The Text: Luke 6:20-31  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Luke 5:1-11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The story of the Fishless Fishing Folk illustrates this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen.

The Text: Luke 4:21-30  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And he still does today.

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

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

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

The Text: Luke 4:14-21

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

What would you consider to be your special gift or talent? Are you grateful to the Holy Spirit for it? Every Christian has been endowed with a different gift or gifts by the Holy Spirit, not just for their own benefit, but also for the blessing and benefit of others. The gifts you’ve been given complement those given to your fellow Church members. Some gifts, like that of leadership, are more visible than others. The less visible gifts aren’t any less valuable for the work of the Holy Spirit than the more visible ones.

So much of the best work done for our Lord is done behind the scenes; seen only by Him. Christians who have accomplished great things for Christ have often done so with butterflies in their stomachs and feelings of inadequacy. You see, if everything always went well, we wouldn’t need to constantly seek our Saviour’s help and His transforming gift of forgiveness.

Only too aware of our inadequacies, we thank God for the wonderful gifts He has given to our fellow Church members. The mark of a true charismatic Christian is a love for fellow Christians, praying that God would richly bless them too. The Holy Spirit doesn’t bless us for our own personal gain, but in order to build up others in love, confidence and commitment. We’ve often overestimated the value of the “extraordinary” at the expense of the “ordinary”.

The Christian life is lived out amid the activities of daily life, but in an uncommon Christ-shaped manner. The Holy Spirit can transform the routines of everyday life into celebrations of love that will surprise us. The Holy Spirit isn’t primarily at work doing miracles but the Spirit loves helping us in our weakness and helping us to pray aright.

The Spirit helps us in our weakness – what immensely comforting good news that is! That’s why Jesus urges us to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit. “If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13).”

In the Christian community at Corinth, St. Paul sought to correct an over-emphasis on a few spectacular gifts of the Spirit like speaking in tongues. They had too narrow a view of the Spirit’s gifts. Speaking in tongues is no more spiritual than the gift of wise administration. Some of the Spirit’s gifts surface only when the need arises.

Unspectacular gifts like encouragement, discernment, service, helping others, showing mercy, practising hospitality and praying for others are more valuable for the life and growth of a Christian community than spectacular gifts. As St. Paul points out in the next chapter in 1 Corinthians, that beautiful chapter on love, spectacular gifts are of no value without the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of love.

St. Paul doesn’t want us to be gullible. Not everything that claims to be from the Spirit is from Him. Every gift we employ is to bring glory to God rather than to us. We read in 1 Peter 4:11a, “Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking with the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ.” Everything the Spirit does is for the common good of the whole Church rather than for the benefit of any one individual only.

The first gift mentioned in our text is that of wisdom. Wisdom is thoughtful application of knowledge and insight. Wisdom involves speaking the truth in love. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy (James 3:17).”

The next gift – that of knowledge, involves more than head knowledge. It involves knowing Jesus more and more personally and intimately, and experiencing Him with us in all the joys and sorrows of daily life. The Spirit’s gift of knowledge centres on Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom. The outcome of this knowledge involves making contributions to those in need and responding to them with words of kindness, care and concern.

Regarding the gift of healing that is given to some Christians – this gift doesn’t give the ability to heal everyone who comes for healing. St. Paul didn’t heal everyone or even his close friend and colleague, Timothy. Nor was St. Paul healed of his “thorn in the flesh”. God lets some weaknesses remain in us so we never cease to depend on Him for help. We’re all of equal worth with each other in our weaknesses!

St. Paul rates the gift of Christian communication or prophecy especially highly.  He tells us that “those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding, encouragement and consolation (1 Corinthians 14:3).” He rates the practice of encouraging and consoling others far above speaking in tongues. To prophesy in the New Testament involves telling others what Christ has done. To speak of the blessings and benefits He’s brought us, to Christians in need of comfort and encouragement. The New Testament calls David a prophet because of the solace and comfort his psalms offer us. Where would we be without the comfort Psalms 23 and 46 give us?

We are prophesying, according to the New Testament, when we apply verses from God’s word to someone who is in need of the help contained in these verses of Scripture. We offer them comfort from God’s word in order to strengthen and fortify their faith. We offer Christ Himself in that very word to them.

Prophecy in the New Testament deals more with the present than with the future. Prophecy in the New Testament is Christ-centred. It focuses on the immense difference for good Jesus Christ can make in our lives now, as the Holy Spirit keeps our focus on Him as our only Lord and Saviour. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).” As Lord, Jesus is our Benefactor to whom we give our total and complete allegiance. “All the prophets testify about Jesus that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name (Acts 10:43).” Prophesy has to do with what Jesus is saying through His word to the Church today.

God’s word and His Holy Spirit are inseparable. Through the sacred Scriptures, the Holy Spirit seeks to set us on fire with love for our Lord and for one another. For love is the greatest gift the Holy Spirit gives us. “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal … Now faith, hope and love remain, these three; and the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:1, 13).” Love is the greatest gift because through faith, love unites us to our Lord, and through His love we are enabled to love others forever.

From the letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, we see the Holy Spirit doesn‘t give up on lukewarm churches, but pleads with them to regain their first love for our Lord. Some of the most moving words in the New Testament are addressed to the lukewarm church in Laodicea (and to all our churches today). We need to pray often, “Come, O Holy Spirit, revive your Church beginning with me.” Next we will ask the Holy Spirit to immeasurably bless the gifts He has given both to us and the fellow members of our congregations to bless these gifts in new and exciting ways.

“So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith (Galatians 6:10).”

A prison chaplain was so discouraged by the lack of response to his work that he was thinking of resigning. He went sailing to give himself time to think about whether or not to resign. Then the thought came to him, “Every day I stay on that job is a victory. I win by just staying there.” We too, win by staying where the Holy Spirit has placed us. He promises to bless our prayer-shaped faithfulness beyond our imagination.

Have your own way, Lord, have your own way!

Hold o’er my being absolute sway!

Fill with your Spirit, ‘till all shall see

Christ only, always, living in me!

Amen.

The Text: Luke 3:15-17, 21, 22; Matthew 2:11     

 There is always a bit of a dilemma at this time of the year. Two important observances on the Christian calendar coincide at this time. On January the 6^th it is the day of Epiphany. Epiphany commemorates the first revelation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles (the non-Jews), represented by the visit from the Magi (those exotic visitors from the east, more commonly known as the three wise men). The festival of Epiphany originated in the Eastern Church (the Orthodox Church), where it at first included the actual celebration of Christ’s birth, and was second only to Easter in its importance.

But at this same time we have the first Sunday after the Epiphany which focuses on the baptism of our Lord in the Jordan River. Epiphany means manifestation and it is at the baptism of Jesus where he is clearly manifested as the Divine Son of God. So, we are left with the dilemma of which important theme to focus on: the revelation of Jesus as a Saviour to the Gentiles or the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God in his baptism. Well, this year we can take the ‘bull by the horns’. And given that a bull has two horns we can deal with both events, making comparisons between them.

Firstly, we have the Magi from the east who sought out this new king. They saw signs in the heavens that a great ruler had been born in the land of Judah. And so, they travelled hundreds of miles to present their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These gifts were indicative of the homage they were paying to this newborn child.

The gold was obviously a precious gift, representative of the worth the Magi saw in this child. The frankincense and myrrh were also historically associated with royalty. In the Old Testament book Song of Songs we hear both mentioned in relation to King Solomon: Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant? Look! It is Solomon’s carriage… (Song of Songs 3:6-7). Gold, frankincense and myrrh were certainly gifts fit for a king.

But in the life of the Israelites these items were significant for another reason. Worship was the lifeblood of the people and their worship took place in the Temple in Jerusalem. This was an elaborate building made according to the specifications of God himself. God was both the architect and the interior decorator of the Temple complex and he determined the way worship was to be conducted. And in Exodus chapter 30, we read of three important items featuring in this worship: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The myrrh was used in the high priest’s anointing oil which was used to consecrate the most important vessels in the Most Holy Place in the Temple (Ex.30:22f). The frankincense was used at the entrance to that same Most Holy Place to help symbolise the presence of the Almighty God with his people (Ex.30:34f). And the altar upon which the frankincense was to be burnt, and which was itself anointed with myrrh, was overlaid with pure gold (Ex.30:3f). So, these were fitting gifts for a king, but they were also items that represented the presence of God with his people.

These were very appropriate gifts to be presented to the child who was also known as Immanuel – which means, ‘God with us’! We have no idea whether the Magi were aware of the symbolic significance of their gifts. But it is more than a little ironic that these non-Jewish, Gentile visitors bowed down and worshipped Jesus as king with the same items used in the Jewish Temple worship! Quite a significant offering!

And then some 30 years later we come to the baptism of Jesus. Even though only three decades separate them, this event in the Jordan River seems worlds apart and centuries removed from the visit by the Magi. It is hard to imagine that the two events occurred in the same lifetime. The visitors from the East seem almost mythical and unreal in comparison to the baptism of Jesus – as though they were mere phantoms in the night.  

Far more believable and indicative of human nature is the incident at the Jordan River. The people in this instance travelled for miles to come and hear what John the Baptist had to say – but from the surrounding region rather than from an exotic land far away.

The response of the people was reserved and uncertain. They were waiting expectantly for something – but they weren’t sure what. They wondered in their hearts if John himself might possibly be the Christ. On the other hand, the actions of the Magi in worshipping Jesus were far more decisive. And the people did not come to the banks of the Jordan bearing any elaborate gifts. They came empty-handed, unless of course you count the offering of their sin and their need to repent. Hardly gifts fit for a king!

But herein lies the unique nature of this king Jesus. John the Baptist indicated that Jesus was the one more powerful than he, the thongs of whose sandals he was not worthy to untie. But although he deserved all honour and glory and praise Jesus did not come to receive gifts from his people. He came to bring them.

Jesus does not in the first instance require us to offer him our wealth, for he came to seek us out in our poverty. Augustus Toplady, the author of the hymn Rock of Ages, recognised this truth when he wrote:      

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to your cross I cling;

Naked, come to you for dress; helpless, look to you for grace.

Jesus our King comes bearing gifts more valuable than gold, frankincense and myrrh. He comes bearing a cross. He comes bearing our salvation. And having won for us our salvation through his death and resurrection he now gathers us into his kingdom and bestows on us his wealth through the gift of baptism.

As John the Baptist declared: He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16). And when it comes to our baptism into Jesus Christ the gifts from the Magi can help us get a handle on what we receive through baptism.

Firstly, we have myrrh which was used to anoint kings and special items in the Temple. At his baptism Jesus was anointed by the Spirit and God declared: you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased (Lk.3:22). In baptism, Paul told Corinth, God anoints us, sets his seal of ownership on us, and puts his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor.1:21-22). Our baptism therefore acts as our coronation. To the Galatians Paul wrote: You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (3:26-27). In baptism we receive royal robes of righteousness, fit for those belonging to the kingdom of God. 

In addition to this, myrrh was also used in embalming. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to help preserve the dead body of Jesus (John 19:39). This acts as a good reminder of the death that takes place in our baptism. The old Adam is drowned and a new creation arises from the water. As Paul wrote to the Romans: Don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (6:3-4).

Secondly, the frankincense symbolising the presence of God acts as a reminder of how we receive God’s presence in baptism. We hear in the book of Acts the call to: Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

God’s Holy Spirit is the abiding presence of God received by us in baptism. As Paul told Titus: God saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour (Titus 3:5-6). We might not see a manifestation of the Spirit on us as Jesus did in the form of a dove at his baptism. But we do see evidence of the Spirit in us as we make our confession of Jesus as Lord (1Cor.12:3) and as the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children, as Paul told the Romans (8:16)

And finally, the gold is symbolic of the precious and eternal nature of God’s kingdom to which we belong through baptism. Martin Luther in the family seal he developed, known as Luther’s Rose, had his seal circled with a ring of gold to symbolise that the bliss of heaven is endless and eternal, more precious than any other joy or treasure.

Through our baptism into Christ we inherit that eternal life. That is what it means to be sons and daughters of God through our connection to Jesus Christ. We have, in the words of the Apostle Peter, been given new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for us (1Peter 1:3-4). 

So, there you have it, those who are baptised into Jesus Christ the King of kings receive more than they could ever hope for. Jesus was revealed at his birth as a Saviour to all the peoples of the earth. The gifts he received from the Magi, the gold, the frankincense and the myrrh, were really only tokens of the wealth that was to be found in him. And later, when he was revealed at his baptism as God’s only Son, it soon became apparent how great a gift to our world he is.

We are baptised children of God. Our King has come to us through our baptism and he has come bearing the gifts of his kingdom. As Paul told the Corinthians: Your body is now a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own; you were bought at a price (1Cor.6:19-20). We are now gifts to the world because as a baptised, holy children of God we represent the presence of God in the world. May we offer our lives in service to God and to the world so that others can come to know and experience the incredible riches of God’s kingdom of grace. Amen.