Author: admin

Palm Sunday

Philippians 2:5

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus

This little text from verse 6-11 tells us everything that has happened and everything that will, in light, from the point of view of Jesus. It speaks of Jesus’ priorities in obeying and glorifying God. It’s one of those texts like John 3:16, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes will have eternal life, and also the first confession, Jesus Christ is Lord from Romans (10:9). There is so much in these texts, but they need to be unpacked, explored even lived out; though to fully unpack and understand it would probably take a lifetime. So I’ll do my best in the next couple minutes.

Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. This mind, this way of thinking, of understanding and of action and life, have this in you that we hear and was obviously in Christ Jesus. It’s more than just thought, it’s also action; Jesus didn’t just think about being humble and obedient, He acted on it and died on that cross for you, me and all people. God, through Paul, is telling you and me to let this insight and action be your insight and action; your new life. We’ve heard about the new thing that God is doing, that you and I are now, through baptism together with Jesus, dead to our old life of sin and risen to new life in Jesus (Isaiah 43:19; Romans 6:6-11). That God’s ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). God is the one who brings us to Christ by the Holy Spirit and gives us this new way of trusting Him, these new thoughts, God’s way of thinking, the mind of Christ Jesus (John 6:44; ). To receive these gifts well and to hold on to this, not rejecting the Spirit is now that task of us who are saved.

But what does all that mean? It’s all very well to say, ‘be humble’ or ‘be obedient’ even to say, ‘hold to God’s thoughts’. In the day to day how should I do this, how can I be like Jesus? That old question, ‘what would Jesus do?’ Well, verse six, The Son of the Father, second person of the trinity, God from God, light from light, equal to the Father, a position of authority and power beyond what we can imagine, He does not see this as something to be grasped, to be prioritised. Rather the Son empties Himself and takes on being a servant, takes on flesh, becomes a man, and we all know how insignificant we feel when thinking on the problems of this world, when seeing the stars of a pitch-black night and when contemplating God’s love for you. Jesus did not care about the power of His position, but took the actions needed to help those around Him, and fortunately for us that’s everyone. So what about the different positions of power you hold, your relationships, in the family, at church, in the workforce, and also even if you just know about something more than others. All these different positions where you have some power, even if it isn’t absolute. Do you take pride in yourself, in the gifts God has given and try to keep the glory and praise to yourself? Do you take pride in being a good father, a good wife, a good participant at a BBQ, a smart cookie, even in your own humble attitude; or do you listen to God, using what He has given you for the benefit of those around you and to His Glory? Do you prioritise your pride and power instead of the benefit of others and the glory of God?

What is your priority, your focus in life? When we live in this world, going about our lives, we are surrounded even submerged in a way of life contrary to Jesus’ way. We are constantly taught that we need to prioritise and rely on ourselves, to be independent, to be confident and have high self-esteem, to take pride in ourselves and to compete with each other. We know about the ‘corporate ladder’ the desire to climb to the top, but in every other relationship and role we still need to struggle against our sinful, selfish inclinations to make it about us, prioritising ourselves. Instead we need to deny ourselves take up our cross, suffering, and follow Jesus as He did the same, even to humble ourselves becoming obedient to the point of death, to die to ourselves to our sinful desires and pride and live for others, for Christ and the glory of God (Matthew 16:24-26; Romans 6:6-11; Galatians 2:20).

This is a tall order, a high mark to aim for and I find that I myself often forget to even aim, and I miss the mark, we sin and we fail. To live and think as Christ lived and thought every day of our lives in the face of all these distractions, is a hard thing. But fortunately Christ Jesus did live that life for me, for you and me (Hebrews 2:14-18); Today is Palm Sunday when we remember His glorious entrance into Jerusalem as King, and we look forward, down to His humiliation, suffering and death on the cross and burial in the tomb. And past that to a glimpse of His exaltation in the resurrection and on to the ascension and the coming hope of His coming again to destroy sin, guilt, the devil and death and to renew all creation, you, me and all those other saints who have gone before risen from death, free from all our sin and evil, renewed and perfected in Jesus who has gone before, the author and perfector of our faith and our life. And so what is our priority, what do we look to first? To our own positions of power here on earth, or to thank and praise Jesus for all He has done for you, me and all people, to give glory and praise to the only one truly deserving, God Almighty. For He has saved you through Jesus, and will renew you and exalt you as Jesus has been resurrected and exalted. This Holy Week where we remember the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus is where we see clearly God’s true work of salvation, and in baptism you are joined up with Jesus by His promise and word, humbled and emptied and dead with sin, then God’s sure promise that you will rise anew free from sin and death together with Jesus, exalted by God’s power to what is good and right, the glory of God.

And may the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until we stand with Him in glory, to the glory and prais of God our Father. Amen.

Pastor Joseph Graham

5th Sunday of Lent

Philippians 3:13b-14

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

            God is doing a new thing. But then we don’t really like new things do we? That means change, means hard work, means moving away from what you know and have grown to accept. The funny thing for us as Christians is that this new thing that God is doing, and in part the goal that Paul strives for is in the past, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, your salvation, redemption and freedom from sin and death. It’s also in the past applied to you in baptism, drowned and dead to sin, the Old Adam, then risen cleansed to a new life in New man, Jesus, free from the chains of sin and the devil. From the old to the new, but it’s not back to the future, rather forward to the past.

            We can say that because although our resurrection in Jesus and our baptisms are both in the past we wait for the time they take full effect, when He returns, raises the dead and make all things new (Revelation 21:5). So what do we do while we wait? Just sit at home watching TV or playing games, maybe sell all you have and go live in the scrub, or just go about your life here on earth as if this world is all there is and will never really end, that it will not be made new? No there are huge problems with all these ways, they all come from ourselves, our own thoughts and desires, they are the ways of that Old Adam. Rather what does the Triune God teach us to do? What are His ways? Paul writes that he forgets what is behind, and elsewhere what is passing away (Matthew 24:351 Corinthians 7:31; 1 John 2:17), the glory we attain in this world, who we are in this world, neither Jew nor Greek (Galatians 3:28), even what you have done, how you have acted; to forget these things and strive for, strain toward what is ahead. Because all these things, what you have done and who you are in this world are nothing compared to what Jesus has done for you and who you now are in Him, who you will be.

Forward into the past. We know what Jesus has done and what He has promised, resurrection from the dead, His righteousness, freedom from death and our sinfulness. We know this, it was shown to our forebears in the faith all those years ago, in the distant past. But you and I in our struggles and failures to stay on God’s way, the straight narrow path, know that He will fulfil His promises to us, this worth more than anything we might do, so we strain with Paul to reach that goal, that end, like a runner in a race. Don’t give up on the promise to you, but to share in Christ’s way of life, His sufferings, and becoming like Him, who you are joined to in baptism, dying and rising to new life. This is the new thing, forward to the past, the goal of our Christian faith, to be resurrected from the dead, to receive Jesus’ righteousness, to be renewed.

The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, from now to the end. Amen.

Joseph Graham

4th Sunday of Lent

Luke 15:21, 32

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

This parable needs no introduction, only the Good Samaritan might be more well known. But still, just because it is familiar to us doesn’t mean it’s a chore to listen to again. I’ve heard it called the parable of the lost son, following the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin; or called the Prodigal Son, prodigal just means wasteful, or even the loving Father, but what ever you know it as, it reminds us again of those things we so often take for granted and forget.

            Last week we heard that God’s ways are not our ways and this week we see this played out in the parable. One son decides he’s not satisfied with his life with the Father, takes the gifts the Father has given him, leaves and strives after things that don’t satisfy, throwing away and forgetting all the Father had done for him. The older son stays but also is not satisfied, potentially even resenting his younger brother because the older didn’t live that life, and then resenting him for the great gifts of peace, joy and love freely given to him. And then the Father, the one who sustains both sons even when they don’t recognise it, and who loves them both freely, not because of what they have done and not despite what they have done, but unconditionally loves both his wayward sons.

            Our ways are the ways of the sons, of active and passive rejection, neither were satisfied with God’s grace and love; God’s way is the way of the Father, of unconditional love and free restoration with Him. So here Jesus, talking to the faithful, law-abiding Pharisees who taunted Jesus because he ate with prostitutes and sinners, to them Jesus puts forward the two broad ways that we, as people who now believe in Him, go. Either the rejection of God and His goodness for our own benefit in the here and now, striving for things that do not last, wealth, sex, power; or the more subtle dissatisfaction and taking for granted what God has given you. The younger son turns from his evil ways and back to God pleading for mercy and receiving freely abundant grace; then the older brother resents the joy and peace the younger received. It reminds me of my parents.

My dad wasn’t a Christian, grew up as part of the culture, strove for the things in this world that don’t satisfy, then the Holy Spirit brought him to the truth, to Jesus Christ. It was a big change for him and he jumped right in, reading the books in the local pastor’s library, then the following year beginning to study to become a pastor. But mum grew up in the church, she had known God’s mercy and grace for her whole life, there was no great change, no ‘Damascus road’ experience. Mum was a bit envious of dad that he had that wonderful experience; dad was a bit envious of mum because she didn’t need it.

So how do you see yourself in this story. Are you the younger brother, an outright sinner who lived for this evil world then returned to God’s love? Or are you the older brother, taking God’s grace for granted and fighting your desire to sin? Or maybe sometimes a bit of both? Do you want to live like all the other people of Australia, by that policy of ‘if it doesn’t hurt anyone and makes you feel happy, do it’? This is the season of Lent when we take some time to look at ourselves and why Jesus died, so when you examine yourself against God’s Word, how do you like these brothers reject His love and promises to either go your own way or wish you could? How do you fall to temptation? That drive all humans have to rely on ourselves and store up treasures here on earth. Both in our thoughts and actions.

We all like the young son, are unworthy, are sinners; Paul writes that we deserve death (Romans 6:23). But what does the Father do? Does He make His son a slave? No! He graciously forgives and restores him to the family. The son knew what he had done was wrong, and knew that the Father was loving and generous, the son repented, turned back to God, confessed his sin and was forgiven. This is you and me, today we have confessed our sins, heard our Heavenly Father’s word of forgiveness and will eat with Him in thanksgiving and joy in Holy Communion. From 2 Corinthians (5:16-21) we heard that we who are in Christ are already part of the new creation, restored to the true and steadfast relationship with God Almighty; the old has gone and the new has come; our guilt and sin is taken away by Jesus and we are given His freedom from the devil and fear of death. We are called to live differently, what happens now that’s how Jesus ends the parable, do you stay with God? Or do you leave again or just grumble? This is the life of the Christian to, with the Holy Spirit’s help, struggle against temptation and our corrupt human ways to strive for things that don’t satisfy. But you and I are reconciled, you are forgiven, your Heavenly Father still loves you and wants the best for you. You are baptised into Jesus Christ, washed clean from your sin, even dead to it; sin no longer has power over you; and you are raised to new life, the new creation, reconciled fully to God. Don’t forget who you are, I know it’s not new, but don’t take it for granted; but far more than that don’t forget that you are reconciled to your loving Heavenly Father.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Pastor Joseph Graham

3rd Sunday of Lent

Isaiah 55:9
:As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

            Sometimes people we love decide to do somethings that just don’t make any sense to us, we think, ‘Why did they do that? How come to that conclusion? What’s going on?’. We know that we don’t all think the same, but there is hope, to understand your parents, children, friends and other people. We are all fundamentally the same, we are human and are influenced by the things that have happened in our lives, by our genetics and those we have lived alongside. But to think like each other, to really get into someone else’s head, that’s not an easy thing to do. Then compared to this, trying to understand other humans, how on earth could we ever understand God, His thoughts and His ways?

            He tells us. He tells us that His ways are fundamentally different to ours, as separate as the earth and the stars. And by His grace He also tells us how God’s thoughts are different to yours and mine. The difference between the thoughts that come from us and the thoughts that come from God. In the first two verses of this chapter He tells all who are thirsty ‘to come and buy milk and wine without cost’, then asks ‘why do we work for things that don’t satisfy’. His way is to receive from the Lord the blessings of freedom, life, and satisfaction; and our way is to strive to earn things, and strangely enough things that don’t satisfy. Our Heavenly Father here gives a fantastic analogy for how we are saved, thirsty people given free drink; the drink is yours, you need it, you didn’t earn it, but you can reject it; far better to trust the gracious giver and receive well His benefits.

But then God says to you that your ways are like chasing after things that don’t satisfy. Fundamentally, simply put we think we earn everything we get, and we strive for things we don’t need, and this is even in the small things. I’m certain that you all remember wanting to do something that was not helpful at all, maybe you only realised later, or maybe you just really wanted that extra beer, to hit that person in the face, to get to feel good in the moment regardless of what would happen later. But that you always think that you earn what you get might be something that you trust God about, but don’t really see it in your life. But it is true. This is why we struggle with God’s salvation, with our faith and trust in God. Despite your sins, your failures and your betrayals, Jesus still loves you, still forgives you, this is harder to accept for some rather than others. This is what Paul writes about in Romans, what I want to do I do not do, what I do not want to do I do, … what a wretched man am I. Thanks be to God who delivers me from this body of death (Romans 7:15-19, 25). In our society we hear about karma, you get what you give, give good receive good, give evil receive evil; we’re told it’s the way the world works. But what about cancer? What about sudden death of a family member? What about those Jews killed by Pilate?

How does Jesus respond to these questions? Do you think these people are worse sinners, more evil than you? No, all are sinners just as bad as each other, we all want to earn our salvation and strive for things that are bad for us. But unless you turn from your evil ways toward God, you too will perish. (Luke 13:1-5). Are you thirsty, do you need God to take you out of this destructive cycle? Jesus tells us, yes, we are; but don’t forget that God’s mercy and forgiveness, freedom from your sin, death and the devil, these things He freely gives you.

Through Isaiah He tells you that He will make a covenant with you, an everlasting promise and relationship, nothing can take you away from the love of God. This promise to David of the Messiah, the Christ to come. That people from every place will come and He will protect them, people the Israelites had never heard of, many of our ancestors, and also people we do not know. All these people, indeed all people who are trapped by sin, who are chasing the things of this world, the things that don’t satisfy, who are striving for what God freely gives; these people God calls to turn from their sad ways of living, to reject their thoughts and to turn to Him, to Jesus, who has mercy on them and pardons them.

In this season of Lent we remember that we and all people are helpless sinners who need God’s help. We look to Jesus, forward to Good Friday where He suffered our sin, guilt and death, and also to Resurrection Sunday where He rose victorious and free over sin, death and the devil. He is our saviour, our commander and our King.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Joseph Graham

2nd Sunday of Lent

Philippians 3:20-21

But our citizenship in heaven has already begun. From where we eagerly await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

            ‘Do what I say not what I do’ A phrase that most of us will have heard or maybe said ourselves. Of course, it means that what I say is true even if I fail to do it myself. But Paul writes something different, he says to do what he does and what he says, probably not something that most of us would be confident to say.

            Paul elsewhere writes that he copies the way Jesus showed him and so in imitating Paul we imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). What we do and the way we do it are important, people see it and it affects them, ridicule or honour even imitation, especially with kids. We hear from James, “I will show you my faith by my works” (2:18). The way you live shows people what you care about and what is important to you. Of course speaking is part of that, so don’t be scared to tell others about the help, grace and wonders Our heavenly Father has shown you in your life.

            But here in this passage Paul puts up two ways of living, or walking, of going through the motions of life. He first mentions the way he follows and is calling the Philippians, and through the Holy Spirit you too, to imitate, but then goes on the explain the other way. Those who walk as enemies of the crucifixion of Christ. In context he’s probably writing of those who demanded that Christians act according to the old Jewish ways, diminishing the glory and wonder of Jesus’ death on that cross and so may look to themselves rather than God Almighty. Nevertheless, it’s clear from the description and our lives that this way is still followed today. The way that ends in destruction, the people whose god is their belly, who revel in shameful things, whose minds are set on this life, earthly things, and not on Jesus.

            That their end is destruction is easily understood, they reject Jesus as their saviour and so reject salvation and life. But the god of the belly is a bit different, we don’t have buildings dedicated to your gut. But in this season of Lent if you’ve given up eating some type of food like me you’ve probably also struggled with that god in your belly, maybe even caved in to it, but this god of the belly all humans have is more than just relying on bread alone. It’s seeking to gratify all your desires, to chase after, yes food, also drink, healthiness, strength, intelligence, sex, wealth, power all these desires that you and I have and with which we are tempted away from God to ourselves, like Jesus, by Satan. But then to be proud of falling to these temptations, is to glory in shame. These desires are all for this world, not for the one to come; they are all for our earthly benefit and pride, but reject our relationship with the one who created it. To chase these is to store up treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves come and steal, to set our minds on earthly things (Matthew 6:19).

           Now we can think about people who attack the church from outside and look at how they fit this description, but Paul is writing to Christians. Paul weeps because these people, these enemies of the cross, were part of the church, but then began walking away from the Faith. And so, yes be wary and concerned for each other, how we maybe living; but also examine yourself in what your mind focuses on.

            By God’s grace stand firm in the Lord this Lenten season. The grace that forgives all your sins, all your guilt and all your failure. For you, like the Philippians before you, are already citizens of Heaven, your home is not Dubbo, not Gilgandra, not Australia, not truly anywhere in this wide world; you belong with Jesus in the New Creation. And you wait, yes, we wait, it’s been such a long time, still we suffer, but even more still we wait eagerly; eager for the saviour of all to come, The Lord Jesus Christ, who has authority over everything, in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). And with that authority, by His power, He will transform our bodies, weak, mortal and sinful though we be; to be like His glorified body. It does sound a bit like the gospel of glory or the prosperity gospel, but the difference is that throughout scripture we are told that in the end, at the new creation in Jesus, we will be righteous and glorified in Jesus Christ our Lord. This sure hope of salvation, and freedom from sin, death and the devil is the wonderful good news, and by God’s grace He doesn’t hoard it all at the end of time (John 8:36; Romans 6:22; 8:1-4). Rather He gives us little tastes of what is to come, His forgiveness in the absolution; peace in baptism; joy in Holy communion, and transforming our minds and actions now by our hearing and thinking on His Word, these wonderful gifts given by the Holy Spirit. But even compared to the most amazing and deep experience He has given you, there is so much more to come. So stand firm in the Lord.

            In our Christian lives there are just two ways to go, either we look toward Jesus, or we don’t and end up walking away. If you were to imitate my living, it would involve much struggle against the god of my belly, my desires for this world, and many failures, but also feeling shame in my shame and turning back to Jesus who I wait for and who forgives me even a thousand times a day. Even if you and I fall into temptation, our end is not destruction, Jesus does not reject you, He remains faithful to you and forgives you, gives you His peace and joy (2 Timothy 2:13). When we sin, we feel that guilt and shame, our willpower is weak, but this is the lowly body that Jesus will transform to be like Him, your sin does not disqualify you from citizenship in heaven, people can only loose that by rejecting it (Romans 8:38-39; Mark 16:16). So stand firm in the Lord not in this world, don’t forget what He has done and who you are because of Him. We could just concern ourselves with the day-to-day mundane world we live, in danger again and again of falling for that god of the belly; much better rather to remember Jesus, who He is and what He has done for you, what He does for you, who you are in Him and also the end of time when you, me and all our brothers and sisters will live with Him forever.

Pastor Joseph Graham

          

1st Sunday in Lent

Luke 4:2
“where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry”.

We are waiting for a cool and wet change, a mark perhaps of the end of Summer and the beginning of Autumn, changing of the seasons. As the seasons change in the weather so they do in our church year. For the last two months we heard who Jesus is, God and man. Now in the next two months we’ll hear some of what He did and why it matters to you and me.

And so, after being baptised Jesus went into the desert guided by the Holy Spirit. This was a time of fasting and perhaps preparation for what He was about to do in His three-year ministry culminating in His death, resurrection and ascension. And after 40 days He was tempted by the devil. Tempted in three ways to break the first of the ten commandments, to rely on the gifts that God had given Him, to rely on others for His own benefit and to use God to get His own way. Even today the devil tempts us to reject God in these same ways.

Jesus ate nothing for 40 days, 5 and a bit weeks. He was hungry it says, probably the understatement of that century, most people I know get hungry within a day; and He is human, we die after 40-60 days without food so it’s safe to say He was starving and close to death. But He is also God, creator of all, the devil tempts Him to prove His divinity by using His power to sate His hunger. He certainly could do it, He feed 5000+ people with 5 loaves and two fish; and God brought bread out of nowhere in the desert for the Israelites (Luke 9:12-17; Exodus 16). However, He listens instead to God’s way and His Word, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3). Of course, Jesus would go on to eat, blessed by the gifts His Father gave Him, but at this time He would not rely on His abilities to satisfy the devil.

We too have many gifts of God, life is the first and the foundational one but also the skills and knowledge we have received through our lives in this world that God has given. And like Jesus the devil tempts you and me to rely on these gifts rather than the God who gives them. A simple small example is when you grab a snack to give you some energy and forget God, in that time you are relying on the snack to give energy, not God who gave you the snack. Certainly there are more atrocious ways we might fall to this temptation of the enemy, like relying on our goodness to get ahead in life or on wealth to benefit and save ourselves. To rely on what is created rather than the creator.

The next temptation was to rely on the devil to receive what God had already promised to give Jesus, all authority, glory and power on earth. Now the devil is the father of lies, so I’m not sure that he could actually give this, but he is also called the ruler of this wicked world (John 8:44; John 14:30, 16:11, Ephesians 2:1-3). Regardless Jesus rightly confesses that we are to worship and glorify God alone, the first commandment, to look to Him when we need help and to live for Him who has given us life and everything we have.

Again you and I hear the whisperings of the deciever when we are tempted to rely on anyone, perhaps even the pastor, for salvation; to worship and glorify someone instead of God. Of course God has given us all the people in our lives, the wonderful ones and the not so wonderful; but again to rely on the gift instead of the giver is to reject God as our saviour. However we can, and should, thank God for the good He brings us through other people, like Jesus being provided for by Mary and Joseph.

The devil’s final temptation, before he leaves to tempt Judas later and orcesrate the crucifixion to his own destruction (Luke 22:3), is to abuse God’s Word and promise implying that Jesus would not have to suffer that death. To display His power and God’s grace to all with all the armies of heaven. Later Jesus reveals to Pilate that He could command all the heavenly armies to come and destroy those calling for His death (John 18:36), but His kingdom is not of this world. And in the same way Jesus rejects the devil and his ways and his twisted usage of the Bible, instead choosing to trust in God’s way that even though it was more painful and difficult that it was the best way and the right way.

Here we can remember that firstly people can twist God’s Words to say what they want and so we, like Jesus, should try to learn the whole of God’s Word and it’s foundation well so we can recognise, by the Holy Spirit’s guidance through the Word, anything off about what someone may say about God, Jesus, the faith and His church. The second thing we can learn is that you and I are tempted to do just that, twist God’s own Word to justify ourselves. The devil may say to you in different ways, ‘well you’re forgiven already for everything, so you might as well swindle that person or lie to your spouse or what have you’. Then when you do fall into temptation, really any temptation, the devil doubles down on this two hit combo as satan the accuser, ‘you’re a terrbile person for doing that, God won’t forgive you’. Of course, he is the father of lies and this is the biggest lie of all, no matter what temptation you fall into, a horrible and wicked betrayal of Jesus even killing Him again it may be, no matter how you fail God, He wants to forgive you and take away your guilt, so turn back to Him and ask for His help.

In the letter to the Hebrews (2:18; 4:15) the Holy Spirit tells us, that our high preist, our leader Jesus, was tempted in every way that you are, but didn’t fall and so He sympathises with you in all your temptations, even your falling into them, and He wants to help; so rely on Him and trust His promises. As we prepare over these 40 days to remember and celebrate our Lord’s death and resurrection let’s remember that He has given us everything we have, has given life to all the people we know and has given us clearly His precious promises of life, salvation and freedom from sin and guilt. Relying on Jesus as He helps us reject the temptations of the evil one.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Chirst Jesus now and forever. Amen.

Pastor Joseph Graham.

Transfiguration Sunday

Matthew 17:5
A bright cloud overshadowed the disciples, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”

“You are my dearly loved child”

A cellist with the Sarajevo symphony, Vedran Smajlovic, did what he knew best to help the citizens of Sarajevo.  In full evening dress, he took his cello and sat down amidst the rubble, or with the frightened in bomb shelters or those grieving at funerals and played.

He played concert after concert. It was his gift of love to the city. He did it because he felt his community needed hope and encouragement in the face of so much death, destruction and hopelessness.

His music defied the sound of bombing and gunfire and gave people the encouragement to believe that in spite of the death and destruction, a beautiful future was possible.  This kind of hope was his gift to each person to see beyond the darkness of joylessness and insecurity and fear.

In 1984, Sarajevo was the focus of the world as it hosted the Winter Olympics.  Ten years later the sports facilities created for the Olympics were in ruins. The city of Sarajevo was under siege by Serbian forces. Mortars and artillery fire instantly transformed once beautiful buildings into rubble. Sarajevo’s citizens were frightened, weary and increasingly despondent. No one knew when shells would rain down on them and bring more destruction and death. Snipers targeted people on the streets. Countless were killed, wounded and maimed.

Taking the Gospel reading in its context, there were dark and joyless days ahead for both Jesus and the disciples.  Jesus had already started to warn his disciples that there was a rough road ahead. In just a few verses before our text today we hear this, â€œJesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead” (Matt 16:21).

We know that Peter didn’t like Jesus talking about fierce opposition, suffering, and being killed by his own people and reprimanded him for speaking this way.  I guess we would do much the same.  If someone we love, who was hale and hearty, suddenly started talking about coming to a violent and sudden end, we would do something similar. 

What made this kind of talk even harder for Peter is that he had just confessed, â€œYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” It just wouldn’t make any sense if someone as important as the Messiah, the one sent by God, God’s own Son, was to be killed by God’s own chosen people. Besides of what use would a dead messiah be?  This was unthinkable.  Peter had given up everything for Jesus.

We know how Peter felt about the looming dark days ahead.  Jesus had the same kind of feelings and emotions that we have, and so I imagine that the thought of rejection and mockery and the excruciating pain of being nailed to a cross made Jesus flinch.  He didn’t deserve treatment like this.  He had only helped people.  He had shown love and kindness.  This kind of treatment is all wrong.  It isn’t fair.

So, he does what he usually does when things get too heavy.  He withdraws – he withdraws to spend time with his heavenly Father.  He goes to a mountain to be alone in prayer. There he meets Moses and Elijah and they talk.  A voice from a bright cloud says, â€œThis is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” 

What happened there on the mountain – his encouraging and supportive chat with Moses and Elijah who put his fears to rest and refocus him on God’s plan to save all people, and then the affirmation from the Father in heaven â€œThis is my dearly loved Son” â€“ all this was like a father putting his arm around his son saying, â€œI know this is an incredibly tough thing for you to do, but you have my support and help.  You won’t be doing this alone”. 

This mountain top experience wasn’t only an encouragement for Jesus.  In just a short time, the disciples will be sitting in the rubble of everything they believed about Jesus.  What they had seen and heard was suddenly blown to pieces.  Their faith was shattered into a thousand pieces.  Everything was turned upside down when Jesus was arrested and then crucified, the disciples were confused and troubled by everything that was taking place. 

And this wouldn’t be the only time when their faith would be challenged.  Rulers and kings would imprison them, people would stone them, others mock and abuse them, they would go hungry and thirsty and be deprived of basic human decency. They needed something like the cellist of Sarajevo to encourage them and give them hope in the middle of everything that was going wrong.

For them it was the image in their minds of Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah, the divine glow around Jesus, the voice coming from the bright cloud, â€œThis is my dearly loved Son” that gave them courage, hope and a focus. 

We heard Peter talk about the events of that day in our 2nd reading (2 Peter 1:16-18)as if it had happened just yesterday, whereas in actual fact 30 or more years had passed.  This mountain top experience made a lasting impression on him (not many, if any, Gospel events are recalled in the letters of the New Testament in the same vivid way).  The veil of Jesus’ humanity was lifted just a little and his true greatness, his godliness, his honour and glory were revealed.  Something really important was going on through Jesus.

If Peter ever experienced, as we do, days of uncertainty, 
if he ever wondered if he was on the right track, 
if he was ever tempted to go back fishing instead of being an apostle, 
I believe the transfiguration was one of the memories that shed light into his human dilemma.  God was at work and just as Jesus had been encouraged before going to Jerusalem, Peter was confident and full of hope as he faced his own Jerusalem whatever that might entail.  His reflection of the transfiguration reminded him, “Yes, Jesus is truly God’s Son.  I know it.  I have seen his divine glory.  I heard the Father call him, “My own dearly loved Son”. Because of what Jesus’ did for me, I am now also a dearly loved son of the Father and he will watch over me always.”

So in the end what does the transfiguration of Jesus offer us today?  
How does this event in Jesus’ life help us?  
Does it have anything to say to us in 2017?

When we come here to worship, we come into God’s presence and the divine is revealed to us. We have our own transfiguration experience. We hear again the Good News of salvation, sins forgiven, the call to discipleship, the promise of eternal life.  In some way, every time we hear God’s Word, celebrate the sacraments, the veil is torn away, and for a moment, we see the glory of the Lord, his will for our lives and our place in his family. 

We celebrate Holy Communion with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven; what a glorious moment.  We gather around the throne of the Lamb and are renewed, revived, strengthened, encouraged and given new hope to face the troubles that confront us in the dark valleys of the week ahead.

When we are burdened with everything that happens in our lives, we are given a glimpse of the One who invites us to load all our burdens and worries on to him – his power is far greater than any problem that we think is insurmountable. He says to us in our particular need, â€œDon’t be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 NLT).  Hearing words of the Scriptures like that, lifts the gloom that is clouding our lives and assures us of strength that is beyond our strength to cope.  It enables us to deal with troubles that baffle us. We see Jesus’ shining face smiling at us and the Father’s arm embracing us as we remember that we are his children as he says to us, â€œYou are my own dearly loved son or daughter”.

The transfiguration of Jesus reminds us that when we are in the nitty gritty of working for God’s kingdom 
when being disciples means making choices that go against the way rest of the world thinks and behaves; 
when loving and caring and being kind is hard work; 
when forgiving and being reconciled with those who hate us goes against everything within us;
when sacrificing for others is considered stupid in this self-centred world;
when others challenge our faith and question God’s part in this crazy and cruel world and we begin to question our own beliefs,
it is just then as we go down the tough road of discipleship that we hear again Jesus’ encouraging words, â€œYou are my own dearly loved child who gives me great joy.  Don’t be afraid.  I will be with you.”

When you walk out the doors of this church this morning, nothing very much has changed in our world.  It will be an ordinary, perhaps somewhat uninteresting, February day out there, down there, in the valley, with nothing visibly different from when you came in.

But you will be different. You have been in God’s presence. You have seen the brilliance of your Saviour’s face and his love for you.  You will be different because you have been encouraged and been given hope.  You have heard the word that keeps you going until your next mountain top experience, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.  You are my dearly loved son or daughter.  I will walk with you through the dark and scary places of this world into the brilliant sunshine of eternity”.

And that leads me to finish where I began.  Remember the cello player who used his gift of music to give hope and encouragement to the terrified and grieving people of Sarajevo.  God has given each of us a variety of gifts.  Think about this!  How can we use the gifts God has given us to bring encouragement and hope to others? 
The cellist of Sarajevo certainly stepped out of his comfort zone to give that encouragement.  How can we be more willing and bolder in sharing the love of Christ?

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

7th Sunday of Epiphany

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your eyes, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

            ‘Thank God’ a common phrase that for many secular Australians doesn’t mean much at all. They aren’t really thanking any god, just using an old turn of phrase. But for you and me ‘Thank God’ means so much more and is so very applicable. When that sudden kangaroo misses the car, we can thank God; When someone is declared well after a long sickness, thank God; When new life is created, or old life is saved, thank Him; and Thank our Heavenly Father, your God and mine, for His wonderful gifts of life, forgiveness, peace, joy, freedom from sin and death, His son Christ Jesus.

            Throughout this letter Paul tells us to rejoice and give thanks, to endure everything that is thrown at us and to rely on Jesus. Even to rejoice if you are thrown in prison, beaten and ridiculed. Even if we suffer from drought, from sickness and from sin. In any and all situations, Jesus, through Paul, tells us to rejoice in Him. We allocate a Sunday each year to thank God for the fruits of our labours, traditionally harvests but increasingly that doesn’t really apply to us all. So instead we can thank Him by our words, our attitude and by giving back some of what He first gave us, to others in need. That is why we have the offering every Sunday, not primarily to support me, the church building, or the LCA; but rather as an opportunity to thank God for what He has given you.

            And what has He given you? He has given you food, most every day, that’s why we say ‘grace’ or ‘give thanks’ at meals. He’s also given you money and by extension all the things you buy with that money. A really handy thing those notes, nice and light, barely notice how much we can put in the offering bag … But of course God loves the cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). He is one Himself, and He also gave everything that is its existence, sustaining it and all of us right now; in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). He has given all people the option to reject His gifts, to forget Him and what He has done, to go our own way, to sin. And we often take that route, some worse than others. We tell Jesus, ‘I won’t forget to thank you’, then we say to others, ‘you worked hard for that, you can do whatever you want with it.’ Even you and I, Christians, forget to be thankful to the God we follow. We take matters into our own hands, we sin and we fail.

            But that is not the end of it, and it’s certainly not the start. When you or I go our own way, instead of Christ’s, He has given us that blessed opportunity and encouragement by His Word and the Holy Spirit to turn back to Him, to repent, and confess the truth He has told us of our failure, our forgetting and of His forgiveness, washing us clean in the waters of baptism, forgiven by the blood of Christ (1 John 1; Titus, 3:4-7; Matthew 26:28). Thank God for that! For His wonderful love and loyalty, in the face of our failure to love and betrayal. God gives you life, comfort and joy.

            This, however, is not all that Paul is writing about. Certainly to be thankful in all circumstances and to ask our Heavenly Father for anything we may need, but Paul also writes to think on, to analyse whatever is true, weighty, righteous, holy, toward love, of good report, and virtuous or praiseworthy. Now you and I know that when we meditate or ruminate of a wrong done to us we feel worse and worse, angrier and even sick it’s like a spiral downwards. When we think on things that are false, shallow, wicked, without God, toward hate, of bad report, and wicked or insulting we forget Jesus. To think over your failure or sin, to watch many of the sad things on the News, to surround your mind with evil, even if we are condemning it, is not healthy, is not God-pleasing. Those things can not bring us the peace of God or His joy, but they can lead us away from His son. Better to always remember God’s Word, what He has done through Jesus, this wonderful life He has given, the beautiful world He has created, the shocking forgiveness that He freely gives all people, the stunning love of Jesus in giving His life for you, the depth of peace that the Holy Spirit brings, the miraculous faith of our brothers and sisters adopted into God’s family, the encouragement, the blessings, there is no shortage of these wonderful and holy things. And when you think of these, we can’t help but thank God for His wonderful gifts, His grace. We are filled with His joy.

            It’s not that we forget the world and become hermits, Paul was thrown into prison because he kept getting in people’s way. Rather it’s a change of outlook, when you see a car cut you off, thank God that you didn’t crash, that He’s given you a car to travel fast and efficiently, thank Him that He gave life to you and that other driver and with thanksgiving we can bring our request to God that it doesn’t happen again. And so rejoice at all times, thank The Lord for what He has given, rely on Him for all your needs, and always recall His wonderful grace in Jesus Christ.

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

Joseph Graham

6th Sunday of Epiphany

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

There are things in this world that don’t always make sense to us. We might ask: Why doesn’t the car start? Why are the telly-marketers talking to me? Why did such an amazing person marry me? And even Why, God, do you care for little ol’ me? Many things don’t make sense, but that doesn’t make them any less true.

And the same is true of God’s Word and His promises, He loves you, forgives you, grants you His peace and joy, and promises you freedom from sin, death and the devil by His Son Jesus’ life, death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Galatians 1:3-5). That is the truth, The Good News, God’s promise to you. But still, sometimes parts of this don’t make much sense to us. When you look around, when you live and see in yourself, sometimes it doesn’t make sense that God would forgive, or it doesn’t make sense that Jesus had to die, or it doesn’t make sense that people who’ve died would rise again with their own body.

Our world teaches us different things: that some people aren’t worth of forgiveness; that fundamentally most people are good people; and that people don’t rise from the dead, especially not if their body has rotted or been eaten by something, and certainly not rising to live forever. And the Corinthians all those years ago were in a similar situation with a popular understanding amongst Greeks that certainly the good spirit lives on after death, but freed from the evil cage of the body. So some of them taught that there was no bodily resurrection, rather something different happened, perhaps like the idea of immaterial spirits frolicking up in the clouds.

But that is not what Paul and the apostles taught, that is not the Christian teaching that has been passed down from Jesus. Paul says it clearly, that if there is no resurrection, Christ was not raised, you are not forgiven, you do not have eternal life and there is no point to your suffering as a Christian. He and I would be proven liars and deceivers, giving false hope and lying about God, even lying to God; and you would be the most pitiable people in the world, striving for some thing that doesn’t exist like El Dorado or the Holy Grail. That is not a good position for us to be in. But when Christians try to listen to the way the world sees the truth instead of God’s truth that is where we end up, foolish liars.

When you try to understand God’s plan without asking Him, you’ll get it wrong and then it can’t make sense. If we think, “well everyone’s got a bit of good, they don’t deserve to die for what they’ve done, surely everyone will be with God in heaven;” Then why did Jesus die, and what is baptism, what is holy communion, why do you need a saviour, what is the final judgement, why is God so brutal; maybe I should follow another God. But when we take God at His Word, though we might not fully understand, it all falls into place.

You and all people do desire to go your own way, to be in charge, and reject God’s will the one who gives you life and fullness. Jesus did die for you and all people, for your forgiveness and freedom from evil. He did rise from the dead in His body, the tomb is empty, now immortal and free from death. And you are in Him through baptism by the power of the Holy Spirit and so you follow the way He paved. In Christ you are forgiven, you have eternal life and will be free from sin; not just you but all who trust God at His Word, and all creation will be renewed.

But if anyone teaches, or preaches, a different gospel they lie and make God a liar, twisting His Word’s to another ‘truth’. You know the Good News, you are saved in it, so keep an ear out for people, even me, who tell you something different. Our society tells us many things, but we are not followers of this world but of God, so don’t trade His way for the Australian highway. Pray that we might see the way our Heavenly Father does, rather than have our faith changed by our culture. God knows what He’s doing, far better than anyone of us and so we listen when He tells us His plan, His promise. That wonderful promise of new eternal life with Him in Jesus Christ, free from sin and death, forgiven and at peace with the joy that comes from God’s true and Good News.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now and always. Amen.

Joseph Graham

5th Sunday of Epiphany

Isaiah 6:5-7

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Fear, love and trust God. The old translation of the small catechism, the summary of the Bible and the Christian faith for children, and for each one of us. Like your life might revolve around meals, your family and your work; the Christian life revolves around Jesus in The Ten Commandments, The Creed and The Lord’s Prayer. He teaches us how to act, what God has graciously done and promised and to rely on Him and speak with Him in everything. To fear, love and trust God more than anything else.

And who is God? Creator of heaven and earth, our Heavenly Father, Lord of host or armies, the righteous and just judge, destroyer of evil and the wicked. He made all that is, you, your family, good food, the wonderful night sky, stunning vistas throughout this world, also volcanoes, torrential rain and this dry weather we’re having. He is in charge and He hates the wicked, those who want to harm others and those who deceive (Psalm 5:6; Hosea 9:15). God told Moses that He will curse those who reject Him to the third or fourth generation (Exodus 20:5). And later, cursed is anyone who does not do all these things of the Law (Deuteronomy 27:26). And Paul reminds us that, all people have sinned and turned away from God (Romans 3:10-18) and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). And on top of all this, Isaiah also might recall God’s word to Moses on the Mount, you cannot see my face, for none shall see me and live (Exodus 33:20). I mean, even the flying seraphs hid their faces, perhaps so they weren’t destroyed by God’s holiness, that consuming fire; but Isaiah is staring straight at it (Isaiah 33:14).

Surely if your going to fear anything at all in this world we should fear the God who made it. He promises to destroy all evil and burn up the wicked (Isaiah 27:4; Revelation 21:8). He is awesome and terrifying for those who sin, who put their trust in themselves or anything else other than God Almighty. When you take away all the little things, deadlines, hunger, what to wear, all the worries of our day to day, this is what is left. You before God.

Isaiah sees this and cowers in the doorway. He confesses the truth as you have earlier. He says, ‘woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips.’ He knew his sin, his deception and rejection of God in himself and the sin of his people. You know how you have rejected God, gone your own way, sought to harm others or benefit yourself against others, we hear of what goes on behind closed doors, at the banks, or even out in the open. We, like Isaiah, forget God and His word, instead doing and saying what we want. But we can’t always get it, we don’t have the power. And Isaiah also is powerless compared to God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

But what does God do? What does Jesus do? When you come to Him in your failure, in your need, what does He do? God’s servant got tongs to hold that holy coal, and touched it to Isaiah’s unclean lips, taking away his sin, forgiving him. This image of a burning coal was used in the early church to describe Jesus, God and man, fully together but no less bright as fire and no less solid as coal. And there is another image this reminds us of God touching our lips and taking away your sin. Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, Christ’s body and blood, the Thanksgiving meal. Isaiah saw Jesus in His divine glory, but now we see Him, no less powerful, no less God, but also in His humble humanity. He is God Almighty, yes, but the Word became flesh and lived with us, that holiness mediated in the man Jesus, and so in Him we can approach the divine throne, protected and forgiven. Now there is no need of fear.

Before Jesus, the righteous judge, compared to Him, every person ever still is the same, powerless, scared and a sinner. That is true. But just as that is true, also, as Paul writes, “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). The blood of the New Covenant touches your lips and forgives all your sins (Matthew 26:28). Christ Jesus is the judge of the world, and you have been forgiven and made clean by His body and blood, saved and proclaimed innocent. Isaiah saw the truth and experienced it, but did not know that in Jesus that merciful grace would be offered to you and all people. To be made clean and holy before God Almighty, to be joined to Him and to receive His deep peace and bursting joy. The disciples felt something like this when hauling the earthly bounty Jesus had given them, realising who He was and hearing that grace, do not be afraid (Luke 5:10). And this wonder in the forgiveness and peace of God we receive through His Word, through the absolution and through the precious body and blood of Jesus. These things are different from all other things in the world, here God has promised and given you forgiveness. In these unearthly things of bread and wine and words from a book, God Almighty gives us His peace. He takes away your fear. You are forgiven.

And that peace which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now and forever. Amen.

Pastor Joseph Graham