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Don’t worry – be happy

 

2 Corinthians 4:15-5:1

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

I don’t know how many times you’ve noticed, but there seems to be connections everywhere. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy working on sermons. Maybe you find out how most of your church community is related in some way, or maybe the same idea just keeps coming up. That’s what happened for me this week in bible study, ladies guild and elsewhere, and that idea, that thought was to cling to God and let Him be in charge, and not to cling to the things in this life. To know and keep in mind that, for us Christians, what is coming, eternal life with God and participation in Christ’s glory at the end of this age, is so much more than the struggles and suffering we experience and put ourselves through in our lives here.

God is telling you through Paul that even though you may be wasting away, maybe because of stress and worry, or the weight of work and expectations, or even as our bodies grow old and fall apart, despite this you have eternal life waiting for you with God, a life that will never decay. Paul has just been telling the Corinthians of his afflictions, his perplextion, persecution and beatings (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). He knew what it meant to suffer in this life, but also to live for the glory of God and to increase the thanksgiving sent God’s way (2 Corinthians 4:15). He knew how to cling to God and not to this world. Do you?

Do you live as if the things in this life are nothing compared to life with God? Do you worry about what you will eat or what you will wear (Matthew 6:25-34)? Do you focus your time and effort to please yourself, eating rich food, drinking much wine/beer, exercising, reading, meeting with others, all these for your benefit, or theirs, but not God’s (1 Peter 4:3-6)? Do you waste this life that God has given you, spending it in front of the T.V. or the computer, or even at work, busying yourself with the tasks and cares of this world, and forgetting to brilliant Good News that God has given you? I know you suffer in this world, but do you hurt because of your sin, or because you live for God (1 Peter 2:19-20)?

Paul too knew he struggled with sin, we have his words that the good he wants to do, he does not do, but the evil he does not want to do he does (Romans 7:15-25). For many of us this is fairly relatable, but sometimes we do want to sin and we don’t want to live this life to the glory of God (1 Peter 4:11). We want to be in charge of our lives and keep the glory for ourselves when we really don’t have much power to change anything, just look at the rain as an example. We want to be the masters of our own little world, to build it up and to be in control. We worry about all the little things of this world, not that we shouldn’t clean our cars, or take care of ourselves and those God has given to us, but instead of clinging to God, relying on Him and letting Him be in charge, we put all the responsibility on ourselves. And then when we fail, not if, but when, we take God’s role as judge and condemn ourselves or others. Does this show God’s glory, or increase thanksgiving toward Him? No.

Paul knew this about himself, but he also knew what Jesus Christ had done for him, and he trusted in that. Certainly he would’ve slipt up, again and again we too know that we have failed, but this doesn’t mean that we cannot be saved. God’s grace is so much more powerful and greater than our sin. If you think your sin in this world is greater than God’s grace then you’re not listening to God, but have been deceived by the father of lie, the devil of this world. We see the struggles in this world, the injustice and evil, we see our own sins, but we do not see what is coming, the great and glorious thing that God does.

These things we see are temporary, here today gone tomorrow, or it might take 1000yrs I don’t know. But we do not see here what God has given us, eternal life with Him. He certainly doesn’t fall apart or waste away, and His promises don’t either. He has promised us that our bodies will be changed into eternal ones just as Jesus Christ was, that we will live together with Him and share in His immense and fantastic glory, more than we could imagine. He tells us here that this comparatively short time of suffering and struggle will end, and God will draw you, His people, to be with Him forever.

Joseph Grahm

“Treasures in Jars of Clay”

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

 

It happened in the Gold Country of Northern California in February of 2013. A man and his wife were walking their dog on their property when they saw the cover of a small, rusty tin canister beneath an oak tree. They dug it up and then opened it at home. It was filled with gold coins minted in the 1800’s. They went back and found more canisters under the tree, 1400 gold coins in all, worth over ten million dollars. Why would someone hide valuable gold coins in tin canisters under an oak tree?

Do you want to hear something even more strange to our human way of thinking? God in his love and mercy entrusts the greatest treasure in the world, his love for us in Jesus his Son, to people like you and me. The Apostle Paul calls us jars of clay. My dear Christian friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are broken people, people broken by sin, broken by troubles in life, broken by our anguish over not living the lives the Lord has called us to life. Yet, even though we are broken and cracked jars of clay that should be cast aside, we possess the greatest treasure in the world. We have Jesus. Yes, we are jars of clay, but special jars of clay because the treasure of Christ has come to us and the treasure of Christ is passed on through us.

Usually people find treasure, but the treasure you have in Christ Jesus your Saviour is different. This treasure finds you! Paul says, “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Paul did not preach and brag and boast about himself. He did not try to thrill the crowds with how he had found the greatest treasure in the world by accepting Jesus into his heart. It was all about Jesus Christ being his Lord and God who came to him and found him. In a previous letter to the Corinthians he said, “For I resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” In one of our hymns, we sing,

“Oh the height of Jesus’ love,

Higher than the heavens above,

Deeper than the depths of sea,

Lasting as eternity,

Love that found me-wondrous thought!

Found me when I sought him not.”

Paul was certainly not boasting about himself when he says in verse 7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Jars of clay! That’s how Paul saw himself and that is how we see ourselves. We cannot boast about being some beautiful Ming Dynasty vase that deserves to put up on the shelf and admired by other people and even by our God. Our lives are broken by sin just as a hammer can easily break any clay plot.

Oh, to be sure, there was a time when Paul thought he was a beautiful vase highly admired by his God because he followed rules and regulations of Jewish law meticulously. But then Jesus came to him and showed him how shattered and broken he was and how far short he fell of God’s glory. We read in Romans chapter 7 where Paul confessed that he did not know what sin was or how broken he was until he realized that coveting or even the desire to do something wrong made him unacceptable to God.

What do you do with a piece of pottery that is broken and cracked? You throw it away. What does the Lord our God do with jars of clay that are broken and cracked by sin? He gives them the greatest treasure in the world. He gives us his Son, Jesus, so we can be beautiful – not because of who we are, but because of the treasure that has been given to us.

How did this treasure come to you? Listen to what Paul says, “For God who said: ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Remember the first day of creation. First God created the heavens and the earth, but it was formless and empty and dark. Then miraculously he said, “Let there be light” and there was light. Something similar has happened in your life and mine. Into this world of darkness into which we were born, totally clueless to the greatest treasure in the world, God brings light and shows us his glory in the face of Christ.

We were born into this world looking inside of ourselves for some ray of light and some ray of goodness by which we could make ourselves acceptable to God. There was no hope in that darkness as Ephesians says, “We were without God and without hope.” Isaiah tells us, “Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like those without eyes.”

But then God shined in our hearts. He showed us the light of his glory in the face of Jesus. He lets us see with our ‘eyes of faith’ the face of Jesus and that his promises and work for us is real. Some Sunday school children in their Pentecost Sunday lesson recently, made eyes with tongues of fire inside them to show how the Holy Spirit gives us eyes of faith. 1 Corinthians 2 says, “However, as it is written, ‘No eye has seen, now ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.”

The greatest treasure in the world is to have this light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Your eyes see Jesus! You look into a manger in Bethlehem and believe with all your heart that a tiny baby is Lord and God from all eternity. Your eyes see Jesus loving and respecting his parents, showing kindness to people, and loving them in a way you have never been able to love people. Your eyes look at his face as he hangs on the cross and cries out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” You see him suffering and dying for the curse of your sin. You see Jesus with joyful face on the night of resurrection appearing to the disciples and to you and saying, “Peace be to you.” You know that someday when Jesus returns you will see him face to face in all his glory. Even though your physical eyes do not see him, you see him in faith as your Shepherd who holds you in his loving arms. You know that nothing will ever separate you from his life.

There are days when our lives seem so cracked and broken. Yet, we still have this treasure in jars of clay. We can resonate with what Paul describes in our reading today, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” In the most difficult days we ever face in life, the treasure we have in Christ shines brightest. That was sure the case with Job. In the darkest days of life when he lashed out in anger against God, he bursts forth with the triumphant words, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” He wanted to have the words carved in stone so all could see. He wanted people to see him not as “poor Job”, but as the man who possessed the greatest treasure in the world, a Redeemer who lives. During his many low moments of life Martin Luther encouraged himself with the one Latin word “Vivit” which means ‘he lives’.

My friends, there is a huge difference between being a ‘crackpot’ and been a cracked pot. A crackpot is someone who is crazy, loony and eccentric. A cracked pot is a broken piece of pottery. We are cracked pots. We are broken people. But by the miracle of God’s grace we possess the greatest treasure in the world. We have the riches of forgiveness and peace with God and the hope of eternal life found only in Christ. We have this treasure in jars of clay not just to cherish, but pass on to other people.

Listen now to these words of Paul and think of the high honour and privilege that is given to you and me. “We always carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” If I were God I think I would have chosen more beautiful creatures to bring the treasures in Christ to the world. Why limit the angels to just announcing Jesus’ birth or his resurrection from the dead? Why not have an angel stand before you for the sermon this morning and bring you the treasures you have in Christ? Why not have an angel visit your family members or friends who have given up believing these treasures? Let God’s holy angel shake up their world and warn them about the judgment to come and then show them again the glory of God in the face of Jesus, the Jesus they may have once valued so highly?

Why does God use jars of clay to bring the treasures of Christ to our dying world? It is simply because he loves us so much. He loved us by bringing these treasures to us, and he loves us by asking us to pass these treasures on to other people.

Listen further to what Paul says as he speaks about his privilege and the privilege also given to us. “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” You have seen the treasures you have in Jesus and your life has never been the same since. You are alive. Yet at the same time, you are constantly giving yourself over to death. That seems like a contradiction, but it is not. Because you are alive in Christ you want to see sin die in your life. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus shows itself in how you handle sin when it surfaces in your life. You want to see it die, just as you would want some dangerous bacteria to die instead of infecting your body.

And so our daily lives, under Christ, give witness to this new reality and hope that now lives within us.

I am reminded of a young man with cerebral palsy, with a twisted body, sitting in a nursing home, wearing a T-shirt that said, “I love Jesus” and singing songs like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” The words that came from his mouth sounded strange but they were not. His twisted body, like an old clay pot, cracked and broken, witnessed boldly to the treasures he had in Jesus.

Jars of clay. Cracked pots. We struggle every day to live for Jesus. As we struggle people watch. If they will look into this jar of clay they will see the greatest treasure in the world. Jars of clay. That is what we are. Jars of clay with greatest treasure in the world!

Amen.

The Spirit Himself testifies.

Trinity Sunday

Romans 8:12-17

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Family is a very important thing for us. We want to belong, indeed we need to; and if we don’t have anyone we hurt. Many of us have moved away from family to be here, or family has moved away from us, but we still have those connections, they’re not gone and they are still very important. These family connections are very important, but there are still people who are cutt off from their families, even from birth. They become lost until a time when they are accepted into a different family, until they are adopted. But even then their ties to there first family are strong and later in life many try to find the people who gave birth to them, and some even reject that family that adopted them, chose them and nurtured them when their biological parents couldn’t. Many children are taken away from their first family because it is dangerous for them, maybe there is physical violence, drug abuse, a lack of care for the child, or maybe even the parents just don’t have the ability or resources to support the child. Many children then are adopted into a family that is safer for them, where they do not need to grow up in fear and instead they grow up well supported and accept their new family and live good, healthy lives. But for others it doesn’t work that way.

Now, why have I spoken about these complicated situations? Because you and I are adopted. We have been adopted by God, who is now our heavenly Father, through the Holy Spirit and now we are family, brothers and sisters with Jesus Christ. Now I think there are differences between Christian adoption and what I was talking about before, but there are enough similarities for some helpful analogies. We have been born into a sinful and suffering world, a sinful family if you will (Psalm 51:5; John 1:10-12; Romans 3:10-18) and we have been adopted into a new family and our sin has been taken away and replaced with the things of God. But still we are tempted to go back to our previous lives, to again become slaves to sin and fear. The similarities break down here because no family here on earth, no family of this world, is perfectly good and caring; and also God can do good through even the worst parents, even if it is just the gift of life which by itself is worth of honour and respect.

However, for us our first family is of this world, is sinful and corrupt, sick and turned in on itself. That is how the world teaches us to live, but that life leads only to death. Unlike our biological parents, whom we are in debt to and God Himself tells us to respect, unlike them we are not in debt to this world, we do not need to live to make amends, we do not need to live according to this sick world, if you do God tells us through Paul, you are about to die (verse 13). Those who try to live according to this world, to climb the corporate ladder, to become a respected individual, to have fun at any expense, to get rich, to follow their own sinful desires, those who live like this are about to die. Our first family cannot give us life as The Triune God can, it cannot give us lasting peace, joy or life. The promises of this world we are born in turn out to be lies.

But brothers and sisters, whose promises do you believe? Are you trying to find that first family again? To be enslaved to the world and your desires in fear? Or have you heard that promise of God, ‘You are my child’, ‘you have received the spirit of adoption and call God Almighty dad’, ‘you are inheritors with Jesus’?

You have been joined to Jesus Christ in baptism and so in Him you are all sons, or children and heirs, of God (Galatians 3:26-27). Because you are children of God, He sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts and now we call Him Father (Galatians 4:4-7). You are part of a new family, you have been adopted. In Christ you call The Almighty God, Creator of all, Father by the power and gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray with Jesus, ‘Our Father in Heaven’ (Matthew 6:9).

So you are a member together with all of us, of a new family, a holy and just family, a family different from the family of this world. That family lies saying, ‘it’s all good/fine, it’s just the way things are, you need to do good and then good will happen for you’, leading you into sin, ‘if it doesn’t hurt anyone else, you deserve it or they deserve it, you’re just gonna screw up anyway’, and can only promise you suffering and turmoil underneath that veil of happiness and peace, one just needs to go to a non-Christian funeral. And that is where that family takes you, to death. So why would you reject your new family in Jesus and go back to your sinful ways? Why do you return to that slavery under fear, like a dog to vomit? Why turn away from the peace and love of God and His Spirit and live again in disobedience, darkness and death?

We struggle here in our lives, because sin still lives in this body and just like Paul tells us earlier, it feels like we are at war with ourselves (Romans 7:15-25). We try to change ourselves, to be holy as our heavenly Father is, to truly act as part of His family. We try to put to death our sinful self, the old Adam. And we suffer because of this war within us. Sometimes our old self gets the upper hand, and sometimes we truly do rely on the Holy Spirit, but we surely need help. Paul in the next paragraph writes that we are groaning with all creation in pain like childbirth, waiting eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:22-23). We are God’s children, He has promised us this and He keeps His promises, but we are also waiting for the time when it is obvious, waiting for our hope to be fulfilled. When Christ comes again in glory, we will share in that glory; but today we are sharing in His earthly suffering.

You are a child of God, taken from this world of death, slavery and fear. We have God’s promises and even heavenly blessings in this life, peace and joy, certainly the great love of God. You know where you are headed, to be with Jesus and your Father and the Spirit and all the saints throughout all time. But now, here you suffer, The Holy Spirit beside you, Jesus who has gone before you and your Heavenly Father who loves and cares for you, sustaining you through all things.

The peace of God which passes all our understanding guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, and our Father in Heaven, The Triune God now and forever. Amen.

  • Joseph Grahm

The Holy Spirit of God

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

John 15:26, 27; 16:7, 8; 13

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

The words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your eyes, O Lord, our rock and redeemer. Amen.

This Sunday we will be celebrating the Pentecost, the fiftieth day after our Lord’s resurrection, and the traditional birthday of the church. The day when all those years ago, this promise our Lord Jesus spoke was fulfilled. The morning where the Holy Spirit of God came down as flames on the disciples, gave Peter the words to speak to the crowd and baptised around three thousand (Acts 2:1-41).

These people were convicted of their sin, their rejection of Jesus Christ as God’s Son and their rejection of His Words. They were shown the truth of their lives and actions, that they had sinned and were sinning. They also heard the truth of Jesus’ forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the Spirit received through baptism. This is the Spirit of truth guiding the disciples into all truth and convicting the world.

Jesus has promised us that the Holy Spirit will guide us too, I pray not only for them, but for those who will come after (John 17:20 ). But how do we know that we are listening to This Spirit, how do we know we are living in truth? Last week we heard from John 17, just a little later in John’s Gospel, Jesus praying to the Father, ‘sanctify us in the truth, your word is truth’ (John 17:17). The Word of God is true and is where we find truth, and not just in the written Bible, but also the word became flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14). Jesus is the Word of God fully, but graciously God has also provided us with His Word written down by His people over 2000yrs.

It is through the Bible that we learn the truth, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But how do we know if we are guided by a spirit of God and not a different spirit? We are to test the spirits against the truth (1 John 4:1), John tells us that we know the Spirit of God because He confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2). Also earlier in the letter He writes that, ‘if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us’ (1 John 1:8).

The people who deceive themselves and believe the lies of this world or society also condemn themselves to death, because they reject the truth. Those who reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit also reject the salvation of Jesus. But Jesus has promised that the Holy Spirit will guide us with truth and to truth. The Holy Spirit is our advocate, our helper, our comforter and our guide.

The grace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now and always. Amen.

7th Sunday after Easter

John 17:14-18

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

The words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your eyes, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

            Who are you; an Australian; a cooker of good food; a child of your mother; mother to your children; a migrant; a man; a woman? Where do you find your identity? In your politics, ‘I’m a Liberals voter’; your work, ‘I’m a truckie’; your family, ‘I’m a mother/father’; your friends, ‘I’m the funny one’? Or do you primarily find your identity, who you are and what you are, in Jesus Christ, God’s Word?

            This reading is an excerpt from Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane just before He meets Judas and is arrested to be tried and crucified. The church tradition knows it as the High priestly prayer, in which Jesus, our High Priest, intercedes/speaks on our behalf to God our Father praising Him and asking for a number of things. Two things He asks for that we read are protection for His disciples and that they are made holy by and kept in the Word of God. Now Jesus is God, and He’s praying to God the Father, I think it’s safe to believe that what He prays for comes to reality; we have this assurance from Jesus that God always speaks truth (verse 17), and also we know this word held true for the disciples when they were rejected the world but ultimately protected from its lies. Jesus’ prayer is sure. God declares you saved and righteous in Jesus and He does strive to keep you from the devil.

            Also true is that you are not of this world. You are of Jesus and the Father (verse 9, 10). Christ Jesus is where we find our identity, where we learn who and what we are; sinners who have been saved. We no longer find our identity from this world, from our political or national affiliations, from our community ideals, from this world’s worldview, but from God. There is now no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ; heirs of the promise (Galatians 3:28, 29b).  Heirs of the promise of eternal life in Christ, not heirs of the promise of Shorten or Turnbull, or the promise of ethnic nationalism, or multiculturalism, or capitalism, socialism, or any other promise of any other group of this world.

There is only one who has the power to save you from sin, death and the devil, to bring you ultimate love, peace and joy. That one is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: the only one who loves you and all people, and loves you completely (John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9-10). He sent Jesus, His precious, only Son to die in your place so that you receive eternal life and freedom from evil. That is the promise, “whoever believes in Him will live forever” (John 3:16).

            What might this truth of God’s Word change in our lives? Who would we be if in everything we who claim Christ Jesus as Lord thought, spoke and acted with His words in mind, rather than the chattering of the voices in the world? How does God’s Word change you? “No one is righteous, no not even one”, “I forgive you all your sins”, “This is my body”, “This is my blood”, “Jesus came into the world to save sinners”, “Do not fear”, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” (Psalm 14:3; Jeremiah 31:34; Mark 14:22-23; 1 Timothy 1:15; Deuteronomy 31:8; Matthew 5:10). Throughout your Christian life you have heard God’s Word, you have heard the truth, and you have learnt what God likes. You love God and so you try to do what pleases Him, He told us ‘Be holy for I am holy’ (1 Peter 1:16). This is our life that is not of the world.

            Unfortunately, sometimes, many times, we forget the Bible, God’s Word, we lose sight of our identity in Christ and we find again an identity in this world. We are still in the world, for Jesus has sent us just like He was sent. He has sent us with God’s Word to proclaim God’s Good News to all who do not know or understand it. And because we are still in the world we still struggle against it, we still struggle with temptation and sin. You dismiss who Christ tells you you are, and focus again to what the world tells you: it’s us against them and they’re evil (men/women; locals/foreigners; Labour/Liberal; black/white; or any other group and those outside); you are basically a god who can achieve anything, or even you deserve everything and everyone should love you because of who you are; or you belong nowhere, you deserve nothing and are worthless. Your gender defines you, or your sexuality, your political leanings, your skin, your family, your friends, your pay check. In this world I have heard all these things and more, many promise peace, wealth, joy, power, safety because of who you are. But look around, we don’t receive these; maybe some people for a little while but ultimately this world cannot ensure that we receive salvation from suffering. Only God can. But the world can ensure that we suffer because of who we are and sometimes that’s what it promises.

            And we are still in the world. We do still experience suffering because of who we are in the world. It is true that according to this world we live in I am a young man of European descent, good pay and scattered family and friends. These identities I have do influence how I live here, but Christ tells me and you that these are not our true identities, not the identity that He has given us. We find our identity In God’s Word. You are part of Christ’s body, you are in the Church His bride, you are adopted as His sons, you are one in Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 5:23, 25; Ephesians 1:5; Galatians 3:28). You are not of the world, now you’re made of different stuff through Christ and are keep protected and safe by God’s true Word.

That is who you are, a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, God’s people. The life of the Christian is different to the life of the world. We are sent, just as Jesus, to minister to the world and to bring the Word of God, the Good News to all people. This is not a completely safe task, because the sinful world hates this Word and us because we belong to Jesus. However, God the Father will protect us and the Holy Spirit guides us. Thanks be to God!

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

Final Instructions.

TEXT:  Mark 16:19, 20

  ‘After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.  Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.’

                                               

As the evangelists record, on the day of his ascension Jesus was with his disciples in Jerusalem.  He gave them some final instructions during a meal, then when they’d finished the meal, he led them out to Bethany.  He continued his instructions on the way and repeated his promise to send them the Holy Spirit.  They should go to Jerusalem, he said, to wait for the Spirit to come.  Then he raised his hands in a final act of blessing, and as they watched, he was taken up from them until a cloud hid him from their sight.

Jesus’ ascension is the final act in God’s great drama of salvation.  God the Father received his divine Son back to the glory of his right hand, and in doing this, he gave his stamp of approval to everything Jesus had accomplished here on earth.

In his letter to the Ephesians, St Paul points out that the Jesus who ascended that day is the same person ‘who descended to the … earthly regions’.  The Son of God descended from the glory of heaven to the lowliness of earth as the infant of a young woman.  He descended into the sin, sorrow and suffering of this world, for us.

God had seen us in our need.  He’d seen us trapped in the tragedy of our sin.  He’d seen that, try hard as we would, we could never bridge the gap that we’d created between us and himself by our sin.  The only way we could be spared the punishment that sin brings was for someone to take our place – to keep God’s law perfectly on our behalf, and yet to suffer its punishment in full.

That’s why the eternal Son of God came from heaven to earth, from glory to humility.  That’s why he gave up his life on Calvary.  And God accepted this sacrifice of his Son, and raised him to life again on the third day.

To convince people that the sin of all humanity’s been paid for, Jesus showed himself alive on a number of occasions during the 40 days after his resurrection.  In effect, he was saying to his disciples, and us: ‘I’m alive!  I’ve taken all your guilt on myself … all your weaknesses.  I’ve suffered all your temptations for you.  I’ve been punished most cruelly for you.  But I’m no longer dead!  I’ve conquered death and Satan.  I’ve cancelled out all your sin.  Just believe this and you’ll have life with me and my Father in heaven.’

Jesus’ resurrection proves to us that our sin has been paid for.  But to make us even more sure, our Lord ‘was taken up into heaven’.  Because he was completely satisfied with what Jesus had done, God the Father received him back to his right hand side … restored him to the full exercise of his divine authority and power.

As St Paul says, ‘He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe’.

That’s why Ascension is a festival of joy.  It shows us that God’s saving work for us is complete.  There’s nothing more to be done.  Our sin’s been paid for – all of it!  You are forgiven!  Christ’s work is perfect.  No matter how many times we may still fall into temptation – even though we try hard to fight against it – God’s taken all this into consideration.  Jesus’ death has covered it all.

By faith you can be at peace with God – in spite of your many weaknesses and failings.  By faith you have God’s own assurance of a place in heaven, where your risen Lord’s now gone on ahead of you,  You don’t have to work for it; and you don’t have to have any anxieties about whether or not you’re worthy of it.  In yourself you’re not worthy, and you never can be.  But Christ has removed all your unworthiness so you can now have the certainty of faith to say with St Paul:  ‘I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’.

Our text tells us that ‘after the Lord had spoken to [the disciples], he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God’.  What this means has been well described by St Paul in his letter to the Ephesians.  ‘[God] raised [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and domin-ion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body.’

The fact that the ascended Christ is now at God’s right hand doesn’t mean he’s confined somewhere ‘up there’ beyond the stars!  The picture we often have of God the Father sitting on a shining white throne above the clouds is poetic imgagery.  Jesus himself described what’s meant by his sitting ‘at the right hand of God’ when he said: ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’.  As ascended Lord, the God-Man Jesus Christ now fully shares in the rule of earth and heaven.

In a sense, his ascension was like a coronation, by which he was unmistakably declared almighty ruler over heaven and earth.  Within the eternal trinity of the Godhead, the ascended Christ now controls all things throughout Creation, according to his unlimited wisdom and grace.

Now … what does all this mean for you and me?

Think back for a moment to what St Paul wrote in Ephesians!  ‘[God] seated [Christ] at his right hand in the heavenly realms … and … placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church …’

Jesus Christ, the exalted ‘King of Creation’, who is both ‘Son of God and Mary’s Son’, as we sing in one of our hymns, now rules over all things in this universe.  He controls all the forces in this universe, and directs everything that happens in the interests of his church – and that includes you and me.

The ascended Christ is vitally concerned about his church here on earth, and about you and me who’re members of it.  He’s vitally concerned about his church because God the Father’s given him to the church as its Head.

There’ a wonderful reassurance in this thought for all of us who’re members of Christ’s church through faith.  We can have this very real assurance that our ascended Lord is directing everything that happens – on a global and national level, and in our community and our own personal life – he’s directing it all in our best interests.  We can confidently say with St Paul: ‘In all things God works for the good of those who love him’.

In spite of continuing unrest in various parts of the world, in spite of shootings, in spite of increasing drug use, in spite of road deaths, in spite of AIDS, the ascended Christ is still ruling at the right hand of his Father – channelling our lives in our best interests.

So … if you’re sick or have some disability, don’t despair!  Christ is still in control;  God is working for your good!

If you have financial problems, or you’re out of work, or your income’s taken a dive, don’t lose courage!  God knows!

If your children let you down, or your marriage has broken up or is under stress, don’t throw in the towel!  Christ is on your side, and he’s still in control.

So often when trouble comes we give in to despair.  ‘What’s the use?’ we ask.  ‘Where’s God?  Why doesn’t he help?’

Your heavenly Father is always there, and Christ is at his right hand.  He’s in charge, and he rules everything in this universe in the best interests of those who’re his.  He only has your good in mind in the way he deals with you.  You mightn’t always see it at the time, but you will … with the wisdom of hindsight!

And beyond this life he’s prepared a place for you in the never-ending glory of his Father’s presence.

So …you can face each day confidently, trusting in the almighty rule of your ascended Lord and King.

However, Jesus’ ascension to God’s right hand doesn’t mean he’s left his disciples – ancient or modern – to our own devices, to flounder around by ourselves in a world that by and large is antagonistic to all he stands for.  Shortly before he parted from his disciples he assured them: ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age’.

True, he did withdraw his visible presence from them, but as the ever-present God he continued to be with them, and he continues to be with his disciples of all ages.

As those early disciples went out to preach his gospel in all the world they realised more and more how close the ascended Christ was.  Mark tells us:  ‘The disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by signs that accompanied it’.

Those men were very much aware of the presence of their Lord, and of his Spirit, in their lives.  On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to them, as Jesus promised.  They went out to preach and teach with new boldness … to witness and baptise. And as they did this, the ascended Lord himself worked through them.  He confirmed and strenthened their spoken word with signs – a lame man healed, Saul the persecutor converted to Paul the Apostle, lives changed, faith strengthened, deeds of love and service.  The mass conversion on Pentecost, and the spectacular growth of Christianity in spite of strong opposition – even persecution – all this testifies to the fact that the ascended Christ works mightily in and through his followers.

The same Lord is still close to each one of us today.  He’s put us into this world for a special purpose – just as the apostles had a special purpose.  His purpose for you is not that you should selfishly live just for yourself.  You’ve been called to live under Christ and serve him and witness to his love.  And he wants to work through you as he worked through his chosen 12.

There’s a story that tells of Jesus’ return to heaven.  The angels Michael and Gabriel were there to welcome him.  They congratulated him on his victory over Satan, and for having drawn so many disciples to follow him.  ‘But’, they asked, ‘what’ll happen now that you’ve withdrawn from the world?’

‘I’ve provided for that’. Jesus told them.  ‘I have Peter and John and the other Apostles to go out and preach in my name.’

‘But how will people of later ages come to know what you’ve done for them?’ Gabriel asked.

‘I’ve arranged for that, too.’ Jesus said. ‘ I’ve charged my people throughout history to be my witnesses and tell people about my love for them.’

 ‘But what if they let you down?’ Gabriel asked in awed tones.

‘I have no other way’, Jesus replied.

It’s just a story, but it makes a challenging point.  To each of us the Lord says, ‘Go into all the world, starting with your own home and community.  Go and preach and live my gospel, and witness to my grace.  And don’t be concerned about your weaknesses and inadequacies, because “I am with you …”’

As you respond to this call as a member of Christ’s body and of this St Peter’s congregation, you too will see the signs of your Lord’s mighty presence, and of his power at work in and through you and your fellow members: children and adults drawn into the body of Christ through baptism; some friend or relative who comes to new life in Christ; growth in your own faith and in the love that expresses that faith; prayers answered; lives changed.  These are the kind of signs that show the ascended Lord is still mightily active in his church, and in you today.

Rejoice that your salvation has been completed, and that you are a forgiven child of God, with an eternal destiny in heaven!  Rejoice that the ascended Christ rules over all in his powerful, loving way.  Rejoice that he continues to work in and through his church on earth to draw people to himself!  And rejoice that he works also in and through you, in spite of your all-too-human frailties!

Rejoice, the Lord is King!

 Your Lord and King adore!

Jesus, the Savjour reigns,

  The God of truth and love;

His kingdom cannot fail,

  He rules o’er earth and heaven.

He sits at God’s right hand …

  Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!

Rejoice, again I say, Rejoice!

Amen.

Rev Robert J Wiebusch

Chosen to bear fruit

Text: John 15:16
Jesus said, “You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit”.

Harry Lipsig, a New York lawyer, took on cases that others lawyers refused to touch. 

A woman was suing a drunken police officer who had struck and killed her 71-year-old husband with his patrol car. She argued that the city had deprived her of her husband’s future earnings potential as a psychiatrist. The lawyers for the police officer believed they had a water tight case against such a claim and argued that at the age of 71, the man had little earnings potential.

They thought they had a clever defence until they realized that this woman’s argument about her husband’s future earning power was being championed by a vigorous 87-year-old Harry Lipsig. His case rested on the argument that he was 87 and still practicing law and suggested that the psychiatrist, too, could have looked forward to many more years in the work force. Mr Lipsig’s client was awarded $1.25 million.

Facing some of the brightest minds in the legal profession, the 87 year old could have said but didn’t, “I can’t take on a case like this. I’m too old”. However, I’m sure all of us at some time have said, “I can’t do that.  What can I do?  I wouldn’t know what to do.”

For example, we learn that a close friend or relative has met with tragedy. Our immediate reaction to the news we have just heard is a desire to do something. We want to say something, do something, anything that will help.

But as we contemplate all this we start to ask ourselves, “What can I do?
I wouldn’t know what to say.
What if I say the wrong thing?
I might offend the person if I offer to help around the house.
I don’t know how to deal with overwhelming with grief.
I am only a housewife, a labourer, an accountant.
I am only a teenager, a farmer, a retiree.”

“I am only ….” are only 3 small words but have the power to stifle anything we consider too challenging or too demanding.

We hear those words spoken numerous times through the Scriptures and even if they aren’t spoken out loud we can assume that they were in the minds of those who questioned God’s command or even rejected it. When God told Jonah to call the people of Nineveh to repentance, I can well imagine Jonah saying as he boarded a ship to get away from God, “I can’t do this. It’s crazy. I am only …”

There are others who initially said, ‘I am only’ but then responded with obedience.

Take Jeremiah. No sooner had Jeremiah been told that he was chosen for a special job by God than the prophet-to-be blurts out, “I can’t. I don’t have the training. I am only a teenager.”
When God spoke to Moses at the burning bush, Moses tried to wriggle out of undertaking such a risky task and excuse himself from going to the Egyptian king by saying he wasn’t very good at making speeches, saying, “I am only a shepherd. I’m a nobody. How can I go to the king and bring the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:11). 
Gideon was a farmer and God told him to lead an army to rid the land of an enemy. We can imagine him using those 3 words “I am only …” as he complained, “How can I save Israel? … I am the least in my family” (Judges 6:15).
When the angel spoke to Mary and told her she was about to bear a child, the Son of the Most High God, she too said, “How can I? I am only a young girl not even married yet.”

When God called Amos, an orchardist,
Andrew Peter, James and John, all fishermen,
Matthew, a tax collector,
Saul, a persecutor of the Christians,
one and all could have quite legitimately said, “I can’t do this! I am only a … farmer, a fisherman, a tax collector, an ordinary sort of person”.

When God chooses people for certain tasks and calls them to do what is seemingly dangerous and downright crazy, he knows what he’s doing. Even if the individual can only respond with ‘how can I do this’ and proposes all kinds of objections, God can see past our weaknesses and insecurities and see the real potential that exists within each of us.

When God came to young Jeremiah and said, ‘I am appointing you as a prophet to the nations’ we can understand why Jeremiah starts to object. Here is a teenager who is told to speak God’s Word of warning and judgement and repentance to people who would not take too kindly to this kind of message, especially from the mouth of a lad. But before Jeremiah and those like him can say anything else, God assures him that he will always be there to assist, rescue, support and strengthen his messengers, even in the worst of situations.
He says to Jeremiah, “Do not be afraid, for I will be with you to protect you. …. Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak”.

To Moses God said, “I will be with you”.
As Joshua takes over from Moses as leader of the Israelites, God says, “I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you”
As Jesus commands his disciples to preach and baptise people of all nations he says, “I will be with you always”

The words God uses here indicate his deep commitment to those he chooses in much the same way as the Bible describes the commitment between a husband and wife or the way God speaks of his commitment to the people of Israel.

Just as God came in his grace to Jeremiah, and called him to be his prophet, he has come to us. Through Jesus and his death and resurrection he has given us
a new identity as his chosen people and given us a new life.
Just as Jeremiah was given a new responsibility that day so also we have been given new responsibilities as his chosen people.
To be God’s voice to speak his Word of comfort and grace;
to be God’s ears to hear the cries of those who are hurting;
to be God’s hands to demonstrate God’s love through our care and love;
to be God’s feet to go and be his disciples in the every day matters of living in this world,
to be a witness to God’s love for all people in our neighbourhood, our community, in fact, the whole world.

It all sounds very nice to talk about Jeremiah and all the others and their call to be God’s messengers and seeing a parallel with God’s call to us to be his chosen people through holy Baptism. But when it comes down to it our response ends up no different to the biblical characters, “How can I do this. I am only …” and like Jeremiah, Moses and the others feel totally inadequate to carry out what God is asking us to do.

The words “I am only..” are words that deny the gifts God has given us to develop and use. “I am only …” is offered as a reason why we can’t do something. I don’t have what is needed to be on a congregational committee, or visit the sick, or talk to a neighbour about Jesus and the Church, or help in the worship service. I am only a farmer, a house wife, a retiree, a council worker.
Our fear of failure is nothing unusual. Our feeling of inadequacy is normal as we wonder how we will cope and what we will do. We would prefer that God leave us alone and ask someone else.

Like I said, it’s normal to feel afraid and inadequate and it’s just when we feel like this that we need to be reminded of God’s commitment to us.
It is God who chooses us to be his children and to actively be his disciple.
It is God who has promised those whom he has chosen that he will never leave them and will always be beside them to give guidance and help.
His commitment to us whom he has chosen as his people and given the task of using our gifts and skills to bless others is no different to the one he gave young Jeremiah, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you”.

If God can overrule the objections of Jeremiah, and Gideon, and Moses and Peter, he can do that for us as well. God chooses us and appoints us to bear much fruit, to use Jesus’ words (John 15:16). We can be sure he won’t challenge us with anything for which he hasn’t equipped us. And we can be sure that he will help us in our times of hesitancy and lack of confidence. He will provide us with those who will help us be what he has chosen us to be.

I know that you and I will all too willingly shy away from challenges that are presented to us. It is part of our human nature to want to take an easier path and not to step out of where we feel comfortable. Be assured that our God who knows what we are capable of better than we know ourselves is the one challenging us to extend ourselves beyond what is comfortable and easy. And as we are reminded of this, let’s also remember Jesus own words, “You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit”.

Those are reassuring words – we have been chosen by our Lord and Saviour to carry on his work and as his chosen people he is not only ready to forgive us when we fail but also gives us the means of carrying out his work. No matter how inadequate we may feel, God has a marvellous way of using what we say and do to bring blessings to others.

When you hesitate and wonder what you could possibly say and do, remember you are God’s chosen people, made clean by the blood of Jesus and given a new life through his resurrection. He has chosen you, appointed you, will support you and provide you with the means and opportunities to bear much fruit.

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

 

Love comes from God.

1 John 4:7-11, 20, 21

Beloved, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

We love because He first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

The words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your eyes, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

My beloved brothers and sisters, It seems we’ve been covering most of the first letter of John while I’ve been gone, three weeks ago we heard from the first chapter that God is light and He forgives your sins. Now we hear that oft quoted phrase, God is love. The Almighty Creator of the whole world, the one who has authority and power over all things even calamities (Isaiah 45:7), has revealed to us that He is love, here in His Word. That is a wonderful message, comforting and reassuring, and a very well known saying. But have you ever really thought about what that means? Does it mean we should just be nice and accepting of others? Or something much more?

But something that has bothered me before is the words that come before this statement, I’ll try and address these now because I love you and I want God’s Word to work on you and through you, also I’m sure some of you have questioned it too. How is it that everyone who loves is born of God? What does this mean for your friends and family who, though not in the Christian church, are ‘good’ people? They love their spouse, they care for their children and they try hard to make the world a better place for all. Does this verse seven mean that they will be saved because of their love? Of course, it doesn’t, but still…

I’ve thought on this a bit, and asked others in the past, and I can see two answers to this. One is a bit of a cop out, but true nevertheless. This message is meant for those already in the body of Christ, a letter to Christians, for you and me. It is not for those outside the church and it is not about you judging the love of another and so their salvation. John writes later that His reason for writing is that who believe in Jesus Christ may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). And so it is instead a great comfort and can also be a little bit of a warning for you and me. The comfort in knowing that God loves you, is with you, saves you, bringing you life and taking away your filth; and a warning to you if your love is fake.

And that brings us to the other answer I see, which actually starts with a question immortalised in song, but. What is love? We all know we use the word differently in different times, the, ‘I love pizza, I love my dog and I love my girlfriend; but I’m not going to kiss my pizza goodnight, eat my dog or train my girlfriend to sit’. The Greeks were more fortunate or a bit smarter than us, they had four or so words for love in different contexts, brotherly love, erotic love, and here the word can be translated better unconditional love. But that’s all semantics, John, and God, are very kind in that in verse ten he writes, ‘This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin.’ That He sent His son to die for you. That’s a bit of an odd definition, but Paul helps shine some more of God’s light on the issue. Romans chapter 5(:6, 8, 10) Jesus died for you when you were still a sinner, when you still hated Him and were still Christ’s enemy. That is what you were when Jesus brought you to new life, when He paid for all your evil and reconciled you to God the Father. Even though you might hate Jesus, think Him the worst of liars, and try to kill Him, He brought you life and deep lasting peace, not just that, but He died to give it to you. That is love. That is God.

That is the great love He has shown us, He was willing to sacrifice for our benefit even when we were against Him. He gave the ultimate sacrifice of His own life, and also the life of His only Child (can you imagine?); to bring you from death to life and life never ending and to destroy and remove each and every one of your evil desires and failures now you are righteous in His eyes (John 3:16; Romans 6:4; 1 John 1:7-9), and He did this not when you loved Him but when you hated Him and called Him the worse hypocrite and deceiver.

Now my beloved brothers and sisters, because of God’s great love for you, because of the New life you have in Him and Him in you, because you have been born again and know God, because of these you show His love to others and love your siblings in the Faith. Indeed this is what we should do and what Christ Himself commanded, ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself’, and ‘by this all men shall know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another’ (Matthew 22:36-40; John 13:35). So we should love each other, sharing the truth of God’s great love around. John here (1 John 4:8, 20) also writes that if you do not love you do not know God, you are not a Christian; that if you hate your brother in Christ you are not able to love Christ.

This being true, going back to my question, it should be easy to gauge who is a Christian and who is not; people who love unconditionally and completely are Christian and people who don’t are not. However, this is not the only way a Christian shows themselves, for someone who has rejected and still rejects Jesus Christ as Lord and God’s Son, they do not abide in God, or God in them, they are not followers of Christ (1 John 4:16, Romans 10:9).

But you who have been given the Holy Spirit in baptism live in God, and you who believe in the promises and action of Jesus God’s Son, which we can only do by the power of the Spirit, and confess Him as your Lord and saviour, as we do time and again in the creeds, God lives in you. Some here will have felt hatred towards others at sometime in their lives, or just refused to show love to others, remember how much, how great God’s love is for you, how much He has forgiven you, how much He gave for you to have life everlasting. This is love and this is The Truth, that the Almighty Creator of all gave the ultimate sacrifice for your sake, when you were the least worthy and entirely against Him, He did this to bring you the greatest gift, of purity, of peace, of joy, of hope, of life eternal, of Love. God is love and He loves you.

In this knowledge may His peace which surpasses all our understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus now and forever. Amen.

The Good Shepherd

Sermon for Easter 4 (Good Shepherd)
Bible reading: John 10:11

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. Today our Lord Jesus shows us a most precious illustration of how God relates to his people. He comes to us as a shepherd, to gather us together, to defend us from all harm, to put his life on the line for us. Here at Bethlehem, we have this fabulous stained-glass window portraying Jesus the Good Shepherd – it really is a sermon in visual form.

Many of us remember the parable of the lost sheep from childhood – a passage closely related to our gospel. And after lunch today, go and dig up your old Baptism or Confirmation certificates – I bet many of you will find an illustration of Jesus caring for little lambs and children there.

The bible mentions shepherds in a number of places; way back even in Old Testament times. Adam and Eve had two sons initially, and one was a shepherd.

Many years later Moses saw the vision of the burning bush. What was he doing at that time? He was tending his father-in-law’s sheep. Yes, Moses was a shepherd about to embark on a much more challenging task. With staff in hand he would shepherd the people of Israel out of slavery to the safety of the Promised Land.

David was a shepherd before he became King of Israel. He who wrote that most treasured of Psalms, The Lord is my Shepherd, knew the life of the shepherd: protecting the sheep from predators and thieves; leading them to where the best pasture grew and finding water for them to drink in the arid countryside of Israel. Like Moses, he eventually defended God’s people at a time of great political instability in the region.

Later on Israel had other leaders – priests and kings who were supposed to be shepherds over Israel, seeing to people’s spiritual and physical wellbeing. Sadly they neglected the people’s needs. The corrupt ones frequently took advantage of the weak for their own gain. Through the prophets God condemned these false shepherds and promised to step in himself to shepherd the sheep of Israel.

… he came to save the whole world. That’s why he is indeed the GoodShepherd.

In time Jesus came to do just that: God born as a human being to gather and save the vulnerable people of Israel – an event, incidentally, announced to shepherds on the first Christmas. And his concern was not just restricted to Israel; he came to save the whole world. That’s why he is indeed the Good Shepherd.

If we are to make one conclusion from today’s reading it is surely how much God loves his people.

We often hear that message: God loves you so much. But it doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on people’s lives. People are tired and indifferent to this most basic message of the church. And yet we are still convinced that this little sentence is the best message ever. We do whatever we can to share it effectively through a variety of media. It’s like green grass to a hungry flock, or clear water on a hot day.

Why then, has it come to be so impotent in its effect? Why has something so nourishing for the human soul become so insipid to many?

Basically it’s because people know little about the quality of this love. We can tell the world about the enormity of God’s love until we are blue in the face. Until they understand the human predicament, and the quality of God’s love for the world, the message falls on deaf ears.

In John 10, Jesus shows us the unmatched quality of God’s love in such simple terms even little children can grasp it – “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” That’s God’s love in a nutshell.

You see, the Good Shepherd is not in it for money. In fact it cost him everything – even his very life. Neither did he come down from heaven to the dangerous valley of this world under compulsion. He came willingly.

No-one takes [my life] from me, says Jesus. I lay it down on my own accord. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again.

He didn’t follow the lure of popularity or prestige. He lost friends for speaking the truth. He even battled Satan and the forces of evil while in the fragile frame of human flesh. Who else could stand such an array of attacks for the sake of love? Jesus shepherds us not because we deserve it, for we all, like sheep, have gone astray. The world is either hostile or apathetic towards God’s extending arms of love.

Our hostility and apathy is the reason why we become lost, lonely, or tangled in the thorns of our sins, which separates us from the love of God.

When we follow our own impulses we consequently find ourselves in shadowy valleys of trouble: off side with our parents; in trouble with the police or the law; ostracized by those we had hoped would be our friends; caught in the brambles of addiction or self-hate; pestered by doubts – frightened at the uncertain and ever darkening future.

In love, Jesus came to gather a scattered humanity back from such a situation, and return people to God.

The King of Love my Shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever.

So do you ever doubt that you are among God’s elect, one of his dear sheep? Read the words of the Good Shepherd again, and hear with assurance that Jesus has gathered you into his flock. Nothing can his power withstand. None can pluck you from his hand.

Or do you think you are here because of a decision you made for Christ? The readings today dispel the proud delusion that thinks being a Christian is all about our devotion to God. It’s not. It’s clearly about his devotion to us.

In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 
—1 John

And for those of you who imagine God as distant, aloof, static, silent, watching and waiting to see what you will do, the Good Shepherd shows that he is right here in the thick of things with us. He gets his hands dirty and risks his wellbeing coming after us.

Jesus seeks us out. He wanders with tireless determination over hill and plain, through hazardous terrain to find us, to gather and protect us. He stood in the breach when death closed in like a pack of wolves, and he took the punishment for our wayward folly.

That is the meaning of God’s love friends. And David’s Psalm, which was written long ago, makes so much more sense in the light of Jesus’ words:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Here, we not only acknowledge God’s providence for our daily needs, but we also trust him to lead us in right paths of living as he calls us to follow his voice and no other.

The life-giving water of baptism has become a clear and refreshing pool of goodness and mercy to refresh us all the days of our life.

Even the darkest valley of death cannot harm us. Easter has made sure of that!

Our Lord’s words, his vicarious suffering and death, these are his comforting rod and staff.

So safe are we in his presence, we can feast before our enemies – gathering together as onechurch, one flock under one Shepherd as we share in the one bread and one cup together in the Lord’s Supper. Sweet fellowship divine!

But what has taken place in our hearts to open our ears, to bring us to an appreciation of this good news? Did someone say to us, ‘Hey, you’d better hop to it and get in line, the shepherd’s coming’? No. A harsh shepherd would only drive us further from God. A harsh shepherd would be more in line with the false shepherds who have harassed God’s people from ancient times.

Rather it is the tender nature of this shepherd that wins us. He is strong, but he uses his strength for us, not against us. He has trained our ears by the Holy Spirit to hear and recognise and love his voice.

We want nothing more than to be near this one who is full of grace and truth – like those sheep in Bethlehem’s stained-glass window. We live in an age when people are searching for spirituality. There is no higher spirituality than to believe the Gospel. The gospel makes us want to follow the Good Shepherd all the days of our life – to cherish and emulate his great love for us.

… people will notice God’s unique love at work in your lives and be drawn to the Good Shepherd

And others will see that: Others who are strays; or those who have never known Jesus Christ but are beginning to hear his voice bit by bit. Today people are searching for love and community. It can’t be found in hours spent glued to cell phones or chat rooms; or in front of the mirror after a gym workout; or fantasizing in cyberspace about power or pleasure; or in any other soul-destroying pass time.

But people will notice God’s unique love at work in your lives and be drawn to the Good Shepherd. They will come to hear with willing ears the gospel through the church, providing the church continues to tell it. They will gladly part company with the pervasive brambles of individualism and consumerism in exchange for the safe arms of the Good Shepherd, and the joyful community of his everlasting flock. Amen.

Pastor Simon Cooper

Like Him

Each year we celebrated ANZAC Day – the occasion when we remember those who gave their lives in war and express our thanks to those who went to war and survived.

We have heard on our news in recent times that a mass grave has been discovered in the north east of France near the place where the Battle of Fromelles was fought in July 1916. This was the first action that Australian troops saw on the Western Front in Europe. The attack was foolish, badly planned with the enemy in a superior position. The troops had to cross a wide ‘no-man’s land’ in broad daylight. One survivor wrote, “The air was thick with bullets, swishing in a flat, crisscrossed lattice of death. Hundreds were mown down in the flicker of an eyelid”. Over five and a half thousand soldiers were killed in just one day. One hundred and ninety-one were hurriedly buried by the enemy and it is this grave that is about to be opened, the remains of those soldiers identified and reburied in a new memorial cemetery.

The lives of these men were brought to a violent end in a stupid and foolish battle that was a complete defeat for the Australian and British troops. Why is so much effort being put into the exhumation and reburial of those who died so long ago? This is not an easy or inexpensive task. Why do we need to honour what is left of these men, treat those remains with so much dignity and show respect?

We could answer saying that these men gave their lives in the service of their country and deserve this kind of dignity. No one would argue with that.
What is more, this will certainly bring closure for some families who have wondered all these years where their loved one is buried.
The fact remains, however, that retrieving these remains won’t bring the person back. These remains are all that’s left of a life.

Whatever our religious convictions may be deep inside we know that our body is special and so we treat it in a special way even after it has died. When we attend a funeral we give honour and respect to the body, or what’s left of it (as in the case of those soldiers), and treat it with dignity.

Our bodies are miracles. In fact, the body we have was designed and created by God, and carries the mark of his genius. Just think of what our body can do, how complex and balanced, how strong and yet how capable of fine control.
Think about the brain and everything that it does and controls without any effort on our part.
Think about our eyes, ears, heart and lungs that are all so complex and amazing and do such marvellous things and we hardly give them a thought as we go about our daily tasks.
When one part is injured in some way, the body has its own repair mechanism. Our bodies are more than the result of an evolutionary process and are so wonderful and amazing that it’s not hard to believe that we are what we are because the hand of God the Creator made us.

The Bible sees human beings as one of God’s miracles. We are body, soul, mind, spirit, personality, DNA, flesh and bone, all wonderfully and mysteriously integrated and knit together, working in complex harmony. Think of a smile. You can’t separate the different components of a smile and if you were able then it would no longer be a smile. Muscle and bone and spirit and mind and personality all combine in one of the most powerful yet subtle things we can ever experience – a smile.

The psalmist wrote this to express how wonderfully made our bodies are, “You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother’s womb. When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother’s womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there— you saw me before I was born“ (Psalm 139 13,15-16).

God made Adam and Eve with his own hands and intended them to live forever in happiness and harmony with God and the world in which he placed them. As we know that all changed when sin entered the world and our bodies became infected with all kinds of sickness and the process of aging began. However, even though we are marred and disfigured by sin, this doesn’t diminish the uniqueness of our bodies one bit.

God didn’t put us in this world simply to grow old, wear out and die. He made us to live forever. And in faith, we say as we confess what we believe – ‘I believe in the resurrection of the body’ – yes, my body will live forever.

Today we hear, as we have heard since Easter Day, how Jesus appears to his disciples in his resurrection body. To say the least the disciples were terrified. When someone is dead they stay dead. And so Jesus went to lot of effort to show them that he is not a ghost or a spirit or figment of their imagination but the flesh-and-blood Jesus they have known when they walked and talked together as they travelled around Galilee. This is the same Jesus who has real skin; skin that now bears scars from nails and a spear and who eats and drinks in the same way he did when he ate with Zaccheus or with the disciples at the last supper. He says, ‘Look at my hands and my feet and see who I am! Touch me and find out for yourselves. It’s me Jesus’.

The New Testament tells us that our resurrection too (following the pattern set by Jesus) will be a resurrection of the body. In today’s second reading, John says that when Jesus is revealed at the last day ‘we will be like him’ (John 3:2b).

There are some popular ideas about what happens to us after death that are so wrong.
One that raises its head every so often is the idea of reincarnation, that is, after we die we come back in another life. There are even some Christians who have expressed this idea to me. There is nothing to suggest in the Bible that we come back to live another life on this earth again. In fact, I don’t find this a particularly attractive idea compared to the joy of heaven.
Neither does the Bible talk about the dead hanging around as ghosts, or spirits, or forces or whatever.
Neither does the Bible say that we become angels when we die.

What the Bible does say is that the body that is capable of so many wonderful things is a creation of God and that through Jesus’ death and resurrection we are redeemed body and soul. That means that eternal life involves our bodies. This teaching about the resurrection of the body is something unique to the Christian faith.

You see, when Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead he didn’t do all this to save just our souls. He gave his body on the cross to save us in our totality. He has made us, body and soul, holy and right with God. We believe that this weak clay pot of a body will one day be transformed into the likeness of the perfect and eternal Son of God himself, nothing less. Yes, we will be like him.

Paul tells us that, like Jesus, our old body that is now so riddled with faults and weaknesses will be made new and perfect and eternal and beautiful and healthy and strong in every way. I’m not just talking about the physical side of our bodies which on this earth suffer from all kinds of ailments but also our personality, our character flaws, our selfishness and all the dark blots that spoil and hold us back, that trip us up here in this life where sin still hangs on to us.

Our will and our minds will be made new. We will know God’s will perfectly and so be in complete harmony with God and with everyone else. All these things will be made new and beautiful and we will be finally what God has always wanted us to be. We will be the beautiful and lovely person that God has always known we would one day become. In fact, that’s not to say that God doesn’t love us now. In Christ, we have already been new and clean because of the blood of Jesus, but while in this life we will always have to deal with sin and sickness and aging.

Paul uses the illustration of a seed that is planted in the ground but rises from the ground as a lush green plant with heads of grain. When you look at a daffodil bulb there is nothing attractive about it. Wrinkly, dry, brown, so ugly but when it is planted and rises from the ground there are green leaves and on the tall, straight stems are the most beautiful flowers. Listen to what the apostle says, “This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal. When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong” (1 Cor 15:42-43).

This is great encouragement and comfort for us as we struggle with aging and illness.
These bodies that wear out in a few short years and leave us creaking and groaning with pain and losing our mobility are headed for complete and radical renewal. No arthritis, no heart problems or diabetes or cancer or Alzheimer’s disease.
No fear of that day when one of these will finally catch up with us and we die.

What a great encouragement and comfort all this is when we must sit at a deathbed or attend the funerals of family and friends.
In Christ and only in Christ is there the hope that beyond death there awaits a new life, a new body and a new home for all those who trust in Jesus as their saviour.

One day all of us will go through the dark valley of death.
We don’t know what our bodies will go through along the way.
We don’t know when this will happen.
We don’t have a precise description of what our new bodies will be like. After all how can you describe something out of this world with worldly words?
But what we do know is that when Jesus is revealed, we will be like him.

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy