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This is a night of remembering.

StMarks1 Corinthians 11:23-26

This is a night of remembering. Most of us remember this text from 1st Corinthians, which is the earliest account of the Last Supper we have. We have heard it hundreds of times in the sacred liturgy and it is part of our ingrained memory.

This is a week of remembering for Christians throughout the world, a kind of mental pilgrimage. We recall the irony of Palm Sunday, the ominous last supper of Jesus with his disciples, the agony of his death on Good Friday, and the joy of Easter Sunday. There will be many pilgrims in Jerusalem these days, visiting the sacred sites, including the Cenacle, the traditional site of the Last Supper. Tonight, millions of Christians throughout the world will be revisiting this site if only in imagination and in quiet meditation.

The somberness of this night perhaps gives rise to some personal memories: perhaps your first communion, or the time you went to the altar full of doubts, participating in a ritual that meant little more than empty repetition. But irrespective of what was going on inside, you were drawn to there by Christ to receive grace and a strengthening of faith.  You may recall the last time you communed with a loved one and you may remember that time when you knelt at the altar with a heavy burden of guilt and shame on your shoulders and you went away with lighter step: forgiven, healed, given new hope.

What were the disciples remembering that night two thousand years ago? The ‘Last Supper’—the expression has an ominous ring! Something is coming to an end, and Jesus’ followers are swamped by a fearful uncertainty. Except the one thing that is crystal clear, that Jesus is playing right into the hands of the authorities. It’s crisis time-the time has come.

The disciples are surely remembering how Jesus has hinted at a painful parting from them when he has spoken of the necessity of his death. Now he eats with them in the framework of the Passover meal, which requires the death of a sacrificial lamb. And as he presides over the meal, one thing becomes clear: This is a farewell of soughts.

He is about to die.

“My body given for you…my blood shed for you. Remember me.” This dinner is prelude to a death, his own.

St Paul makes the context of our Lord’s words of institution quite clear. He begins by recalling that the meal took place on the night Jesus was betrayed and then ends his account by speaking about proclaiming Jesus’ death.

The first will be last and the last first. From death comes life and as said so well be St. Augustine:

“Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of faith is the see what we believe. That day will come when all is made clear and we will understand the unblemished mysteries of God.

Tonight we partake in a mystery of God. A gift of God for us here on earth from heaven above.

‘Do this in remembrance of me’ does not mean that we are to cast our minds back to the distant past and remember who Jesus was. The Eucharist is not the repeated last rites for a fallen hero. We don’t remember a martyr who died for an ideal. Remembering here is not visualizing the terrible events of Holy Week: betrayal, false accusations, farcical trial, brutal torture, mockery and death.

The wonder of this holy meal is not that it represents the past, but that it re-presents the past. That is, what our Lord gained for us by giving his body and blood in death for us is made a present reality as we eat and drink. Even better, Christ the Son of God, our crucified Saviour is himself present for us.

As we participate in this sacred meal, God is saying to each one of us: I did this for you. This sacrifice is for you. You are not asked to make yourself worthy of the gift. Just take, eat…take, drink. Do nothing more than receive in faith.

Again, our Lord didn’t institute a funeral wake but a continual re-presentation of a joyful celebration of his presence with us. Even tonight, on the Eve of Good Friday, it is still the meal of joy as it celebrates not only a saving death- but a Easter life and that is why we can repeat the cry of the early church. Come, Lord Jesus!’

As we remember Jesus we are re-membered into him. We became members of the body of Christ by baptism, as the life-giving Spirit united us with him in his death and resurrection. In the Eucharist, in the mystery in which past, present and future are united, we are again membered with all the saints on earth and in heaven into the one body of Christ, his church. His past, present & future are ours.

Tonight as we eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus, so too does God the Father also remember, because in this celebration we hold up to the Father the perfect atoning sacrifice of Christ and in faith we claim that sacrifice as ours, and so yes: with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven we laud and magnify his holy name evermore praising him and singing, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts; heaven and earth are full of your glory.

In faith we recognise the  glory of the one who comes in the name of the Lord and in faith, we still see that glory even in the broken body and the blood out-poured.

This experience of glory as redeeming love carries us to a fuller vision of God’s glory out in the world. The one whose story we recite, and proclaim which becomes our own story as we discern God’s power and presence in all the contradictions of life: where hopes are dashed, dreams frustrated, and when injustice seems to triumph over justice-because this through bread and wine we remember the larger vision of Christ’s return, and through His body and blood of Jesus does come the larger reality that as we remember Him, so too does He remember us-for now, and for eternity.Amen

Easy to welcome Jesus but hard to follow

Luke 19:28-40/Philippians 2:5-11

 

Could it be true that Palm Sunday prods us to ponder that it is easy to welcome Jesus but hard to follow him?

StMarksAs we hear of this new king being welcomed to great applause, we know from our own experience that it is easy to welcome a winner. We have probably applauded the winner many times. Like when our child’s team or our own team won the grand final or or when Australia won the Americas Cup so long ago. It is a good thing to experience welcoming and applauding winners now and again!

If it is easy to welcome a winner, like they did on Palm Sunday, then it is probably quite easy to follow a winner too. If the winner is loved and has good skills and a good plan and the right intentions, then following can be done with relative ease. We are happy to jump on a winning band wagon and see where it leads.

It may be easy to welcome a winner, and even follow a winner, but it is a lot harder to welcome and follow a loser. You may have done that too; like when you are on the boundary line of junior sport or in the crowd of a production and mistakes are made and things do not go well. You have to welcome those who have not done their best and that may not always be so easy.

If welcoming a loser is hard, then following one is harder still. Remember that teacher you once had who you just could not follow but had to in order to get through? Remember that boss you worked under who didn’t always know what was going on or understand the issues, but you worked away anyway.

What about that colleague whom you just find it hard to trust and work with, but you have to anyway; that kid at school who was cruelly named the class “loser” whom you found it hard to stick up for?

It is hard to follow a person or a faith that you or others sometimes judge to be a “loser”.

What would inspire you to do this difficult thing of following a so called “loser”?

You might follow if you knew that the person was not actually a loser. That would take some attention and working through. It would take a seeking heart to find this out. It would take some application, patience, personal time and reflection to discover that your and others’ judgements about the person and their views were actually inaccurate.

You would follow a loser if you trusted that it was all for a great and noble purpose – a purpose of hope, of life, or renewal, of learning, of growing, of truly living and understanding.

You could follow if you trusted that his loss was others gain: a gift given so that good things come to us, and to a world in need.

If the loser was actually a winner who operates on a completely different scale of who is a winner and who is a loser, and if you could understand his way of winning and what it meant for the good of you and the world, then we might follow him.

What of this Jesus on the donkey? How do people in our time judge such a man on a cross and in a tomb. In our time and place, many people would regard him and those who follow him as “losers”.

Even those who profess to follow Jesus – may wonder if they have actually backed a winner when they are not held in great esteem, just as he is no longer held in high esteem by many in our community.

We may even get to the point of only following parts of Jesus – the parts that are easy and don’t confront us too much or make us uncomfortable.

An example:  we hear a lot about God’s grace. “It’s all about grace” we say. Our life is based on simply receiving the free gift of God’s grace and learning to be gracious, and so it goes. This is true, but it is also incomplete.

Jesus doesn’t really allow anyone to leave it there. Yes, he is magnificent in his lavish grace as he takes a beating from evil itself in our place on that cross. Yes he is grace personified as he is lifted up in pain and blood to lose it all so that we can gain all.

Yes, we are connected with the maker of all things in a relationship of compassion and love by the compassion and passion and love of this divine man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.

But then he lays a call on us. He called  those 12 people entering the city with him that first Palm Sunday, to “follow”. In his grace – which is grace enough to overlook our ignorance and offensive ideals and actions – he calls us to “follow”. His call to us is a call of underserved love and confidence in us, and yet it is still a call to follow him somewhere or into something.

“Follow what or whom?” we might ask. Follow a lifestyle goal? Follow a code of ethics? Follow a set of values. Follow the great thinkers and theologians? Follow the church and all its teaching religiously? Follow the family tradition of Christianity?

No, not in the most basic and first instance anyway. “Follow ME”, the donkey riding, Servant King calls. “Follow me into the city; into an unknown future”.

So, we are called by this grace-filled God to follow him somewhere in the journey of life he has given us. Today he calls us to follow him into the city and the suffering and the crucifixion and death and then that life at the end of the tunnel.

So, how about it? As we welcome the winner, Jesus, will we also follow him into an unknown future? Will we welcome this divine crucified man who will win the greatest victory of all – the ability and the power and authority to overcome death, forgive human sin and heal human blindness?

Will we welcome him as he reveals the wise and divine to the foolish and impatient this Holy Week? Will we follow him into Easter and see where he leads us? Will we follow him all the way to the cross?

The opposite response to this call would be to settle for a theoretical brand of Christianity. Peter, with all his promises to practice his faith and stay with Jesus even to death, found that the practice of faith and following is more confronting and scary that the theory of it. Actually following in faith is confronting.

But imagine his life after it was all over and he was restored by Jesus to full belonging and love. The practice of following the resurrected Jesus was a joy and a light burden and a great love and fulfilment to his being!

So, will we go for more than only the theory and let Jesus lead us into the practice of being Christian, and in so doing, find that world-shaping and fulfilling life which the Saviour promises?

The time for just entertaining Christianity is over! The call of Jesus to this generation is upon us. He still calls to all of us – “Follow Him”.

Follow him to the cross and stay there with him in your spirit these holy days. Stay in the tomb with Him and wait for the stone to be removed and stand with the Son in all his glory on Easter Day.

He is calling all of us to let him love us, let him surround us with his underserved kindness. He is gifting us with a call right here – to follow him in this place with our skills, our relationships, our hopes, our plans, our whole selves.

So, we welcome the king. We ask with all our soul for this winner to lead us into his suffering and into his glorious power and light for our calling here – in this place, at this time.

Welcome the winner, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and follow him, even if for now-it may mean losing something. Amen.

How deep the Father’s love for us

John 12:1-8

StMarksIt’s the time of the Passover and Jesus knowing he is a marked man by the Jewish authorities, shows courage beyond belief and has walked into the lion’s den and gone to Jerusalem knowing the fate that awaits him. But this night he is sharing a meal in the home of Martha and Mary.

Martha as usual is busy working and serving others with the meal preparations. Lazarus, who has only been recently raised from the dead, is present and then there’s Mary and Judas whose actions are poles apart.

Mary in her love for Jesus has thrown human convention of thought or society standards out the window. Firstly the ointment she applies to Jesus feet was worth in today’s standards a full year’s wages. Was this a family heirloom that she has saved for her “retirement” but know sees a more worthwhile purpose. It seems a strange thing to have ”lying around the house” but makes me think of those post-apocalyptic movies where they end up using cash notes to keep the fire going. However this “pot of gold come to be”, Mary continues in her disregard for society logic and ways by wiping Jesus feet with her hair. An act is not just showing her humility and love, but has also smashed through the glass ceiling as no respectable women would ever appear publically with their hair unbound as it was considered immoral.

Then at the other end of the spectrum is Judas who having been given the job of “treasurer” by Jesus says what would seem logical, to sell the precious ointment and use the proceeds to feed the poor and if we were there and unaware of the truth that he actually wanted to take some of the proceeds for himself, this would seem a reasonable and sensible suggestion. While this is going on Martha and Lazarus are in the back ground and as the family fortune one way or another is about to leave the building, seem quite content. It is an amazing scene.

While for us to hear of the love and generosity of Mary, Martha and Lazarus is humbling, it’s also if we are honest unfathomable, because if we could truly put ourselves in that household, I’m not sure we could guarantee to be a Martha, Mary or Lazarus any more than we could guarantee not to be calculating and self-considering like Judas.

Yet right amongst this. Amongst Mary’s almost unparalleled throwing of “caution to the wind” in her love for Jesus, Martha’s dedicated work and support for all those present, Lazarus chatting with and entertaining his guest and saviour at the table and Judas, the one given the trust of and being in charge of the money yet who is pilfering of the proceeds and who will soon go one step further and give up Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. There in the centre of this condensed overview of society sits Jesus who will shortly throw himself to his accusers in the sure knowledge that their response to him will be unjust, spiteful, cruel and terminal.

He walks towards them, and towards his cruel death in his love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus. And he walks towards them and towards his cruel death in his love for the Judas’ and his love for those plotting against him. A man who after having experienced the love of Mary and the hatred of the authorities will ask his Father, ask the one with limitless power “To forgive them, for they know not what they do”.

Yes, in times we may not know what we do, and in others we are blatantly aware. It is what it is ab whether we chose to be where we are in our lives at this moment or just seem to have fallen here is not the point. The point is that because Jesus has chosen you, you can choose to live a life irrespective of where that may be. Whether with the open love of Mary or the hidden sin of Judas, when life is seen through the grace bestowed by God the Father to us through faith in Christ alone you are free “to shoot for the stars” or free not to, because in Christ you are following your dreams no matter what shape they take.

You are not Mary, Martha, Lazarus or Judas. You are who you are and that is who Christ loves. Thinking of you as you are today Christ went to the cross, not for what you should or will be-but who you are today. So live life, walk in the rain in your shorts or use an umbrella it doesn’t matter as either way you do not walk alone. That the outward love of Mary we may not have, but the love of Christ to Mary we do have, and that’s what matters, and knowing that is living a life.

Two thousand years ago Jesus in his love for those who knew him and loved him he walked to the cross. Two thousand years ago Jesus in love for those who neither loved him nor knew him he walked to the cross and asked the Father to forgive them “for they know not what they do”.

Two thousand years ago Jesus walked to the cross knowing that a group of sinners will be here today needing to be forgiven. And as he sees us groping in the dark with our sins. Sees us make mistake after mistake and sees us in our “Judas” moments as we selfishly turn away from the need of others. Yet in hearing our cries for help and forgiveness and knowing that he is our only chance, he sees our faith like that of the precious ointment that Mary placed at his feet. That he sees us trust in nothing other than faith in him alone and risk being ridiculed by those around us, he turns to the Father and says “you know what they do, but forgive them-for you know what I have done for them”.

And so it is here for you today, washed clean, No need of regret. But refreshed in spirit for you know the truth, and that truth is Jesus Christ. And in faith in Jesus Christ-you have the most remarkable and greatest gift that truly does make a mockery of our other value systems, because in the cold light of day, when the Lord says “my grace is sufficient for thee”, we see not a man giving away his retirement fund, but see God the Father do the unfathomable as said so well in the song we are about to sing:

“How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.”

The love of the Father so great that we cannot comprehend it this side of heaven. But the love of the Father that heard His Son’s Word’s on the cross and said yes my Son, yes-it is finished-because their trust in my grace is enough.

Amen.

It was like an act of treachery.

StMarksI’ve seen several times, particularly in farming where a son asks for his share of his inheritance so that he can be independent.But this young man, the prodigal son (noting that the word prodigal means to “live extravagant and wastefully” )This prodigal son gave his father the greatest insult and hurt you could imagine.His leaving home was one thing,but back in those times in him asking his father for his share of the inheritance, he was effectively wishing that he-the father was dead. Itwas like an act of treachery.

Yet, his loving and generous father,much I would imagine to the disgust his local community family agrees to his requestand once received,the son promptly sets off on a long journey to a distant land and begins to waste his fortune on wild living.
When the money runs out, a severe famine hits the country and the son finds himself in dire circumstances.

He takes a job feeding pigs, and as pigs were considered unclean in Jewish society, and that he is working for gentiles, he has fallen to the lowest of the low, never mind that he is so destitute that he even longs to eat the food assigned to the pigs.

The young man is destitute and without friend, favor or future and if he still has any pride left,he would have surely felt those eyes looking,yet not looking as experienced by those in our society seen picking up cigarette butts or asking for a few dollars.
And to add insult to injury, we know as does he, that this prodigal son he has no one to blame but himself.

The shame and guilt carried that can consume a person and alluringly, almost teasingly entice further self-destruction.

This man is on the knife edge but in his desperation he remembers what once was and by the grace of God sees a ray of hope in life, that of returning home-only not as a son to the man he hurt and insulted, but to beg to be his servant.

The father who had been watching and waiting, seeing his bedraggled looking son walking towards him rushes out, stops his son in his tracks and before his son can get out his planned speech, receives him back with open arms of compassion.

He is overjoyed by the return of his lost son! Andvirtually  immediately the father turns to his servants and asks them to prepare a giant feast in celebration.

Meanwhile, the older son is not one bit happy when he comes in from working the fields and discovers a party going on to celebrate his younger brother’s return.

And dare I say could we not understand this after seeing his brother having sought his share of the inheritance, blowing it, returning with nothing only to be smothered in love by his father.

Maybe thoughts of now he will get another slice of the inheritance pie came to mind.But the father tries to dissuade the older brother from his jealous rage explaining,“You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

We are left at the end of the parable to wonder the outcome of the older brother.But it would seem, one son has returned, one is still on his journey.In our busy lives we walk past people.Stressed we have arguments and disagreements.Wronged we seek justice and when unloved we become unloving until that moment when it’s too late.

To when if only we could have that one more moment where we could take that loved one in our hand and hold them once more.Not to forgive them because that’s not even a thought,but just to have them home again and be with them is enough.Even though we are sinners, we know that love.

That love though which is miniscule and judgmental in comparison to God the Fathers who gave his own Son for you, so that you like the son returned home-so it is too you.

When the boy came home, he had everything he threw away restored by the good grace of the Father.

  1. The Robe – His Purity – Here stands the son in the rags of his sins. He doesn’t look like a child of this father. But, the father orders the best of his robes to be brought and to be put on the son. This robe would cover all the stains and dirt of the pig pen. This robe would make him look like the father. Imagine a servant walking up, who had net been there when the son returned home and seeing this boy from behind in the father’s robe. He would naturally mistake him for the father! This robe served to erase all the visible signs of this boy’s sinful past. When a sinner comes home, they also receive a robe from the heavenly Father. This righteousness is not the righteousness of good works or of human goodness. No, this is the very righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to those who receive Him by faith. When we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, all the pain and the stain of our past is forever washed away! All the dirt and the filth of a life of sin is forever washed away from us!
  2. The Ring – His Privileges – After the robe came the ring. The ring was a symbol of son ship and authority. The one with the ring could speak for the Father! The one with the ring had access to all that belonged to the father! The one with the father’s ring was in a position of great privilege! When old, lost sinners repent of their sins and come home to the Father, they are given the great privilege of being recognized as His sons, 1 John 3:1-2. They are given the privilege of speaking for the Father, Act 1:8. They are allowed access to all that belongs to the Father as well, Rom. 8:17, Psa. 24:1; Psa. 50:10. When we come to the Father, He opens the storehouses of His grace and gives us everything He has!
  3. The Shoes – His Position – The father calls for shoes to be brought for the feet of his son. Only the slaves went barefoot, sons wore shoes! This boy returned home desiring to be just a mere hired servant, but the father is determined to recognize his position as a son! In the boy’s eyes, he didn’t even deserve to be a slave, but even lower, even a hired servant. The father, however, looked at him and said, “This is my son!” The father alone determines the position and worth of his children! Saved by grace, you became a child of God! He no longer sees you as a slave or as a sinner, but he sees you as His darling child, whom He loves like He loves His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ! We are right to humble ourselves in His presence, but let’s never forget that if we are saved by grace, that it is the Father Who determines our standing in the family and not we ourselves! What I am saying is this: Don’t let the devil or the flesh keep you down by telling you that you are not worthy to be a child of God. In Christ you are truly saved, you have been accepted by the Father in Heaven and He has called you His child!
  4. V. 23-24 He Found Rejoicing – Ill. The fatted calf was kept for special occasions. The fatted calf was the Father’s way of sharing His joy with all around. Instead of a wasted life, the father was celebrating a life redeemed and restored! So it is when a sinner returns home to God tb he Father! There is rejoicing in Heaven. There is rejoicing in the House of God. And, there is rejoicing in the heart of the redeemed sinner!

All that have walked this earth apart from Jesus have sinned. Yet all those that once walked this earth in faith in Jesus now truly know his love in its fullness. For us that still remain, who still sin and make mistakes Jesus says come to me for I will give you rest and bring you my father’s love, for as I spread my arms on the cross in bearing your sins, my father’s arms are still spread in love waiting for those still wandering.

I have sinned and no doubt will sin again as will we all. Yet Christ walks with us that we know of God the Fathers love. His love that has no boundaries. His love that asks us not to be saints but makes us saints. His love today that comes to us in Christ Jesus who looks at us with loving and understanding eyes and says “I know how tough it is-so come to me and rest. I gave my life for you-that you may live in peace. I love you now, as you are-know that peace because I have restored you for in me you are that younger son, and what I did for him I do to you.

Brother and sisters in Christ, you are sons and daughters of God. You have been restored. Let it fill your hearts with peace and pray for those still on their lonely way home. Amen

Well meaning friends

 

Luke 13:1-9of

StMarksIn the book of Job, Job after suffering tragedy after tragedy is visited by his good meaning, but unknowing friends who suggest
he must be suffering such events because he is not right with God, and in today’s Gospel, Jesus feels the same sentiment from those who bring him the news of Pilate’s murderous actions against the Galileans.

News from Galilee of the murder fellow Jews, God’s people murdered as they were before God offering up sacrifices! Why Jesus, what did they do or not do to deserve such a horrible end to life?

Jesus responds, but not as was expected. He does not question over the details of this horrific tragedy and nor does He make a statement over the actions of Pilate, but asks those bearing the news: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?”

Before Jesus stood sinners who saw not their own sin, but only the sin of the Galileans who most surely must have greatly angered God to deserve such a death and so, like Job’s friends they clearly see this must be a logical cause and effect situation.

They must have deserved it.

Sorry guys but in Jesus statement “Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans?” He has cut straight to the real issue he sees before Him, not the problem of those in Galilee, but rather the problem of those in His presence who know of sin, but know not their own. Jesus, not judging or breathing fire and brimstone, but rather out of His concern for them jolts them out of such flawed thinking and dangerous state of mind by stating to those around him, ‘Unless you repent, you too will all perish!’

Brian Jones: founder and original leader of the Rolling stones at age 27 was found dead in his swimming pool with greatly increased heart and liver size due to years of drug and alcohol abuse with the coroner’s report stating “death by misadventure”, and shortly after Peter Townshend from the band “The Who” wrote a poem titled “A normal Day for Brian, A man Who Died Every Day.”

Jim Morrison lead singer of the Doors and Jimi Hendrix in song also wrote and sang his tributes. Both would be dead within two years. Jim Morrison found dead in his bathtub from heart failure, said by many due to cocaine abuse and Jimi Hendrix choking on his own vomit. Both were 27 years old.   Kurt Cobain: lead singer of Nirvana found dead next to his shotgun. Amy Winehouse: alcohol poisoning and Janis Joplin from drug overdose, all only 27 years old with Janis once writing that she endures 23 hours a day only for the 24th when she can be herself, perform and feel happiness. A statement that makes those words from her number 1 hit (written by Kris Kristofferson) Me and Bobby McGee seem hauntingly appropriate:

“One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away,
He’s looking for that home and I hope he finds it,
But I’d trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding Bobby’s body next to mine.
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing, (and yeah) that’s all that Bobby left me.”

All 27 years old. Tragedies-I think so. All caused from their own actions-pretty much. Selfish in death and deserving our judgement?

“There bar the grace of God I go.” As with us, did God know them before they were created in their mother’s womb? As with us, did they not come from their mother’s womb in the love of the Saviour? As with us would they not have grown with a desire for life and happiness? And why, why are so many people who have trod the same path of abuse and recklessness still be walking this earth? Some still under the curse of self-abuse, and some still with the scars but restored.

It’s a long way down and a long way out and the difference between life and death at the bottom can sit on a knife edge. “There bar the grace of God we go”, and for some of us, there through the grace of God have we come out.

Did those who spoke of the Galileans repent and be saved? God knows but we don’t.

Did these talented musicians repent and be saved before the age of 27? I don’t know. But what I do know is that God says to me, and to you “Repent” that we not perish but be saved, and if that be a dying bedside repentance or a daily lifetime of repentance. Be it repentance from the heart of Jimi Hendrix, a world dictator, Judas Iscariot or from us here today-God’s grace shall not see us perish but in His forgiveness and salvation have eternal life in heaven. The Grace of God that we trust in to receive eternal life. A never ending life that I expect we need as we see come to grips with and understand just how in all things and in all situations was God doing His stuff to save.

A Pastor, scholar and teacher asked us third year theological and pastoral students “How our prayer life was going.” More out of fear than anything else did we nod and reply “”pretty good.”

And he, more out of knowing the human heart and mind than his observations replied, “No it’s not. But don’t worry about what you haven’t been doing, just re-start and keep working on it.”

If he was in our congregation today, he could ask the same of me in regards to repentance and I’m guessing both my and his responses would be like that of ours to each other those six years ago.

Repent of not repenting?

And what of the statement of Martin Luther in his letter to his friend and fellow theologian Phillip Melanchthon saying, ‘Beware of aspiring to such purity that you will not wish to be looked upon as a sinner, or to be one.’ And again, ‘God does not save people who are fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly but believe and rejoice even more boldly… As long as we are here in this world we have to sin.’

Then there’s Paul in Romans chapter six, verse one who after telling us that “in Jesus’ obedience that many are made righteous. That the law came in to increase trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,” but then to us, as like Jesus knowing the confused thoughts of those before him, Paul likewise answers against what human logic would make of such a statement with so:”What shall we dot then? Are we to sin that grace may abound? By no means.”

No way.

“Sin Boldly”, and yet, “by no means sin?”

I am really starting to see myself at the base of that hill in Jerusalem 2,000 ago and hearing a guy called Jesus on the cross ask His father to “forgive them for they know what they do.”

Truth is Luther in stating to “Sin Boldly” is talking of matters of conscience. A bad conscience of those who the devil has successfully tempted to sin so that he can then accuse, ridicule and mislead that they’ve finally gone too far. To get them to doubt and wonder if they are really saved in Faith in Jesus alone. Lies of deceit and trickery to which Luther answers: yes you’re right, I did sin, but I am forgiven. And guess what, no matter what you say in your lies, when I sin again I am not going to listen to you, your lies and words of damnation, but to the Words of truth of that the Saviour and know, that in my confession, my desire for forgiveness from Him has been granted.

Repentance, it is a change in direction, where one stops doing what they are doing, about faces, and then finds themselves on the correct course of action.

Repentance, is that not was Luther was talking of, turning from one’s lies to the truth of the Lord?

Repent of not Repenting enough. By no means sin, but still falling to sin. Statements akin to those who ask through worry of having fallen to the unforgivable sin. Statement’s or thoughts that clearly show that the one thinking it is clearly repenting, clearly uncomfortable with their sin, and clearly not to have broken the unforgivable sin, which is basically not wanting forgiveness. Clearly not broken because if are they worried about it, in itself shows they haven’t. Repenting of not repenting enough not wanting to sin, but sinning, same thing.

After that last merry go round are you know as confused as I am?

Yes, again I see myself at the base of that hill in Jerusalem 2,000 ago and hearing a guy called Jesus on the cross ask His father to “forgive them for they know what they do.”

Truth is, we pretty much  do know what we do and that is why we are no longer at the base of a hill, but now at the base of a cross where an innocent man named Jesus has been murdered. A tragic death not at the age of 27, but pretty close at only 33.

Those mentioned earlier in the 27 club as it’s called and Jesus not much older. Did they all have a hand in their death. In a way- yes. Were those in the 27 club and Jesus loved by God, absolutely.

The same, maybe in those two things but that’s where it ends because the reality of repentance is not that of our often seemingly logical yet false conclusion that unless first we repent, then will only God come to us.

The reality is that God did not call humanity to repent so that Jesus might come. He was sent to be with sinners, dying for them, so all might repent because of him, and now, now He comes amongst those He calls to repent, and because He is amongst us, we repent. To daily hear those words from Romans Chapter six.  That: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death. We were therefore buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Jesus was raised from the dead by the Glory of The Father, (that) we too might walk in newness of life.”

Three days after we stood at the foot of that hill and then the cross of a man Jesus do we know He was raised in Glory.

There at the base of that hill do we no longer stay that we hear a man named Jesus “cry to His Father that he forgive us because we do not know what we do”

But there at the base of the cross of Jesus Christ our Saviour we do we remain for though He came when we knew Him not, there at the base of that cross no longer do we see a just man named, but hear the very son of God, Jesus Christ our Saviour cry to His Father that we receive forgiveness for what we now know. That we know the greatest story ever told and know the man who walked the greatest life ever lived.

To kneel before our Saviour on bended Knee and know and accept the grace and forgiveness of God the Father because of faith in His Son Jesus Christ who lived and died, so that we too daily will be raised here on our earthly journey to walk in a newness of life.

To daily repent, receive His forgiveness and know that in faith in Jesus Christ alone it to be so. To know that when we are called home that we will then with Jesus, remain in the newness of life eternal, as we too most surely know now, that He will remain with us here as we run, limp, crawl or in need, be carried towards that great day. Amen.

The Fox and the Hen

“The Fox And The Hen”

(Based on Luke 13:31-35)

 

Grace, Peace and Hope to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

StMarksLet’s Pray: May the words of my lips and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you Lord-Amen.

Today’s Gospel begins with one of the Pharisees going to Jesus, and telling him to leave that place, because Herod wanted to kill him.

It sounds like he was trying to do the Lord a favour, but I’m not so sure.

The Pharisees are mentioned fourteen times in Luke before we get to this chapter, and all but one refer to the conflict that was growing between them and Jesus.

In 11:42 Jesus says:

“Woe to you Pharisees because you give a tenth of your Mint, Rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God…”

That’s a huge indictment against them.

In the following verse he says: Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the market places.”

In 11:53 “The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law began to oppose him fiercely, besieging him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he said.”

And in 12:1 Jesus says: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy;”

another strong indictment against them.

There’ a sample of Jesus’ last four interactions with the Pharisees leading up to today’s text, so you understand why I doubt that particular Pharisee was trying to do Jesus a favour.

In fact it’s far more likely he was trying to scare him off, which is a more likely fit for how the rest of the Gospel pans out.

Jesus’ response adds to that likelihood.

“Go tell that fox ‘I cast out demons and perform miracles today, and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. Yet today, tomorrow and the next day I must be on my way, for it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’”

Jesus gave his itinerary to the Pharisee, maybe to pass on to Herod if he wished, but more likely to call his bluff,

because he knew his life wasn’t in Herod’s hands, but the eternal hands of his Father…

Jesus called Herod a fox, and I’m sure that has to do with the bad reputation foxes have always had for killing unnecessarily.

I remember hearing how a fox will chase a tiny lamb until it bleats, then bite the lamb’s tongue out, leave it to die, and move on to the next one.

It’s not a pretty picture, and reminds us of another fox, another Herod; the father of the one we’ve heard about today, the one who chased the lambs of Israel and had the baby boys under two years of age killed, after the Magi came enquiring about the new born “King of the Jews.”

So much senseless death!

It also reminds us how this particular Herod had John the Baptist’s head cut off and presented on a plate.

More senseless death!

He was a fox…

and then a little later,

Jesus is cast in the role of a Hen, whose natural enemy is a fox, and who will lay down her life to save her chicks… and we’ll come back to that later.

Notice the shape of the itinerary.

Jesus says he’ll be casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day he will reach his goal.

Then he reinterprets it to say:

“Today and tomorrow and the next day I must be on my way, because it is not possible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.”

The symbolic language Luke uses here is doing very much the same thing as the passage we heard a month ago when Jesus went to Nazareth where he was rejected.

Where they led him to a cliff, to throw him off and kill him, yet fortunately for us all, he walked away through the crowd and went on his way.

And that particular Gospel is a précis of Jesus’ earthly ministry right up to his death and resurrection.

His ministry that cast him in the role of the prophets, who were well received at first, then rejected and killed.

There’s a very similar thing happening here;

Jesus tells of his plans to carry out more ministry; casting out demons and performing healing miracles,

then he superimposes his movement toward Jerusalem, and the fate he knows awaits him there, to be rejected by his people and killed.

The part about him reaching his goal on the third day looks past Jesus’ death and alludes to his resurrection. And that’s been unanimously agreed on by biblical commentators as every other time Luke uses that formula;

‘on the third day,’

he’s referring directly to Jesus’ resurrection.

So the elements of Jesus’ mission in the world, his miraculous works, followed by his rejection, death and resurrection are all here, just not in chronological order.

And finally the last verse for today, where Jesus says: “You will not see me until you say ‘blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord.’”

When do you think that might have taken place?  It happened on Palm Sunday in the city that kills the prophets-Jerusalem.

Today’s Gospel is like a jig-saw of Jesus’ mission in the world, with Luke gathering all of the miraculous things together;

Jesus’ driving out demons, his healing ministry and the allusion to his resurrection are mentioned in the first itinerary statement,

With the second itinerary alluding to his rejection, suffering and death in Jerusalem.

Now this mightn’t seem so, but this is vitally important,

because those two aspects of Jesus’ ministry;

his glorious works, and his suffering and death,

validate him as God’s true Messiah.

He must have a glorious ministry, or it would be said that God hadn’t come in Jesus’ flesh.

But a glorious Messiah who doesn’t suffer for his people, could never bring the Gospel of God’s grace to us.

A glorious Messiah who didn’t suffer could only heap more condemnation from God’s Law on his people, which would only serve to inflame the war between Heaven and Earth.

There wouldn’t be any peace with that kind of Messiah, only death and destruction…

and yet how ironic it is; that is exactly the kind of Messiah the people thought they wanted!

But what really stands out for me today is the fox and the hen, because when you think about those two,

the fox is the aggressor,

and the hen is its prey.

So I wonder, what have hens ever done to foxes that might cause them to attack?

Absolutely nothing!

It is purely and simply the nature of a fox that it wants to kill and eat any hen it comes across… and their chicks.

The way Luke has cast those two creatures;

humanity in the guise of a fox,

and God in the guise of a hen,

really does capture the natural animosity that humanity has for God,

And this picture that Luke has painted with these words, helps us to see how that animosity is only one-sided because we all know that hens do not go around attacking foxes.

A couple of weeks ago a newspaper ran an article about the plan the South Australian Attorney General has to remove the Bible and references to God when witnesses take the oath and swear to tell the truth in court.

There’s some more degradation the current culture is imposing on us.

But what was also worrying were the comments about that in the opinion column on the editorial page.

Comments full of bitterness poured out on God and the Church.

Seriously, the malice that some of our fellow citizens feel free to express in those sorts of forums now, is frightening.

But what has God done to deserve it?

 

What God has done-deserves nothing but our thanks and praise.

Now, if it’s not bad enough that the unbelieving world maligns God,

worse though,

is that it wasn’t the unbelieving nations of the world who killed the prophets, or Jesus Christ.

It was the holy people of God; the people God had actually bent over backwards to bless.

A new low so to speak that emphasizes the appalling nature of human sin that just cannot be overstated.

And in that, we see the depth and wondrous beauty of the Gospel.

God in Jesus Christ wasn’t blind to any of this.

The Gospel shows us very clearly how his eyes were wide open to the treacherous nature of the human heart:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem; the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

He knew them through and through, and yet when Jesus answered the Pharisee he said:

“Today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.”

Why would he even bother with such unfaithful people?

Would we not just turn away in disgust.

Some of the foul treatment that I’ve seen that’s handed out to my loved ones, friends colleagues and brothers and sisters in Christ

Can make it be very, very tempting to take a stand against those people and sought them out both verbally and physically in a like manner to their own,

fortunately though for maybe both them and me did these thoughts of re-actions only come in hindsight        and when it was too late to do it.

Hindsight that gives us the time to remember or even realise, that just as for us, so it is for them.

As with us, God comes for them and not against them like the hen gathering her chicks.

We might like to punish them.

He comes to set them free

and to bless them.

The grace of God is breathtaking,

and fortunately so,

because if it wasn’t

then there would be no hope for us either.

So Lord,

we do thank and praise you for your loving kindness to us;

that you haven’t turned away,

but come to redeem us and embrace us as your beloved children.

And so we pray,

That in the days we have left,

That you help us

to grow in faith, hope and love of yours eternal,

and serve and love

regardless of actions, colour or creed,

serve and love those you place before us, as you have most certainly have too us.

In Jesus name, and for Jesus’ sake do we pray.  Amen.

AND The peace of God

 

which passes all human understanding

 

keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Amen.

 

With thanks to Pastor Keith McNicol from which this message has been provided (with alterations)

Don’t be tricked

Luke 4:1-13

 

Dear heavenly Father, lead us by your Holy Spirit so that we may remain faithful during our trials and temptations, through StMarksJesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We pray in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Lead us not into temptation’.

We know God doesn’t tempt anyone, so when we pray for our Father not to lead us into temptation we’re really asking God to keep us safe from the devil, from our own sinful nature, and from those who are against God.

We’re praying God won’t let them trick us into losing our faith, giving up all hope, and doing other unsavoury things, yet while also praying that even though we are attacked, that in the end, we will win the victory.

Unfortunately we’re tempted often. We’re tempted in ways that are deceptive and attractive. Even though the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, he loves to dress up as a harmless lamb. He doesn’t wear a red suit, have horns and a spiked tail, and carry around a red fork. He dresses up in things that are attractive and desirable. He’s the king of deception and more likely to test and tempt us through things that seem good, right, and reasonable, just as we here he did in todays Gospel reading.

Jesus was hungry! He’s been in the wilderness without food for 40 days. The stones around him would look pretty tempting even after 4 days! Why not just turn them into bread? Surely God wouldn’t want Jesus to go hungry, would he? Don’t we pray ‘Give us today our daily bread’? Well, through a miracle, God may want to give Jesus his daily bread through these stones! Wouldn’t that seem good, right, and reasonable?

We too are often tempted to satisfy our physical desires. We want to gratify our stomachs, our pleasures, our lusts, and our passions and as it seems everyone else is doing it, it can seem a little unfair if we miss out, and just like those famous two people in a garden who were given everything it had-except of all things an apple:  Now I might be getting a bit ahead of myself, but I reckon I could have handled turning down that piece of particular fruit, never mind if the temptation was of the vegetable variety. But what if “the don’t go there” food was a mixture of ingredients that in our modern world we would label a pizza. And that’s the point-we are not tempted by things we don’t want, but things we do want and if it’s not fleshly gratifications, the powers of darkness endeavour to take our eyes of the Lord through the allure power and possessions

Think how much we crave the things of this world. We’re not happy with what we have and always want more. Our TV seems smaller than the one in the shops or in someone else’s house. Our mobile phones don’t look as flashy or sound as good as the person next to us. We want the latest car, the latest gadget, a bigger house; we want the next best thing. More than this, we don’t want to wait. We want glory, power and riches now.

Now I’m not standing up here as a hypocrite, because I fall for a mixture of those worldly things all the time. We probably all have and besides what’s wrong with having these things. Absolutely nothing. The problem is when they become our gods, because when they do, no matter how many things we gather around us, we’re never really satisfied. There’ll always be a new thing we want. We’ll never have enough money. We’ll never be fully satisfied with what we have.

The more we fill our lives with things, the emptier and lonelier we feel, while then being told by the deceiver knowing of how selfish we are, how we’ll never be able to make up for lost times with our families, friends, or with God. Tempt, accuse and tempt the same stuff again through telling us it will then take the pain away from our guilty conscience by doing the same things and all of a sudden, we go from a going to work to buy a beer scenario, to needing the beer to get through work.

We are tempted to put the kart before the horse just like Jesus was by the devil in today’s Gospel.

And Jesus reply, although starving and given a seemingly straight forward and appropriate suggestion given that he hadn’t eaten for forty days certainly had the power to turn the rocks around him into bread, or even Pizza if He wished.

But no, Jesus knew this was not about the devil feeling sorry for Him or caring for Him. This was the devil endeavouring to undermine His Father and the plan He had put in place to save the one’s he cared for and so with even with such a mouth-watering temptation, Jesus quotes a verse from Deuteronomy, saying “Man shall not live by bread alone”.

The context of the verse he quotes is the people of Israel were just about to enter the Promised Land. Before they enter that land, Moses reminds them of God’s law, saying “Remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deut 8:2-3)

For the Israelites, their hunger was to teach them the value, importance and necessity of God’s Word. Food will sustain you briefly, but the Word of God will sustain and satisfy you far longer. No one really lives, no matter how much food they have in their belly, without the Word of God. The testing and the hunger were necessary lessons. Jesus submitted himself to this lesson.  He would not be deceived by any desire for instant gratification. The Word of God sustains him.

So will we learn from our temptations and tests? Will we learn to resist the temptation to gratify our fleshly desires right now, or will we learn to wait patiently for what God wants to give us? Through our times of testing, we may learn to be more discerning between what seems good, right, and reasonable, and what really is good and right and reasonable for us.

These temptations are real. They’re real for us, and they were real for Jesus.

Jesus was tempted to abandon the road to suffering and receive the whole world and its inhabitants, but to do so would have meant turning his back on his Father. We are given the same temptations through whatever manner to do the same, to put the kart before the horse, to put things ahead of God.

Things that can be good, but only if subservient to what is truly, good and trustworthy and that is our triune God: God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ our Saviour and the Holy Spirit.

The dark side’s temptations and deceptions are for one purpose. The purpose of taking our eyes off God by manipulating his Word. To take our eyes off Jesus and seeing our self-first.

Not what a great gift and blessing that the Lord has provided me with employment, a roof over our heads and food, clothing family and friends.

Not what a great gift, but turns it to you deserve, it’s your right, if people are in the way cut them down: whatever form it takes is not for the persons care, happiness and a life gained, but the exact opposite.

It’s a “I will tempt with drugs, and once hooked, I’ll tempt to overdose so that they cannot hear the hope and life available to them through the true Word of God.”

So what to do when tempted and with the power of the Holy Spirit hold out. Praise God.

And if you fail, like so many times I do: Then we return to the true Word of God more than ever if that’s possible. Not the Word of God that’s been eroded to maybe’s, if’s and but’s. Not the maybe I’ll be forgiven and saved in Christ version that destroys the truth like a movie director using their creative licence. No we listen to God the Father and the one who lived it Jesus Christ. Jesus who battled and won that even if we do succumb to temptations, by faith, believe God won’t abandon us and doesn’t lead us into temptation. No matter what trials or temptations we face, either in times of abundance or times of scarcity, we can trust in God. He will prove true and faithful to us. We have been set free to put our trust in Jesus who has already walked through many trials and temptations and has proved victorious over them. Through trusting his obedience and victory we are saved. We can trust he’ll give us what we need to endure and persevere in your own times of trouble. We can be certain he will save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

 

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

Listen to Him

Transfiguration                                                      

Luke 9:28-36

 

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may listen to your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

StMarksWhen pastors are at Seminary/ Australian Lutheran College, they are taught to ask a number of questions which can be very helpful when looking at bible texts.

One question is: What’s the picture?

This question helps, because many people learn and work visually. We like to visualize something in order to fully understand it. Then, when we understand the picture, the Scriptures aren’t just words on a page, but become real scenes and real people who live and breathe and still talk to us even today. Once we understand the picture, and even put ourselves into the picture, we can more easily apply it to our own life.

For example: in regard to this text, it can be helpful to put ourselves into the shoes of the disciples, who saw Jesus start glowing (which we’ll come back to later), standing with two men, who were understood to be Moses and Elijah, who hadn’t been around for hundreds of years! On top of this, a cloud suddenly appears and a heavenly voice commands them to listen to Jesus because he’s God’s own Son.

Can you imagine what that would look like?

With this picture in mind – and if you’re a little familiar with God’s Word – you might also start seeing some things which are more than coincidences. These things were happening on a mountain, and other important revelations of God have also happened on mountains, such as Moses receiving God’s commands on Mount Sinai, and Elijah seeing the back of God on a mountain.

Hang on! These men are the same ones who have heard God speak previously on mountaintops! Maybe it’s more than a coincidence these particular men are here! They’ve received God’s commands and God’s prophetic Word, and right now they’re speaking with Jesus about his departure. Or do they in fact use another word? In the Greek, they call it his ‘exodus.’

Well, that reminds us of the great salvation event in the Old Testament where Moses leads God’s people out of the land of slavery to the point of entering the Promised Land – that land which was flowing with milk and honey. And here they talk to Jesus about his exodus. Is he going to lead people from slavery into a new land of perfection and peace?

These are just a few examples on how all these pictures start coming together to help us understand more deeply what’s going on.

Another question pastors are taught is: What’s unexpected here?

This is important because for many of us who have heard God’s word for many years, we don’t find God’s Word surprising anymore. We’ve heard it all before. Sometimes we even consider it boring! We’re tempted to switch off and think about something else.

So, it can help to ask ourselves what’s so surprising in our text, and we don’t have to go very far before we realize something was happening to Jesus which would have totally freaked us out!

I mean, when was the last time you saw someone’s face start glowing? And I’m not talking about that proud glow of a pregnant woman, but a literal white glow coming from inside a person as if the sun was inside them!

Wow! No wonder the disciples didn’t know what they were saying, because we don’t usually have a ready response to seeing someone glow!

I mean, if someone sneezes, we might respond ‘bless you’, or if someone asks ‘how are you today’, you might respond ‘fine’ (even if you’re not), but because people’s faces don’t generally start glowing from within, we don’t know how to respond (except, you could say ‘hey, nice glow, man!’).

It’s unexpected. It takes us by surprise. It should still surprise us today because it doesn’t normally happen!

So, what does this glow mean? Does this mean Jesus is more than just a man? Was this glow to show he’s more than what meets the eyes? Did it show a glimpse of his divinity? And if so, why now?

And, how come Moses and Elijah were there? Weren’t they supposed to be dead? Or does this indicate God in fact isn’t a God of the dead, but a God of the living? Why were they there and not Noah, David, or Jonah? What do Moses and Elijah represent? What did they do which is similar to what Jesus was about to do? Why were they the people of the past sent to encourage Jesus on his journey to the cross?

You see what I mean? When you start asking what’s unexpected in a text, you start asking interesting questions. It’s like unlocking a mystery. You become curious and hungry for more because you want to hear some answers.

It doesn’t mean you’ll always receive a satisfactory answer, but in your digging and looking for what’s unexpected, you might find some hidden gems which lead you to grow in your faith and understanding.

Another question, which is helpful in devotion or sermon preparation is: what human problem is God speaking to here?

Well, one possibility is that we humans just don’t get it, and because we don’t get it, we miss the mark in our response to it.

Now, what on earth am I talking about?

Did you notice the disciple’s response to this most amazing and unexpected encounter with our God in human flesh and his deputies Moses and Elijah? What did they want to do? They wanted to build structures so this once-in-a-lifetime moment would last.

We humans just don’t get it!

No sooner does God give us a glimpse of his divinity than we immediately want to enshrine it. We want to capture it, keep it, and market it. The disciples thought this was a pretty important moment in history and wanted this moment to last.

We do the same.

For example, have you ever been on a holiday or camp and received such inspiring moments you wanted to bring it back into your daily life so you can receive a high whenever you want?

Have you ever visited another church, or heard a moving song, or heard some charismatic speaker and wondered why we can’t package them up and bring them here so we can experience this again and again?

Have you ever been disappointed whenever you’ve tried to re-create something and it didn’t work the way you hoped, and it may have even lost it’s ‘specialness’?

Then, if it doesn’t work like before, do you beat yourself up because you must have done something wrong, or you take it out on everyone else around you because it has to be their fault your special experience isn’t as great as it used to be?

Do you then unfairly judge and criticize people because they don’t want to do what you want and therefore they’re stopping you from receiving the spiritual highs you had previously?

If only we could capture the spiritual highs and re-create them with the right traditions, the right freedoms, the right buildings, the right speakers, the right music, and the right places! Why can’t we re-live our spiritual highs whenever we want?

Because we don’t get it. We think it’s about keeping a gift as if it’s ours to keep, rather than receiving it and thanking God for that moment and looking forward to his next surprising revelation.

Instead of enshrining this precious moment in history, what’s the one instruction God gave the disciples at the extraordinary event?

‘Listen to him.’

What do we struggle to do most in our life?

Listen to him.

We’d rather sing our favourite hymn or song than listen to him. We’d rather the sermons and readings were shorter so we don’t have to listen to him. We’d rather do something else on Sunday than listen to him. We’d rather read the paper or get on with our day than read the bible for a couple of minutes in the morning. We’d rather watch our favourite soap or the News or something else on TV than listen to him at our evening devotions.

We don’t get it, and sometimes we don’t want it. There’s a spiritual battle going on, and our faith is the casualty.

One of the biggest problems facing the church today is biblical illiteracy. This means those who come regularly to worship might listen to the readings and the sermon, and yet still don’t know the story of salvation. Many people have their own bibles (maybe even more than one translation), but hardly ever open them to see what’s inside them.

God said to his disciples, ‘Listen to him’, and unfortunately many good Christians fail that simple instruction! Most of us have lovely bibles at home, but not every page has seen the light of day!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we believe all Scripture is breathed by God and is given to us for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). The Word of God is our life-breath as Christians. As we hear what God’s saying to us in his Word, listening for what’s unexpected, understanding the pictures he gives us, and allowing the Holy Spirit to inspire us, we slowly start to get it.

We start to get what Jesus was about to do in his exodus; how he was going to the cross in order to die in our place and grant us forgiveness of sins through the shedding of his innocent and holy blood; how he was going on a journey to lead his people from slavery to sin through the wilderness of suffering and death into the Promised Land of eternal life with him in heaven; how he will sustain us in our own earthly journey through life by speaking to us through his Word; how he will also sustain our faith through his physical gifts of grace of Baptism and Holy Communion, which have been touched by his living and powerful Word; and how his Words still give us direction and comfort.

Can we all take up the challenge this coming Lenten season to listen to him? Can we dust off our Bibles, open them, read them, meditate on them, discuss them, and respond in prayer to what he’s saying to us? His Word is the life-breath for our faith and salvation.

May we all learn to listen to him so that…

the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Getting our own way

1 Corinthians 13

 

StMarksThe most amazing thing about God’s love is how vast it is. The arms of the cross of Jesus reach out to enfold every person who has ever lived (no matter how bad they were), and all those still to come. We sinful humans could never love like that! We can even have problems showing loving concern for those closest to us in our own homes.

In the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians reading today, we heard a familiar text often read at weddings. It is a beautiful expression of God’s love, but the reality for us human beings is that it is difficult to build the other person up when we don’t get our own way. It is easier to work at nagging the other person in subtle attacks that lower their self-esteem.

Unfortunately, when we don’t get our own way it is hard enough to show the unselfish and loving concern to the people we are closest to in life, let alone showing loving concern to strangers. Jesus, on the other hand, gives an example of a person showing loving concern for a stranger in desperate need of help. We would all be familiar with the parable about the person who was robbed, then bashed up and left dying on the roadside of life. Three different people came past. Each one could have stopped and given the man some help. But it isn’t the pastor, or the church committee member who takes the risk to stop and reach out to give a helping hand. It is an indigenous person, a half-caste, like the Samaritans were. The Samaritan didn’t just give him a few dollars and wish him all the best, and go away feeling good about himself. He goes to all the trouble of loading the stranger onto his donkey, like a four legged ambulance, and takes him to the Inn. He pays for all the expenses in advance.

How unlike people in our modern society! Some would say it is stupid or even crazy to bother to do something like that. But that is the loving concern of Jesus for you and me and every person in the world! If in doubt, look again at the cross and the arms pointing out in every direction to go right round the world. The type of religion Jesus puts forward is a love that costs him everything. Jesus is the one who fulfils this beautiful chapter on love.

Jesus didn’t come into our world with fanfare, like a noisy gong or clanging cymbals. He came quietly in the still of night with a few animals and shepherds for company. Jesus doesn’t leave this world with a big send off or any national awards or medals. He exits via a public execution, a shameful way to go, and out in public for everyone to see. It is the cost of this love that reaches out to you and me.

Jesus doesn’t win people by using prophetic powers to impress them, or by having a smart answer to every question people might have. Jesus wins their love by changing places with people on the cross.  Jesus has prophetic powers, and he understands all mysteries and all knowledge, but he wins people by his self-giving love that costs him everything.

The key point today is that we don’t fulfil this law of unselfish love, described so beautifully in this chapter. We really struggle to show loving concern to others. It is Jesus who fulfils this law of love for us.

If one wants to know what God is like, don’t look for the answer on Google or in the stars. Don’t look for the answer in nature even though it is God’s genius and his creative mind at work out there too. No, if one wants to know what God is really like, then look at the arms of Jesus stretched out on the cross. “God’s love never ends”.

In conclusion, listen to verses 4 to 7 from chapter 13, with the word ‘love’, replaced by ‘Jesus’.

“Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Jesus does not demand his own way. Jesus is not irritable, and he keeps no record of when he has been wronged. He is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Jesus never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

 

 

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

His task is completed

Luke 4:14-21

 

 

StMarksToday’s Gospel text tells us, that after Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, he returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. He went to many synagogues and taught there. Wherever he went, people glorified him.

Perhaps news had spread of how well he spoke by the time he returned to the place where he had been brought up, his home town of Nazareth. As was his usual custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, he unrolls it and reads Isaiah 61:1. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’. He rolls the scroll back up and hands it back to the assistant and sits down, and while all eyes were fixed on Him, He says: ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’.

Jesus is declaring that this scripture is about him. Jesus is the anointed one, anointed not by oil as in the Old Testament, but by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. Jesus begins, but begins what? The sermon? No, his sermon was short. He begins his appointed task of declaring salvation and freedom. He doesn’t just say that it is coming, but that it is actually here and has been fully completed.

Jesus begins his ministry of preaching good news to the poor. We poor ones, who have nothing to offer God, who don’t think that we have any talents to offer God, who struggle in our obedience, who lack spiritual discipline – we hear the good news that it is Christ who is obedient to death and who has accepted us as his own through baptism, despite how poor in Spirit, wealth or self-worth we are. It is us who have nothing to offer who hear his words as good news. For because we are in Christ, we are rich. Today we have salvation through Christ. We have more than we think because we are able to offer the very things he wants us to give him – prayer and praise. Ironically, quite often a response to those who have much to offer as they are reluctant to offer these because they are too busy selling themselves and their talents.

Jesus begins his ministry of proclaiming freedom for the prisoners. Who are the prisoners? We who are bound by the chains of the past, who are bound by feelings of guilt or shame for the things that we have done or not done in the past; we who wonder ‘did God really forgive me for that thing in the past because it was surely too big to forgive’. Receive the good news that we are forgiven and no longer bound by our past sins. We who are bound up trying to be a good person, chained to the thought of trying to be acceptable to God, receive the good news that we are free to be children of God. For all of us whose conscience is being held captive by the devil, we have been freed by Christ. For in Christ we are free indeed, free to be children of God, free to come to him and ask for forgiveness, free to be bound to Christ.

Jesus begins his ministry of giving back sight to the blind. Who are the blind? We who are living in the darkness of deception and temptation, we who are keeping our past sins in the dark where they can destroy our soul. We, who continue to live in the dark, are to receive sight and light. Jesus Christ is the true light who gives us a guiding light to live by. He opens our eyes to see the truth – the truth about our sinful state and the truth about his gracious words. He shines his light into our darkest past, not to destroy us, but to heal us through the precious words of forgiveness, those healing words that wash away our darkness so that we may live as people of the light.

Jesus begins his ministry of releasing those who are oppressed. Who are the oppressed? We who are burdened, shattered or weakened by life’s struggles with sin. We who have broken relationships because of the consequences of sin, who are broken in spirit, broken in body or soul – we are released. We are released from our sins because Christ offers us forgiveness. We are released from the binding power of Satan. We are released from our debts of the past, because now is the time of the Lord’s favour.

In the Biblical Book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fiftieth year, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest. In Judaism the Jubilee Year is currently not observed in modern times because it only applies when representatives of all twelve tribes have returned to Israel and a majority of the world’s Jews live in the Land.

In Christianity, the tradition dates to 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII convoked a holy year, following which ordinary jubilees have generally been celebrated every 25 or 50 years; with extraordinary jubilees in addition (depending on need). The last Holy Year was celebrated in 2000, and Pope Francis declared recently that an ‘Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy’ will be held in 2016.

But what does that mean: I’m not really sure-maybe it’s as the conspiracy people are suggesting that with nearly all countries being in debt to each other, and that then combined a Global Financial Crisis Mark II, that somehow they’ll wipe the slate clean through some sought of “One world controlling bank.”

I’m not really sure: or maybe it’s like the guy dying of a terminal illness in a remote town who cashed out his credit card to the max. and used the money to make himself a burial casket out of galvanised iron, filled it with ice and alcohol drinks and invited his mates around knowing that upon his death the bank would simply write the debt off-“”That’ll shown them.”

However a Jubilee year looks in earthly terms I’m not sure, but in Christ Christians could argue that every year is a year of Jubilee because of Jesus reinterpreted of Leviticus that shows now, today we are able to live in freedom, knowing that the price of all our debts have been fully paid in the death of Jesus. This is the time when we can rest from our heavy labours and be served by God.

But how does Jesus release us and heal us? How does he give us rest? Jesus releases our sins through the words of absolution. The words the pastor speaks that are not his own,

but are words that Jesus himself speaks to us. We receive forgiveness of sins at our baptism. We return to our baptism with a contrite heart to be sorry for our sins so that daily we may be a new and fully restored person who can live before God in righteousness and purity. We receive forgiveness of sins at the Lord’s Supper where Jesus gives us his holy body, his holy blood for us to eat and drink so that we too become holy.

Today his task is completed for you today for you have been freed because for Luke, ‘today’ is a word linked with news of salvation. We recently heard those words ‘today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you’ (Lk 2:11). Later in Luke’s gospel account, Jesus says to Zaccheus: ‘Come down. I must stay at your house today’ (19:5) and when he gets there he says ‘today salvation has come to this house’ (19:9). And when Jesus was on the cross, during the last hours of a criminal’s life, he says to him: ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’. But this is a special ‘today’ because it remains fulfilled even today, the 24th of January, 2016.

His task is fully completed for you, but yet it is not fully completed until he comes again because there is still need for his word, which he has given to his body – the church – to preach to the poor, the bound, the blind, the oppressed. We live in this in-between time where even though it is fully fulfilled, we still look forward to its fulfilment.

It is true that only Jesus could read this text, for it is only completed in Christ, but we too can say ‘the Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor’. We too have been baptised, been joined to Christ, been anointed as his priests to go out into the world and preach the gospel, the good news to the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed. He has empowered us to tell others that even in our ‘free’ country; we are still bound by our sinful nature and are prisoners of Satan. But even more importantly, we can now point to Christ and tell people that there is no freedom from our chains except through Christ. For even though forgiveness comes from God, it is through Jesus Christ and his precious gifts of absolution, baptism and the Lord’s Supper that we receive his forgiveness.

So now we can go out as true free people, freed from sin, death and the power of the devil and serve Him in that truth that all praise be to God through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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