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The message that brings life Ephesians 1:3-14

 

There was a Scottish painter named  Paddy MacGregor who was very interested in making a penny where he could, so he often thinned down his paint to make it go a wee bit further.

As it happened, he got away with this for some time, but eventually the Lutheran’s decided to do a big restoration job on the outside of one of their biggest buildings..
Paddy put in a bid, and, because his price was so low, and Lutherans are always looking for a bargain, he got the job.
So he set about erecting the scaffolding and setting up the planks, and buying the paint and, yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down with water.

 Well, Paddy was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, the sky opened, and the rain poured down washing the thinned paint from all over the church and knocking Paddy clear off the scaffold to land on the lawn among the gravestones, surrounded by telltale puddles of the thinned and useless paint..

Paddy was no fool. He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty, so he got down on his knees and cried:
“Oh, God, Oh God, forgive me; what should I do?”
And from the thunder, a mighty voice spoke..
“Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!”

 As funny as this is, there is still a serious side to Paddy’s tragic tale.  The punch line paraphrases the words of John the Baptist to the Pharisees prior to his beheading ‘repent, for the kingdom of God is near…produce fruit in keeping with repentance.’  We can clearly see why God thundered down wrath upon poor Paddy.  But John called for the repentance of the holiest men in Israel. 

 You couldn’t get a more righteous, more rigorous, more devout followers of the Torah, the books of the law, than the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  Even Jesus knew their devotion to God, saying ‘For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.’  Even so, he still condemned them saying ‘you white washed tombstones!  On the outside you present yourself to be holy and righteous, yet on the inside you are rotten.’

 What can Jesus and John see was wrong, that others couldn’t? How can God call good people to repentance?  Which is closely connected with this next question ‘how can a loving God, condemn good people to hell?

 In our way of thinking, we need to be acting like Paddy, actually sinning in some way, before God can call us to repentance.  And only axe murderers and child killers should go to hell, good people shouldn’t.  Have you thought this sort of thing yourself?  But John’s call for repentance to all people, especially to the most religious and good people of all, blows away any idea that God is happy with good people!

 If God is not happy with the efforts of the Pharisees, how happy is he with you and me?  Is being a good, moral Christian, following the example of Jesus to the letter good enough for God?  Rolly Stahl last week spoke about Christian integrity.  Christian integrity is how we concern ourselves, in thought, word and deed when we are alone.  Do we act and think differently when alone compared to when we are with other Christians? 

 Do we act differently from when we are at church? Could you or I invite God into every part of our lives?  Not one of us would want to say yes, to that!  And if you think you could, well you would claim to be without sin.  St John says ‘If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.’    So we would have to repent anyway!

 If God is not happy with the Pharisees and he is not happy with me…who is he happy with!   Right after John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus, God spoke these words “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’  Only Jesus, God’s Son is pleasing to God.  Only to Jesus can God say ‘yes, I am happy.’  And he said it again at Jesus’ transfiguration ‘This is my Son with whom I love; with him I am well pleased, listen to him.’ That has to mean something to us as followers of Jesus, that God is only happy with his Son.  It must have a direct connection with John the Baptist’s call to good people ‘repent, repent and sin no more?’ 

 John’s call to repentance, this apparent contradiction of calling what we see as ‘saints’, ‘sinners’, is to show that our goodness is not good enough for God.  John clearly distinguishes our goodness from the goodness God requires, by calling good people bad and Jesus, the bad person in the sight the Jews, good, saying ‘Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’  Jesus is the only one who is good enough to take our sins away; not us.

 Luther put it this way ‘there are two forms of being good.  One that avails only before people and is helpful and pleasing only to people; such as giving money to the poor, serving the sick, giving offerings to God and the like.  Then there is the goodness that avails before God and this goodness that is pleasing in his sight takes a far higher price than what we can offer.  Here we must have Christ to bless us and save us.  Here we must have faith in Jesus who gives us his goodness and makes us pleasing to God’…in fact by faith, we are, together with Jesus, sons of God and thus…pleasing to him!

 Paul’s gospel, his message of the cross is all about revealing God’s plan of making us good and pleasing in his sight through faith in his Son’s death on the cross.  He writes ‘For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins’  God is the one who makes us good, by looking at his Son, and not us. 

 By faith in Jesus we die to being good ourselves and let Christ be good for us. As St Pauls says in Galatians ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’

 We are pleasing to God when we believe we are not.  And we are pleasing to God when we believe that Jesus is the only one who is good and we are not!  Sounds crazy!  I’ll say it again ‘We are pleasing to God when we believe we are not.  And we are pleasing to God when we believe that Jesus is the only one who is good and we are not!’

  This is the good news. We do not become good people by doing good things.  It is the other way around.  God makes us good for the sake of his Son’s suffering and death; ‘In him we are blameless and holy’.  John the Baptist’s call for repentance of good people is very useful for us to know; for it comforts our conscience in times of doubt or when the devil says ‘you are not good enough to go to heaven.’  We learn to separate the goodness of faith in Jesus, very far from the goodness of our works.

 Where do we turn in time of crisis, when we feel like a ‘sinner’ unworthy of God’s grace?  The only place to find relief is in the wounds of Christ and the promise that his blood cleanses us from all sin.  A story from Bo Giertz novel ‘Hammer of God’ illustrates this well.  In this story, Frans, a man known for his good deeds and for being a committed Christian, lies dying. 

 As often happens with a person on the edge of death, Frans’ mind wonders back to the days before his conversion.  Drifting in deliriousness, the dying man utters words of an oath and froths on about drinking and a fellow who had cheated him.  Disturbed by the rude ramblings of her father, Lena exclaims ‘You are thinking about Jesus are you not, father?’  Frans replies ‘I am not able to Lena, I can’t think any longer.  But I know that Jesus is thinking of me.’

 That man died a Christian death.  The gospel is not about our ability to think of Christ but about what Christ thinks of us… Christ a friend of sinners is a friend indeed and a brother worth believing in.   Amen.

IWVLC Worship Series: A Person after God’s Heart (David)                                                Pr Rolly Stahl 28.6.2009

#3.Trusting God’s Timing

                                                                                             1 Sam 18:6-16,       1 Sam 24:1-12,       1 Sam 26:1-12

We’re in week 3 of our current series: A Person after God’s Heart, where we’re following how David went from shepherd boy to king. In week one, we marveled at God’s surprising choice to make David king.  The Lord told Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse as a successor to the blatantly disobedient King Saul.  God chose the youngest of 8 sons, a shepherd boy named David.  Although the “runt” of his family, when God looked into David’s soul, he found a person after His own heart. Last week, we recalled the story of David and Goliath – how God gives us HIS courage to face the giants and his authority to overcome them.  Today we explore David’s long wait to become king. 

 You’re probably aware of the practical joke played on office juniors. A senior sends them up the street to a certain place for “a long wait”. On arriving, they’re asked to take a seat.  Once they’ve had a long wait, they’re sent back to the office.

 Discuss:  What happens inside us when we have to wait for a long time?

I think there are basically 2 dysfunctional ways of handling those long waits.

   Frustration/Anger/Explosion 
                     OR  
   Resignation/Depression/Implosion. 

One of the Proverbs picks up on the inner turmoil of waiting:

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. (Prov 13:12 NRSV) 

David’s Long Wait

After his anointing by Samuel, David didn’t become king next day, next week, next month, or next year. Soon after, an opportunity came for David to play his harp to soothe Saul’s troubled soul.  As we mentioned a couple weeks ago:

David initially comes into Saul’s service as a musical therapist, but also became one of his armor-bearers.  In this capacity, David can learn how the king’s court functions, who the main players are, about statesmanship and diplomacy, about battle strategies and war.  It’s like an apprenticeship where David is learning wisdom and skills for when he will one day come to the throne.  

For several years, David worked for king Saul.  Initially Saul was fond of David.  But following David’s victory over Goliath, Saul’s attitude changed dramatically: 

When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes.  As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”  Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?”  And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. (1 Sam 18:6-9 NIV)

Saul’s jealousy led to repeated attempts to murder David:  The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand  and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had left Saul.  (1 Sam 18:10-12 NIV)

When that failed, Saul sent David on military campaigns hoping that David would be smitten in battle – but to no avail.  Instead, David’s success and popularity only increased:  In everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him.  When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him.   But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns. (1 Sam 18:14-16 NIV) 

With Saul’s paranoia going through the roof, he intensified his efforts to assassinate David.  As a result, David becomes a fugitive on the run.  Saul has his army and spies out everywhere looking for David, chasing him from town to town, and throughout the wilderness where David and his supporters would hide out in caves. 

Imagine David’s dilemma: “What’s the LORD got me into?  What have I done wrong to deserve this?  Why on earth did God choose me to be his king, when trouble follows me like a bad smell?  How long O LORD will I have to put up with this?  How much longer will Saul keep trying to kill me?  How much longer before I can have peace?  How much longer before God enables me to become king?” 

Wrestling with questions like these in the midst of a long wait, two equally damaging temptations can confront us:

1. One temptation is to forsake the dream that God has put on your heart – and settle for something that is bland and unsatisfying.  Like settling in a job you loathe because you don’t have the confidence or courage or discipline to pursue your passion.  Or like marrying a person you don’t even like or love just to avoid being alone. 

2. Another temptation is to take the law into your own hands, and manipulate people and events in ungodly ways to get your own way.  We see this when people impose their will on others; and then get angry when others say: “No!”  Bullying, control, lying, deceit, blame, anger, murder – these are examples of bad fruit when someone tries to be “god” over others.  There’s no grace in that.  No love in that.  No kindness, no mercy, no freedom. Only using and abusing others to get one’s own way.  

David’s shows us a better way: tell God all about it (for many examples read the psalms of David), trust God with it, and let God bring about the outcome.

While we’re uncertain of the exact time frame, scholars estimate that it was 15 years between David’s anointing by Samuel and his coming to the throne as king![1]  David had to wait 15 years for God to finally remove Saul. And that meant putting up with maybe 10 years of persecution at the hands of his predecessor!

David’s Opportunities to Kill Saul

While waiting and running for his life from Saul, there were two occasions in the wilderness years when David could have killed Saul (1 Sam 24 & 26), and taken the throne by force.  The first time, Saul goes into a cave to relieve himself.  He doesn’t know that David and his men are hiding deep down in the back of the cave.  David’s men urge him to kill Saul, but David refuses.  Instead he cuts off a piece of Saul’s coat.  But then David is conscience stricken: He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.”  With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way. (1 Sam 24:6-7 NIV)   

In the dialogue that follows, David tells Saul, May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. (1 Sam 24:12 NIV) 

The second time, David and a mate take Saul’s spear and jug while the army are sleeping out in the field!  David’s offsider, Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won’t strike him twice.”  But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the LORD lives,” he said, “the LORD himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.  But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.” (1 Sam 26:8-11 NIV)

And again David assures Saul that he will do him no harm: “The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The LORD delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble.”   (1 Sam 26:23-24 NIV) 

Trusting God’s Timing

David renounces the desire to get even – or to take the throne by force… even when he had opportunities to do so.  David knew that those who grasp for power are least qualified to use it. Instead David left his times and seasons in God’s hands, trusting God for the outcomes.[2]  David trusted that God knew the “big picture” for his life, and would work out the right time when Saul would go … and David would become king!  15 years is a long apprenticeship, but when David became king of Israel, he was READY!  Once David became king, he ruled for 40 years! 

Friends, rather than manipulating people or events – and/or stressing out when things don’t go our way – like David, we too can trust God’s timing.  The point is not to be in too big a rush to get where God wants to take us.   That’s not easy for us Westerners who are so used to instant gratification that we carry on like pork chops when it doesn’t happen!!! 

Friends, God’s seasons are for good reasons.  Some of you have a calling from God that you are well aware of – but it hasn’t yet come to pass.  As a result, you might be confused or frustrated; or wondering when it’s going to happen.  In God’s good time.  Don’t despise the season you are in.  It’s part of the Lord’s training for fulfilling your destiny.  God is growing your character, stretching your skills, and most importantly deepening your dependence on HIM. 

Friends, what are you waiting for??  I urge and encourage you in the LORD: Don’t waste the season you’re in by moping and whining while waiting for the next season to come round. You can grow; or you can stagnate.  Your choice!  What can you learn?  Why not do a course, join a small group, try something new?  Seek after God and ask him to grow you into a person after his own heart.  Get into the discipline of feeding on God’s Word.  Do a David, tell God all that’s on your heart and mind. If you’re carrying afflictions or addictions, seek wise Christian counseling.

Some of you know from experience that it’s not good to be alone, but you haven’t yet met the right person.  You wonder what’s happening.  You tell God about it, but seem to get no reply.  What’s going on with all that?  Is it just possible that God is getting you ready?  Or that God is getting the other person ready?  If both of you are NOT ready, it’s like trying to eat a cake before it’s cooked in the oven – it will all be ruined!  If marriage is part of God’s will for your life, when BOTH of you ARE ready, God will bring it to pass.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…   (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV)  In the Bible, there are 2 ways of talking about time. Chronos time is where we get the word “chronology”.  It’s the days, months, years, decades, centuries between events.  Kairos time is the right time or season for something to happen.  Like for grain to ripen, it needs the heat of summer at just the right time.  Like when Paul writes of the coming of Jesus for us: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:4-6 NRSV)  Kairos time is the right time for God’s purposes to happen!

Part of the art of living well is to embrace and enjoy each season as it unfolds – and not adopting the “When and Then” mantle of misery: “When I graduate then I’ll be happy! When I get that car then I’ll be happy.  When I marry and have children, then I’ll be happy.  When the children leave home, then I’ll be happy.  When I get that promotion, then I’ll be happy.  When I’ve been overseas, then I’ll be happy.  When I retire then I’ll be happy.” Contentment is relaxing into each season as God’s gift, sucking the marrow out of it, living relationally well through it, and then being ready for when God says it’s time for the next season to unfold.  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer 29:11 NIV)  God knows what’s ahead for you – so enjoy the season you’re in on the way to where he’s taking you. And whenever you’re faced with a long wait, or a tough season, remember:

God is always on time, he is never late.

Sometimes it takes God a long time to move quickly.

 

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[1] Cf the chronology of my 1985 NIV Study Bible, p.373. The following suggested years are BC:  1080? Saul born.  1050 Saul anointed to be king (1 Sa 10:1).  1040 David born.  1025 David anointed to be Saul’s successor (1 Sa 16).  1010 Death of Saul, & start of David’s reign in Hebron (2 Sa 1:1, 2:1-11).  970 Death of David (2 Sa 5:4-5)

[2]  As in the Psalms: No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man.  But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.  (Ps 75:6-7 NIV)

By faith not by sight Mark 5-21-43 Pentecost 4

 

Who likes to label and categorise everything?  Labels give us certainty, we know what we are dealing with, we know what to expect.  Truth in labelling is a very big factor in our purchasing preferences.  Labels help us to make choices.  I have some things here with labels. (write up some labels and stick them to people).  Attitudes and judgements, ideals and morals are all based on labels, they go hand in hand, its the way of life; labels sell, labels tell, labels define and most of all labels stick!

 Yes, I think you know what I mean by the last statement, labels stick.  I don’t just mean the rego labels that are near impossible to get off your car windscreen, the labels that stick are the ones we give to people.   We see a person in a black suit and instantly we give him a label ‘well to do’, educated, important, honest,…what else?  Then, as we turn our head, we see another person, dark skinned and wearing old clothes, we instantly label him ‘loser, trouble, no hoper, untrustworthy’…what else…if we are honest enough.

 Labels stick!  Once we have labelled someone, they are categorized for life.  We all know someone we have labelled, without really finding out if the label is true and have acted toward them according to our label; either positively or negatively; either welcoming them into our lives and groups of friends, or cutting them off.  What is just as tragic is we have all been ‘labelled’ by someone.  Each one of us carries around a label put on us by another person.  ‘He’s a so and so person’, or ‘she’s a this or that person’, is said about us behind our backs.  While we don’t mind labelling others, being labelled ourselves is risky business.  Its risky because labels are often untrue and unfair and we are treated accordingly, either unduly well or undeservingly bad. 

 In the gospel reading this morning we have Jairus, a synagogue ruler.  The label he most likely carried was ‘religiously important, godly, theologian, above reproach’.  He was labelled as someone you would want to have as a friend; someone who could keep you religiously connected, ceremonially clean and upright before society in the Jewish world. 

 Then we have ‘a woman’.  No name is given to her, just that she was ‘subject to bleeding’, which is an indicator to what sort of label she had on her; unclean, sinner, unimportant; desperate, ungodly.  She was someone you definitely wouldn’t want as a friend, leave alone touch and have around for tea!  A person like her was ceremonially unclean and therefore cut off from religious life.

 The Jewish religious community saw and labelled Jairus as godly and important.  They saw and labelled the woman as ungodly and unimportant.  It is scary to think how in the church, our religious society, very little has changed in 2000 years, the labels still stick!  Yet we should not be surprised as this.  Our sinful human nature to be judge over another person, to play god and praise one while condemning another, still co-exists with our new baptised self.  It is the old Adam in us wanting control.

 This is not the case with God.  Religious labels are stripped away before God…surprisingly.  He sees things differently and judges differently.   Religious labels, the high standing in religious circles, or the despised and rejected, are all alike before God, because he looks into the heart, as written in Hebrews 4 ‘Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’ 

 We see an example of this in the gospel reading when our two desperate people, each with different labels in society, approach Jesus for help.

 Jairus pleads with Jesus ‘My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”  And Jesus immediately complies.  The crowd may have expected Jesus to respond because this man was labelled ‘religious’. 

 However, Jesus sees Jairus for who he really is, knows his heart and can see he has not come to him labelled as a ‘synagogue leader’, not come boasting of godly works or religious status.  Jesus responds to Jairus because he has come by faith alone, trusting that despite the odds, Jesus had the power to save his daughter.  Jesus’ care for the weak and hopeless man, who comes only by faith, fulfils what was prophesied about him in Isaiah 42:3 ‘A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice.’

Almost at that very moment, as if to demonstrate to the crowd that God judges impartially and does not save according to our labels, the bleeding woman touches Jesus cloak.  Instantly she is healed.  Unlike Jairus, who publicly fell to his knees before Jesus, the woman comes secretly, from behind, hidden from his sight.  She comes in a different way, in fear and shame, even embarrassment, yet she comes sharing the same faith as Jairus; a faith that depends on Jesus alone for salvation. And Jesus rewards this faith, healing the woman and setting her free from the bleeding and from being ceremonially unclean.

 Directly after setting free the woman with no name, Jairus’s daughter is brought back to life by Jesus.  Fulfilling his own words to the desperate dad ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’; two miracles, two acts of mercy, freely given to two totally different yet desperate people.  One was labelled by the religious to be worthy of Jesus, the other labelled as an outcast of religious society. Yet Jesus attends to both their needs. 

 Labels don’t stick for Jesus, and thank God for his mercy, or we would have no hope!  Jesus went to the cross because he knew clearer than any of us, that all of us, because of sin, are like Jairus or the woman, desperate and in dire need of a Saviour, as St Paul reminds us in Romans 3:20 ‘no one will be declared righteous in the sight of God by observing the law, rather through the law we become conscience of sin.’

 It is our sinfulness that Jesus dealt with on the cross.  By dying to pay the dept of our sin and rescue us from the wages of sin, which is death, Jesus treated us all the same; he saw no difference, no labels, no one deserved to be saved.  In the book of Romans, Paul writes ‘God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.’  That means, God sacrificed his Son, poured out his blood to atone for, pay for, cover over, or better still, ‘re-label’ us from being sinners to being saints. 

 This is where the real labelling happens for you and me.  This is the gospel, the good news, the core of our Lutheran teaching and faith.  We are re-labelled as saints before God by faith alone in the forgiving blood of Jesus.  Even though we are still sinners at heart, by nature sinful and unclean, we are re-labelled by Jesus as saints, declared righteous and innocent so that God sees everyone who believes in Jesus the same.  If you really wonder sometimes what church and religion is all about?  Well, here it is.

 Jesus instituted his church to re-label sinners as righteous by the living Spirit in his preached word and in the partaking of his sacraments.  Faith is what makes the label stick.  Faith is the glue which apprehends this gift, this label ‘to me’.  Faith believes that the label Jesus gives us is all that we need to be saved, even though we still fall into sin. 

 Luther, in his commentary on Galatians writes ‘On account of this faith in Christ, God does not see the sin that still remains in me.  For so long as I go on living in the flesh, there is certainly sin in me.  But meanwhile Christ protects me under the shadow of his wings and spreads over me the wide heaven of the forgiveness of sins, under which I live safely.’

 By faith today you go from Jesus in the same way as that woman…healed and with this blessing from Jesus ‘Brother, daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be free from your suffering.’  Amen

Christ in the eye of the storm Pentecost 3 21-06-09

 

When I was a young child, our family would go on camping holidays to the Flinders Rangers.  One of my fondest memories was the time we spent together climbing mountain peaks within the park.  Well, to tell the truth, it wasn’t so much that we climbed together as a family, it was really a competition between my brother and me, to be the first to the top of the mountain.  It was all about getting to the goal, the destination, getting to the top before my brother.  The journey was of little interest to us, reaching our goal was.  This was not the case with my parents, they often lagged behind. 

 It wasn’t until years later that I realised my parent’s goal was not just ‘to get to the top’.  For them, it was also about the journey.  It made the whole experience worthwhile.  Sure, their final goal was to be exhilarated by reaching the summit and to enjoy the view, but just as important to them was to experience the journey; to grow in knowledge by reading the plaques; to take in the beauty of the little wildflowers and to draw inspiration from the rock wallabies as they clambered and hopped from one rock ledge to another.  The journey to the top for them was filled with experiences and growth; mine was filled with exhaustion from running.

 We are goal driven people, or as Rick Warren put it ‘purpose driven’.  When someone gives us a job to do or a goal to achieve, we go straight to work finding and developing a strategy to reach our goal.  In our technological world, its all about achieving the goal in the quickest time.  Why go and speak with a friend when you can just text them or email them.  Why workout family differences in TV viewing preferences, just buy another TV.  Why focus on unity in congregations, have a variety of services, build another congregation.  After all, its all about achieving the goal of reaching people for Jesus.  Humanity is very good at getting a job done, but not very good at getting there.  Often the ambition to reach goal destroys the journey and destroys what the goal actually intended to give.

 Jesus had a vision and set a goal for his disciples, ‘Let us go to the other side of the lake’.  And you can imagine what happened next.  Peter and other disciples were expert fishermen, knew boats, knew the sea, and knew exactly how to get to the other side.  By the way Mark depicts the story, they waisted very little time setting out to achieve their goal, so much so, it seems Jesus had very little time to prepare ‘Leaving the crowd behind, they took Jesus along, just as he was, in the boat.’  No time to waste Jesus, just get in the boat as you are…we’ll get you there.  Reminds me of the bumper sticker you see on ‘P’ plater’s cars ‘Sit down, shut up, and hang on’.

 For Jesus’ disciples, the goal was to get to the other side of the lake as quick and as direct as possible.  They didn’t even let Jesus rest after a hard day’s ministry; he had to sleep in the boat.  They had Godly reason to achieve their goal.  They were Godly purpose driven, and on a Godly mission to get to their goal; Jesus said ‘let’s go to the other side of the lake’, a journey they had probably done hundreds of times. 

 This time however, it was going to be different.  Mark records ‘A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.’  Suddenly, as the storm set in, their goal was no longer achievable.  Suddenly ‘the other side’ seemed too far.  In the midst of a furious storm it no longer mattered how quickly they got there.  This time ‘getting to the other side’ was not going to be about achieving the goal, it was going to be about the journey.  The storm was the journey and the storm would make getting to their destination a whole lot more fulfilling.  In the eye of a storm, the disciples realized that they were not in control of their destiny; the storm could take their life and goals in an instant. 

 Turning to Jesus, perhaps as a last resort, they cry out ‘don’t you care that we are going to drown’?  Expert sailors, who knew how to sail, who knew how to handle a boat in a storm turn to Jesus who had never handled a boat in his life…he was a carpenter.  The terror of the storm made them realize no human effort could change destiny, death was always going to have the final say.  That is why they turn to Jesus.  Not because he was an expert sailor, but because they had to trust that he was the Son of God; that he had the authority and willingness to change their destiny. 

 Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves ‘quiet…be still’ and immediately there is calm.  The disciple’s hope did not disappoint.  Jesus did indeed have the power over destiny and most importantly he had the willingness, the desire, to change destiny…from death to life.  Jesus set a goal ‘getting to the other side’, but he used it as a catalyst to change.  He used the journey, the storm, to change the vision of his disciples from looking to them selves to looking to him.  From being goal focused to Christ focused.  The goal was the impetus, but the journey redefined the goal.

  On the cross Jesus won for us a new destiny.  We are no longer condemned to die for our sin, as Paul says ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ This new destiny is the work of Jesus for us; his life, death, resurrection and ascension redeemed us from the grip of sin and death.   He has the authority and the will to say ‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.’ This gift, the goal and vision of heaven has been guaranteed to us through baptism, where he poured out his Spirit upon us as a down payment of things to come. 

 This is the goal, yet like the disciples, we still have a journey…a journey with Jesus…a Christian journey of life.  Yes, it is tempting to just race through life trying to reach the goal of heaven by our own effort, taking our focus off Jesus by striving to take hold of the goal with all spiritual wisdom and strength, emotion and passion, focused only on our effort, all in the name of God.  But this is not how Jesus intended us to live.  It is the journey with him, with all the highs and lows that form and define how we reach the goal, like my parents knew as they slowly climbed the mountain taking in all the experiences of the journey. 

 Robert Pirsig, an American writer and philosopher said this ‘To live for only some future goal is shallow.  It is the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not at the top.  Here’s where things grow.  But of course, without the top you can’t have the sides.  It’s the top that defines the sides.’

 Life eternal is the top, but the sides, our journey, our life here on earth, is where we learn that only in Christ Jesus is our destiny changed.  Our whole journey along the ‘side of the mountain’, the storms we encounter, the fear, suffering and trouble make us realize we are not in charge of our destiny.  In the eye of the storm, that is sometimes our life, is Jesus.  He uses the storm to change our perspective, change our vision from looking to ourselves to looking to him as the one and only saviour ‘for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.’

 In the storm, let go of the goal, let go of trying to gaze into the sleet and fog of despair, hoping to see a glimpse of heaven, turn your eyes to Jesus, who is right beside you, he will not let your hope down, as the writer of Hebrews encourages us ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’  I love this quote from St Cathrine and I want to finish with it ‘All the way to heaven is heaven because Jesus said ‘I am the way.’  Amen

The time has come! Luke 14:16-23

 The time has come, right at this very hour, when we must say goodbye to this church building.  The time has come to close its doors as a place of divine service; a place of worship.  The time has come for us to leave what we know and love.  To leave behind what we cherish and remember about this building and all that it stands for.   The foresight of our forbearers, whose hard labour and money built this place of worship, is a testimony to their faith and mission zeal. 

Life without Christ, life without a church to hear the gospel and receive the sacraments, life without the Lutheran mantle ‘saved by grace alone in Christ alone’ echoing through the fields and sparsely populated town of Gilgandra was unthinkable in their day.   

Yet has the time come, when the unthinkable will actually happen, as we close these doors today, do we also close Gilgandra off from the message of the cross…or…has the time come to renew and rebuild upon our parent’s dream; to build upon the foundation they laid in this town; a foundation based on the good news of Jesus Christ, that it is by faith that we are saved, as Paul constantly declares ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.’

The time has come!  This is the thread that is woven throughout the bible.  God worked in time and in history to bring about the salvation of the whole world.  The bible is full of stories about our forbearers in the faith facing up to the fact that the time has come…God’s time to act in history had come on their watch.  Noah, without a hint of rain, by faith built an ark until the time had come when God said ‘Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I am going to destroy the earth by a flood’.  God used his action in time to make Noah the heir of righteousness that comes by faith.

Again the time had come for God to act during Abraham’s watch.  By faith he left his family and moved to an unknown land.  By faith he placed his son Isaac on the altar, took a knife and was about to sacrifice is son to the Lord, until God’s call “Abraham! Abraham!” “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” God used Abraham to bring his blessing to us all, ‘through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” 

The list goes on throughout the Old Testament, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, King David, the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, each giving an account of when the time had come; a time when God acted to bring about his plan of salvation for us during their watch. 

Finally, in the fullness of time, God himself acted to usher in a new era.  Yes, there was even a day when God himself was faced with the realization the time has come.  Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane full of anguish of soul said ‘the time has come for the Son of man to be handed over to sinners’.  The very Son of God, Jesus Christ, for our salvation, died on the cross at Calvary.  His time had come! 

He hung there on that cross, beaten, smitten and bloodied for you.  Jesus went through with his Father’s plan knowing it would cost his life, but in doing so, he took upon his innocent self, our human nature, our sin and curse; he payed the price that was owing on our heads.  The damnation meant for you and me he bore.  Jesus faced that time for us so that we would not have to.  And we are given the pardon, this grace, free, as a gift from God to us, when by faith we believe that Jesus is our righteousness and died ‘for me’.  

This is the evangelical message, the good news; we are saved by grace alone; a gift of reconciliation with God.  (bring out and show a wrapped present) What love in death, what mercy in blood, what amazing love!  How can it be that you, my God, shouldst die for me! 

This is the gospel, the good news your parents wanted to preserve in this town.  Jesus is the reason and foundation for them to built this church.  They and many others, who have worshipped in this building, took Jesus parable to heart ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'”Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.’  The present of God lived on in this building, reaching and healing sinners as they ate with God at his feast.

But the time has come! And I ask you again (come down from the pulpit)…… (holding up the present)

has the time come, when the unthinkable will actually happen, as we close these doors today, we close Gilgandra off, close ourselves off from the message of the cross…or…has the time come to take this present from God and rebuild upon our parent’s dream.  Rebuild upon the foundation that is already laid, that of Christ and him crucified, at our new church building on the highway?  

The time has come.  God is acting during your watch, during my watch.  The cracking and subsequent closure of this building is no ones fault.  I believe it is no accident of fate that God chose this time and place in history, chose this building, chose you and me to make the decision to close this building and move to the highway.

The present cannot remain unopened.  If the gospel is not announced to the world, Christ died in vein.  It cost God too much to leave this present hidden in old churches.   ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.’  God wants you to continue to benefit from his present, the gift of forgiveness through the preaching of the gospel and the administration of his sacraments.  You are his holy people, the sheep of his flock and you have forgiveness, life and salvation, all this by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.  

St Paul urges us, the time has now come ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 

Take this gift of God and share with each other, share it with those travelling the highway.  Take this gift and proclaim it to those lost in a world of sin, to those thirsty for God and take this gift and pray with me the second verse of ‘Take my life an let it be’

 

‘Take my hands, and let them move

At the impulse of thy love;

Take my feet, and let them be

Swift and beautiful for thee.

Amen

And the peace which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen

Pentecost sermon Acts 2:1-21

 

Stop in silence for a while.
“Where do you fit into the story of Pentecost?”

Acts 2:38-39  gives the answer to that question. ‘Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off– for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

You are people of the promise of God.  You are the ones Peter, moved by the power of the Spirit, foretold would come to faith in Jesus.  You, me, my children, your children, WE and part of the Pentecost story.

 The tongues of fire were a visible manifestation of the Spirit of God, bringing faith and power in the promise of God.  Baptism, the water connected with the word is a visible manifestation of the Spirit of God.  It brings the promised grace of God foretold by the prophets long ago ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.’  You and I are the people of Pentecost, the truth of the promise; the fulfillment of the prophesy ‘the gift of the Holy Spirit…is for all who are far off– for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 

Holy Baptism is a foundational moment when the gospel message of forgiveness of sins was spoken to us and the gift of the Holy Spirit washed over our lives for the very first time.  For that day on, as it was for the disciples, we are invited to a life of daily repentance and remembrance of our baptism; this is to live in the Spirit of God. We are invited to a daily renewal of trust in the forgiving promise and the gift of the Spirit offered to us in this sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ.  We are invited by Jesus to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit each and every day. 

Peter gives this promise ‘Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’.  This invitation to salvation which we have touched on briefly is the call to repentance.  It is the universal call to all people to turn from their own ways and to turn to God in Jesus Christ, ‘who was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.’  God offers the Holy Spirit, new life, and forgiveness of sins to all who will receive, yet there are many who have not understood; have not headed the call of the gospel.

Was Pentecost only for pastors and missionaries so only they baptise?  The Spirit of power given only to paid church workers to reach all who are far off– for all whom the Lord our God will call.”?  We are all baptized, all people of the promise and have the Spirit; we are all part of the spread of the gospel.  I have three favorite quotations from theologians of a generation ago (Brooks, Fosdick and Spurgeon), and these three quotations penetrate the heart of Pentecost.  The first quotation is this:  “Nothing but fire kindles fire.”  The second:  “If you want to set someone on fire, you have to buuurn a little bit yourself.”  The third:  “A burning heart will soon find for itself a flaming tongue.” 

 

What happened directly after Pentecost is that those Apostles first went to a village or town, planted a church, and then went to a second village or town, and planted a church. They went to a third village or town and planted another church.  They … No!  Go back to that first village or town and look more carefully.  We have to go back to that first village, because before the Apostles went onto the second village, they left a group of people in that village who were believers  to Jesus Christ.  The Greek word is “laos.” They were called the “laos”, which means,  “the laity,” “the people,”  “the people of God.” 

The Apostles always left common and ordinary towns people and villagers whose hearts were on fire, whose tongues were on fire, who hadn’t gone to the seminary, who hadn’t seen Jesus face to face, who hadn’t talked with him in the flesh.  These were not the Apostles.  These were not the twelve disciples.  These were the people of God in each village who spread the Gospel from house to house, and neighbor to neighbor and friend to friend and family to family.  That’s the way it always is.  That fundamental principle is always true; it is the laity, the people of God, who become inspired by the Holy Spirit.  They are the ones, not the twelve, not the Apostles, not the pastors.  It is the laity, the people of God, who go about proclaiming the good news about Jesus Christ and nurturing those souls into maturity.  

How do the laity do this?  Do they do this by their own enthusiasm?  By their own intelligence?  By their own seminary training?  I kid you not.  Do you know why the laity are able to do this?  I’ll tell you why. “Nothing but fire…kindles fire.”  “If you want to set someone on fire…you have to buuurn a little bit yourself.”  “A burning heart will soon find for itself…a flaming tongue.”  

Amen.