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Worried about being busy

Worried about being busy Matt 6 25-33


I have a video of what it looks like to be engrossed in worry!  (Canadian police chase) What do you think?  Let’s play it again in case you missed the subtle message.

 

What is happening?  Yes, the robbers know what they want and are determined to get it no matter the conditions and no matter how futile their efforts.  They are to outrun the police and avoid capture at all costs.  The police on the other hand, also know they want and are determined to fulfil their responsibilities.  They are to capture the robbers at all costs.  And that is what they are doing.

 

However, what is all their worry and effort achieving?  Yes, nothing!  Both the robbers and police are very busy in their jobs, know their roles, know what they have to achieve, but they are in fact achieving very little.  The robbers are so concerned about getting away, so worried about doing it as they always have, with a car chase, they cannot see the bigger picture; they cannot see that their situation is hopeless.  The police, what do they do?  They are no better than the robbers, they are so caught up in the busyness of the chase, so caught up in worrying about the capture they just exasperate the situation.

 

Close up, just looking at the cars and the robbers trying to avoid capture, it seems pretty normal; something you would expect of a police chase.  But notice as the camera angle moves away from the close action and into the aerial view from the helicopter, what then?  (play again) What does the wider picture reveal?  Yes, no matter how hard they try, as long as they only worry about the problem in front of them…being stuck in the snow, the robbers are never going to get away and the police are never going to catch the robbers.

 

Are you the robbers or the police?  Is your life like the robbers? Always worrying about trying desperately to keep ahead in life, trying to outrun the busyness of the day; outrun the changes forced upon you by work or family commitments.   Perhaps are you like the police, always worried and focused on the job in front of you and never being able to catch up with the busyness of your day?  You seem to be forever running behind.  Forever chasing dreams, visions and hopes that are set before you, but only to find you never get where you want to be. 

 

All of us are either robbers or police.  All of us are either running from or chasing after something in our life.  Some of us are always worried about trying to escape the pressures and stresses of life, while others of us are always worried about chasing fading dreams and hopes of a more relaxed life.  Yet how many of us achieve it?  How many of us, by our own efforts, achieve a blissful life without worry? Do the rich, with the wealth to buy everything they want?  Do they poor, with no money or possessions to worry about?  Have you with all your worries and fears about escaping or chasing?

 

Jesus calls us to get into the helicopter of his word and rise above our escaping or chasing to gain a view of the bigger picture.  He encourages us to call off the pursuit and take a look at what is really going on; to take our focus off the job before us.  He says ‘I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Jesus sees our life like that helicopter shot of the police chase.  He can see we are doing a lot of worrying and running around after what we think is important for a good life, but in the end, from the vantage point of heaven, all we gain out of our striving and worry is more of the same.

 

Again Jesus says ‘do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.’  Like police after robbers, we shop until we drop chasing the dream of a peaceful and worriless life, yet it always eludes us.  Interestingly, John Carrol, in his new book ‘Ego and Soul, the modern West in search of meaning’, writes ‘It is through shopping…you can believe you control your own destiny, make yourself whomever you want to be, and therefore transform your life…like Clarke Kent changes into Superman.’

 

Jesus is not saying ‘don’t worry about chasing after those things’, because it is wrong.  He is not saying to worry is wrong, or to run from change and stress is wrong, or that chasing after a peaceful life is wrong or shopping is wrong…being superman or Wonder woman for a day is always good for the ego.  No, the key that unlocks freedom from the grind of everyday worry is to begin the day with God.  ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’  In him, in God and from God, comes our righteousness.  God himself gives us meaning, value and purpose for living.  Listen closely to Jesus words ‘seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness.

 

St Paul in Romans clearly emphasises Jesus message  ‘For in the good news of Jesus death and resurrection a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is given to us by faith totally and completely, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”  Righteousness before God, being friends with God, because of Jesus death on the cross, gives purpose and meaning to our running our chasing. How?  It gives us a vision of the bigger picture.  Being worth something before God, or in biblical terms, righteous before God, knowing he loves us and wants the best for our life, enables us to get into the helicopter and be lifted up to get a view of our life from a perspective of heaven.  

 

Have a look at everything God has provided for us.  When we bring just a minute fraction together, we begin to see how much he does provide for us.  Have a look at the sacrament of Holy Communion, God’s righteousness given freely today.  We can see and taste how much he loves us.  Knowing this lifts us up to see beyond our chasing and running to see what lay ahead…eternity with God.

 

This week, stop yourself in the middle of what you are doing, just when you are feeling frustrated or worthless or angry, running or chasing.  Stop at that point when, like the robbers or police, you are in the midst of a hopeless situation, and by faith step back to get a heavenly perspective on life.  We can do this by remembering Jesus words ‘seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’.  We are children of God so we have the privilege of looking at life from the vantage point of heaven.  When we do, we can see God’s love for us in all his gifts to us.  From there we can perhaps see a new way of doing things.  We can see how we might change our attitude and see how the bog we find ourselves in, like the police in the snow, may actually be what God is using to assist us in completing the task before us. 

 

This is what Jesus meant when he said ‘do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?’  For the life that is more important, is the life of righteousness given to us free by the gift of God.

 

Amen

 

    

Popper Prayers

Ash Wednesday Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21  Prayer


I have with me the perfect example of prayer:  (pop a popper)  Can you tell me why it seems to us a popper represents our prayers?  Well, here are some reasons why poppers are our prayers:

  • We only use prayer on special occasions
  • We imagine our prayers need to be impacting, like the bang, in order to gain God’s attention.
  • Our thoughts are all bottled up in our minds and we let a barrage of requests shoot up to heaven, like the streamers.
  • Most importantly, just as the streamers came pouring down almost immediately after they were fired up, we want our prayers to be answered immediately and we want the answers from God to stream down upon us and shower us with goodness.

 

The popper prayer most accurately describes our prayer practices and expectations, and if we were honest to ourselves, the popper prayer is really the only way we know how to pray.  Perhaps this is why we struggle with prayer, struggle to pray each day.  The popper prayer may not be how God intended prayer to be.  Perhaps popper prayer is more closely aligned with our plans and expectations of prayer than God’s.  And as you are well aware, anything centred in us, is sinful and against God’s plans and is destined to failure.  When prayer is human centred, prayer is hard.  Its hard because we keep getting the same results, a perception that God is not listening and is not answering our prayers.

 

We try harder, more fervent prayer, or to use my example, we put more gun powder into prayer, hoping God will be awakened by the big commotion and rain down answers.  Jesus likens this sort of practice to the prayers of hypocrites.  Hypocritical prayers are designed to be seen not heard; to be showed off as a perfect word sculpture.  They are prayers that are to be seen by everyone in the church, bible group, or street corner and especially to be seen God…but not heard.  No wonder there is no answer to the popper prayer.  Like the popper, its self serving and designed to be a display, not a way of communicating.

 

Michael Foss, the author of many discipleship books says we are creatures of habit.  We constantly do things exactly the same, yet, for some unknown reason, expect different results.  Not so, the results will remain the same.  Human centred prayer will always return the same results, a sense of rejection by God because he didn’t answer the way we expected. 

 

The feeling of not being heard is the result of sin which is most evident in the difficulty we have with prayer. You would think as a Christian, prayer would come naturally, as natural as breathing, yet we all know this is not so.  Let me quote from John Kleinig’s book ‘Grace upon grace’, in which he gives us some insight into why God allows us to fail in prayer. ‘We know that we should pray.  We would like to pray more regularly, ardently, and spontaneously.  The harder we try, the more we seem to fail.  But that’s how its meant to be.  Christ lets us fail when we pray by ourselves so we rely on his intercession for us.  Oddly, our success in prayer comes from our personal failure and our willingness to carry on as he works for us and in us.’

 

Jesus allows us to fail in prayer, not to make us put more powder into our prayer, but to make us realize our inadequacies and hopelessness without him.  The power of prayer lay not in our success, but in our failures.  Answer to our prayer comes in and through failure and disappointment. 

 

This is why Jesus encourages us to drop the outward displays, let go of the popper prayer, and retreat to a quiet place, a lonely place and let him take over your prayer; let him use our prayer and make it acceptable to God.  I have a picture of what this sort of prayer looks like. (picture of Peter holding onto Jesus after walking on water: ask what Peter was doing just before this)

 

Here we have the perfect prayer.  Peter represents us, sinking into the sea of despair and rejection after failing in prayer, but then Jesus takes over where we fail and takes our hand as a brother and leads our prayers right into the heavenly Father’s ears.  And after lifting us and our prayers into the presence of the Father, Jesus then brings us back into the boat, back into his word, his gospel where we rely on his promises ‘I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’

 

This Lenten season, I am encouraging you to be involved in this Lenten study on prayer.  It has been compiled by some of our members.  It is a nightly devotional series on prayer and it is designed to help you to discover new ways to pray.  We have taken snippets of advice from Jesus and the prayer he taught us.  From Luther, Hallesby, and others.  Can I commend this to you as a tool to assist you in your pray life over the next forty days of Lent.  To encourage you in prayer and to help you realize prayer is not about us, its about God and how he does indeed hear our prayer.

 

Prayer is certainly a wonderful gift.  Yet it would be wrong of me to say that after you have studied the booklet, everything would be fine.  Rather, let me finish on a sober warning from one of the desert fathers, a man called Agathon ‘The brethren also asked him ‘Amongst all good works, which is the virtue which requires the greatest effort?’  He answered, ‘Forgive me, but I think there is no labour greater than that of prayer to God.  For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies, the demons, want to prevent him, for they know that it is only by turning him from prayer that they can hinder his journey.  Whatever good work a man undertakes, if he perseveres in it, he will attain rest.  But prayer is warfare to the last breath.’

Amen

If you would like a copy of this booklet please email Pastor at Brenton.fiedler@lca.org.au

 

The cost of Love

The cost of Love- Mark 9_ 2-9

I have some things here that were once an important and integral part of our congregation.  Some things that represented who we w
ere and what we believed in. (school banner).  As you look at this banner, perhaps it reminds you of the sounds of kids running through our church grounds; reminds you of the laughter and also of the part you, as members here, took in the nurture and growth of your children’s faith.  But now it is gone; it has been surpassed.
(use the hymn books over head and song)

The Hymn book of your Lutheran church.  The book your parents used to sing all the great Lutheran hymns, like ‘Almighty Fortress is our God’ and ‘The church’s one foundation’.  Perhaps as you now see this, it reminds you of the time your mum or dad held it in front of you to help you sing; or of the time at Christmas when there were not enough hymn books to go around because there was so many people here; even the balcony was full.  But now it is gone, it has been surpassed by the PowerPoint.  Same songs, only its up on a screen.

When we see these things again, we are reminded of how attached we are to our environment.  Attached to the things we see, experience and use as normal in our lives; normal parts of our worship life.  The things of our church become part of us, in fact they symbolise who we are and what we stand for.  For us, these are not just things, not just another school they are who we are…our very being. We are some how attached to what we are used to and as we use it we remember the people, the good times and the excitement of using it.

When changes come about or there is no longer any use for what we have, we mourn the loss.  We mourn that fact that part of who we are, part of our history, our world view and belief system has been taken away from us.  We long to remain the same; remain in what we know and what is certain; in the tried and tested.  Change brings uncertainty and so a desire to hang on to what we know.

Jesus brought uncertainty and change to the people of Israel.  He upset and challenged the way they saw God.  He spoke against the Scribes and Pharisees who many thought, had taught the truth about God.  He talked about God in a new way.  He was different from any other religious teachers.  He talked with and associated with sinners and outcasts.  Jesus even  claimed to be the messiah, the Son of God…which was OK except he said ‘The Son of man must suffer many things and that he must be killed and on the third day rise again.’  Radically new stuff!  With Jesus, change was in the air which meant many people felt uneasy and uncertain; felt that a part of them was dying.

The disciples were also uncertain and uncomfortable about the changes Jesus was bringing in.  Sure, most likely, when the disciples where first called to follow Jesus, it was sort of fun to pick on the Scribes, it was sort of funny to see the Pharisees fumble and fail to find an answer against Jesus’ teachings.  But then Jesus began to change their environment and started to make their life feel uncomfortable they started to pine and morn for the way it was; the normality of their Jewish faith.  Jesus said and commanded radically new things like ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ With new teachings like this, the disciples were probably having second thoughts.  We hear this in Peter’s confession after Jesus spoke of his death ‘surely this will not happen to you’; a good indicator that he was not prepared to let go of his old belief and old way of thinking.

Is it no wonder then, when they witnessed Jesus transfigured and glowing like lightning, Peter and the other disciples became afraid and shook with terror at this new development.  It is no wonder then, when they then saw Moses and Elijah standing there, Peter tried desperately to cling to the past; to what they knew and said ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters– one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’

Peter and the other disciples wanted to hold onto Moses and Elijah an anchor point, a stable part of their faith they knew and felt comfortable with.  ‘If we build a house or place of worship for you three guys, Peter thought, then we will have certainty and be back in our comfort zone because things will be like they were’.

Just then, while planing and hoping to keep things the same; just the way it had been before Jesus, in an instant it was all gone.  Moses and Elijah vanished from view; no longer needed.  And along with them, Peter’s hopes and plans, his security and certainty.  Moses and Elijah, the men of old have been replaced and surpassed by the only man remaining…Jesus.  Only Jesus the Son of God remains.  Only Jesus and his word will remain from now on, as he says ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.’

Peter and the disciples had been given a graphic lesson in what it means to follow Jesus.  Their past faith, while important and essential, and as personal as it was to them, was going to change and move indirections they would not want to go.  Jesus would lead them into foreign lands, into dangerous places, to whipping and beatings and ultimately to their own death for his name’s sake.

The certainty that the past brought, will no longer be their anchor point.  Jesus had a mission and was on the move to save the world, to seek and to save the lost. Peter and the other disciples would soon understand what it means to take up your cross and follow Jesus for the sake of saving others.

(names) you are followers of Jesus and you also, like the disciple are taking up and carrying a heavy cross.  Following Jesus means there will be changes and uncertainty for the sake of the gospel; for the sake of Jesus’ mission.  We have now sold this church building, the very building which has seen you grow up in the faith and has played an important part in your life; a tried and true security point for you and the community of Gilgandra. This difficult time has, as it did for the disciples on the mountain, graphically demonstrated to us that nothing on earth will ultimately remain other than the man Jesus.

Yes, we can try to keep the past alive by talking and remembering and yes that is a valid and natural part of grieving, just as it was for Peter.  Yes, we can be sorry things turned out the way they did and try to find answers and focus on hindsight, all very important steps in mourning such a loss.  Yet as followers of Jesus, even in the midst of change we can join Paul and say ‘I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord’

Today can be our transfiguration; a time when we are changed into people who only see Jesus.  A time when we are transfigured into people who leave what they dearly love and gladly take up our cross and follow Jesus, just as Peter, James and John did; just as the rest of the disciples.

Now is the time to be on the move with Jesus; now is the time to be joint missionaries with him in seeking and saving the lost.  Now is the time to be the salt and the light of all Australians driving the Newell Highway.  Now is the time to know that the Pastors of NWS are praying for us; praying that the cross we now carry for the sake of the gospel will not be too heavy; praying that it will bear fruit in the new church building on the highway.

To leave behind what we cherish for the sake of Jesus is no simple task; it takes courage and it takes faith.  Together we have made the right choice and the only choice, which is the call to follow Jesus.  Our Lutheran heritage has always put the gospel of Jesus before personal benefit.

So now hear and be encouraged by the words of our Lord ‘I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.  A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.  So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.’  Amen

An Athlete of Christ

6th Sunday after epiphany 1 Corinthians 9:24-27  An athlete of Christ

In order to compete and be competitive, an athlete trains hard for his goal and sheds off anything that may hinder his chances of wining the prize.

What sort of athlete would have a diet like this? (fast food pac
kets, coke and beer).  Would these be a hindrance?  Would this diet help to win the prize?  Would an elite athlete wear this? (a heavy jacket, hold a suitcase and then a blindfold)?  Would he know where he is going in a race?  Would he be able to compete competitively carrying a sports bag?  No, all of these things need to be removed as part, of an athlete’s strict training.  Everything is seen as a loss in comparison to the final prize and crown of victory.

Being in Athens and Corinth, it is more than likely St Paul enjoyed sport and even attended sporting events in his free time.  He would have seen how hard athletes trained.  Living in Greece, he would have witnessed firsthand the determination of an athlete to finish the race.  He may have applauded with the crowds as they saw the joy on the faces of those who won the crown of victory.  Historical records found in the excavations of ancient Corinth show that around the exact dates of Paul’s mission work in Corinth, the Isthmian Games were held.

This prestigious event, second only to the Olympics in Athens, was run in Corinth every two years.  Ancient records show athletic events included racing, wrestling, jumping, boxing, hurling the javelin, and throwing the discus.  Paul, having lived in Corinth for many years, would have seen the athletes training in the streets; running, throwing and practicing for their events.  It was required by decree that all athletes devote 10 months to strict training.

As we know, this sort of dedication to winning requires an athlete with determination and commitment.  It meant that a competitor would voluntarily renounce not only unhealthy habits, like junk food, drinking and smoking, but also give up many things that are fine, like holidays or parties, in order to focus totally on the goal.

Perhaps St Paul wrote part of his Corinthian letter sitting in the stadium watching athletes striving for the crown of victory.  Perhaps he was sitting there thinking, why is it an athlete trains, strives and competes so hard to win a temporary crown made only of olive leaves, yet his converts in the new church of Jesus, the believers in the way, showed little sign of this enthusiasm; showed no real commitment to studying God’s word or striving for the sake of the gospel.

Perhaps Paul just finished watching a running race when he wrote, ‘members of the church in Corinth, Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.’

Paul had preached the good news of Christ crucified as he writes ‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’  It is in this good news that the believers in the new church in Corinth were awarded salvation and eternal life as a crown of victory.  This good news of salvation, a free gift from God, should have spur them on to holy living; to striving and renouncing things that would hinder them from winning the prize, like an athlete would do.  But Paul found very little of this.  The freedom of the gospel was for many, freedom to do nothing!

Martin Luther found this same problem in his new church of the reformation, in a sermon preached on 9th March 1522, he made these scathing remarks ‘We must have love and through love we must do to one another as God has done to us through faith.  For without love faith is nothing…And here dear friends, have you not grievously failed?  I see no signs of love among you, and I observe very well that you have not been grateful to God for his rich gifts and treasures.

I notice that you have a great deal to say of the doctrine of faith and love which is preached to you, and this is no wonder; an ass can almost intone the lessons…Dear friends, the kingdom of God, and we are the kingdom, does not consist in talk or words, but in activity, in deeds, in works and exercises.  God does not want hearers and repeaters of words, but followers and doers and this occurs in faith through love.’

Certainly perhaps, we are not in the same league as those in Wittenberg, or even Corinth.  I do indeed see that everyone here is thankful to God for the gift of salvation and do indeed love and live lives worthy of the gospel.  Yet Paul’s words, like a coach speaking to his players at half time, can spur us on to greater appreciation for the crown of eternal life and a renewed determination to train our bodies, our minds and our spirits in the word of God.  Paul encourages us not to ‘run our race like an athlete running aimlessly or fight like a boxer hitting the air.’  Rather, we are to be like great athletes, making our bodies slaves to Christ so that we do not miss out on the prize’.

The prize, the crown of victory is the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life because of Jesus death for our sins on the cross.  You have already been crowned with this victory when Jesus declared you forgiven; justified you or put you in a right relationship with God in and through you baptism.

Just like Naaman, by the power of God’s word and the washing of water, he was cleansed from leprosy, in the washing of baptism, you have been cleansed from sin and given new life, as written in Titus 3 ‘He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour.’

Yet, as we know, this crown is only received fully, in death.  We are still running our race, still enduring hardships and disappointments like any athlete running a race.  However, God has not left us alone in this event, in his compassion he has graciously given as all the training equipment needed for our faith, so we don’t lose the race and the crown of victory.

We train our bodies by reading God’s word and as we do, his Spirit makes us holy and cleanses us of sin.  The Spirit in the word trains our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, so we can recognise the sins that are hindering our race for the prize and leads us to put off the devil and all his works and ways.

Our training as Athletes for Christ consists in eating the right spiritual foods, and that too, has be provided by God himself.  Jesus body and blood are given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  His body is truly present in the bread and wine to strengthen our faith for the race.  Jesus said ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

We don’t need to run our race aimlessly, like a blindfolded runner.  We know where to go to receive refreshment and renewal for our tired souls.  We know where to go for strength to love and serve even our enemies; we go straight to the power of God’s word and sacraments, just like an athlete goes straight for the Gaidorade.

We don’t box the air like a shadow boxer, not knowing how to defeat our opponent, we know the target, the devil and we know how to knock him out cold, for one little word of Jesus can fell him.  Yes, an athlete of Jesus trains and remains in the word of God, for it is in this power that the victory will be won, as in the final verse of ‘A mighty fortress is our God’

‘The word shall stand despite all foes-No thanks they for it merit- For God is with us, and bestows his gifts and Holy Spirit.  And take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife: Though these all be gone, yet have our foes not won; the kingdom ours remaineth.’

Amen

God 4 Me

Epiphany 5 Isaiah-40:21-31 and Mark 1:29-39   God4me

I have on me, a good pair of walking shoes, a hat, a walking stick, a back pack with food and water.  Also, if I am really going to get up close and personal with nature, I am going to need these; binoculars.   Most people love to go bushwalking and get close to nature; to get away from it all and find rest and even themselves, in the beauty and grandeur of creation.

When I picked up my Subaru in Wollongong, I got talking with the previous owner about my job and how my role is to bring God’s word and grace to people; I work to bring people closer to God.  The young man replied saying ‘When I surf, I am close to God; the beach is my church and while I am riding the waves, I am closest to God; in nature and in the waves is where I find peace for my soul.’

When we go sight seeing, it is so easy to lose ourselves to its beauty and wonder.  The next slides explain what I mean (slides of nature).  The beauty of creation relates to us in some spiritual way and makes us feel close to God, or for many, like the surfer, closer to some spiritual force.  This is not uncommon and even biblical.  St Paul says ‘For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities– his eternal power and divine nature– have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.’

St Paul is right, for Christians, a walk through nature can make us feel closer to God and as we look through the binoculars at the view, or look through them into the heavens, and we try to grasp the awesomeness and glory of God, we might want to recite the words of Isaiah ‘God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.’

Perhaps we may even begin to sing the words of popular Christian songs which focus on God’s power and glory ‘Our God is an awesome God, he reigns on heaven and earth, yes, God is an awesome God.’  Or ‘Proclaim your awesome power, declare your mighty deeds and my eyes always look to you and I am captured by your majesty’.

Yes, God is indeed awesome as he says ‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? Yet, is this how God wants us to know him, in his power and majesty, and is this the way God assures us that he loves us.  Perhaps the surfboarder is right?  Perhaps creation is the church of God; nature is where we are closest to God and in his glory and majesty is where can come to know him best?”  Perhaps our focus on sin and the cross, suffering and servant hood, word and sacrament is not authentic Christianity; its not how God would want to be known?

If the surfboarder is right, and God is to be known best by his power and glory in nature, what sort of God would we have when we see this (pictures of destruction).  When we try and come close to God only in his majesty and power, only in his creation, we are going to get burnt like a moth to a flame.  One moment the flame of creation and God’s majesty is beautiful, the next, it can destroy us and our faith that God is love.   One moment we can be praising God as awesome, the next moment, we can hate him because he destroyed all we have, like Job experienced.

God is indeed awesome and glorious, as shown by his creation, but to only know God in his glory is to have an uncertain God; a God of contradictions.  A God who is two faced; a God of beauty and destruction, of glory and anguish, of life and death, of love and hate.  We don’t know for sure if God loves us or hates us. To trust God because he is an awesome God, will only leave us uncertain and in doubt when suffering or when we fall into sin and constant temptation.  The unanswerable and age old question stunts our faith ‘how can a loving God allow suffering?’

Yes, we believe God is awesome, as we say in our, “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth”.  But the true awesomeness and wonder of God is not that he is sovereign over us, not that he created heaven and earth, not that we cannot compare him? Or that no one is his equal?  For us, the real miracle of God is that he came to us in his Son Jesus.  He made his heart and love known to us in Jesus, ‘Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.’

The uncertainty and contradictions we have of God are totally dismissed when we place our trust in Jesus.  In him we truly know God and his will for us sinners.  In today’s gospel Jesus clearly demonstrates God’s love and his willingness to heal and restore human life, even in the midst of suffering.

Simon’s mother-in law was suffering a bad fever when Jesus healed her, clearly demonstration God’s love.  Yet he didn’t stop there, Jesus, as a way of showing the will of God towards us, heals many with sicknesses and demons, as Mark records ‘the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases.’

Jesus showed the love God has for us throughout his whole earthly ministry, not in glory and signs and wonders, but by healing, cleansing and restoring people caught in suffering; people like you and I.  (slide) Yet even more than this, we have a graphic and compelling demonstration of God’s love for us, when Jesus suffered and died for our sins on the cross.  At this point, with his hands and feet pierced, his blood that run down the cross, cleansed and healed us from all guilt and sin.  Hidden under suffering and death, Jesus brings healing and shows the Father’s love.

For St Paul, the cross was central to faith and the only way we have certainty of salvation, as he says in Romans 5:8 ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’  Knowing God in suffering is to have certainty of faith that he loves us and forgives us, even in the midst of our sinfulness and messed up lives.  Luther called this sort of faith a ‘theology of the cross’.

A theology of the cross is for us, better understood as a ‘faith of the cross’.   A faith of the cross does not try and know God in his glory and majesty.  A faith of the cross does not look for signs and miracles in our life.  A faith of the cross looks for God hidden in suffering and ordinary things.

That same healing power of God and the same love for us that Jesus demonstrated is to be found for us in the sacrament of Holy Communion.  Jesus is hidden, present and available for us in the bread and wine to give us the forgiveness and healing he won for us on the cross.  A faith of the cross, your faith, believes this is true because it does not attempt to find God in his glory, but where he has promised to be found; in his word the bible and in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

We really are in the true church of God; this is authentic Christianity.  So instead of wearing all this sight seeing gear and walking around to find God in his glory and power, we who have a faith of the cross carry around with us the bible, and look, not into binoculars, but into the waters of our baptism to find God.  And we, who have a faith of the cross, don’t drink and eat plain food and water on our journey with God, we have stomachs filled with Jesus body and lips moistened by his blood.  These are the things of God we wear on our earthy journey and wear to give us certainty of salvation.  Amen

Authoritative Word

Authoritative word Mark 1:21 28

 

President Eisenhower once said ‘Farming looks mighty easy when your plough is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.’  And the famous Lutheran pastor, who was shot by the SS for attempting to assassinate Hitler said ‘It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others.’  We love to hear quotes from important people.  This is because words have power when people in authority speak.  We listen to them and act on what they say because of the authority of the person saying them

When a doctor says ‘you are very sick, we instinctively respond and believe exactly what the doctor says; even when we don’t feel sick!  We don’t know why or how we got sick.  We just believe what the doctor says, because his words have authority.  Words of authority bring about change and they bring about action; we want to be healed.  Perhaps you know other examples, like the words of a parent or even a judge.  It is a fact that words and authority combine into action and are change agents.

Mark records an incident in Jesus ministry when his words and authority came together as a change agent to bring about action.  Listen again to what happened when Jesus spoke.  ‘When the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.  Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are– the Holy One of God!”

Jesus spoke and things happen.  Instantly, people recognise Jesus as someone who has authority; someone who knows what he is talking about and embodies his teaching.  His words spoke to their heart and conscience; they are amazed at how his words moved them and acted upon them.  Yet they, like us, should not have been surprised at this, after all, the prophet Isaiah says this about God’s word ‘As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, … so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’

Yet, just as in Jesus day, so it is today, many people do not want to hear God’s word.  Even many Christians fail to understand the spiritual importance of hearing God’s word.  Perhaps you have been told the bible is just words on a page; a message and nothing more.  I once had a person tell me ‘why should I go to church, the message is all ways going to be the same.  Jesus is always going to rise from the grave; I’ve heard it, nothing’s going to change, I agree with it, so why go?’

Why go to church if the message never changes?  Perhaps we all think this at times, why go to church, nothing changes?  That would be true, if God’s word was only a message on a page, but its not.  God’s word has power and authority, as Jesus says ‘my words are Spirit and they are life.’  What if that man with the evil spirit chose not to come and hear Jesus, would he have known he had an evil spirit?  Would he have been healed? Do you think he knew?  Do you think the others sitting around him that day knew of the spirit with in him?  Of course not.  As he listened, Jesus’ words had an effect on him.  They revealed the sin, removed it and restored this man’s soul; Jesus words and authority are change agents.

As you and I sit hear, listening to God’s word, none of us can fully know and understand just what action and effect his word is having upon us, just like that man with the evil spirit.  God has not given us the privilege of having spiritual eyes to see into our heart, only he can do this, as the psalmist pleads ‘search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.’  His word will reveal the evil and sin hidden within us, or remind us of the sins we try and hide deep within us.

This action of God, where his word convicts us of sin and evil, Luther called the ‘foreign work of God, or his alien work’.  It is where, Luther said, he speaks a word of law and demands an account of what we have done.  It is where he says ‘have you served other God’s?’  Have you taken part in violence?  Do you hold bitterness and anger or partake in wrong sexual acts, all of which attract evil spirits?  It is where he makes us realise we are sick and in need of a physician, as he says in Matthew 9:12 ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.’  The words of Jesus combine with his authority, as change agents, to reveal and deal with the sin in our lives.

However, we dare not stop there!  A doctor doesn’t just diagnose and say ‘you are sick’, then send you on your way.  No, a doctor will immediately say what needs to happen in order for you to be cured; he begins to heal you.  In the same way, God’s word doesn’t stop at its alien work, its work of revealing sin, it also heals and restores.  Jesus said sternly to the man, well, actually to the evil spirit ‘”Be quiet!” “Come out of him!”  The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.’  Jesus’ words combined with his authority as change agents and effected change upon this man’s life; he was healed and restored as a child of God.

This action of the God’s word Luther called God’s ‘proper work’.  The proper work of God’s word is to save and restore; to sanctify and bless, just as a doctor’s proper work is not to diagnose but to heal.  And God does this through the gospel; the word of good news.  St Paul points this out saying ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.’  The gospel is the word of God which declares you right before him; that your sins are forgiven, you are healed and a child of God, because of the atoning death of Jesus on the cross for yours and my sin.

The proper work of God, his healing word, comes to you and me as a change agent through what the church calls sacraments.  It is where God has promised to heal you and give you grace, mercy and forgiveness.  The proper work of God, the pure gospel happens in and through baptism and Holy Communion.  In these, the word and authority of God are change agents, which declare you forgiven, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.  Many call the sacrament of baptism and Holy Communion, the medicine of eternal life.  We are given them as a doctor gives his patients medicine.

Just as the simple words of Jesus ‘come out!’, sent the evil spirit from the man, Jesus word to you and me, ‘your sins are forgiven’, combined with the water’s of baptism or as we partake in his body and blood in the bread and wine in Holy Communion, send the devil flying.  He has no power over us.  This is the living and active word of God that is a change agent in our life and this is why we continue to come to church and this is why we hear and read God’s word in our homes.

To sum up, let me finish with a quote from John Kleinig, an OT lecturer at Australian Lutheran College, in a book by called ‘Grace upon grace’.  Dr John writes
‘The power of Jesus [word]does not just apply to what happened in Capernaum.  It applies equally, and perhaps even more fully now in the light of Easter, to us and our situation.  All people remain in the darkness until Christ comes and teaches them his Father’s word with authority…with that word he sends Satan and his spirits packing.  Everything, therefore, depends on Christ and his victory.  Through his self-sacrificial death for our sins and his resurrection for our justification he has won the victory for us.’

Amen

 

 

Good News/Bad News

3rd Sunday after epiphany Mark 1_14-20 good new/bad news

 

“I have some good news and some bad news’, the chair person of the ladies guild said to the pastor.  ‘The good news is that we voted to send you a get well card.  The bad news is the vote passed by 31-30”.

 

Good news/bad news.  “The good news, said the elder to his pastor, is that the congregation accepted your job description just the way you wrote it.  The bad news is that we were so imprest by it, we formed a call committee to find someone to fill the position”.

 

Good news bad news, they always seem to come as one.  When there is good news, there always seems to be bad news, or the other way around, there is always good news in bad news: as the saying goes, ‘there is a silver lining behind every dark cloud’.  Millions are celebrating the good news that the first black man Barak Obama has been installed as the new president of the United States, however, the bad news is, despite all the words of hope and determination, Obama is only one man and only human and we know the record of human attempts to ‘redeem the world’. 

 

We are currently in the church season of Epiphany.  A time set aside in the church to explore the revelation of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ.  It is a time for us to learn about how God reveals himself to us through his word.  The observable fact that good news and bad news come into our lives, gives us a simple but profound way of understanding how God deals with us.  The bad news/good news reality is a formula for understanding the bible or as Martin Luther explained it ‘God always speaks to us in two ways; in law and gospel’.  Understanding God’s word as being both law and gospel is unique to our faith tradition and the simple key that opens the scriptures to us.

 

The first words Jesus spoke in his earthly ministry were words of bad news and good news.  But unlike the good news bad news jokes I just told you, Jesus was not joking when he spoke these words, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!“  He is not joking about the bad news ‘repent of your sins’, he means it, but just as important he is not joking when he says ‘believe the good news and be saved; believe in me…believe also in the one who sent me.’ 

 

Repent and believe, God’s word of bad news and good news is the simple message of Jesus, and it was the simple message of John the Baptist, of the Apostle Paul, of the bible and is the simple yet life changing word of God to you and me;

 

Law and gospel, the bad news/good news formula is the window which enlightens us to God’s word.  It gives us a paradigm or platform from which to understand our relationship with God and his word to us.  When we read the bible, when we hear God’s word spoken to us, the widow of both bad news/good news together enables us to understand what Jesus means when he says ‘repent and believe.  The bad news ‘repent’ convicts our conscience of sin. 

 

It tells us what God expects of us and reveals to us, that we can never achieve what it demands, as Jesus says “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery (you think you can keep this command, well).’ I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’  The bad news of Jesus’ ‘repent’, tells us that when we read the bible are hear Isaiah say ‘all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.’

 

We can know for certain that even the good we do for others, the good deeds in our service to the church are never good works to impress God enough to get us to heaven.  This is the law, the bad news.

 

The good news however, which must always accompany God’s word of bad news, comforts us and releases us from the terrors of sin and guilt.  It demands nothing of us yet gives everything.  It assures us and gives us certainty that despite our failure to keep what the law demands of us, we are forgiven because of Jesus death on the cross.  This is what Jesus meant when he said ‘believe the good news’.

 

 The goods news is that ‘whoever is baptised and believes will be saved’.  The good news is as  St Paul says ‘there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’.  The good news is as Luther discovered, that we are save by no merits of our own, but by faith alone in Christ alone.  This is the good news Jesus was speaking about and is now speaking to you.

 

The good news is spoken most clearly in Holy Communion.  It is here in this meal, where Jesus says ‘take and drink this IS my body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’  We eat and drink pure good news, pure gospel.  The bad news is dealt with and destroyed as we partake of the supper.  Holy Communion is the observable and tangible forgiveness of God.

 

We must in no way confuse this pure good news with the bad news and doubt our forgiveness, doubt the grace of God.  When God forgives it is complete, or in Jesus words on the cross, ‘it is finished’.  When God says it is done, it is final!

 

And with these words of Christ ‘your sins are forgiven’, our Christian life begins.  It begins anew each time we leave the Lord’s Table.  We walk free from here to live our life travelling the road between God’s bad news and good news.  As an analogy similar to our Christian walk between law and gospel, when Julie and I lived in Alice Springs, we decided to travel to Adelaide via an outback road through William Creek.  Well, it rained all night which made the road very muddy and slippery.

 

 I used to wonder why outback roads were so wide when very few cars travelled them.  Now I knew.  When they are wet, the wide road lets you slide from one side of the road to the other around corners.  Bouncing off one embankment you are corrected back to the centre of the road, then as you slip off the other side around the next corner, the embankment corrects your direction and you are able to continue on the road. 

 

The embankments on the wide road keep you from falling off the road into a bog and also keep you going in the right direction; the wide road between the two embankments gives you freedom to negotiate the road.

 

In the same way God’s word of bad news and good news are like the embankments.  As we travel down the wide road of life, when things become slippery and we slid off our Christian walk, God’s word of bad news, calling us to repent, bounces us back onto the road again. It stops us from falling right off and loosing sight of Jesus.  God’s word of good news is the other embankment. 

 

After hitting the bad news we are speared off onto the other side of good news which comforts as and assures us that Jesus as forgiven us and that news sets us on the road of righteousness and the road that leads to eternal life.

 

This is what it means and this is what we do as you and I together live the life and walk the journey to the new Jerusalem between the two words of Jesus ‘repent and believe’.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

A Son is given to us.


Christmas Eve 2008 Isaiah 9:2-7 A Son is given to us

 

Do any of you young people know what this is? (a yoke that goes around a horses neck-explain what it does and how it works).

 

A yoke is a symbol or reminder of suffering and burden.   It cannot be removed by the one waring it and must be carried around all the time.

 

You and I have a yoke around our necks and we were born with it on.  (place the yoke upon my shoulders to symbolise death around us all) The difference between this sort of yoke, and the yoke around our shoulders, is that we cannot see ours.  Our yoke is the burden of death.  As sad and as difficult as it is to talk about on Christmas Eve, one day we will all die; it is the yoke around our necks that burdens us.  I the book of James it says ‘sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.’  Death is the invisible yoke around all of us.  Like a horse wearing this yoke and pulling a burden, it seems to us that there is no way out of our situation.

 

Left on our own, we cannot change what has happened or what will happen.  We live with this darkness overhanging us.  However, God in his great compassion and mercy, couldn’t just look on and leave us suffering under this burden.  He refused to see his people, you and me, die a death that would mean total separation from him.   In his great love for us he chose to change our situation.  Like a farmer taking this yoke off his horse, God sent his Son Jesus to remove our yoke.

 

The prophet Isaiah foresaw this saying ‘The people walking in darkness,(that foretells of all people, not just Israel), have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.  You [the Lord] have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.’  The yoke, the bar across our shoulders, the rod which pierces our hearts…death, has been shattered; totally smashed to pieces because of the birth Jesus, which we celebrate tonight.

 

Isaiah continues his excited vision saying ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’  The Child of God, Jesus, is a child who is not born for God, but to us; the Son of God is given to us.  And his birth, if you listen carefully, will remove the yoke around our shoulders.  The government will be on HIS shoulders.  That is, Jesus was born to us in Bethlehem to take the yoke, the rod we bare upon our shoulders, death, and to place it on his shoulders. 

 

(Take the yoke of my shoulders and place it on the manger and say ‘From the words of Isaiah ‘he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.’)   The wood of the manger, points forward to the wood of the cross, where Jesus, the Son of God, took the punishment for our sin, and died in our place at Golgotha.  This is the great light of Christmas; this is the light that shines in our darkness.

Jesus, the little baby in a manger, is the greatest gift we will ever receive.  So receive him into your heart through faith, let him be born into your heart this Christmas and be filled with the great joy.  For Jesus truly is reason for the season.

The Greatest Present ever Unwrapped.

 

 

Luke 2:8-20 The greatest present ever unwrapped

 

 

I have some ribbon here.  Who had a Christmas present wrapped in ribbon?  The ribbon wraps up and protects the surprise hidden within.  When we see a ribbon wrapping a box, we know that the box is something special.  Its actually more than a box, its a gift; something special that we are going to receive for free from someone who loves us.  The ribbon, all beautifully coloured, excites our imagination and heightens our sense of expectancy:  What is under the wrapping?  Will it be something I really want or need? Will this present change my life? 

 

Once the ribbon is undone, the present unwrapped, we begin to see and appreciate the gift.  Once the ribbon is removed, the gift can then be used.  Today is Christmas Day and today is the day many people all around the world unwrap the ribbons from around their presents to see and begin to use their new gifts. 

 

Today is the day we as Christians are reminded of God’s gift to us; a gift also wrapped in ribbon as the angels proclaimed ‘”Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.“  God’s gift to us was wrapped in ribbon cloths and lying in a manger.

 

The ribbon cloths wrapped around the baby Jesus, in a hidden way, presented him to us as a present from God; a present to be unwrapped, a free gift of love from God to us.  The ribbon cloths, in God’s own special way, made Jesus more than just a baby, more than just a man.  They were a sign to us that this baby is Jesus the Christ; the chosen one from God, as the angel said ‘he is Christ the Lord and this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths’. 

 

Like all presents, in order to be seen and enjoyed, Jesus couldn’t stay wrapped in the safety of his cloths, he needed to be freed to grow, live and work in the world.  Jesus needed to reveal himself to us as God’s Son and to show us what it meant for him to be the Christ…the one who would save people from their sins.  And he did just that, as Luke reports ‘Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.’  From the moment the ribbons of cloth were removed, the gift of Jesus was unleashed onto the world and the world was never the same.

 

And it was during these years of Jesus ministry that he showed us just how much of a special gift he was to us.  During his time among the people of Israel, he demonstrated God’s love through his actions and words. 

 

Jesus was a present to the blind by giving them sight.  He was a present to the crippled by enabling them to walk.   He was a present to the lost and outcast by giving them hope.  He was a present to the grieving by weeping with them, a present to the joyful by bringing the dead to life.  And he was a present to those who were hated by saying ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone.”

 

Yet this was not the ultimate purpose of Jesus ministry.  These gifts were only part of the bigger present of Jesus.  God sent his only Son to be a gift for all of humanity, for you and me as well, as the angel’s announced ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all people on whom his favour rests.’  In order to bring true peace to all people, the ribbon cloths wrapping Jesus as a baby needed to wrap his body one more time.  For God’s present to us to be total and complete, the ribbon cloths were used a second and final time. 

 

Just as Jesus’ tiny body as a baby was wrapped in ribbon cloths and placed in a manger, Luke records what happened to Jesus crucified body; bruised, beaten and bloodied for our salvation ‘They took Jesus body down [from the cross], wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock.’  And there he lay.  God’s present to us, the gift of Jesus; still and lifeless, wrapped in ribbon cloth.  That is, until God himself unwraps Jesus, throws the ribbons of cloth away, and raises him to life.  Our best ever present has now been completely unwrapped and the Christmas angel’s announcement to us has now been fulfilled. 

 

‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’  Through Jesus birth, life, death and resurrection, he has given to all who believe the gift of eternal life.  This is what makes Jesus is the best present ever, and this is what makes him our saviour, and this is why he IS Christ the Lord.

 

Amen   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things couldn’t get any worse!

Fourth Sunday in Advent Luke 1_26-38  Things couldn’t get any worse!

 

I think all of us can relate to Murphy’s Law.There isn’t a day that goes by that one or more of Murphy’s Laws have proved correct in our lives.  I have a list of the top 7 laws of Murphy.

MURPHY’S LAWS

1.     Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

2.     If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. Corollary: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.

3.     If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

4.     If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.

5.     Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.

6.     Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.

7.     It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

Because Murphy’s Law is law, it means it will happen, so all of us need to plan and prepare for everything we do.  Perhaps its preparing for something small, like booking in the car for a service before Christmas or perhaps our preparations are as big as planning for a wedding or a whole new outreach ministry or church program.  Often many hours of careful planning go into our special events and yes, just when we think nothing more could ever go wrong….it does.

 

Murphy’s Law teaches us that the world is not perfect and it never will be and it teaches us that our lives are not perfect and never will be.  As St Paul says ‘sin entered the world through one man.’ Because of sin, death and the devil, our world, our lives are never going to go smoothly. Yet we constantly strive to have the perfect life.  Our whole culture is based on the underlying premise that we can achieve the ‘perfect life’.  If we critically analyse TV programs, how many high rating shows are really only all about feeding our inner desire to find the perfect life?  Look how perfect the backyard or holiday or medical nip and tuck or home cooked meal goes to plan and looks just perfect when completed; not a problem in sight.

 

Or perhaps you have received a Christmas letter from a friend, where in it they proudly tell of their wonderful year, where all is perfect.  Kids are achieving, holidays have been splendid, there are job promotions, extensions to the house, and a new car.  This desire to achieve the perfect life even influences many Christians.  There are those who claim, that if we strive hard enough, pray fervently enough, plan our lives well enough, we can achieve the perfect life God wants us to have.  God will bless us when we achieve perfection.

 

Yet, when we try it, when we do everything in our power to achieve the perfect life…well, I think we get hit by nearly everyone of Murphy’s top ten laws, especially no. 3 ‘If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.’   How can we deal with this?

 

Well, when it comes to things going wrong and having a faith to see it through, there is a great deal we can learn from Mary’s problem; her predicament.  We can learn that one thing is for certain, when God is involved in our life, life never goes to plan…yet, as in Mary’s instance, when all seems to be going wrong, its actually going to plan…God’s plan! 

 

Luke records the moment when Mary’s best laid plans, all her dreams and wishes, all her ideals and preparations for the perfect life with Joseph are all changed for ever. The angel Gabrielle said “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”  You can just sense in Mary’s response she as was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be, that she realised all her careful plans were about to come crumbling down.  After all, its not every day an angel of the Lord comes to visit you, and her hunch was right.  The angel said ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.’ 

 

Which one of Murphy’s Laws where ringing true for her at this time, who knows, perhaps number 2 ‘If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.’  For Mary, there couldn’t be worse news.  There couldn’t be a worse time.  There couldn’t be greater damage to her life.  Not only was she not married, she was still a virgin.  Not only was her whole life changed by this news, she had yet to tell this news to Joseph!  And to boot, she would have known their great wedding plans would now pointless; who would believe her story, she will be known as a cheater and a loose woman.

 

Life, for Mary, was anything but perfect.  If we were there, and knew Mary, would we point at her and say ‘your life is ruined’

 

Perhaps we would have, but Mary’s response to the news teaches us about faith and trust in God.  Rather than focus on her bleak outlook, rather than focus on the impossibility of a virgin birth, rather than being concerned about how others would see her, she simply says ‘I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”  She trusts in the word of God above every thing else.  She had nothing going for her; no sinlessness, no high birth, no marriage bliss, nothing at all to make her worthy of accepting this message as she did.  Yet both grace and faith are great in her. Mary is in every way the same as us. 

 

What Mary’s response to this trouble does for us, and arouses in us, is the joyful confidence that grace and faith will no less be just as great in us, who also believe the word of God.  We too, in times of great distress, when our lives are not going perfect, can be certain that God will give us the grace and faith to believe that he has the true plan for our life.  The lesson we can learn is to believe as Mary did; to believe that the word and promises of God, despite all outward contradictions, are Spirit and life and do what they say. 

 

Luther and St Augustine would say that by believing the word of God, Mary was already the mother of Jesus long before she was physically pregnant.  Luther writes ‘Mary was more full of grace and blessed in receiving Christ in her heart through faith than in her body.  It was this miracle which first had to take place in her.  If she had not accepted the words spoken by the angel and had let them pass by unheard, none of the miracles would have occurred.  But as they entered her heart and remained there, these things soon followed.’     

 

The miracle for you and me is that the proclaimed word of God and his holy sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, bring to us what they say.   In the exact same way as with Mary, when by faith we believe the word of God, it is made our own; faith takes hold of God’s promises and makes it happen in our life.  Jesus said ‘”I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes…has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.  When we believe this word of God like Mary, we actually receive Christ into our hearts, and we have salvation and life eternal.

 

 Long before our troubles are over, long before any Murphy’s Laws cease, long before we ever have a hint of perfection in our lives, because of Christ we are already perfect; salvation is already ours; Christ is ours!   Then, when our time comes, and we die, the rest will happen; we will cross from death to life eternal…just as he has promised.

 

Amen

 

 

 

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