Category: After Easter

Luke 24:13-35

Maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t read a novel in about 20 years, but for some reason I love the way the narrative unfolds in today’s Gospel reading, the story of a journey takes us on a journey, it has changing moods, elements of surprise and even some irony.  As you read it draws you through from start to finish, it builds expectation, partly because we know the story, but also by the way the story is structured.

Here we have two men walking the seven mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  They’ve headed out following the events of Easter; they’re sad, depressed, they have the events of the last three days playing on their minds as they walk along and discuss them.  They’d hope that Jesus was the promised Messiah, but then he had been put to death by the very people who should have been supporting him.  Its three days since Jesus died and they’ve heard stories from some women that Jesus’ body was gone and that some angels had appeared and told them Jesus was alive.  Then to make things all the more troubling, some of their mates had gone to have a look and found the tomb was indeed empty but they hadn’t seen Jesus either.

Then this guy comes along and he obviously hasn’t been paying attention if he’s been in Jerusalem and hasn’t worked out what has been going on.  As an audience who already know the story we can see the humour in the situation, even the irony.  Here is Jesus standing right there with them, not only does he know what had happened in Jerusalem, but he was right at the centre of the activity.  If it was a pantomime we’d all be shouting to them, “It’s him, it’s Jesus that’s talking to you.”  Or “It’s him right in front of you”.  But alas they don’t work it out.  We’re told that their eyes were kept from recognising him.  We don’t know whether that is simple lack of understanding or perhaps divine intervention, but like Mary Magdalene at the tomb, they didn’t recognise who it was.  Well not at first anyway.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Jesus calls them foolish and slow of heart because they don’t believe all that the prophets had said.  Then he sets about telling them all about the things that mentioned him, form the book of Moses (Genesis) right through the Old Testament.  It may have taken a while to finish that trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus, because there are lots of references that would have needed to be covered.  Still they didn’t recognise him, even when they were nearing the village and Jesus went to continue on ahead of them.  They were polite though and invited Jesus to come and stay with them, it’s not like there were lots of hotels there for him to book into after all.

So this stranger stayed with them.  Now we get to the good bit of the story, the bit we are hoping for even though we know it’s going to happen.  He took bread, blessed it and broke it and gave it to them, does that formula sound familiar, have you heard it somewhere else in the last couple of weeks?  At last their eyes are opened and they recognise him, but hang on there’s a bit of a surprise here, Jesus disappears from their sight.  Finally they work out who it is and ‘pfft’ he’s gone, vanished, disappeared.

But they still seem excited, they realised that as Jesus was pointing out the realities of the scriptures to them, their hearts were burning, they were understanding that Jesus really was the Messiah that God the Father had promised and now they had seen him too.

Straight away they get up and head back to Jerusalem and find the disciples, and their experiences agreed, The Lord has risen indeed!  Then they told the disciples that Jesus had been made known to them in the breaking of bread.

They’d made the journey from sadness and confusion to excitement and understanding, they didn’t need to search for answers anymore, Jesus had explained to them and then they had finally recognised him and understood.  It’s a journey many of us have taken throughout our lives, perhaps often, perhaps all in one day or maybe even faster, depending on our personalities.

It’s a similar journey to the one we take each Easter, depending on our situation and ability to attend some or all of the services from Maundy Thursday through Good Friday and the Easter Sunday.  We start with the celebration of the institution of the Lord’s Supper and then hear of betrayal and end the service with the stripping of the altar.  Our Good Friday services are usually somewhat reflective and even sad or confronting, but there’s still a looking forward to the events of Sunday.  Then we have the rejoicing and hallelujahs of our Sunday celebrations and Christ is risen.

In some ways our service each week follows a journey like that, we often begin with a song of praise, followed by confessing our sins, our failings as people of God, we get a lift when we hear the absolution and the readings.  We hear God’s word read directly and then proclaimed in some way during children’s addresses and sermons.  Then we again give thanks and break bread and pour out the wine, the body and blood of Christ as we rejoice with the whole church on earth and all angels and archangels as we share in the communion meal, still hosted by our Lord and Saviour Jesus, who comes to us in this meal.

We are then ready to leave, prepared for the week ahead, to go out like the two men who were with Jesus on the day of his resurrection on the road to Emmaus.  Just as they ran off back to Jerusalem to tell others about what they had seen, we should do the same.  We’ve got exciting news, we shouldn’t be depressed about it, and there’s no need to be shy either, Christ has risen from the dead, and in his victory over death we’ve had a victory as well.  We share in that victory, because in his death he has fulfilled the Scriptures.  The old covenant has been completed and we now live in the new covenant in his blood, shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.

So don’t be sad or depressed about your faith, rejoice in it.  Don’t stay away because you feel unworthy, come, come to the waters and drink, come you who are thirsty, as we sang in the hymn earlier at Lilydale.  “Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that though bidd’st me come to thee, O lamb of God I come.”  We bring nothing but what God has first given us, we are only worthy because his blood was shed for us, and he is calling us to come and receive what the Lamb of God has won for us and given to us, forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

So enjoy your journey, yes it will have its ups and downs, but know that Christ is with you always and he reveals himself to us too, in the breaking of bread and in his Word.
Amen.

Pastor Tim Stringer

John 20:19-31

 Let me meet you on the mountain, Lord,

Just once.
You wouldn’t have to burn a whole bush.
Just a few smoking branches
And I would surely be …your Moses.

Let me meet you on the water, Lord,

Just once.
It wouldn’t have to be on the calm tides of Geographe Bay
Just on a puddle on a gravel road
And I would surely be…your Peter.

Let me meet you on the road, Lord,

Just once.
You wouldn’t have to blind me on Mitchell Freeway.
Just a few bright lights on the way to chapel
And I would surely be…your Paul.

Let me meet you, Lord,

Just once.
Anywhere. Anytime.
Just meeting you in the Word is so hard sometimes
Must I always be…your Thomas?

Norman Shirk, April 10, 1981, KQ (Dallas Seminary)

Do you often feel as though you just need a sign from God to really put your trust in him? Do you ever feel that if you just had a visible sign from Jesus, you would be a much stronger, faith-filled, bold person? Do you ever find yourself felling a little frustrated with this whole Christianity thing because it’s so unseen and intangible? If only there was proof. If only I had a direct line to Jesus. If only we had a sign for all to see that we really are on the right horse and that the future will really be okay……

We probably all feel all these things from time-to-time. In particular, the last verse of that little poem speaks of how we struggle with doubts.

Let me meet you, Lord,
Just once.
Anywhere. Anytime.
Just meeting you in the Word is so hard sometimes
Must I always be…your Thomas?

It is hard to meet Jesus up close and personal in the Word sometimes and sometimes we are very much like Thomas.

He needed proof. He needed a sure sign. He wanted a measurable experience, an unequivocal moment upon which to base his trust before he committed for life. He had seen it all and known the man Jesus very well. But he had seen the death of the man and heard the rumours of the resurrection, but he needed something to help him get from doubt to belief.

In the tender patience and grace of Jesus, he allows Thomas this sign, this moment, this experience. He didn’t have to. The church would have continued on without Thomas. The other 11 were ready to go out with the world-changing news of God’s new reality in the risen Christ. But Jesus slows things down, stops the program, and pauses the flow of things to minister to this man in need of something visible for faith to flourish.

Jesus says “Reach out Thomas. Place your finger in my hands. Reach out and hold my hands. Place you needs and fears and hopes in my hands, Thomas. Stop doubting and believe”.

Thomas was blessed because he could reach out and see, feel, touch Jesus. He reached out. He touched. He then shifted in mind and soul. “My Lord and my God!” he declared in relief and joy.

The great expression of the fullest faith in Jesus is given by the one who doubted the most and the longest! There’s some comfort for the doubters among us! This happens a whole week after the resurrection. This is the highest confession of faith in John’s gospel by anyone. It is the conclusive announcement of the whole witness of John. All that has been recorded has led to this moment and of all people, a doubter declares it. A person who in pain and sorrow and disappointment has gone underground and cut himself off from the church and anything to do with Jesus turns out to be the one who gives the final word of Jesus of Nazareth for all the ages to come. Jesus is THE LORD. Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, the creator of the universe, the saviour of the world, the hope and life of everyone!

But he could reach out and get that sign he needed. He could place his hands in the wounded hands of Christ and touch his pan and joy! We can’t.

And John knows this is how it will be for those who would come after those gathered in that room to witness this sign in person. He records this event to whisper in our doubting ears that moving on from unbelief is still possible for us who cannot see Jesus.

It’s clear that John is telling us that faith is possible and doubt can be overcome – but how and where and by whom?

John immediately points us to the very words he is writing on the page with us – who would come after him – at the front of his mind.

He wants us to know that we will never be able to claim faith is too hard or out of reach because we were not there and we did not see with our own eyes. He want us to know that faith will be possible for those who cannot prove Jesus lives or say that they have seen him with their own eyes. He is saying that there is no need for us to give up or feel second class because we could not be there with Thomas and the others.

No, John says he has written these things down for us and these words are enough for us to stop doubting and believe. Our faith is dependent on and flows from the witness of John and the others. Our faith is dependent on and is created by the witness of all the gospel writers, all the apostles, all the writers of the Bible. They were the “sent ones” of Christ who brought the good news of Easter into the world and the faith we share with them comes from their witness, and their witness is recorded for us and used by the Spirit of the living Christ to create faith in our hearts.

The writer to the Hebrews can say that the Word of the apostles is God’s word. It is living and active. It actually achieves what it is sent to do. It has spiritual power and it cuts to the core of all things and weeds out truth from error. It does what it says.

So, what does this mean for us who doubt?

The direction Jesus gives Thomas to overcome his doubt and unbelief is our direction too. We must follow the lead of the resurrected Jesus. We must follow Thomas. We must reach out. We must place our hand in his hands and place ourselves in his hands to stop doubting and believe. But unlike Thomas, who was asked to place his hands in Jesus hands and his wounds, we are asked to place our hands in this witness of the apostles – the Word of God. We place our hands in the word of God. We speak the word of God. We see the word of God and we hear it and we sing it and we pray it and it becomes us and we find our own story in it.

If you’re doubting that Jesus of Nazareth has anything to do with you – then place your finger in his living and active word as you hear it preached, sung, prayed; as you read it for yourself and see it carried out right in front of you worship. There you will find that his wounds are your healing.

If you are struggling to live with any certainty about Christianity and your place in the church, follow Thomas. Place your mind and soul in Christ and find that by his word you are enlightened and doubt dissipates.

If you consider yourself a hard nut to crack and have often thought that you would like to believe but just cannot, there is only one way to find faith, and that is to put it somewhere – to put faith in this Word and absorb it and find that in a moment or in many a month you can say “My Lord and my God!” with Thomas.

And why keep struggling to believe? Why keep on persisting, reaching out for God, turning up in Church, telling your kids bible stories, opening up the bible for yourself? Why? Because that is where life is. John says that he writes of what he has seen and heard so that we may believe that Jesus Christ is God and that believing this we will receive life and life to the full. Jesus himself says that he has come to give life – full life to those who are dead.

He was dead. Now he lives. Now his life comes through faith and only faith. Faith is the receiver. Faith is what tunes in to God’s message of hope. Faith is the gift he creates to handle his Word.

Yes, friends, stop doubting and believe. In this there is real life and hope. Place your hand in his hand which he extends to you in his living Word.

Amen.

Revelations 7:9-17
Psalm:23

“Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary, hair of gold and lips like cherries.
It’s good to touch the green, green grass of home.
Yes, they’ll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smiling sweetly.
It’s good to touch the green, green grass of home.

Then I awake and look around me, at the four grey walls that surround me
and I realize, yes, I was only dreaming.
(But) arm in arm we’ll walk at daybreak.
(and) Again I’ll touch the green, green grass of home.
Yes, they’ll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree
as they lay me neath the green, green grass of home.”

It doesn’t seem that long ago that in my first year here I sat at the bedside of one our sisters in Christ in the hospital as she was about to see the Lord face to face and with the curtain around her bed drawn I read plasm 23. It was the last time I saw her but I’m sure I’ll see her again, but as I departed the lady in the next bed loudly said “thank you so much for reading that.”

Today we have heard the scriptures read in a different order, but the order in life of how things work out. The Gospel of Christ pronounced to those before Him. The epistle of how His words work out in our lives, and finally revelation of how it works out at the end of earthly life, and all we could say encompassed by that beautiful psalm, psalm 23.

It seems strange to me now, but there was a time where I could not see any comfort in that psalm as it did not seem to show I was closer to Jesus but further apart. Where were my green fields and still waters? Where’s my comfort and my overflowing cup?

Two of America’s most infamous African-American gangs are the Crips and the bloods from South Central LA. A piece of land between Rodeo Drive and Hollywood that in the 50’s was separated by highways that were not to be crossed by those marginalized inside or those of racial anger or fear encircling this suburb of internment.

A suburb that has grown from young men forming their own clubs in the fifties because of not being able to join the boy scouts because of the color of their skin, to now open warfare between the gangs where most families are broken. Young men who grew up without role models to a future where a quarter of them will be either in prison or dead.

A future where many, many of them have never been outside their turf never mind feeling the breeze at a beach and all must not be caught “slipping.” Which is not to be caught unfocussed at all times because to do so at the edges of the gang territories, be it at the petrol station or the deli caught well get you killed by those wearing other colours. Blue for the crips, red for the bloods.

In the Middle East, Arab against Arab except for the universal hatred of Israel. South Central L.A. Afro American against Afro-American except for the universal hatred of the Authorities of Law that they see as wardens.

A climate of anger, un yet fear not to be showed, and hopelessness that saw one young 19 year old voice that “he did not choose that destiny, it chose him, a life that he knows God did not want in society, yet trapped, his only way out is if someone will come down into the pit with him and show a way out.”

In the beginning God created the earth, the heavens above and all within and saw that it was good, only for us to fall to sin.

Sin that has seen nation rise against nation and those within, brother against brother and sister against sister and in the church, Christian against Christian and maybe the most fierce of all, the inner fight of self against self.

Mary Magdalene standing at the Tomb in the presence of Jesus was asked “Woman, why are you crying”

Her tears that could not be quelled for she saw not the risen Christ, but a tomb of lost hope.

On Jesus Cross, Pontius Pilate wrote an inscription “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews” and when those present sought for that truth to be distorted, Pilate answered “What I have written, I have written.”

I read this and for you, and for those still fighting the emptiness as I bring it before you as it was to me.

Woman, why are you crying?  I’m crying because the one who gave me hope, the one who accepted me not for what I do but for me as a person, my friend, Jesus, is dead!  I’m crying for all those who pinned their hope on him; for all those who saw God like they’d never seen him before; for those who felt unburdened by chains which bound them, chains of oppression, chains of hopelessness, chains of feeling you have to do the right thing but never being able to do it well enough, chains which said you weren’t allowed here, you couldn’t go there, you weren’t the right race, didn’t have the right background, weren’t rich enough, religious enough, healthy enough, weren’t the right gender to be a part of God’s plan for his people.

I’m crying for all those people who felt a sense of liberation in the message of Jesus who are now shattered because he is dead.  I’m crying for all those through the ages who have lost a loved one, for those who have experienced what it is to be separated from someone they thought they would have for ever, for all those who know the pain of sickness and disease and tragedy and have sat by the bedside of a loved one as they slowly let go of the breath of life, or have been stunned, shocked, numbed by news of an inexplicable tragedy, those who in the death of Jesus see nothing more than that he went the same way we all go.

I’m crying for all those with emptiness inside, all those who search for meaning, and all those who are confused and lonely and wanting to give up.  And I’m crying for a world which is without direction, spinning hopelessly out of control, a world marked by millions without a home, without enough food, without the security of knowing how safe they will be tomorrow, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, for all the displaced people, all the orphaned, for the unborn who are terminated before they see the light of day and the elderly and frail who wonder when it will be their time to be extinguished– I cry for all those who could have found hope in this Jesus who have now been left hopeless as Jesus lies cold, dead in the tomb!

And I’m crying for me and for those like me, for those who lived before me and believed that God would one day set things right, and all those who come after me. And I’m crying because a man like this, a man we thought was God’s man, the holy one, should be treated this way.

But then like a voice from the dead, Woman why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? “Mary, Mary it is I who you seek.”

Un yet still she cries.

Woman, why are you crying?  Lord my tears now are for this moment where my joy no one can take away from me.  My hope was dashed but now it has been restored.  I wept for others, but now I know that they, too, can have the experiences I’ve had of Jesus and everything he brings.  I cried because my Jesus, the Rescuer, the Saviour was dead, but now I smile because I know that my Redeemer lives!

The average age of death for those gang members of South Central L.A. is 20 years and 5 months. One of those more fortunate was former gang member Robert Martinez who like many of his once colleagues sported religious tattoos to which he stated, that “we all believed in God but we never talked about it. Everybody was afraid they were going to die and we wanted to be ready. Now a practicing Christian he still carries the same tattoo of Christ on his left arm that he carried into those mean streets of his youth. Christ with that boy on the streets and Christ with Him now in Church.

I, like Robert Martinez have come to see Psalm 23 through our trials and tribulations caused by self and others not as a separation from Jesus, but rather see His underserved and unfaltering love and presence amongst it.

Martin Luther King Jnr, the day before he was shot and killed finished his speech with these famous words: “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter to me now, because I’ve been to the mountain top. And I don’t mind. Like everybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place but I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land! And so I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

Yes our redeemer lives. Jesus having been into death itself, came out of it as Victor; having trumped Satan’s last trump.  Having verified, underlined, and confirmed everything he did, everything he said as real, genuine, believable, trustworthy, life-changing.  Not a loser but a winner.  Not defeated but victorious.  Not just one with us in our pain and our dying. Not just one with us, but one who is in front of us, who has gone ahead of us, offering us healing and help and hope.

Like a thief on a cross we too have seen the Promised Land that is Jesus Christ next to us. Like to that gang member lost, angry and fearful, God stands with us with His presence tattooed into our soul when we saw Him not and like Martin Luther King we know the glory of the coming of the Lord and though some of us may reach the promised land early or later than others, in that number will we be:

“One of the great multitude from every nation, tribe and peoples of earth. Standing before the throne of the lamb, clothed in white robes washed clean by the blood of the lamb. The lamb Jesus Christ who has lead us beside still waters and restored our soul. Who has lead us in paths of righteousness for His names sake. Jesus in goodness and mercy who has followed all the days of our lives that there in the house of the Lord shall we dwell forever, sheltered with His presence to neither hunger nor thirst any longer. To never shed a tear in sorrow nor ever again tremble in fear.

Like a thief on the cross we have seen the Promised Land that is Jesus Christ and asked that He remember us. And in knowing His response I leave you now with the same departing words as those I have said in confidence to all our brothers and sisters in Christ about to enter the Promised Land. Whether tomorrow here on this earth or not-I will see you again. Amen.

Acts 9:1-6

Often in society and in the Church we like to see, or even expect some positive changes in people when we extend our hand in help.

Well who said so? And for that matter what is positive change. Maybe the change needs to come in us. To have that perseverance and staying power when to us it seems a futile and lost cause. To just do our “job” as Christians and persevere and stay, knowing that God is somehow in that person’s life doing His job.

The same perseverance we suffer under in our own “stuff”. To persevere in our own hardships and disappointments knowing that God’s amongst it. To persevere in the knowledge of our sin, the stuff we detest of ourselves yet continually fall for, but stay clinging to what Christ has told us-that he is amongst it with us-seeing it and knowing it-yet staying firm in his commitment to bring us his grace.

And in these times of enlightenment and self-help, when we have to rely completely on someone else when we have no answer to the situation it can be the gaining of wisdom outside of “self”.

A man was a successful Wall Street analyst until drink drove him into deep depression which led to his mental disintegration. Following an accident which resulted from him being drunk, he decided to deliver himself from the depths into which he had sunk and became a member of an organisation called the “Moral Re-Armament”-an organisation that stresses do-it-yourself redemption. But instead of gaining his freedom through self-help, he sank deeper and deeper into the depths and after a three day drinking binge he ended up in a Manhattan hospital completely shattered. In his moment of complete and utter helplessness he prayed to God for help and said “suddenly, the room lit up in light and he was caught up into a feeling that words cannot describe”. This changed his life and what had been impossible for him to achieve was achieved in him through the power of God. From the depths of his defeat, degradation and despair he was “resurrected” from a living death and made alive. A “resurrection” that would be felt in the lives of millions, as this man Bill Wilson was to go on and be the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.

A gift, a miracle-an encounter with God that saved him and countless others.

A gift, a miracle and encounter with God that changed the apostle’s Peter and Pauls lives and the lives of the countless millions others who saw and heard the truth of Christ in the lives of these two men who accepted his offer to leave behind their mistakes and live instead under His grace.

Peter who denied Christ three times and went missing in his time of need and Paul, a leader of those inflicting death and punishment on Christians who when they met the raised Christ came not to just know what he stood for, but what he came for-to set them free of themselves, of their failures, character flaws, and most importantly-of the things that they could not undo themselves-their sin.

These direct encounters, miracles if you like may seem reserved for the few but all who encounter Christ are offered his same life changing power.

A team mate of Shane Warne’s once remarked that no matter how much turbulence and media attention he was getting because of his personal life, when he walked onto the oval he left all his troubles on the ovals picket fence and was free to be the champion he was.

In our lives Christ is the picket fence that surrounds us. In our lives Christ brings the truth that sets us free:

“For I am the Lord, I change not. If you come to me, I will not cast you out. Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heaven burdens and I will give you rest”.

We may not seem to have that moment like the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Peter or Paul, but those same gifts and miracles are hidden in every aspect of our lives. In our joyous moments Christ is there just as he is there guiding us as we walk through the chaos and confusion.

Like Paul, we may have a thorn in our side that we wish wasn’t there, but like Paul we have God’s grace and that is enough because living in that grace, we have the sureness of the resurrection on our last day and the sureness, that now-today we can serve God the Father by leaving our mistakes, burdens and sins from the past with our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The knowledge of our inability and failure to live as we should is the start of wisdom. The knowledge of Christ’s power and love is the emergence of that wisdom. To live in Christ’s forgiveness and his total acceptance of you in every facet of your life is to understand that wisdom.

To give Christ our past and present burdens is to answer his call and whether we answer that call and lay them off to him or not, in his name we are still forgiven and free in this world-that will not change. But his desire is that we join with a man that God said “was after his own heart”, yet a man that fell to adultery and murder.

A man called King David who in his sin truly came to know restoration in the grace of God. That restoration is what Christ craves we know and join with King David in testifying, and giving evidence of in our lives: From Psalm 55: verses16 to 18:

“As for Me, I will call upon God; and the Lord will save me…He shall hear my voice. He has delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me” (Ps. 55:16-18).

The Lord has blessed you and kept you. The Lord has made His face shine on you and been gracious to you. The Lord has looked upon you with favour and the Lord gives you his peace.

John 20:24-29

 

People have often been hard on Thomas. He has been nicknamed ‘Doubting Thomas’ and some have portrayed him as almost a coward, when in actual fact, the evidence in the Scriptures is that Thomas was a man of great courage.

Thomas is sometimes treated as though he is a person who doesn’t want to believe, like many people today in society today. But maybe Thomas wanted to believe but found it hard to.

This man Thomas?  The other Gospels tell us nothing about him except his name. It is only here in John’s Gospel that Thomas comes alive for us. Thomas is portrayed as a man of great courage. There is the time Thomas speaks up when Jesus and his followers received news of the illness of Lazarus, the close friend of Jesus. News comes that Lazarus is near death. Jesus makes no move for two days to go to his friend. There had recently been two attempts to stone Jesus, so Jerusalem was a dangerous place for Jesus and his disciples.

Suddenly, Jesus announces he will go to his dying friend. The disciples think this is a bad move! It would be suicidal for them to go near Jerusalem. The danger is so great the disciples are near to abandoning Jesus at this point. But Thomas speaks up and says, “Let us go, that we may die with him.” Thomas can only see disaster lying ahead: nothing else. But this is no reason for him to turn his back on Jesus to try and save his own skin. He loves his Lord and because of Thomas’ courage, all the disciples go with Jesus to visit Lazarus.

And now here in today’s situation-again before we judge Thomas, we must also remember that while the other disciples were locked away for fear of the Jews, Thomas wasn’t there – which means he must have had the courage to venture outside.  And in regards to faith-Thomas is no worse than the other disciples.  They also didn’t believe until they saw Jesus.  They didn’t believe Mary’s testimony that she had seen the Lord. Yet Thomas is the one who is labelled the doubter.

What we see in Thomas is that human courage and faith in God are two different things and sometimes the two are easily confused.  The human strength that allowed Thomas to be absent from the safe place behind the locked doors is not going to help him when he needs faith.  Just as it wasn’t Peter’s human strength that allowed him to obey God rather than the human leaders.

When the other disciples tell Thomas they have seen the Lord, Thomas cannot accept it. The return of Jesus from the dead is too much for Thomas to believe, ironically even though he had seen the raising of Lazarus back to life.

So Thomas didn’t doubt that people could be raised from the dead. But he couldn’t believe that Jesus, the raiser of dead people could be raised himself. So when Jesus does appear to Thomas and invites him to touch his hands and his side and realises it is indeed the Lord-he in joy and excitement bursts out with his great confession of faith, “My Lord and my God”.

These aren’t the words of a man who is still pondering his findings! When Thomas sees the risen Jesus in person before him, he doesn’t need half an hour to detachedly examine the body of Jesus. The scriptures don’t tell us if Thomas even touched Jesus. Thomas speaks out with the courage of his faith, “My Lord and my God”. This is the greatest and boldest confession of faith any follower of Jesus made, and it comes from the mouth and heart of Thomas. It is a courageous confession and the same confession of faith we make about Jesus in the Creed.

Yes-The tomb is empty, but yes: sometimes so too is the place where we go to look for help from God.  Yes-Jesus deals with Thomas’s doubts, but yes-he declares that this won’t be how he will deal with the faith/life struggles that we go through.  And yes-Jesus will use our faith and says that we will be greatly blessed when we believe without seeing,

In Thomas’s struggles we see that God is the one, the only one, through whom our life questions can be answered.  God is the initiator and it is God to whom we must go in our life struggles.  When we allow God to direct our life and trust him it won’t always be “up” – it will sometimes be “down”.  But it will always be forward to eternal life in heaven.

On the seventeenth day of the second month the Lord shut the door of the Ark and the water beneath the earth burst open and the floodgates of the sky were opened for forty days and nights. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared and after forty days Noah opened the window. A dove was sent out to see if the water had receded to sustain life. It returned as it left-empty handed, or more precisely-empty beaked. . Seven days later he sent it out again and it returned with a fresh olive leave. Seven days later he sent out the Dove again and it did not return to the Noah, but returned to the world where it once was.

I have met several Thomas’s in our world who want to believe, but struggle. Just as we struggle when those we want to believe seemingly want not to, and with those that are yet to believe that we know and love that can be very hard emotionally.

Jesus rose and left the tomb and it remained empty and returned to the Apostles’ who were hiding in fear carrying His scars for their freedom, and in another seven days Thomas saw for himself the risen Lord.

Jesus said to Thomas: “Because you have seen me you have believed, blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.” The Word of God as recorded by the apostles in the room has not returned empty we have believed and are blessed. And as blessed we are, in prayer and in service to our Lord do we make known Him known to those who doubt or know not.

Isaiah 55:11: “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.”

Mark 11:24: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

No less than the very Words of God that the more so should we respond too in faith in our homes, in our workplaces, schools and here in this house of God.

So I ask you now in prayer to bring your needs and those of others before the Lord in Prayer. To in prayer offer to the Lord your fears and trials and in faith leave them with Him, and ask that’s the Lord Will be done to see those we know who still doubt or deny  Him, will in God’s time together with the apostles, Thomas and us. Together with those in Christ that have gone before, those with us now and those yet to come and together with the angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven see, know and bellow in sure and joyful voice “My Lord and My God “

We bring our prayers before the Lord. Amen

John 17:6-9, 1 John 5:9-13

On school holidays back in the day, the T.V. used to play Abbott and Costello movies. Abbott was the straight man and Costello
the funny one.  They were great and while most episodes are only a vague memory these days, one I remember one clearly (reasonably).

They are both on foot in a sand dune swept desert.  They are worn and thirsty and on their last legs and in the sweltering heat they keep seeing these mirages of water in the distance that they trek towards but never arrive at and so are ready to pack it in. But then Abbott sees one more in the distance and follows it and low and behold it is an oasis like you see in the Middle East. Eventually Costello catches up and sees Abbott on his back in the water, refreshed and gargling out water like a fountain surrounded by palm trees in a picture straight from like in a children’s pictorial bible. Abbott is in paradise found and loving it but when Costello arrives he says stop hurting yourself you’re only imagining it and so while Abbott splashes around, Costello just sits alongside on a rock waiting for his friend to come to his senses.

It’s very funny and I assume not meant as a comment on society, yet in pondering this week’s message it did make me reflect of the Christian life. Still looking for paradise or having found it, still confused and trying to work it all. Sought of like being told how to ride a bike but having no idea what a bike actually looks like and sometimes while living in the kingdom of God it does feel like we’re stuck in the desert thirsty and beaten.

A feeling not just reserved for us of when we read of Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil for forty days. Not a feeling, but a reality that Jesus suffered and the blessed reality for us that He wasn’t beaten. Sustained by prayer and the Word of His Father Jesus persevered and won a battle we could not and in today’s Gospel we see Him again drawing strength from the Father through prayer and Word, only this time His prayer is for us as we hear Him praying for the disciples. The twelve closet and most beloved friends of Jesus that He prays to the Father for. His “prayer that God the Father not take them out of the world but that he protect them from the evil one.” (As)” For they are not of the world, even as I am not of it. (So) sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

A few years ago I was asked to visit a lady on her death bed. She had been severely ill and bed bound for a significant time and while hard to understand, I understood. She told me that as an early teenager that she had died on the operating table and visited heaven. Then surrounded by weeping family and soon to be shocked family and most certainly doctor, awoke back in earth. This side of heaven I cannot make sense of those things and she must have known of what people’s reactions would have been because apart from those present around that operating table and her later born son, she mentioned that I was the only one she had told. I don’t understand such stuff but I did see the outcome of hers as here on her deathbed in pain, not only was she prepared to leave this earth, she anticipated with great joy to feel and reside in that place that she experienced all those years ago and so at her request, we prayed that the Lord’s will be that she depart this world and so it was, and at her funeral and hearing in the eulogy of some of the hard times she experienced yet with a seemingly joyous and free spirited heart, it did seem that those desert moments seen through of what she knew were not dry and barren but covered in carpets of wild flowers brought to life from the winter rains.

Most of us won’t have an experience like that lady but undoubtedly to an extent we will have our desert moments like our Lord and saviour.

Matthew 4:1-11

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^[a] by the devil. ^2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ^3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

^4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[b]”

^5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ^6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^[c]”

^7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^[d]”

^8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ^9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

^10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^[e]”

^11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Our desert or wilderness moments may not be as clear or understandable as that placed before Jesus, yet they will be there cloaked in some form or another and as with Jesus, the answer to our accuser and ourselves cannot be of what may seem but of the truth as told to us in the Holy Word of God.

During the week I watched a movie about General Patton. The American general feared by the Germans in world war 11 and the General who was instrumental in regaining Europe and the General who in the movie was described by his enemy as “a man who prays on his knees but stands swearing like a trouper.”

Unfortunately that description is sometimes a little close to home but it does make a statement that we can learn from amidst our own warfare of will. A statement that wether in seeming defeat or at a loss to situation or thought, we too pray on our knees not to rise feebly, but rise to standing assured not in ourselves but in the Word of God. To still harbour some fears but override them in not logically putting two and two together, but by hearing the Word of God as seen in His Son our Saviour Jesus Christ and placed into our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit.

Martin Luther after once doubting the authenticity and right of the book of revelations in the New Testament would later through hardship and persecution come to say that in those moments it had become like an old friend that travelled with him, assuring and comforting him of the blessed heavenly oasis that awaits.

We too at the worst of it may know of that feeling, and if not, at the very least it will be our sure Hope of when we face our earthly death.

Scripture tells us “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.  A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.”

Our time is now and after we kneel in prayer we arise in the knowledge of the Word of God that “our, your Sins are forgiven”, and forgiven we hear in the background the promise fulfilled in the book of Revelations of where together as one, we alongside all those of the past, present and future stand together before the throne of God rejoicing with all the heavenly angels and beings of what has come to be.

Our time is now and in the season we reside, in the Word of God we rise to our feet and see not our wilderness of loss, doubt and despair. But rise to our feet and see our world the same yet transformed and see amongst the dry creek beds and sparse deserts His Word come to life. See His Word come to life in our lives and bring water to the creeks and flowers to the desert.

In the Word of God in this world do we rise, and though those of the world may not see our creeks flow or our landscapes bloom, we can for we know that though we have been left in this world, Christ the Son of God prays to His Father on our behalf asking that we be made Holy and sanctified in the truth. A request fulfilled in you as you be in the world, but not of it. Fulfilled in us who though poor in spirit and weak in strength, see the Holiness of Christ and trust in His Words for ourselves. Fulfilled in us who though wether bowed down be it in earthly shame or pride, rise up restored in His forgiveness. And fulfilled in us who see as those of the world, yet understand as those of Christ that yes, though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death , hurt and suffering, we need not fear nor reside in earthly doubt or anxiety, but see Him with us and in prayer alongside the author of Psalm 119 ask for His steadfast love come to you and His salvation according to His promise.

 To hear the words of 1^St John for yourselves “that you may know that whoever believes in the name of the Son of God has eternal life.”

And to rise up with the Psalmist and know, that according to thy Word do you have the answer to any that reproach you, for in the Word do you trust. Amen.

            1 John 5:1-6

A Faith that Overcomes

 

I was working late one evening in the bank completing a long winded, boring and mind numbing meaningless task that someone in management had introduced to be seen to be seen. I knew it, we all knew it, but regardless it had to be done and while doing so a colleague and friend walked past expressing to me that “you must have done something horribly wrong in a previous life.”

There are people in society who will try to give you explanations for the terrible things that happen. For example; one well known identity rationalized that the tragedy of 9/11 happened because of the sinful activity in New York City. He later apologized and said he really didn’t mean to say that. We hear people do this all the time because they have a need to connect the bad things in life with some misbehaviour or sin. Or, we want to believe that the bad things that happen are God’s punishment.

Similar some people of faith want to believe that their faith is like an insurance policy, that because they “believe” nothing bad will happen to them. Or, when something bad happens they say their faith wasn’t strong enough. They play the “if only” game…. “If I had only believed more, if I had only loved more, if I had only followed all the rules.”

Or, some may say, “What good is it to believe or have faith, when bad things still happen?” I imagine it’s a question some have asked amid times of great trials, and there are no simple explanations.

The letter of I John was written to believers who wanted to be connected to God and strengthen their faith. But, they were being misled by false teachers. There was confusion about what it meant to be people of faith and the faith community was struggling to be a cohesive group of people, and similar the way they were treating others was not overly endowed with neighbourly love. Confused and being led astray what they needed was some concrete teaching of Jesus and not that of those who think they can read God’s mind.

So, the writer of I John tells us (4:1) to “test the spirits.” In other words, make sure that the voices we are listening to are sincere. Those who offer simple explanations for the difficulties of life could be misleading you.

Some want you to believe that all you need to do is follow a list of do’s and don’ts. Others suggest that there is some formula you have to abide by that will make you a believer and television preachers tend to fit into one of these categories.

But the writer of 1 John states that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”(4:4) Meaning that to have faith means we don’t always understand. God is much bigger than we are. God’s ways are beyond our ability to understand everything that happens and yes in retrospect we often can see God’s hand in situations, but there are also those things that we will never understand this side of heaven, and to have faith, sometimes we will need to just trust in our Lord even when things make no sense what so ever. Like the man who was walking the streets of Sydney searching for employment. He finally found Girard, a well-known businessman who offered to give the man a job. He said, “See that pile of bricks over there? Cary them to the other end of the yard and pile them by the fence.” By nightfall the man had finished the job. He then asked if there would be work the next day. Girard told him to come back tomorrow and he would give him another job. The man returned the next morning and Girard told him to carry the same pile of bricks he had stacked the day before by the fence to their original spot. He never said a word. He did exactly as he was instructed. It became evident to Girard that he could trust the man and therefore he gave him a full time position.

God wants us to realize that there are things we don’t understand, yet God alone is in charge of the big picture. Faith is trusting in God when we don’t know what the outcome will be.

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, who wrote, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, said that the ways of God cannot always be explained.

The challenge for us is to continue to love God (and others) even when something bad happens to us. That’s faith in action. Faith in Christ grown from seeing what the Son of God, the sinless and perfect one who let himself be led like a lamb to slaughter to cover the sins of those He loved. Those He loved-, the lost and “the found”, the sad and the happy, the high and the low, the hungry and the full, the thirsty and the quenched. The imperfect, and the imperfect. The who of the human race, the whole of us and though we may become confused of events that take place in our lives, He asks us not to be confused of that event that took place on the cross for in His death, and resurrection He asks only that we know and believe that He is the Son of God, the Holy one who has brought us forgiveness and in that belief, then we are forgiven and saved. That is faith, and that is the faith known that allows us to also see past the flaws of others like He has to us.

A lesson I learnt first hand Early one morning I was walking down the street in North Adelaide to withdraw my last $20 from the ATM when near I saw a lady badly shaking and another body lying on the footpath and I immediately thought not today because of being down to my last few dollars. But as I got drew near, she didn’t ask me for money, but quite the opposite, because as I approached and as she was aware of people’s judgements-like mine she leant against the wall so that her arm stopped shaking and after being up close and not looking not from afar: I saw a young lady, well dressed talking to her son dressed in his school uniform, tired and lying on the footpath while they waited for the bus and while I withdrew my money I heard their conversation and it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

To hear the love between this mother and her Son. This mother with a handicap talking to her tired son lying on the pavement in his school cloths. No judgement of each other-Just love for each other regardless of appearances to the world and people like me.

That morning I learnt that from afar sometimes things are not as they seem. But importantly, probably more so is that even if they are, should that change the way we love each other and treat each other.

And so I, like you, live a life trying to love one another regardless if friend or foe. And live a life failing to do so as much we would wish. That’s life and whether in times of trial and tribulation or in times of falling short it is all about trust.

The trust that regardless of the hardships we face, to know that Christ is with us.

The trust that regardless of the hardships of others that we fail to help with or mess up, that Christ is still with them.

And the trust that sees us rise another day to love one another: To achieve in it and to fail in it, yet know that in both, that Jesus Christ loves us so much that He died for us. To know in both be it in love’s success or love’s failure that Christ forgives us. That’s faith and that’s the faith that you have.

You have been forgiven in Christ, and in that forgiveness will His love lead you home. And in that love we can lye on the footpath dressed in our good school cloths like that boy. In that love can we still love and cherish others though we have our personal “handicaps”. In that love we rise after we fall, and in that love shall we forever dwell to when we fall in our last moment and rise for the last time and see our blessed Lord and Saviour with angels singing and multitudes cheering halauhah, and maybe even see a little boy in crisp clean garments with his mum. And see his mum holding him close with arms strong in the strength of love. Amen.

1 John 4:7-21

 

A mother who went to wake up her son:

Wake up son, it’s time to go to school.’
‘But why mum,’ he replied, ‘I don’t want to go to school.’
To which his mum replied: ‘Give me two reasons why you don’t want to go.’
‘Well, the kids hate me for one, and the teachers hate me too.’ he replied.
‘Oh, that’s no reason not to go to school. Come on now, get ready.’
To which her son replied, ‘Give me two reasons why I should go to school.’
‘Well,’ his mum said ‘for one, you’re 52 years old, and for another, you’re the principal.’
Jesus has told us: “As I have loved you, love one another”

Two men:

The first, born in the great depression, his mother left shortly afterwards and his father remarried and also moved away leaving him to be raised by his grandparents.

He has spent time in jail for a marijuana-possession charge.

A bar brawling heavy whiskey drinking husband of four marriages. A nomad hitchhiking from town to town and occasionally sleeping in a cold ditch.

A man who both once had the audience of the President of the United States of America and the taxation department to the tune of back taxes owed of $32,000,000.

The second, Born in a small town of 400 people who went on to be a central part in issues of his time. In 1985 he was one of three that set up “Farm Aid” to assist and increase awareness of the importance of family farms. He heavily supported fundraising events for those suffering from the September 11 World Trade Centre attacks yet was critical of the retaliationary attack of Iraq, and is a strong supporter of the “green” Bio-fuel like we see in our petrol stations together with being an advocate against animal cruelty.

The man who has said of him of “his deep unshakeable faith” who once released a Gospel album containing favorites like Amazing Grace, Sweet Bye and Bye and the man who in turning 81 last Wednesday stated that he now looks back on his life with a clear appreciation for the blessings he’s received and that song we heard at the opening of the service titled the “Family Bible” were those of his own words and his first hit as a songwriter.

“There’s a family Bible on the table each page is torn and hard to read
But the family Bible on the table will ever be my key to memories
At the end of day when work was over and when the evening meal was done
Dad would read to us from the family Bible
And we’d count our many blessings one by one
I can see us sittin’ round the table when from the family Bible dad would read
I can hear my mother softly singing rock of ages rock of ages cleft for me. Now this old world of ours is full of trouble this old world would also better be
if we’d find more Bibles on the tables and mothers singing rock of ages cleft for me.”

The two people of seemingly different character I have put before you who are the same person-Willie Nelson.

On a study trip at the seminary a doctor who seemed to understand Christianity mentioned that of his Christian patients that visited him with self-worth problems, the common denominator was those who had received from other Christians, and pacifically those in “power” the message that they are not being Christian enough. Not being good enough and that they need to get their act together.

Hearing the law, yet not hearing the Gospel. The law without the Gospel that can only lead one of two ways, either striving for self-rigtheousness through works or as in those who came before him, despair. Fight or flight. Fight to show them you’re good enough, or flight and turn from the church that the accusations at least if not from inside, are quietened from those outside.
The law is good, Jesus told us that but the law without Gospel leads to anger and fear. A situation Martin Luther knew well who after being raised with exceptionally high Christian standards to attain believed that when the bible spoke of God’s righteousness, it referred to God the Father being very judgmental and strict to those humans who did not measure up to God’s perfection. A belief that caused him to be over zealous in performing the acts of penance and devotion in order to please God and yet though he tried so hard, he still knew that he could never attain perfection and so was left in great depression that resulted in him more on more than one occasion stating that he hated God because he was so judgmental towards him.

An early life of shame that led him through others and the guidance of God to find and know the blessed Gospel of his and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

To not like a parrot list of some feel good you’ll be right” aloof “Jesus loves you” comment. But truly understand the saint and sinner in one. A sinner in ourselves with nothing to offer and no right to salvation. Yet in Jesus, though we be earthly sinners, in Christ those shortfalls have not only been covered over for our salvation, but accepted and loved in Christ like a love we cannot grasp that though still falling to our weaknesses, faults and wayward ways, we are right with God, accepted into His Kingdom and given both a life in this world without fear of how we sit before God, as too a life without fear of where we will sit on judgement day.

God loves and accepts us because we accept His Son as our Saviour. That’s it and if we are to “love one another as He has loved us” it can only be borne from knowing that fact.

Not perfect, still stuffing up yet not to hear those who look to judge and ridicule, but look to the truth in the Word of God as the only answer. The truth of God up and against the thoughts and judgments of others and indeed ourselves upon ourselves that again Luther came to know all too well who gives us some good advice:

To “provide yourselves with armour from scripture concerning justification, which takes place through faith. Collect I say, a number of Scripture passages that ascribe righteousness to God. Then if you put your reliance of these passages, you will be able to stand even after a fall, as for example, after acts of fornication, murder and other sins.”

Work/ life balance. Yes it has a place but the both are the same people that carry both good and not so good traits. Likewise with husband and father and wife and mother. Christian in the world, yet not of it. Christian at church and Christian at the pub. Does not Christ see all and yet still accept both the Mother and the wife, the Father and the husband, the Christian at work or at home, the Christian in church or at the pub.

Willie, me and you. Saint and sinner. Jesus Christ Son of God and Lord and Saviour, unlike those who look, judge and give opinion from afar see’s the whole package and yet does deride or ridicule, but rejoices with His Father that against the flow of this world you still believe in His Words.

His words that tell us not that when a sinner sins no more, but that when a sinner comes to belief that the whole of the heavens erupt in Joyous song.

“Love one another as I have loved you.” An impossible task for us unless we see first ourselves and then Christ. And impossible for us to others unless see Christ first and then the person.

What a glorious day it will be when division, fear and judgment will be no longer. That day is not today, and so today we resist the urge to drop our eyes from the Cross, but fight the good fight to not focus on what may seem, but that which is. To that which is too see Jesus Christ the Son of God, die on a cross and be raised up and urge us not to judge the stick in the others eye when ours has a log. Urges us not to fear for ourselves or weaken the faith of others with misplaced messages of what it is to be of Christ.

But to see as vividly and real as the apostles saw Jesus come to them, see Him come to us and say peace be with you, do not fear for in me your sins are forgiven and so love each other as I have loved you.

But how. We are now complex people in a complex world where it not just “give me my daily bread” but give me a good car, house, job, superannuation fund and some time in between working for them to actually enjoy them. All good things and nothing wrong with them but sometimes we are the ones that bring in the complexity.

So “love each other as I have loved you.” But how. The guilt I carry, my inhibitions, my lack of confidence and my desire to be something, to prove myself.

How do I bear my cross, those crosses in our complex society that asks so much.

Yes, we all have crosses to bear just as do non-Christians do and as did Jesus Christ beyond what we can comprehend.

Yes Jesus loved and served and serves us. He healed the sick, turned water into wine to save the bride and groom embarrassment and raised Lazuras from the dead. Big ticket items but what of us, how can we top that. We can’t because we’re not Jesus and though our love and service for others will always be a little tainted, we can still follow in Christ’s steps. His steps where he did not have to prove anything to himself because He knew who He was: The Son of God and knew He would be raised from the dead.

He was free to serve because He knew who He was and He knew how it ended.

Love one another as I have loved you. This is not the chains of religion, but the freedom of Christ because we too know who we are, and that is forgiven sinners in Christ-He’s told us that. And in that comes the freedom to live a life free of proving oneself.

Free in Christ is to be free of seeing things not as a chore but as a life expereince. A gift.

Knowing who we are and where we end. Forgiven in Christ with eternal life waiting turns things around.

To give up smoking and in withdrawal feel the pain and strain of it and rejoice because of the awakened senses and know you’re really alive. To go to shops for groceries and not wonder if we have time, but see the wonderment of the things around us. To admire the genious of a motor car and be amazed that we can drink a glass of wine in Australia that was grown in France. To take a step back and see all this coming together and see the love of Christ in it, and see the love of Christ in those put before us who serve Him and us in their occupations and lives. And see we are not just a part of those serving in His kingdom here to get by. But can serve and live in every moment and every situation and who can love others as Christ loves us, because having being freed from ourselves, we have become free to do so, and that is a blessing to us, as much as it is to others. Praise be to Christ. Amen.

Psalm 23, John 10:11-18

In World War 1, boys as young as 16 years old having lied about their age to serve, lye dying on the battle fields of Gallipoli and
France asking for their mother.

So to in Vietnam but with the age lifted to 18.

Yesterday a soldier who had been awarded the Victoria Cross in Afghanistan and after being asked if he was fearful in battle replied, yes. But predominately the fear of letting down his mates when under fire.

A statement that was on the lips of those who survived the horrors of Anzac Cove who when retreating did so with a heavy and remorseful heart knowing of the mates they were leaving behind buried in the mud.

A statement of the lips of the soldiers of the South in Gettysburg during the American Civil war. Groups of soldiers, farmers, shop clerks and all parts of society led by a leader they loved and would prefer to die for than give up.  Their leader Robert E Lee who did not lead on the basis of slavery or politics, but purely on the basis that he was from the South.

The same man who when in church and noticing a southern slave resume his seat when he realised that the whites were about to take communion, went to him, put out his hand and responded that before God we are all equal.

Gallipoli, a tragedy and a lost battle that helped shape a nation of whose citizens are the only ones of any country in the world that flock in such numbers to a losing battlefield half way around the other side of the world.

I wonder what the Anzacs that lay in those fields would say to those of today who go to pay homage, and I wonder what those who go today would say to those of 1915 in the trenches waiting for the thrill of a whistle that would see them charge into no man’s land and fall next to the fallen.

Yesterday at Anzac Cove Australians, New Zealanders, British and the French remembered those who had fallen in that attack on a foreign land as one, together with those who came to remember those of their own country who saw 80,000 of their own Turkish Brothers fall protecting their homeland.

If we could turn back time what would those of past say of such an outcome and what would those still fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Kenya and the troubled and bloodshed countries of today say if we said the same to them of what may await.

If we could turn back time and visit our parents and tell them it will be O.K. as they see their child in fear and hurt, and would they listen. And if we could turn back time and visit that child and say to yourself it will be O.K., could it have changed anything.  And what if it could?

Old foes of the past, now united in death. New foes still apart and those of us saved despite our past and those still walking through the blood and guts of their personal battlefield.

Scattered and lost, United yet alone.

War, trouble and pain cause divisions of those for and against. Fighting for our freedom against the oppressors and the oppressors against those looking to return oppression.

In the book 1984 written by George Orwell in 1949 he saw a future in our time where governments would change from being allies with one country to that of enemies with the stroke of a pen. One minute fighting for a friend then fighting against them and if we look to what’s going on now in the world he’s not far from the truth.

Political bias. Deception, lies, misinformation, greed, individual ties of the past and self- preservation dictating who to die for and who to kill.

A confused world and people not unlike those who cheered Jesus arrival into Jerusalem just as they cheered as he made his way beaten and scourged to the cross. Confusion we suffer not unlike the twelve that followed Jesus only to turn their back and to deny Him.

Jesus who on the cross did not see allies coming to save, but only enemies intent to exclude.

The stone that the builders rejected, who become the cornerstone that those that rejected he, not continue to tear down His house, but be built in it.

The Good Shepherd who before we were formed in the womb, knew us.  The Good Shepherd on His cross who when we knew Him not, asks His father to forgive us for we Knew not what we did. And the Good Shepherd that knocks on our door and enters our lives that we may enter into His righteousness and see and know those words of Psalm 23 for ourselves.

See that though we strive for self, in Him we need not want.

See that though we strive in the anguish of worldly goods, fame and happiness, in Him only do we find green pastures and still waters.

See that though we heed to the darkness and strive for perfection and a life without remorse or guilt, find that such a peace of heart can only be of His righteousness freely given.

To see that though our enemies surround us in contempt and rant, in hatred and threatening noise, we hear His whisper comforting our troubled hearts as our cup overflows through His gifts of Baptism and Holy Communion.

And yes, rather that though it seemed a shadow of the valley of death, it was but a road paved in mercy, girded from the wood of a cross and its light not of this world, but that of the light of Christ and see that though we may wonder, our shepherd walks with us that we not need wander of His love for us, but see that the grace that others saw on the cross we too see in ours and know that in Him, that for however it may seem, the Shepherd has guided the lost home, and no matter what may become, because of the love that He maintain, in His house there shall we remain. Amen.

“What’s the chances”

 

Luke 24:25-35

 

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne, and his wife, Sophie, were shot dead in Sarajevo by a group of six assassins with the political objective to break off Austria-Hungary’s provinces so they could be combined into a Yugoslavia. The assassins’ motives were consistent with the movement that later became known as Young Bosnia. The assassination led directly to the First World War when Austria-Hungary subsequently issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia, which was partially rejected. Austria-Hungary then declared war. Franz Ferdinand’s car in which he was assassinated had a license plate that read “A III118″. World War 1 ended with an Armistice, a peace agreement on 11-11-18, and during the second world war, when Soviet archaeologists opened the tomb of Tamerlane, a Mongol descendant of Genghis Khan, they found an inscription that read, “Whoever opens my tomb will unleash an invader more terrible than I”. It was June 20 1941. Germany invaded the Soviet Union two days later on June 22.

Two amazing co-incidences that some may label mysteries.

 

Next Saturday is Anzac day, a day that we pay tribute to those who have served us in and with their lives, that we live our lives in a free country.

But today we look to our Lord, to revere, praise, worship and thank our Lord for the life He has given to us in both our lives now, and when the times arrives, in our death.

 

And today, through our Lord we look at three mysteries from our Gospel text.

1. There is Jesus who walks with his two disciples and talks with them, and they don’t recognise him.
2. Jesus explains the Scriptures to the two disciples who don’t recognise him, and it is like a fire burning inside them.
3. There is the mystery of the breaking of the bread, the moment when the two disciples recognise Jesus, and he disappears.

1. The first mystery

Jesus comes to his disciples as a stranger. It happens on the beach, early one morning after the disciples had fished all night and caught nothing. The Scripture says,

 

“but all that night they did not catch a thing. As the sun was rising, Jesus stood at the water’s edge, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.”

 

It happens again in the locked room, when his disciples think they are seeing a ghost. They are scared out of their wits, but Jesus keeps assuring them “Don’t be afraid! Peace be with you!” Jesus shows them his hands and his side and asks them to touch him to be assured it is he, and not some scary phantom from Hades or wherever ghosts come from.

And it is important to note that Jesus comes to people whether they recognise him, or not. He comes whether they are ready for him or not. Jesus comes when he is ready. When he comes, he shows himself to be fully and completely alive. It is really him. Ask Thomas! But his risen body has also been made new in a way that goes beyond the laws of nature and physics that rule us and our bodies. Jesus is able to enter and leave the disciples presence in an instant – even when they are in a locked room. This is a mystery of the risen Lord. We have difficulty grasping the miracles we see in nature. A flower, opening into a beautiful bloom or a tiny bird hatching out of an egg. Our world is full of delightful miracles. How much more are we in awe of the mystery of Jesus alive again, gloriously raised from the tomb?

It hard to fathom, the Creator of all miracles walking around as a human being, obeying the laws he put into nature. It is even more fascinating when he is greater than the laws of nature and physics. He who works miracles in nature, turning water into wine, walking on water, appears back from the dead after three days. Jesus is God at work. We can’t explain his work in mere scientific terms. We leave the mystery at that.

When Jesus appears to us he might still come as a stranger, and we might not recognise him. In Matthew 25 we read how Jesus might come and visit us dressed down as a beggar in dire need of help, desperately needing a glass of water, or a bite of food to eat, or needing some of our clothes to wear. He might even come to our home as a stranger who needs a place to rest.

Jesus is thankful for our care for him when he comes to us as a stranger. Jesus says,

“I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me”.

And that may be a little scary! And so He still comes to us with the words of truth that wqe need to hear “Don’t be afraid. Peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven”. Go in peace.”

 

1. The second mystery

Jesus comes and explains the Scriptures to the two disciples.

If there was ever a conversation that we would love to overhear, it would have to be when Jesus opened up the Scriptures to his two disciples as they walked along together. Of course the Scriptures he used are what we now call the Old Testament. We might think of it as a book. In those days it was a collection of scrolls, all written in Hebrew. How does one fathom the meaning and main purpose of the Scriptures? Again, the Word comes to us in human form and words. This in itself can be a mystery to us. We might prefer that God would sit in heaven, write it all down, and hand it down to us. But it comes to us in human form! What do we make of it?

Some people treat the Bible as a magic book, with secret numbers and hidden messages about the future of people on our earth. Some people like to kiss it, and bow down to the Scriptures. Are we meant to worship it, or do Christians only worship the living God who comes to us in the Scriptures?

Is there a secret to the Scriptures? Yes. There is a secret key to understanding the Scriptures. In verse 27 of our text we read, “And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the book of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.”

Right from the beginning, and right through to the end, these Scriptures are all pointing to Jesus. The key to understanding the Scriptures is Jesus. If we are to understand the Scriptures, then we need to look for Jesus in the words and paragraphs. Jesus is the key who opens up the mysteries of the Scriptures.

It would great to know which passages Jesus took from the Old Testament and said, “This refers to me,” but we aren’t told. Maybe it was Isaiah 53? There is a hint in Jesus’ words when he says, “Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things …”? Did Jesus tell them about the Passover Lamb, and how the lamb was taken in its prime, and sacrificed, and the flesh eaten with the unleavened bread? It’s probable the Passover Lamb was included, but again we are not told. It remains a mystery which passages of Scripture Jesus said pointed to him.

If we want to know which passages of Scripture are more important than others, then we know to look for Jesus there. He is the key for us to understand the Scriptures. There is much we don’t fully grasp about the Scriptures, and we don’t need to. What we know is that Jesus is the key to God’s central message of Scripture – the same one who suffered the worst on the cross for us.

It is interesting that the two disciples still didn’t recognise it was Jesus himself who was explaining the Scriptures to them. It is significant that their hearts burned within them – a pointer to the Holy Spirit and the fires that would burn at Pentecost.

1. The third mystery is the breaking of the bread.

We cannot explain in scientific terms how this happened. When Christians try and explain what happens in Holy Communion they can easily empty it of its real blessings.

There is ordinary bread and wine. Jesus takes the bread, as God’s people had been doing for several thousand years. Jesus then breaks the bread, and gives it to them, saying, “Take and eat, this is my body, given for you.” And then he took the cup – we know the words!

Saint Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11,

“Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

 

The two disciples at Emmaus immediately recognise the risen Jesus in the breaking of the bread. There is a deep mystery here that we can’t explain in scientific terms. The two disciples are so excited and overcome with emotion and joy,

“They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together. The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognised the Lord when he broke the bread.”

 

Holy Communion is our celebration of Easter, when the risen Lord Jesus comes to us, bringing victory and forgiveness in the bread and the wine. The risen Jesus who suffered and died for us comes to visit us in the bread and wine every time we join in the Lord’s Supper. He comes as the Lamb of God who was offered up in sacrifice for us. He comes bringing forgiveness, with the message, “Don’t be afraid. Peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven.”

 

The risen Jesus comes to us again and again as we travel through this life. We never travel alone. He walks with us. He talks with us.

The risen Jesus, the same one who was sacrificed for us on the cross, visits each one of us personally today in the breaking of the bread. A profound and wonderful mystery. But a mystery behind a truth that you never need doubt, that yes, Your sins are forgiven. Thanks be to God!

Amen.