavery, burdens and suffering. We hear this in the news all the time, the pain amongst broken families, the troubles of substance addictions, riots and shootings; those people who, not standing firm, are influenced, pushed this way and that, by so many things, dreams, movements, politics, ideals, idols. So many, being free, submit themselves to these false and deadly gods.

Is this the freedom we are called to in Christ? No! Of course not! For you were called to freedom and life, not the burdens of sin and death; so do not use your freedom as an opportunity for these things, rather serve one another through love. (Galatians 5:13). The devil is defeated, yes, but that does not mean that the demons are not now at work. We are tempted by the ads we see and hear, by your body’s selfish desires, even by stray thoughts in our heads; by our enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil. These are what our guardian, our school master, taught and protected against. God’s Law prepares us for life with Christ. Now that we live free of our guardian; will we respect it and the Holy Spirit who gave it? Or do you freely submit yourself to sin? To porn, impurity, sensuality, sorcery, strife, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, and things like these? These things trap you, enslave you, and kill you. Perhaps your body desires them, yet these acts, doing or causing these things and fulfilling those desires does not bring peace only pain. These evil works destroy the gifts God has lavished on you, doing them kills faith and drives away the Holy Spirit, this is why Paul can write that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. God does not save you so that you can kill yourself again. Christ does not give you life so that you can throw it away. The Holy Spirit does not give such great gifts, even faith, even Himself, so that you can despise Him and throw Him out. You are not free to sin.

You are free to live the life of Christ. You here today, forgiven and made new in Jesus, are free to go out and live a life free from submission to sin, death and the devil. To live in accord with the Holy Spirit and with the Law He gave. For all who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. This is why you broken people come together to be reformed by God’s Word, to be conformed to Christ. So, you are now free to respect all of God’s Word, the most troubling or obscure text of scripture and chiefly the Gospel of Christ; and free to respect all of God’s Works, His allowance of all your pain and suffering and chiefly the Cross of Christ. For it is in His Gospel and His Cross that you find the answer to your sin. It is God’s Word and Work that heal you. Jesus has defeated your sin and death, and the demonic powers at the Cross; this Gospel is given for you clearly and assuredly in Baptism, in the Absolution, His words returning you to the grace of your Baptism, and in Holy Communion. In Baptism your sinful self is drowned, slain again by Christ’s Word in the Absolution; and in Holy Communion, you share in Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the defeat of sin, the devil and death. The Holy Spirit either comes into you, or if we have not chased Him out, sustains the life of Christ in you. This is the wonder of God’s Word and Work for you here today; He promises you He has dealt with your sin, He has given you life stronger than death, He has cut you free from any demonic influence. Today you are free; For this freedom Christ has set you free!

So now we live by the Spirit! He produces in us who trust Him love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. There is no law, no crushing burden, that comes with the peace of God, joy does not hurt. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. If Christ has set you free from sin and worry, live as the righteous and faithful people He has freed you to be.

And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now unto life everlasting. Amen.

Pastor Joseph Graham.

Galatians 3:24
So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.

            My son is two years old, and he has a guardian. He goes to childcare once a week, and there he is protected and guided by the workers. He’ll go on to school and for 13 odd years he’ll be taught and protected by many teachers and staff. Then he’ll go out into the world, either work or study, but he won’t have a guardian. When my son becomes an adult he will no longer have a guardian because, if the guardians have done their work well, he won’t need one.

            Now God’s people had in the beginning proven that they needed guidance and a guard. And so God provided clothing; He kept them away from the precious yet dangerous trees; He destroyed the evil corruption by the cleansing waters of the flood. It’s not unlike a parent clothing their child, keeping the glassware locked away, and washing off filth. And then God made a covenant, began anew a relationship, with Noah; then with Abraham; then with all the people of Israel through Moses. Now every relationship begins with some ground rules; for instance, when you meet someone new you might give them a handshake, but you don’t slap them across the face; so God lays down the ground rules for His relationship with His people. These ground rules, or family rules, are what we mean when we say, ‘the law of God’; these ground rules the first five books of the Bible, also called the Law, were the guardian for God’s ancient people.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. These writings are how God formed His ancient people. These are the stories that the Israelites told to their kids, it was Israelite and Midianite rather than cowboys and Indians; kids grew up wanting to be like Abraham not Superman; and they sang the wheels on the chariot (fall off in the mud) when they went on their school trips. As we read the history of God’s people, truly we see how immature they were. How little respect they had for their relationship with God Almighty; and how like a child they needed a guardian, a guide. Thank God, He did give them these books, and the Prophets to speak to them and a book of songs to sing. But did they listen to their guardian? No, like so many children they didn’t listen to their guardians, to the guidance given. They did not trust their teacher, and they went their own way; rejecting the guardian’s protection God’s people ran into danger.

And how often you do the same, failing to be faithful to God’s family rules? This is not the fault of the guardian, it was not the fault of God’s Holy Law that Israel adulterously worshipped idols, it is not the fault of good teachers that a child shoplifts. These ground rules set by God, this way of living in God’s family, is not bad or wrong; but when you break it, the Law punishes you severely. The Law says every sinful descendant of Cain was killed by the flood. The Law says the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire, them and their land. The Law says when some priests and Levites worshipped incorrectly, they were consumed by fire and the earth. Like a harsh schoolteacher the Law of God brought the fear of death as it taught God’s people what sin and wickedness is. The Law of God is Holy and Good, against it’s harsh light your sin stinks as the thickest, darkest stain of dung.

“So the Law was our guardian until Christ came.” The Law of God protected, prepared and taught God’s people, like a boarding house can do until the children mature, until the time is right. “Until Christ came that we may be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” So what is the difference between the guardian and Christ? The Law of God shines a light on your failure and sin, when you hear its condemnation, you should shudder; yet the Law cannot fix you, it cannot live your life for you. God’s Law, His family rules, cannot make you part of the family; what makes you part of the family is either begetting/birth or adoption. It is not God’s Law that justifies you, it is Christ. When you are convicted of your sin, of your failure; do not rely on Genesis, trust in Jesus. Genesis, like a good school teacher, does teach you how to live with God, yet it can’t take away your sin, it can’t make right your relationship with God. This is why we don’t have a lecture hall for a church building, yet why the sermon still has a place. After all, this is a house of prayer, not a hall for study. This is a gathering together with Christ.

As we gather here, Christ comes and renews the promises at your baptism; when you were adopted into God’s family, when this relationship was certified and publicly made known. You, in Christ, are forgiven! He speaks to us in the readings and we speak with Him in song; having a chat before the meal. We together consider all the family, and what this family is all about; as we pray the prayer of the Church. Then we get ready to have a meal, communion with the family.

But the Law does not come to the table, the school teacher is not part of the family. We can respect the school teacher, but they are not your father, and they are not a son. This is why Paul can write: “in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” You are publicly part of this family by God’s work in Baptism, not by your obedience to the Law. You are not baptised into Genesis; you are baptised into Jesus. You derive your identity not from Adam or Eve, but from the Only Begotten Son of God. You do not rely on your school teacher to make you live with Jesus, because you are already living in Him. As Jesus says, wherever two or three are gathered in my name I am with them, I in them and they in me; This is the effect of His Ascension, this is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work at Pentecost and beyond. God’s people were being taught and prepared up to the time of Christ, now mature we are called to live and work with Jesus by the strength the Holy Spirit provides. To care for those in your family with Christ’s humility, to love your brothers and sisters in Christ, to be open about the wonders Christ has done in your life, to daily join Christ and all God’s family in prayer. Yes, respect God’s Law as good and right and true, yet trust in Jesus and live the life He has given you.

And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now unto life everlasting. Amen.

Pastor Joseph Graham.