“Show me the money”

: Psalm 23, John 10:11-18

“Show me the money”

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23, the best known and best loved of all the psalms. It gives us two graphic pictures of God’s intimate relationship with one of His people. The first the here and now: our shepherd Christ and his sheep. The second the host and his guest: when we will dwell in the fathers house with its many mansions of which Jesus spoke, where in John 14 He said He was going to prepare a place for His own.

Psalm 23, beautiful words of encouragement.

Martin Luther described it as “A psalm of thanks in which Christian hearts praise and thanks God for teaching them and keeping them on the right way, comforting and protecting them in every danger through His holy Word.”

And in our gospel we heard the words of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, who assures us that his sheep know his voice and follow him, and he leads them that they might have life, and have it abundantly.

When I was six years old we moved to a new town to live and I became good friends with my neighbour. We were the same age, in the same class at school and particularly in our teenage years we travelled together through many joys, heartaches and dangers. In my early twenties I was moved away in my job. Sometime after, a year maybe, I cannot remember any more my dad rang: “Steve, I’m very sorry but your best friend has taken his life”. My friend had driven his car into the garage, covered the inside with enough petrol that it blew down the side of the house.

His family. How they must still carry those scars with them, as we all carry scars of pain and hurt.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”. There have been times when those words were a little foreign to me, in fact down right confusing.

All I wanted was to Caption the Australian Cricket team, Play football for Port Adelaide, drive a Lotus and live on the beachfront-seriously it that too much to ask. It seems it was.

Truth is I did not want those things (except for the Port Adelaide bit)-but you get my point. Being what do we really consider as goodness and mercy. Similar, it can be difficult for us to tell the voice of the true and good shepherd from the voice that comes to steal and destroy.

The thief that says the only version of abundant life is that it be living in worldly abundance.

Goodness and mercy, our shepherd: the problem isn’t that they are not there; it’s that sometimes we don’t see them-they may be hidden behind our expectations, even hidden in our painful experiences.

We think of the thief on the cross and are given much hope and peace when we hear that this man was saved at the last minute after leading what we assume was a pretty ungodly life. It’s a marvellous picture of Jesus love. But the truth is Jesus love and forgiveness was there all along. It would have been very difficult for the people of Israel not to have heard of Jesus and his message, including this thief. The miracle is not that that Jesus gave forgiveness to this thief; the miracle is that he came to see it, accept it.

My friend, he lived a very pained life, but in the months prior to his death-amongst all his troubles he came to see Jesus. I know this because he used to ring me, preach to me and encourage me to follow the Lord. Somehow in those last months, he saw clearly his saviour the Lord Jesus-A miracle.

Yes, Goodness and mercy, Jesus, followed him all the days of his life.

Last week we heard where Jesus carried the physical scars from his crucifixion before the disciples, to heal their scars of doubt-to bring them the truth of what he has done, to bring them hope in that though they will suffer persecution as he did, that though they will suffer the scars of life-they carry with them hope and the sureness that Jesus travels with them.

That Goodness and mercy travels with them.

That was a promise given to the disciples, and given to us. And given to Riley today in his baptism. What a wonderful comfort for Lloyd, Sonja and Riley. It is a promise that is liberating for we see looking back how through our lives our Lord was there, even in the times when it seemed otherwise. It is liberating because we go forward knowing it to be true-to live, to be alive, to see the beauty and gift of friends, loved ones, to be ourselves, to love others as they are-to really live come what may because we know

The Lord is our shepherd, we shall lack nothing. He makes us lie down in green pastures, he leads us beside quiet waters, and he restores our soul. He guides us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for you are with us; your rod and staff they comfort us. You prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies. You anoint our heads with oil; our cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Yes he does, and yes we will. Amen. 

Walking in the Fog?

Luke 24: 36b-48

 

“The fog”

 

In 1991 the world held its breath. In response to the Iraqi war machine, led by Saddam Husain attacking their neighbor Kuwait, a flotilla of war ships of all the allied nations sailed towards the Middle East.

I remember walking down Rundle Mall, and on a giant TV screen was a countdown clock that showed that the allied forces would reach their destination in 23 hours and 49 minutes. A doomsday clock. This was the Cuban missile crisis of my time.

History shows that the allied forces led by General Norman Schwarzkopf were successful in repelling the Iraqi forces and restoring Kuwait’s sovereignty.

Returning to a hero’s welcome in his native homeland in the United States, the General was asked if there were times in the heat of the battle when he was unsure of what to do.

His answer was honest and forthright: “Yes, and in those instances I referred to article fourteen of the Pentagon leadership manual” and went on to explain one of those situations.

His declaration struck me, but the more I thought about the more it, the more it made sense as I remembered the term “The fog of War”.

A term that encaptures how in the ills of warfare things become confusing. Right from wrong, who’s doing what, indeed what the fight is about can become cloudy.

That he took this manual, this blue print with him into battle then made sense. It was a blue print that in his time of need, would give him clear vision, get him back to basics, and enable him to take that step back to re-access and check that he is still on the right path. A blue print put together from the knowledge of those that went before him, those involved in great victories at the cost of great sacrifice.

In our Gospel today, Jesus’ gives us our blueprint for life as a Christian.

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the unblemished lamb. The sinless one who gave himself so that we may have life. Our greatest victory, coming at the cost of his great sacrifice. The divine Son of God, yet born of flesh and blood. Who felt pain and hunger, was tempted, ridiculed and beaten.

Jesus knows the periless journey we are on, because he was walked it.

In our Gospel Jesus is talking to his disciples, not supermen but normal people. People that Jesus knew in their Christian walk would be subjected to all the perils of the world, its trappings and seductiveness, and he gives them, gives us our blueprint for living life as a Christian.

A blueprint that seems foolishness to those without faith, but to those with the gift of faith, know it to be true. It is both reassuring and logical, and indeed Jesus backs up his statements with logic. Jesus appears to the disciples who are wondering in “their fog” of confusion, fear and doubts to confirm his resurrection saying “Peace be with you”.

But they are startled and unsure. So what just Jesus do, he proves it’s him. “See my hands and feet, that it is myself. Touch me and see” and to offer final evidence for their benefit of his risen body, eats food.

Yes it’s him. (and) yet again, Jesus confirms what he has been saying from the start, that now they may fully understand. “These are the words that I spoke with you while I was with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. It is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins be proclaimed in his name to all nations. You are the witness of these things”

There’s our blueprint. Christ has come and he has brought forgiveness. He has brought forgiveness to you. Believe it, live in that Grace-Joyously as a witness to it. Jesus came to the disciples when they were in fear, confused, still wondering in the fog. Jesus came to us-still comes to us and lifts the fog so that we can see.

We only need rely on and trust in God alone, in faith we know this. This is a basic tenet of our faith and if I was explaining Christianity to one of my enquiring friends, this would be in the mix early in the discussion.

Through the eyes of faith this seems straightforward. So straightforward that we may even wonder why Jesus needs to remind us this. But Jesus clearly puts this in our Christian life blueprint because he knows the perils we face.

He gives us this truth and assurance so that we can return to it when things start to blur, when right from wrong and the direction of our lives start to get foggy. He gives us these truths in love for those times when we don’t heed his opening words “Peace be with you”.

Jesus knows the dangers we face, whether it be the anxiousness of the poor, or in the possessions of the rich: The dangers that are placed before us that we take our eye off Christ-in his peace.

The trappings of today’s world, are our apple in the Garden of Eden or our golden calf threatening to keep us from the promised land.

The devil tempts:

That looks nice, you deserve it, because you have worked so hard, it is your right to have these things, because you mastered your own destiny. It will bring you happiness. He tempts with the hope that these things will compete with God for our allegiance.

That they may become our God and destroy our relationship with the Father. It is a cunning trick. Every day we are constantly bombarded by the culture of our day and its advertisements to rely on ourselves.

The world seduces our eyes to goals that will advance our lives, we are taught incessantly to give ourselves to the pursuit of mammon. To the pursuit of success so that we can live our lives happily and free of anxiety.

But the more things we have, the more we want, and the more we fear their loss, We don’t find peace but anxiousness and worry. If we get caught up in this, it is like boarding a train that get’s faster and faster until it’s a runaway heading towards a cliff where the bridge is out.

It is a periless road to nowhere that can be hard to get off. Things start to blur, right from wrong, the direction and meaning life become foggy.

We need to ask ourselves, are we only serving God the Father, or we unwittingly sharing him with other things. Things that creep up to become idols and threaten to displace God altogether.

This is why Jesus has given us this blue print, so we can return to it when the fog of our world and its consumerism blur our Christian lives.

When worldly things becomes part of our core fabric, become part of us to the point where we can understand James Blunt when he sings “How I wish I could surrender my soul and shed these cloths that have become my skin”

Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also”

Where are our hearts, yours and mine? Are our priorities out of whack? Do we serve God alone, the only God that gives life, or share him idols, money, addictions and ego’s that promise much but threaten spiritual destruction?

Where are we at?

This same question could be asked of the church. We hear people arguing “The church is not relevant to today’s society, it must change”

Not relevant, have a look at our society-I cannot think of a time where the church could be more relevant because I cannot think of a time were Christ’s undiluted promises and teachings could be more required. The fog is descending. In our world the lines are getting blurred. What is right and wrong? Is it what God says or society says?

Yes, Jesus knew our path would be periless and so he gave us this blue print to refer to. A blue print that is like looking into a mirror that shows us if we’ve been seduced and tricked into serving things other than God.

When the port Adelaide football Club joined the AFL, I remember watching the footy show, and having looked at their team, a team that on paper did not impress Sam Newman to the point that he remarked

“I honestly don’t think they will win a game”.

But six weeks later, Essendon great Tim Watson wrote that I don’t care who you barrack for, you cannot but admire these players.

What they lack in, they make up for with passion, commitment and bravery. Yet the next year, comparatively was a shocker and I said to my friend, I reckon someone’s told them how good they are

and I think they believed it. Because, they seemed to have stopped doing what had actually been behind their success, their passion, commitment and bravery and started relying on their skills. They got ahead of themselves.

Like Christians can get ahead of themselves, and become more reliant on themselves, and less on God.

So how does one get off this train to nowhere?

On our own we cannot. Just as the Holy Spirit brought us the gift of faith to our hearts and minds, so too does the Holy Spirit bring us the desire to live as a child of God, to turn our hearts and minds towards our Father and to rely on His promises and of the salvation given to us in Jesus.

The Lord does not offer grace like a salesman who says take this offer now or miss out because I won’t be offering it again this price. The Lord offers grace upon grace. Like to the fearing disciples, he meets us where we are at and brings us his love and gifts when we need them most yet deserve them least.

He turns our heart, gives us faith to understand that God can, and will supply not just our spiritual needs, but also our physical needs. We need not worry of these things. Gives us faith that knows God does and will provide us with food, clothing, shelter and life. With peace.

The same faith that is nurtured and brought spiritual food from the body and blood of our Saviour in Holy Communion.

Faith that accepts to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

Faith that gives us shelter in the Word of God, in Jesus and his Church.

Faith that knows we are given life in Baptism.

Faith that’s believes and clings to Christ’s words in Romans: “My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. The Father and I are one”.

Jesus has appeared to us carrying the visible marks of his crucifixion. Marks that show his victory of life over death that the wounds of our hearts might be healed.

That we will be his witness. Amen.

 

“Shades of grey”

John 20:19-31

“Shades of Grey”

The bible: the good news, the Word of God. The bestselling book of all time. Wikipedia estimates that somewhere between 2.5 billion to 6 billion copies have been sold and continuing to sell 25 million per year.

One book made up from a collection of 66 individual books that are studied and revered and are misinterpreted and despised. A book that is many things to many people.

A book of stories: My non-Christian friend, staying at a motel on a business trip some twenty five years ago. Remarked that being bored and with no company started reading the Gideon’s placed bible, and said “man that has got some good stories” Absolutely-each of them are potential Steven Spielberg blockbusters.

A book of History: Absolutely. The people, the times and places have been recorded and proven by archaeological and historical research.

A book of ethics: Even prominent, although balanced atheists will attest to the benefit of these teachings and instructions within society.

The book of a man named Jesus. An Adelaide radio identity remarked that while she does not have faith, she admires and respects Jesus, what he did and what he stood for. Stood up to the authorities, befriended the needy, led by example, was courageous-a good bloke that died because of his beliefs. Yep.

A book of power, that when manipulated or taken out of context has been be used as an excuse for ethics cleansing and countless atrocities.

A book of unity for those in Christ, yet a book that can see a group of theologians discuss a particular meaning for days, weeks, months or years. In which we can understand when we read the third to last paragraph in which we are told: Revelations 22, verse 18: “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to things, God will add to them the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away their part from the Book of life, from the holy city, and from things which are written in this book”.

Yes, this can be a heavy book. Never mind that Jesus had this habit of talking in riddles-parables.

His words of unchanging truths, yet adapt to our changes in circumstances-trials, tribulations, joys and sorrows. Words that talk to us: Words that convict us, so that we can be set free.

Yes, this is a book to read, re-read and read some more.

Yet this is a book that talks of the beauty of having the faith of a child. Mark Chapter 10 verse 14 “Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them: for to such belongs the kingdom of faith”.

The bible, like life can be confusing. I shared the supervision of about 60 people with another person. One of us saw everything in black and white, and the other in various shades of grey. One was if they do that and they’re sacked, one was but why did they do it and plus, we all stuff up at times.

The word of the Lord, some may stand on a soap box and holler to the ridiculing passer byers that they are dead in sin-doomed. Another may stand up and give the impression that God so loves us that sin does not matter. Although if I had to, I would say the second statement: except that sin does matter-that is why Christ died-because sin does matter.

This book, the Word of God is a book of genius. It covers all bases; it strives in every way, wriggling through every nook and cranny of our hearts and minds to bring us the truth.

And that truth: I mentioned once before that Luther said if you only read one Gospel, read John. Why? Because the book of John brings our call to Christianity, the call and mission for the church and the gospel in the most explicit and understandable ways.

And he also said, that John is the sum of the bible, or like a miniature bible: “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”.

Today’s Gospel scripture which most commentators write is the summary and conclusion of the book of John, which by extension is the summary of the whole bible, the whole Gospel message.

(and) what is that truth, the summary, conclusion or final Word. For a moment, hear and accept these words, the Words of God, said directly to each of you as individual’s: -verses 30 and 31: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are written in this book; but these are written that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name”.

That’s it: So I ask you: In reference to John 3:16 and John 20:31, do you believe that God gave us His Son to bring us forgiveness? and Do you believe that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God?

If yes, let me tell me you, no, actually let God tell you His reply “That believing, You have life in His Name”.

End of story-Amen.

 

Living lovingly.

 

Living lovingly in a world of hate

Sermon for the 7th Sunday of Easter,
Bible reading: John 17.

I love you sweetheart… you are so beautiful… I can’t wait to be back with you… I’ve nearly finished the assignment here… I’ve been telling everybody how wonderful you are … It’ll be so good not to have to be parted… to hold each other… not to let go… to dance together as close as possible… I love you so much… I love you too.

  It’s kind of embarrassing to walk in on a telephone conversation between lovers. That’s like what we’re doing here in John chapter 17. Jesus is speaking to his Father, whom he left to come to earth to be with us and love us and give his life for us, but now he is about to return to the Father he loves.

He speaks of the work he has completed. He speaks of the love the Father and Son share. He speaks of glorifying one another, that is doing what pleases each other, and therefore puts the other in the best light. Jesus only did what honoured his loving Father. He’s had to suffer for that. He will have to die for that. But you do that for the person you love the most. Jesus suffers and dies and shows how much God loves us all. Jesus knows his Father will honour him again in heaven.

It’s kind of embarrassing walking in on somebody praying to the God they know and love, like we see here. This prayer shows us a lot about the deeply loving relationship between Jesus and the Father. God is love, and here we see this amazing love of God as it beats eternally between the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. As we see Jesus praying we see the eternal dance of love in action. Here we see the Trinity working together bringing honour to one another by reaching out to give eternal life to people.

Jesus wants us to eavesdrop on his relationship with the Father, so we can learn how to relate to one another.

Don’t be embarrassed to walk in on Jesus praying. Watch him and learn from him. Listen to him as he prays in the Garden before his death, before his resurrection and Ascension to his loving Father. Learn all you can about this unity between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Learn all you can about this divine love. Listen to every word Jesus speaks through his entire ministry for he says: whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. Watch everything Jesus does for he says: whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

Why is it so important to listen to Jesus praying to his Father and speaking his word, and watch him doing his Father’s work? Because Jesus says the way the Father, Son and Spirit live in love and harmony is the way we are to live. His prayer for us is: that they may be one, as we are one. Jesus wants us to eavesdrop on his relationship with the Father, so we can learn how to relate to one another.

There are two pitfalls here. The first is that we think unity is something we have to do by trying harder to love one another, or being ecumenical. Unity is a gift God gives us when we are joined to Christ in Baptism. In baptism we are united with Christ in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. That is God’s gift of love to us. We can’t always see it, but because God gives it to us by grace in Christ, we believe it is so. Whoever has the Son, has life.

The second pitfall is that we think we have to maintain this unity by our own efforts – try harder to love people even though you really can’t stand them. Jesus’ prayer points us to the work of the Father for us.

Sixteen times in this chapter Jesus prays the words so that. That means he is speaking about outcomes, results he desires to see in us. Each time Jesus says what he or the Father will do so that the good results will flow into our lives. Listen to his prayer:

Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

This is another way of praying that we will all know and love God so much, and be so thankful to him for all he has done for us in Jesus, that we will always go to him in prayer, and find strength to love one another, even at times when we are under attack.

The wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, and they follow him, and no one can snatch them out of his hand.

As spokes of a wheel are attached to the axle, so we are attached to Jesus Christ and the Father, and through that we are kept safe and loved in a world of hatred.

All pastors of the District have attended the Ambassadors of Reconciliation conference these past weeks. There we have seen how the wolf leads to disunity in the church and breaks relationships and scatters Christians and destroys the church. We Christians are all sinners and like our first parents fall out with one another.

Where do we go when relationships break down? Too often we turn on one another in anger, and we turn to a lawyer for help … Jesus rather calls us to turn to God in prayer

Where do we go when relationships break down? Too often we turn on one another in anger, and we turn to a lawyer for help. The result most often is that relationships are severed, the people of God are hamstrung, the church of God is ridiculed by the world, and its witness to Jesus is torpedoed. Is this the way of God, revealed in Jesus’ prayer?

Jesus rather calls us to turn to God in prayer, and in the strength of God, to turn to one another in love and forgiveness. Jesus had done no sin, yet he allowed himself to be led to the cross to die for our sins, so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God and to one another. This is the Triune love that the Spirit of God pours into our hearts, so that we love one another, live in unity, and bring glory to God. This is the truth that Jesus dedicated himself to for our sake so that we may be dedicated or sanctified in truth.

There’s a final so that. Jesus prays for his church to be united in love like God:

So that the world may believe that you have sent me… so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me… As the Father has sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

Can you see the pattern God has in his love for the world?

God so loved the world he sent his only Son to love the world and die for its sins on the cross, so all who believe in him will have eternal life.

Then God takes all who believe in him and are saved and united in love to go into the world and live this new life of love, in the midst of all the broken relationships and hatred and litigation and apathy… so that world may see, and know and believe that through Jesus Christ there is a way to be saved, and in the church there is a new community of love and forgiveness, and there is a heavenly home, where we can all be with God and see his glory forever.

Don’t be embarrassed to see and hear the Triune God at love. Let God love you into loving, so that the world may see and know and believe, and God be glorified. Amen.

Do you know God?

Acts 17:22-31 The Unknown God???

{22) Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. {23} For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. {24} “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. {25} And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. {26} From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. {27} God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. {28} ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ {29} “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone–an image made by man’s design and skill. {30} In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. {31} For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”

     Today we have many people acknowledging AN UNKNOWN GOD. Most people will say they believe in God; but they do not really know him; who he is or what he is like; or take him all that seriously. This god is someone out there who has set the world in motion and then left it to run by itself; and is a god who will receive them all into heaven when their time is up here on earth.

Sadly we also have many today who claim that there is no God. They have hardened their hearts to such an extent, that their egotism will not allow even their conscience to remind them of the reality of the God who is there. They seek their meaning for existence in the goodness of humanity, but are all left in wonderment and despair.

However, just as in Athens of Paul’s day, so also we today have many objects of worship, but to the people who worship them, they have little connection to the true God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On Friday there was great reverence and crowds of people, all remembering the heroics of great men; and seeking to gain strength and courage for our nation from this. This is good, up to a point. We need to be thankful for those who lived and died for their nation. All Australians look up to and see many things as being that which will give us what we need for this life and beyond. However, all these form of reverence and idealism that do not have their basis in the One true God, are a problem and will leave us short of what we really need.

On top of that we have people religiously following Allah, Buda and many other similar gods and new age thinking. The thinking is that here is the one who should be worshipped. However, they are not the true and only God: The one who is the Lord of heaven and earth. So we cannot accept them as being on the same path to heaven, or tolerate them as a real expression of Christianity. They are religious, but worshippers of God Almighty himself.

Sadly, too often, even within Christian circles there are many people who are religious; but who do not know God. They know all kinds of facts about him, but they do not know him. Others believe and speak of a god and worship him, without understanding and accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came and died on the cross for our salvation. Others acknowledge God; but they make no attempt to listen to or heed what he has to say. Others think that the only way they will be acceptable to him, is to live up to a certain standard of “Christian life”

Here in the face of all of this religious thinking, the true God, through Paul, is proclaiming very clearly who he is. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. In other words he is the one and only true God that can be found anywhere. He is the Almighty God who is supreme over all. There are no other Gods besides him. He alone then is the one who is to be worshipped and glorified. He alone is the one who is to be looked up to and followed. Every other object of worship is a worthless idol and a distraction from what is right and true and in the end will prove disastrous.

This Lord of heaven and earth we are reminded here is not a God who is limited to churches, statues, books or anything else at all. As much as he is there in all of those things, he is much more and beyond anything that we could possibly make him to be. He is not a God who conforms to our limitations and thinking. He does not even need us to serve him. He is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4:6) He is as we learnt in our confirmation lessons; omni almost everything; unlimited by time, space, and in power, knowledge and understanding. His greatness is way beyond human understanding.

Yet as we heard in our Gospel reading today; he chooses to live with you and will be in you. (John 14:17) That is all who believe, trust and desire to live in him. Jesus goes on to say; I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:18-20) This great God has chosen to dwell with and in us human beings; his creation. Isn’t that something amazing!

Particularly when we remember that we are not the centre of the world. The world does not revolve around us; but the Almighty God is the centre of it all. He himself gives all men [all people] life and breath and everything else. And not just gives us life, but he determined the times set for us and the exact places where we should live. God did this so that all people would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. Even though he the Supreme Being he is at work in our lives and is close to us.

Even though we have sinned and chosen to go our own way, he allows troubles and hardships to be a part of our lives so that we would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him. He does not erase us from the face of the earth because of our selfish egotism, but works through all the mistakes we make and difficulties that are imposed on us by a sinful world. He is constantly seeking to draw us to himself; trying to make us aware that we need him and the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus won for us through his life, death and resurrection.

Through Jesus and his death on the cross and our connection to him and his death and resurrection, through our baptism we are assured that we are now God’s children. His Spirit now lives in us and goes with us as we live out our life day by day. We are God’s offspring.

Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone–an image made by man’s design and skill. Since he has done all of this for us and continues to live with us and in us, now we surely will treat him with much respect. We will trust him and take him seriously. He will mean much more to us than our money, material things and technology. We will not treat him as a possession or as one who should do what we want him to do.
Surely we will look up to him; wanting to live in a close personal relationship with him; wanting to be where he wants us to be and to do what he wants us to do. What is important to him will be important to us. He will be our Lord and our God.

Here let us not forget those other words that he spoke also. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. So we are reminded that he does look closely at who we are and what we think, say and do. His Son Jesus, who came into our world and died on the cross for us, will also come and judge us all on that last day. He knows if we have taken him seriously or not. He knows what we believe and whether we trust him and all that he has done for us. Take note; he knows and he judges.

So take heart; here we are reminded again that our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is for real. He is the Almighty Lord of heaven and earth. He is the only true God and he seeks to be not far from each one of us. He loves us, forgives us and made us his very own. Believe him. Trust in him; and take him seriously. For to him alone belongs all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Are you old enough?

 

Texts: John 14:2b
Jesus said,
“I am going to prepare a place for you”.

Isaiah 46:4
“I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you”.

                                        The Four B Club

A congregation has a group for elderly people. It meets in the church hall every fortnight and is well attended. It was a great time of fellowship and encouraging one another. It was called the Four-B Club. A newcomer to the group asked why it was called the Four-B Club. The answer was simple: The four Bs stand for Baldness, Bifocals, Bunions, and Bulge.

Growing older is something that affects every person on this planet, from the tiniest baby to the oldest person. Some of you are a long way from being a senior member of our society, but time will go fast and next thing you too will be wondering where the years have gone. We are all heading for the Four-B Club, that’s, if we are not there already. God created time when he created day and night, the seasons and the years. God created the days and years and said that it was very good.

But this good creation of God was affected when sin came into the world through the disobedience of the first man and woman. The passing of time began to have a negative effect on God’s creation. People and all things in this world began to show the signs of age. Time has been ticking away and everything you can see and feel and touch has been getting older. The process of aging that we are all familiar with changes people, animals and plants to the point that they became weak and eventually died.

In Psalm 90 the writer compares the shortness of human life to God who is from everlasting to everlasting. He says, “Seventy years is all we have— eighty years, if we are strong; yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow; life is soon over, and we are gone” (Psalm 90:10). Then the psalmist is quick to explain why our life is so short. It’s because of sin. Death is God’s judgement on sin and the brevity of our life has been brought about because of our rebellion against God.

The effect that time has on people is really obvious to us when we meet up with a family we haven’t seen for some time. We can hardly believe our eyes at the changes that have occurred. The children are all so grown up, the parents have aged and perhaps put on a little weight, their hair is a little greyer, or they have changed because of sickness or some other distressing time. Others say the same about us. As the saying goes, “Time doesn’t stand still for anyone”; we are all getting older.

As we journey through life there are significant moments that remind us that with age come changes in our lifestyles. We realise that a certain part of our life is gone, never to be recaptured or relived.
For instance, the day you completed your schooling may have been a day of rejoicing on the one hand, but on the other, it marked the end of a part of your life that will never be repeated.
What about the day your last child leaves home and you wonder where all the years have gone.
Or what about the day you retired realising that what you had done over so many years was now finished.
There are those defining moments when we realise that things will be different from now on. The passing of time has seen to that.

What can we do about this? Some people over the years have searched for the ‘fountain of youth’ or something similar that will wind back the clock and give them extended youthfulness. Some try to slow down the aging process with face-lifts, pills and potions that will give them a fresh face look. In our youth-oriented culture people have a fear of looking old.

The Greeks called the fear of old age ‘geraphobia’. Those who have geraphobia want to live longer and never grow old. In fact some people are highly insulted if reference is made to how old they are. To some degree we all suffer from geraphobia. We fear that one day we might end up in a nursing home, unable to feed ourselves or control our bodily functions, not able to remember anything and maybe not even recognise our family when they come to visit.

When the fear of growing old grips our hearts or we see what getting older is doing to our bodies, or we see what age is doing to those whom we love, how do we handle this? How can we see our aging in a positive way and growing older as something meaningful and acceptable?

Let me start in this way. If you visit the southern states during winter you would find that most of the trees lose their leaves and their branches are completely bare. If you didn’t know any better you would say they were dead. From the ground to the upper most branches there is not a green leaf in sight. But we know that the trees are not dead. You may not be able to see the life in the tree, but it is there, and that’s what is important. Without that life, the tree really would be only a piece of dead wood.

Our lives can be compared to the trees as they go through the seasons. As time goes on, just as the trees lose their beauty and look dead, so too it happens with us. Time marches on with us, the things we were once able to do become more difficult, events and people become memories, and as we approach the autumn of our lives we realise that a large part of our life is over.

But behind the dead looking limbs and branches there is still life, waiting to burst out in fresh, green life. We know that the resurrected Jesus has won for us eternal life with him in heaven. Time may be marching on for us now and we can’t do anything about it, and as much as we would like it to stop so that we can accomplish all that we would like to in the years we have left, we have the assurance that our dying is not the end of us, but the beginning of a glorious new spring.

We heard Jesus say to the disciples in today’s Gospel reading, “Do not be worried and upset. Believe in God and believe also in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1,2). Jesus is reminding us that even though we will go through the autumn and winter of our lives that doesn’t mean the end. There awaits all those who believe in Jesus as the way, the truth and the life a glorious spring where there is new life and new beginnings and a new home where there will be no such things as aging, the aches and pains that aging brings, or dying.

Though the writer of Psalm 90 is well aware of how his years are passing away and that nothing can recapture the years that have passed, nevertheless he is not pessimistic about life. He is not all doom and gloom when it comes to growing old. His confidence is in God. As he says at the very beginning of the psalm: Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Because God is eternal and gracious, because he will always be there and will always be our loving God, life has an enduring and lasting quality about it. The years may be passing away, but beyond this life and in spite of the grave, there is life through Jesus our Saviour.

As we wait for the day when we are called from this life to that glorious new spring, God promises, “I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you” (Isaiah 46:4). He states that his love for us will never fail and he is always ready to help us deal with all that growing older brings. We may not know what the future may bring but we do know that his promise stands, “I made you and I will take care of you even when you are old and your hair is gray”.

You see the Bible always looks at life in the context of God’s relationship with us. This applies to every stage of life including that time when we notice the changes that aging is bringing into our lives. Even if we do end up in a nursing home with our minds and bodies failing, God’s promise still stands. We can still rely on him to be our strength and help even when we are the frailest and even when our memory fails or our speech falters. He still promises, “I will give you help and rescue you”.

One of the problems of this world is that people no longer see their lives in a relationship with God. They have broken away from God. All too often life is seen as a once only cycle. We are born, we live, we grow old, and we die. And that’s it. Once you have reached the autumn years of your life, and approaching the lifeless winter, that’s all that can be expected from life. There are many people who face the passing years with a kind of hopelessness, a sense of purposelessness and aimlessness.

But when we view our life from God’s perspective we get a whole new outlook. Jesus wants nothing but happiness for us and has gone to extreme lengths to make sure that we are happy now and forever in eternity. He assures us that he is with us always and that when the time comes for us to leave this life he wants us to be in the place where he is – that is in heaven. And as we move toward the end of our earthly life he reminds us that he is our everlasting God who provides us with help and comfort as we face all the fears and worries that growing older brings. He provides us with the reason for wanting to make the most of the time we have in this life, enjoying life, and serving and helping others in the way that only those can who have experienced the passing of the years.

Whether we are talking about getting our first job, or taking up new studies or an apprenticeship as a young worker, the responsibilities of being parents and the anxieties this brings as you watch your children grow from babies to young adults, or your own lapses of memory, failing strength, the wrinkles that worry you, your concern over your middle age spread, all are signs that we are all getting older, that we are passing from one season to the next.

One day baldness, bifocals, bunions, and bulge will become characteristic of people in your age group. When that day comes let’s greet it with a song of praise on our lips rather than moans and groans.
We have a God who is faithful to his promises and will take care of us and help us even when our hair is gray.
We thank God that he sees wrinkles and unsteady steps as something beautiful.
We praise God that the winter of our life will give way to the glorious new spring of eternity.

Amen. 

What’s in a name?

The Lord’s Prayer

Psalm 23

 I grew up on a farm in the mid-north of South Australia.  We milked a few cows, had several horses, fed the chooks, turkeys and some pigs, but most of all we had lots of sheep.  Sometimes a sheep died giving birth to a lamb, or gave birth to twins or even triplets, but only cared for one.  We would take the abandoned lamb home and it became a pet lamb. One of the first things we did when we brought a new lamb home – apart from feeding it with a baby’s bottle – was to give it a name.  That made it different from all the other sheep – it had a name.  It was special.  The others out in the paddock were just sheep, but this pet lamb was like a member of our family.

You are special to God because you have a name, the name you were given on the day of your baptism when you became a member of his family. God never forgets you! You are special to him.

The pet lamb would follow us kids about the yard and sometimes get so close it would get between our legs and almost trip us kids up.  In the Biblical pictures of the shepherd and the sheep the shepherd is always out in front, and the sheep follow.  Sometimes we want to go off with our own selfish plans in life and expect Jesus to follow and clean up behind us.  For a healthy spiritual relationship Jesus is out in front and, like the pets, we follow along behind in trust.

Another difference between the pet lamb and all the other lambs is that the one we took home had no future.  It had no mother and it would soon have died if we didn’t care for it and feed it.  It was out of concern for the lamb’s future we took pity on it and took it into our family.

God chose you and me out of loving concern for our future.  We had no future.  We were spiritually dead.  We had no love or trust in our heavenly father.  Out of a deep loving concern God took us into his family where we enjoy spiritual life now, the way a little pet lamb calls out to its owners – so in our limited way we call out to the Father, and we talk to Jesus and we talk with the Holy Spirit.  It is a special family relationship we now enjoy.  Today we thank God for this caring relationship.

Some of you might never have experienced life on a sheep farm and might never have cared for a pet lamb.  But you probably have a pet – a cat, or two or three, or a pet dog.   You have names for them. They are like a member of your family.  You talk to them, and sometimes they take notice.  If you arrived home today and found your pet had gone missing, you’d drop everything and start searching.  You’d give up your plan to go and watch Collingwood.  The younger folk would be text-messaging their friends to come to help in the search.  We’d tell our neighbours.  And when we found the pet we’d be so excited we’d invite everyone in for a beer and have an impromptu party.  If we care so much for a pet, think how much God cares about you!  When we say, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ it means we are like one of God’s family and he cares deeply about each one of us.

In the cold and freezing weather in Winter I’ve known of pets being given a little pet pullover to wear, just like their owner.  In a similar way God’s Spirit dresses his children up to look like their owner, Jesus Christ.  I like the Bible passage (Galatians 3 v 27 in the Good News version):
“You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.”
Sometimes people say:  “Come to God just the way you are!”  This is true and makes a good point, but there is more.  The Spirit dresses one up in the best life ever lived, in the life of Jesus.  It is the life God is pleased with, one that is perfect and full of loving concern for other people.  One couldn’t be better dressed.  Look around you at the others here this morning, dressed up by God in the life of Jesus!

I like reading old letters people wrote home about 150 years ago after coming to Australia from Europe.  When Johann Mirtschin wrote his first letter home to Saxony in the 1850’s he first waited several years because his experiences were far worse than anyone ever expected.  If they’d have known I think they would never have made the journey.  In his first letter Johann wrote what I consider to be a very astute observation:  “Everybody has brought his wicked heart with him and therefore he must continually fight against it.”

Everyone brings their faults with them.  Luther said a Christian is always a perfect saint and a sinner during this life here on earth.  One has the pure and perfect life of Jesus to wear, as though one had lived it one’s self – a special gift from God.  And underneath one wears one’s  selfish human nature.  Luther compared it to an old bag of bones on one’s back where everyone else can see it but one isn’t aware of it one’s self.  One can clearly see everyone else’s selfishness and evil.

So Christians come in confession.  To use the analogy of a sheep it is like a sheep being shorn.  After the shearing one sees the pure white coat with maybe a few tinges of blood, and all the prickles and dirt are taken away.  Don’t the sheep look great out in the green pastures after they’ve been shorn!  In spiritual terms the words of absolution cleanse one to be as white as snow.  The key purpose of Confession (and Lent) is to focus on the pure white clothing of Jesus that we wear.

But underneath the selfish heart is still lurking and causing hurts to others.  Sometimes it means trouble.  As the wool grows it picks up more dirt and prickles.  One might begin to despair of one’s self.  To give up.  Even think about leaving the flock.

What does God do?

In loving concern for his sheep the shepherd prepares a special meal and welcomes his children to the Table.  On the surface one sees nothing great.  A wafer of bread and a sip of wine, but in the special meal he gives one the living Jesus Christ. The one who was sacrificed out of love, and the one who is risen.  The Spirit feeds his people and strengthens the Christ who lives in us.  The Christ who lives in you is stronger than any of the faults that lurk within us, like our sin and selfishness. Christians are always both saints and sinners in this world, until death comes.

When our pet lambs grew up and were too big to live in our house yard we put them out in the paddock with a flock of other sheep.  It was a warm experience whenever we drove into that paddock.  The flock would move away from us as we drove up to them, but the pet sheep would leave the flock and come over to us to be patted. When we sold that flock of sheep to the abattoirs we always took Sally and put her in with some other sheep that were staying on our farm.  If we care like that about a pet lamb, think how much more the Good Shepherd cares about you.

When our ancestors left their families and friends to come to Australia the parting must have been a bit like a funeral.  They would likely never see one another again and must have felt the sadness we feel when we are separated from a loved one.  I think going to a funeral is like standing on the beach and saying ‘goodbye’ as a little old wooden sailing ship sails away into the distance with one’s loved one on board.  The little wooden boat gets smaller and smaller, until one sees only the cross of the mast and the cross bar – like the cross of Christ – and then it is gone.  Completely out of sight!  And one gets upset.  Naturally.  The parting is a terrible catastrophe for us who can’t see over the horizon.

But the truth is:  the little ship is still there, over the horizon and still sailing along.  God, from his unique position can see over the horizon.  Jesus the Good Shepherd knows the way.  He is in complete control.  Jesus has been this way before.  It is the way to the Father’s home.  In the father’s home life is so different and much more wonderful than one can ever begin to imagine.  St Paul was given a glimpse of heaven and he said there are no human words to describe it.

I believe some pets, when it is freezing Winter weather, have been known to sleep on their master’s bed!  Maybe it happens in your home in the cold Winter months.  While the normal sheep are freezing out in the cold westerly winds that can howl through these parts, a pet lamb is resting and even sleeping in the arms of the Good Shepherd in the Master’s own home.  That is a picture of you and me and our future.  We are going on a journey overseas to our final home.  You and I can say with the psalmist:
“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Amen.

Feeling trapped?

Text: Luke 24:13-19
On that same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?”
They stood still, with sad faces. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have been happening there these last few days?” “What things?” he asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.

THE POWER OF HOPE.

  A few years ago a railway worker accidentally locked himself in a refrigerator car. He searched the carriage for a possible way to break out. Banged on the walls and door. All to no avail. He resigned himself to the fact that he would never get out alive. As he felt his body becoming numb with cold he took a pencil out of his pocket and recorded the story of his approaching death. He scribbled on the walls of the car: “I am becoming colder… still colder… I am slowly freezing… half asleep – these may be my last words.”

When the carriage was opened the man was found dead, but the temperature of the car was normal. Officials found that the freezing mechanism was out of order and that there was plenty of fresh air available. There was no physical reason why the man had died. It was concluded that he had died because he had believed that he would die. He had lost all hope.

Hope can be a very fragile thing. Discouragement, confusion, doubt and a series of negative events can esily destroy hope.

Two men are walking down a road. Two confused, dejected, sad men. They had been followers of Jesus. They had seen his power; they had great hopes that this man was the one who had been promised by God. As they walked along they used words like, “We had hoped that he would be the one who would set Israel free but now he is dead. He’s been dead for 3 days now and we have heard reports that even his body is missing from the tomb.”

These men had heard reports of the women who had found the tomb empty and how the angels had said he was alive.
“If only….!
If only that were possible!
If only it were true!
Now this walk down this road is full of emptiness, it’s mindless, we’re not really going anywhere, we’re just walking. Two men walking down a road….”.

When hope withers, it’s difficult to revive.
We need to note the number of people who take their own life because despair and discouragement have sucked the last bit of hope out of their lives.
When someone you love and care for is overtaken by a serious illness, which goes on, and on, despair sets in. It almost becomes impossible to hope for recovery. You may even be afraid to hope because you believe that you couldn’t cope with another letdown.

Have you ever walked like that? Feeling empty inside, churned up because of the way things have turned out. Kind of walking aimlessly, wondering what it’s all about really? It feels like the bottom has fallen out of your world. The things you had pinned your hopes on, the dreams you had, the expectations – shattered. Have you ever walked down that road, the road to nowhere?

These two men walking with all hope dashed to pieces don’t even recognise Jesus when he starts to walk right beside them.
Could it be that they were so despondent that they didn’t even look up?
Could it be that they were so preoccupied with their unanswered questions, so filled with the feeling of hopelessness that they weren’t able to see what they so desperately wanted to see, right alongside of them?
Could it be that the last three days had been so dark, so full of despair that their hearts were filled with so much darkness that they couldn’t even see the light that was walking every step of the way with them?

I wonder how often we walk along the road of life often with more downs than ups not realising that’s Jesus is walking there right beside us. We are so overwhelmed with our circumstances, so focussed on what has sucked the energy and life out of us, wondering why Jesus hasn’t done something to help us, that we don’t see him walking with us. We say with those disciples, “We had hoped… that things would turn out differently. If only Jesus would be here with us at least we would be feeling so lost and feeling helpless and hopeless. If only …!”

We know what he did, we know what he said, we know the promises he made, but sometimes we walk down that road and all that seems so distant and removed and unrelated. But regardless how we feel Jesus walks right beside us and we don’t even know it!

As those disciples plodded on, a stranger, Jesus himself, joined them and listened to them!  He sees their despondent looks and hears their saddened voices and immediately asks them what it is that they are talking about. He says nothing more and just listens to them! The triumphant, risen, glorious Christ travelled incognito and listened to their fears, doubts and tentative hopes.

In our twisted way of thinking, we believe that very important people do not listen to us. They speak with us and more often they talk at us. The more dignified the person, the more we are supposed to shut up and listen.

But Jesus said, “Tell me what it is that is troubling you?” And then he listened to them. And they talked how everything that could go wrong had. Life was a bummer. Evil people were the winners and good people were the losers. Jesus of Nazareth, the most wonderful and most grace-full person they had ever met, had been brutally executed. How could God allow this to happen? Why didn’t Jesus use his power to stop this atrocity?  “We had such high hopes for Jesus, but now, well, what is left to hope for?”As they unburdened themselves, Jesus listened. A good friend is not someone who just soaks up all the burdens and troubles of someone else but wants to restore hope. And so when they had finished it was the stranger’s turn to talk and he took up what they had been saying and helped them to see that this is far from a hopeless situation. He reminded them of the way God had walked with his people in the past through the wilderness and then with the prophets as they faced all kinds of hopeless situations. He tried to help them see that the events of the past few days were all part of a much bigger plan – the plan to save all humanity. It might seem that evil had won the day and that everything seemed hopeless. That was far from the truth. Jesus died and rose to restore hope for all those who are despondent and upset.

As he helped them make sense of all that had gone wrong, life did not seem so devastatingly pointless any more. It was as if someone had turned on a light in a dark room; their hearts no longer felt desperately cold; hope started to resurrect within their own being.  Later they remembered this and said, “Wasn’t it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road?” This is the fire of hope being rekindled in their hearts. Not all was doom and gloom. There was more yet to come.

God speaks to us when we are down and almost out and as we listen we find that what he has to say suddenly takes on a new relevance and we can see that there is hope. God is a great giver of hope and Jesus’ resurrection gives us an even greater hope. Jesus is our living Lord who is committed to walking with us and helping us to endure all things. He tells us that nothing can separate us from his love – nothing in all creation and beyond. He tells us that we can be contented and at peace even when there are things that threaten us and our safety. But all this can only happen if we listen. Having poured out our hearts we need to listen, rather than continuing to complain about our hurts and fears and doubts.  That is true of discipleship in our world today just as much as it was on that road to Emmaus.

Hope is a powerful thing. I remember reading about an experiment that was done with rats. They were placed in a container of water. The rats couldn’t get out and after 17 minutes drowned. Another group of rats were placed in the water and just as they were about to give up they were rescued. Some time later those same rats were placed in the water again. This time they swam for 36 hours because, it is believed, they were always hopeful that they would be rescued. And they were.

If that can happen to rats how much more are we able to have hope in the face of inexplicable events. We have a living Saviour who gives us the certainty that, come what may, his love and his understanding of what we are going through will never stop. Even if the events in our lives lead to our death, we know for certain there awaits us a life in heaven that is so wonderful that it defies description. The apostle Paul made the point that it doesn’t matter what may come his way, and he certainly did endure some gruelling times, he was always confident that he will have the strength to endure because of the power of Christ that lived in him. This gave him hope in the most hopeless situations.

The road to Emmaus is a symbol of the Christian life. This story is about ordinary despair, and ordinary Monday-morning drudgery. It is a story about meeting a stranger, hearing his words of comfort, sitting down at table and sharing a meal. This is story about the meaning of Easter for us. It enables us to see that the risen Lord gives hope and joy, when all we see is disappointment, discouragement and despair. It enables us to see the world, not as a place of death, decay, and defeat, but as a place waiting, groaning toward God’s final victory.

You can imagine how these two men told their story with some embarrassment at first, and how later they probably were able to tell it with a bit of a laugh at themselves, “We were so dumb! We were so wrapped up in our disappointment and sadness, so turned in on ourselves and our heads so low that we didn’t see who was walking with us. There he was, right beside us. We were talking about him, I mean to him about him, but we didn’t recognise him. But now we know. Now we know where to look. Now we know the impossible is possible – with him”.

This story about the walk to Emmaus is a story for every day life in 2008. If you are walking the Emmaus road right now or when you will walk it in the future filled with disappointment, disillusionment, discouragement and despair – let’s remember we are not walking alone. The risen Jesus is walking with us. With Jesus walking with us our road will become a great highway of companionship, trust and hope.
Amen

Bearing the scars?

Text: John 20:19,20
Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

SCARS AND THE RESURRECTION

  All of us have scars and I would say that everyone at some time has taken great delight telling others how they got a particular scar. I once made the mistake in a kids’ talk asking them if they had any scars. The talk was hijacked by the kids as they gave graphic details how they got certain scars and delighted in showing them to everyone else. Sometimes when visiting folk in hospital it’s not unusual for a patient to want to show you a scar. Sometimes there is just a bit too much information as the covers are rolled back and the story is related about ‘the scar’.

Often a scar is there for a life time. It is a reminder of what happened the day we received that injury, the pain, the blood, the visit to the doctor and the stitches. A scar can remind us of an operation, an injury and our foolishness that caused it.

Some of us have scars that are not visible on the outside. We have been scarred in our hearts, and these scars remind us of certain hurts and times in our lives that we would prefer to forget. They are even more hurtful than those on the outside of our body.

The story is told of a little boy whose mother let him out of the car under a big tree and told him she would return but never did.

This man is now middle aged. One day a friend was to meet him for lunch. He arrived 15 minutes late and found his friend in a state of high agitation, pacing about, perspiring heavily, visibly upset. It seemed a little bit of an over-reaction since his friend was only 15 minutes late.

Later he said to his friend, “I know why I get so bent out of shape when someone is late but I just can’t help it. My mother kept me waiting under a tree all afternoon. And she never, ever returned. I just can’t stand it when someone I care for is late”.

He was no longer a kid but the scars that he received early in his life still affected him badly. I’m sure that all of us recognise certain inner scars that we carry. I quote, “We are very much largely shaped by others, who, in an almost frightening way, hold our destiny in their hands. We are, each of us, the product of those who have loved us or refused to love us (John Powell, Why Am I Afraid to Love?). And how true! We hear stories every so often of people who have been treated children badly in their early years and how this has scarred them for life. Most psychological scars are acquired in the first seven years of our life, and inflamed by circumstances occurring later in life. This scarring can lead to bazaar behaviour later in life. The point is that to be human is to have scars. And scars are the result of sin in one way or another.

In today’s gospel reading, the risen Christ appears in a room that is locked tight and shows himself to his despondent disciples. He spoke to them, as he had spoken so often before, saying “Peace.” But they don’t recognise that this is really Jesus. In fact, Luke reports that when the disciples first see Jesus, “They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost.” Luke goes on. Jesus says, “Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see I have (Luke 24:37-39). Luke describes Jesus eating with the disciples, something not done by ghosts. There can be no doubt about it – Jesus is standing there in the room in the flesh. He is genuine human being. They saw, they touched and they believed.

John says the same thing in our Gospel reading to day, “He showed them his hands and his side (John 20: 20). He showed them his scars and then, only then, when they saw, they rejoiced.

Thomas shows up a little later. He wasn’t with the other disciples for the Easter appearance. The other disciples tell him of the risen Christ, but Thomas says, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). Perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on Thomas. He isn’t just being obstinate. He is going through the same concerns as the other disciples had. In effect he is saying, “I can’t believe that it’s Jesus unless I touch his scars because the Jesus I know was nailed to a cross and has wounds in his hands and feet.” Thomas is finding it hard to believe the report of his friends that they had seen Jesus – the same Jesus whom he knew to be dead.

A week later, the risen Christ again surprises the disciples. Thomas is there this time and Jesus obliges, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put in into my side,” says the risen Christ, “Stop doubting, and believe” (John 20:37) Thomas and the other disciples believe when they see Jesus’ scars. It seems that the gospel writers are deliberately making a connection between belief in the risen Christ and the scars of Christ. You see, the risen Christ could have erased the scars that he received from the nails and spear, not to mention the scars from the terrible whips that tortured his body. In fact, we would expect that the risen Christ would have the perfect body and no scars.
But the risen Christ has scars.
This person appearing before them is the very same Jesus they love and who died on the cross.
The scars on his body make it quite clear who this person is. It is by these scars that Jesus was recognised and the disciples were overjoyed.

There is a story about Odysseus near the end of the book The Odyssey (written by Homer about 8th century BC) when Odysseus finally returns home after being away for a long time. He has heard that there were certain men who were very fond of his wife and wanted to find out how faithful she was to her husband. He disguises himself disguised as an old beggar; nobody recognises him at home, including his own wife and son. That night just before bed the elderly nurse, who cared for him as a child, bathes him. She thinks she is merely bathing an old stranger who visits for the night. But while bathing him, she recognises a scar on Odysseus’ leg, the same scar she remembers from his infancy. She didn’t recognise him until she saw the scar.

Jesus tells us to look at his hands and feet, reach out and put our hand in his side, to see his scars, and to believe and be filled with joy. The scars on Jesus’ body give us several messages.

Early in the history of the Christian Church, there were those who claimed that Jesus didn’t really suffer on the cross, didn’t really live as we must live on this earth. He only appeared to suffer; only appeared to be human. It was unthinkable that the Son of God could have lowered himself to such a degree.

No! The church said. Jesus was God and he was fully human. The divinely risen Christ bore human scars. Only a wounded God can save. The first letter of Peter goes so far as to say, “by his wounds you have been healed (1 Pet 2:24).

Scars are part of our life as humans. Jesus received scars because he was truly human. Even after the resurrection we must still say he is truly human. As we heard from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was keen on demonstrating to his disciples that he wasn’t a ghost or an invention of their imagination. He told them to look at his hands and feet and said, “Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones (and we might add: holes in my hands and feet where I was pierced by nails), as you see I have (Luke 24:39). Christ was truly human, even after the resurrection.

Jesus makes a point of showing his scars both to the disciples on Easter Day and a week later in the presence of Thomas. The risen Christ wants to show that the resurrection doesn’t make the cross meaningless. There is an interconnectedness between the cross and the empty tomb. There are some Christians who only want to know the glorified and risen Jesus. They know he died on a cross but that isn’t relevant now because he is alive again. Their image of Christ is a Christ in glory with his raised in blessing over the church and the world. The scars are there but they are hardly noticeable on the king with a golden crown and royal robes.

The post resurrection appearances highlight that the resurrected Christ is the one who died for us. He wants us to always keep before us that even though he has been raised the fact remains that he suffered and died, receiving horrible scars because of our sin.

That is why churches have crucifixes on their altars. As we look at the figure of Christ with nails through his hands and feet we are reminded what wounds he suffered for us, for our sinfulness. His scars remind us of the forgiveness won for us on the cross.

As we gaze at the wounds of the resurrected Christ we realise that here we have someone who knows what it means to suffer. Here is a person who has not removed himself to a high and mighty place in heaven and no longer feels for those who are hurting. He is our Saviour who hurts when we are hurting, who agonises with us in our pain, and sympathises with us in our weakness (Hebrews 4:15). As we suffer scars of pain and hurt in our lives, we know we have a Saviour who knows what it is like to bear the scars of suffering.

The scars on the body of the resurrected Christ tell us that even though we share in the new life in Christ, our scars are still with us. When a young woman became a Christian she told, “If you are a Christian, a real Christian, you will always feel joy and peace in your heart. Jesus heals all of our sicknesses and overcomes all of our hurts.” But she felt a great sadness, even after becoming a Christian. She had been abused as a child. Yes, her Christian faith brought her much joy, but she still carried the scars.

So did the risen Christ. Even Jesus who had conquered death still bore the scars of his suffering. And I would suppose that when Jesus ascended to heaven, he still carried those marks of the nails with him. We carry scars physical, emotional and even spiritual. The way we carry those scars and bear them through our life will show to others the faith that we have and witness to others that the resurrected Lord is very real to us. Jesus’ scars bore witness to the fact that he had been crucified on a cross and that he was alive and very real to his disciples, and likewise our scars are to bear witness to the power of Jesus in our lives.

As we celebrate Jesus’ glorious resurrection from the dead, today we are reminded to look at his hands and feet. May we also gaze on those scars and be overjoyed that Christ suffered those wounds for us and rose again as the victor over sin and death. He has shown us his scars “that (we) might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing (we) may have life in his name” (John 20:21).
Amen.

Relationships – The Passion of Christ

Relationships – The Passion of Jesus

John 17:20-26 (010)

I would find it a very interesting exercise to ask each of you what you are passionate about.  What are the things that excite you and stir you up?  What do you like to get involved in and talk about?  What are you willing to devote time and money and energy to?

People can be passionate about all kinds of things – sport, politics, homes, families, work, hobbies, cars, helping others, cleanliness, health, clothes, the environment, music, movies, travel – just about anything.  And because we’re all very different people, with different interests, gifts, abilities, skills, feelings, life experiences and personalities – we can all have different passions.

That’s one reason why it can be difficult for us at times to work together as Christians and as Christian churches.  We’re very diverse people and we can have different passions and interests even within our ministries as God’s people.

So one of the really important things for us as God’s people is to focus on what we have in common – what makes us the “one holy Christian church” here on earth.  And then, rather than thinking about our passions, we can think about Jesus and his passions, because that just may have an influence on us and what we do and say as we serve wherever God has called us to.

So what was Jesus passion?  What was important for Jesus?  What was so critical for him that he was prepared to die for it?

The last few hours before his crucifixion give us a clue.  It had been a busy week, starting with a dramatic entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey.  There were big crowds, cheering, shouting, waving palm branches, and throwing their coats on the road for him to ride over.

There was an argument in the temple with the money changers.  The religious leaders demanded him to answer their questions.  There was a unique meal with his disciples in an upper room where he spoke intensely about what was to happen to him.  And then a quick exit into a garden to pray.

One moment he was talking, teaching, sharing – the next moment he was pouring out his heart to his Father.  It was a prayer of deep intimacy and great intensity.  An urgent and impassioned plea to God for his people.

Father, may they be one as we are one (v1).  Father, you are in me and I am in you, may they be in us so that the world will believe that you sent me (v21).  Father, may they be brought to complete unity (v.23).  Father, may the love you have for me be in them (v26).

            This is a prayer of passion.  This is what is on his heart.  This is why he’s been sent.  This is the goal he has before him.

            Jesus may well have been passionate about many things and many people – but this prayer highlights what he wants to see and have happen more than anything else.  It’s a passion for unity.  That’s what he wants – unity among his people.  Harmony in relationships is what is really on his heart.

            This prayer of Jesus breathes relationship, fellowship and intimacy.  It’s an intimacy first of all between the God the Father and Jesus.  It’s a special and unique relationship: Everything you have given me comes from you (v7).  All I have is yours and all you have is mine (v10).  You in me and I in you (v21).  Here we catch a glimpse of an astonishing relationship between Father and Son.  This prayer reflects the intimacy of the Trinity.

And we hear Jesus’ greatest desire – that his followers enjoy the same kind of relationship – that they can be in a close and intimate relationship with him and with each other.  That’s his passion and the central focus of his prayer.  That’s what he wants to see more than anything else.

            The relationship between the Father and the Son is the example for all Christian relationships.  It’s the standard that we have before us.  It’s the model for marriages and families.  It’s the model for small groups and meetings and committees and teams within churches.  It’s the model for relationships within and between local congregations.  It’s the example for the world-wide body of Christ.

            That’s Jesus passion.  His desire is that the respect, the cooperation and the depth of relationship enjoyed by him and his Father, might be what we experience in our relationship with him and other people.

            That was God’s purpose in creating people – so that we could live in peace and harmony, and have good relationships with others.  Imagine then how God felt when sin came into the world.  His dream was destroyed.  Relationships were broken, intimacy was smashed, trust was annihilated and unity was wrecked.

            Where are you? God asked Adam in the Garden of Eden.  What have you done?  And he asked the same of Cain after he’d killed his brother Abel.  His children, whom he’d given everything that they’d needed, had hurt him.  He didn’t create them for brokenness and division.  He created them, and us, so that we could have fellowship, security and joy in our relationships with him and others.

            That’s not how things worked out.  So Jesus, knowing the ache and pain in his Father’s heart, left his Father’s side to walk the dusty paths of Palestine that led him to the cross.  He came to make it possible for relationships to be restored, restored between God and people, and between people themselves.

That’s the core of the Gospel message.  That’s what Jesus agonised over in the garden of Gethsemane.  That’s why he was so prepared to face all that he did.  That’s why he was so passionate about doing something.  All so that healing could take place in our relationships.

            The price we pay for something gives us an idea of its value.  The price that Jesus paid so that there might be healing and health and security in our relationships, gives us a pretty clear idea of how much he values us as people united in love and fellowship.

            That’s where his passion lies.  That’s what’s important for him.  And that says something vitally significant about how we can grow and develop our passions.

In his passion for restored relationships, Jesus spent time with people – especially those people who were rejected by society at large.  He argued against the traditions of his day – especially when it meant people’s needs were disregarded as a result.  He had no desire to build an organisation – but he felt strongly about people being part of a family, about them being welcomed and made to feel at home.  He didn’t come to put a program of ministry in place or give us seven or twelve steps to follow to be a healthy church, but to show mercy and give forgiveness to sinners.

            That doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with traditions or organisations or programmes or working through steps to better life and growth in the church.  It just means that what’s more important than all of them put together is us having healthy relationships.  Father may they be one as we are one.  That’s Jesus’ passion.

            So what does that say about what’s important for us.  We may have or develop interests or passions in lots of different kinds of ministries or service in our churches.  They are a variety of things that we can do as we use our gifts and as we meet the needs in our churches and community.

            But if in the process we ignore or take for granted what Jesus’ greatest passion is, and not take that on board as the basis for our thinking, praying and planning – then whatever we do won’t be too effective.  We might get a job done, we might meet a deadline or a budget, we might even achieve all our objectives and meet all our goals – but if we’re content to let our relationships with others take second place, then we’re spoiling God’s plan for his people here.

            As hard as we work, we’re never going to have perfect relationships here.  Our churches, our congregation, our families, will always have struggles and challenges, and we’ll all make mistakes and make a mess of things at times.  But the same Jesus, who cried in the garden and prayed for our unity, also gives us what we need to work at our relationships so that we can continue to be effective.  He provides us with his help, his patience, his wisdom, and his grace and forgiveness – especially when we run low on ours.

            He not only had this passion for healing relationships when he walked this earth.  He still has it now.  And so he gives us all we need so that we can be working on building our relationships every day.  We’re not left to our own devises and strength, but can receive power to do what may seem at times the impossible.

            Jesus committed himself to us so that we can grow our relationships with others.  That’s his passion.  That’s his desire.  That’s what he wants to see happen more and more in his church.

            And as we explore our particular passions and work out our individual commitments, we can have that as the basis for our ministry and service.  We can grow in having quality relationships with others, because that’s what Jesus empowers us to do.  Amen.

Pastor Mark Leischke