The Text: Matthew 18:15-20
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
We’re all in the same boat. In one sense that’s quite literally what it means to be part of the church. We share a common situation. Despite our many differences, there are some important things that we all share. For instance we share the fact that we’re all going to die one day. We have that in common with all people.
We’re all sinners. That’s another thing that we have in common with all people. We belong to the church because God has graciously and mercifully gathered us in.
That’s something that we have in common with each other, and which is available to all people, although they might not know that God wants to gather them also.
We’re all in the same boat, which is God’s church. It’s a classic image. That classic image of the church is of a ship, like Noah’s ark, a life boat. That’s why the main part
of the church occupied by the congregation is called the nave. That name is
related to words like naval and navy since the church is a ship. It’s a kind of life raft.
We’re all in the same boat, because God has brought us into the church, and it’s helpful to acknowledge that and think about that.
For example, we could reflect on what people in a lifeboat have in common. Now the point of common ground with people in a life raft is not that they’re good enough in some way, but rather that they need to be rescued and protected from the waters of destruction. People in life rafts don’t get to choose who they have in the boat with them. This is helpful in reminding us that the church is a rescue vessel.
It’s full of people that God has hauled in. It’s full of people who need God’s love, mercy and forgiveness. Or, to put it another way, the church is full of sinners, with no exceptions. That’s one of the important things that we all have in common in the
church.
If we have that in mind we can more easily understand and take to heart what
Jesus says in today’s gospel lesson. We shouldn’t be surprised that sinners sin. That’s what they do. Sometimes the sin of someone else in the church will be hurtful or obvious to us. Jesus deals with the question of what do we do when a brother or a sister in Christ sins against us, or when we become aware of a brother or sister sinning. Jesus gives a gracious approach since we’re together in this lifeboat for the long haul and no one is supposed to get lost. Jesus gives us a way of moving forward since we’re stuck with each other and no one is supposed to fall out or be pushed out. Jesus gives a template for restoring relationships, for reconciling people, and his approach describes being proactive, has a strong bias towards forgiveness, and calls for patience and discretion.
In the large Catechism, Luther refers to these verses when he talks about not
bearing false witness against your neighbour. Luther understands that Jesus is ruling out and opposing all gossiping and backstabbing. He says “Let this be your rule, then, that you should not be quick to spread slander and gossip about your neighbour but admonish them privately so that they may amend. Likewise, if someone should whisper to you what this or that person has done, teach them, if they saw the wrongdoing, to go and reprove the person in person, otherwise to hold their tongue.” An important point of graciousness here is to maintain our brother or sister’s honour while correcting them. If they listen to you, you’ve gained your brother or sister. Then you’ll have done a great and excellent work. It’s really amazing that Jesus has put this precious healing gift – his forgiveness – into our hands.
Jesus’ concern for correctness according to the law is secondary to his concern for union with one another in him. That becomes obvious when we look at what he says in this text, and in the texts around it in Matthew’s gospel.
Just before this teaching, on what to do about a Christian brother or sister who
might sin against us, Jesus powerfully declares how precious everyone is to his heavenly Father. Just after this text Jesus teaches about forgiving without limit, since we are forgiven beyond measure. Then we have our text, which starts off with the quietest and most personal approach to restoring relationships.
The goal is restoration. First there is the discrete, personal approach. If that
approach is exhausted without success, then a couple of other trusted people may be involved. Only if that attempt is exhausted without success is the congregation involved as a whole. The goal is for restoration, forgiveness, building up. There’s certainly no rush to cut people off, and we know that Gentiles and tax collectors were certainly not beyond the reach of forgiving love. Even at the end of all the options for talking sense, if it gets to that, the door is not closed.
Jesus’ means for us to always take the default position that we are brothers and sisters in his love, rather than enemies. Doors are to be opened rather than closed.
Bridges are to be built rather than fences and barriers.
If a fellow Christian sins against us, they are an erring brother or sister, not an enemy, and forgiveness is available to them, just as we are freely and richly forgiven.
Forgiveness is available to restore relationships, and to build unity and fellowship again. Jesus urges us to see a brother or a sister rather than an enemy. In fact he urges us all to see one another as we are – sinners who are dearly loved, who are precious to God, who are forgiven.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, remember that you are also sinners. We all stink of sin and death. It’s only because of the cleansing, freshening, life giving effect of Christ that we can live together at all. But not only can we live together, in Christ’s name we can do more than anyone would imagine, given who we are. In our sinfulness we’re no different from anyone else in the church, nor indeed from anyone outside the church. By God’s boundless favour we’ve been lifted into this lifeboat, this fellowship that exists thanks to Christ’s reconciling love.
We’re all in the same boat together with our gracious Lord, Jesus Christ. We’re
sinners who are freely forgiven for Jesus’ sake. God has given us the opportunity to know and experience the life-giving love of God in Christ Jesus. He honours us as guests at his table. We’re loved without limit and freely forgiven. God gives us the opportunity to show that love and forgiveness to each other, so that others might see and know the wonderful, gracious life and love that God is eager to share.
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The text: Matthew 16:21–28

What is the price of life?
Well, I suppose that might depend on the context of the question.

If you were asked by a life insurance salesman what the price of life is, he would usually value it as the sum of your financial commitments and the price of setting your loved ones up without those commitments; therefore, the price of life will vary by age.

For example, if you were 10 years old, you wouldn’t have any financial commitments, so, therefore, you wouldn’t need very much life insurance cover, if any at all.

But if you were 40 years old, with a mortgage and car loan, and have a spouse and two children, then your life insurance cover should be for at least these commitments, plus a very generous amount so that your family could live comfortably without any need to take out any other loans etc.

Yet if you were 70 years old, and no longer have any financial commitments or family to support, then your need for life insurance reduces again.

So, what is the price of life according to a life insurance salesman? It is the calculated cost of liabilities and perceived needs to cover any loss of life.

But what if a mother dies in an accident? What is the price of life then? How is it measured?

Well, the family may receive a payment from a life insurance company, but no matter how much money they receive, it never makes up for the life of a wife and mother. The same could be said for the loss of a father or the loss of a child. The price of life in this case can’t be calculated financially. Money, property or anything else is almost useless and empty of comfort and meaning.

The Beatles sang that ‘money can’t buy me love’, but it also can’t buy or replace life. It’s strange that at the time of death, the value of life suddenly crystallises: family is important, relationships are important, people are important. A lifetime chasing after money, property, fame or other worldly attractions is suddenly put into perspective. None of these things are important when a life is lost. Any time spent chasing after these things is seen as time wasted.

What if a death was the result of an accident or a murder?

Then the price of life will often change, and it becomes possible to calculate the price of life again. The price of life is justice or revenge. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life!

If someone hurts us, then we want to hurt them back with interest. If someone takes away a loved one, then we want them to receive the same punishment, or worse, if possible!

But even if we were to have someone receive every punishment we wished them to receive, would that really make things better? Would revenge bring our loved one back? Would we ever be truly happy with the payment? Would the price of revenge or justice be payment enough for our loved one’s life? We often discover that even with revenge, the price of life still remains immeasurable.

So, even though the cost of life for insurance is often calculated financially, and the cost of life when someone has taken away a loved one is often justice or revenge, the price of life often can’t be calculated.

Knowing the price of your life can’t be estimated or valued by any earthly measurements, how much would your eternal life be worth? If you struggle to name a large enough price for the life of your loved ones who you have known for only a few years, then how on earth do you calculate the price for their eternal life, or even your own eternal life? If, at the time of death, you suddenly realise all things on earth are almost worthless when compared with the life of loved ones, then how much are you willing to pay or give up to ensure you will receive that eternal life with Jesus and your loved ones in faith?

Your eternal life is beyond price. Even if you were to give up your whole life and everything you have, it wouldn’t be enough. Nothing you say, think or do will pay for or measure the cost of your eternal life. Even if you gave up everything you have, it still wouldn’t be enough. The price for your life, especially for your eternal life, is too high … at least for you.

But the price of your life, even your eternal life, has been measured. Your price is the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is how much your life is worth. It’s a price you can’t pay; yet Jesus has willingly paid the full price. The suffering and death of God’s own beloved Son is your price for life. It was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, to suffer many things, to die and rise again so that your relationship with God would be restored. It was necessary he did these things, because this is the price of your lives and the price for God’s justice.

Yet what many people misunderstand is that even though Jesus has paid the full price for their lives, there is a cost involved for us. The cost is your obedience, yet don’t think that the price you pay in your obedience actually contributes or makes up for the suffering and death of Jesus, or that what you do actually earns you ‘brownie’ points before God.

Jesus has paid the full price for your eternal life. There is nothing more to pay. Your obedience doesn’t pay for your lives or the lives of others in any way, shape or form, but there is a danger you can exchange this undeserving gift for other fleeting worldly things through your disobedience.

For example, if you try to deny Jesus and what he has done for you by living according to the world’s thinking, then you will forfeit your eternal life. You can’t gain eternal life by your obedience, but you can lose it by your disobedience, because your disobedience shows your rejection of Christ and the life-price he paid for you. You can live as if worldly things are more important and more valuable, or you can live as if your eternal life is more important and more valuable. There is no in-between.

If you lose your life for Jesus’ sake, dedicate yourselves to following him, deny the deceptive advice of this world, follow God’s guiding word, and obey his instructions for life, then you will enjoy the blessings of eternal life in heaven.

Since the payment for your life involved sacrifice on the cross, your own life of following Jesus also involves a cross. The crosses you bear as you follow Jesus are the crosses of sacrifice and suffering on account of your following Jesus.

Paul’s letter to the Romans gives us an example of what this means. He says hate what is evil; hold onto what is good; be patient in your troubles; pray at all times; share your belongings with needy believers; open your homes to strangers; bless those who persecute you; weep with those who weep; don’t be proud but accept humble duties; don’t pay back wrong for wrong; don’t take revenge; and so on.

Following Jesus into eternal life is not easy and glorious. It often means living in a way that is different from others around you. It means being obedient to God’s word, even if you don’t fully understand the reasons for his instructions. It means giving up precious time on earth to listen to Jesus speak to you. It means giving up your need to satisfy yourselves with money, possessions, fame and other wants. It means giving up living the way you want to for your own pleasure, and trying to live Jesus’ way of service and sacrifice.

Following Jesus also means you will be persecuted and insulted for living according to Jesus’ way and not the world’s. You will not always ‘fit in’. The world will try to set the agenda as to what is acceptable and right, but this will not be the same as what Jesus says. The people of this world will continue to gain a name or a profit for themselves, but you will live unselfishly and in humbleness as you follow Jesus. You must obey God and not the world; after all, the things of the world will not last and will actually lead you away from Jesus and the life he has gained for you.

Therefore, let us heed the words of hymn 336 in the Lutheran Hymnal, which says:

Then let us follow Christ, our Lord,

Bearing the cross appointed,

And, firmly clinging to His Word,

In suffering be undaunted.

Who will not bear the battle’s strain

The crown of life shall ne’er obtain.

What is the price of life? The suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The price for your life has been measured and paid in full. Even though you do not measure up, Jesus willingly allowed himself to suffer and die for you. Jesus paid the price of your disobedience by his obedience. He remained sinless to save those who are sinful. In other words, he suffered and died for your life.

Your own journey as you follow Jesus will also involve suffering and a dying to your own selfish desires, but it will also lead to eternal life with Jesus and all others who follow in faith.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The text: Matthew 16:13–20
Today we are faced with the most important question in life that any human being will ever have to answer: Just who is Jesus? Our Lord asks us that very question in our text – the fact that he asks it twice shows its importance. ‘Who do the people say that the Son of Man is?’
The disciples answer: ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ Some people thought that Jesus was John the Baptist, who had come to prepare the way for the Saviour. Others thought Jesus was one of many Old Testament prophets who had promised a Saviour would come. The people had many different ideas of who Jesus was, but none of them recognised Jesus’ divine nature. The religious leaders of the day even believed the opposite, claiming Jesus’ power was from the devil because he ate with sinners and did not give ‘good’ people their due recognition but challenged the religious establishment. Some thought he was a great teacher or a perfect example to
follow. That’s some of the things people say about Jesus today. Most people today believe Jesus existed – but they have very different ideas about his identity, such as the Christadelphians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims or Jews. They believe in Jesus; that is, they believe some historical truths about him. But James reminds us in a very chilling way that we are not to have a kind of historical belief in Jesus. James writes to the Jewish Christians scattered throughout the empire, and in chapter 2 of his letter says: ‘You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that
– and shudder’.
So Jesus says to the disciples: ‘Who do you say I am?’ He asks us that question too.
Peter answers, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’. The other answers had talked about a Saviour who was coming. But Peter saw Jesus as the Saviour who was right there with him in the present moment. Peter looked at Jesus and saw God standing before him; the living Lord who became truly human like us to be the
sacrifice to pay for the sin of the world, and to defeat death itself by rising from it.
Peter doesn’t just believe things about Jesus, he trusts in Jesus as his saving Lord in the present moment.
‘Who do you say that I am?’ Through today’s gospel reading Jesus is still asking that same question to you and me. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Be careful how you answer! Jesus isn’t just asking: ‘Do you think I’m alive?’ Jesus wants to know: ‘Am I the living Lord of your life?’ There is a difference between believing things about Jesus, and trusting in him as the Lord of your life. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Jesus asks. ‘Am I indeed the living Lord of your life? Or am I just some ancient dead guy whose body disintegrated long ago in the sands of Palestine?’
Jesus doesn’t only call us to believe stuff about him, but to daily trust in him as our saving God. There is a difference between believing things about Jesus and trusting in Jesus as the ever-present living Lord of every moment of our life. Luther’s explanation to the first commandment ‘You shall have no other gods’ attends to this distinction: ‘We are to fear (respect), love and trust God above anything else’.
This is an important point for all the commandments are related to this one. How we regard the commandments as God’s word and will, then, will reveal the level of regard we have for Jesus.
I think that one of our strengths as Lutherans is our focus on grace – that there is nothing a person can do to make themselves right with God or earn his love or forgiveness; that he loves us unconditionally and he has paid for our sins – through Christ alone. There is nothing I could do that would change his love for me.
Perhaps one of our weaknesses as Lutherans is our focus on grace – that is, when grace is our only focus. Perhaps we read ‘there is nothing I could do that would change God’s love for me’ as meaning ‘there is nothing I need to do’. Perhaps we hear that God loves us unconditionally and has saved us by grace as meaning ‘It really doesn’t then matter how I live’. But when we forget God’s law, we forget the specific ways in which we as humans sin. We fall into the temptation of explaining away our sin. ‘I was just having a bad day’ or ‘They deserved it’. Or we might relabel our wrongdoing in more acceptable language – for example, harmful gossip becomes ‘helpful information’, and jokes that put others down are ‘just a bit of fun’, while those who are offended should just lighten up – even though through the eighth commandment God calls us to defend the reputation of our brothers and sisters, congregational leaders, and even our pastors, whether they be in conversation down the street, our discussions around the kitchen table, or at a public meeting, and to explain their actions in the kindest possible way.
When we lose a correct focus on the gospel by focusing only on the gospel, we
can easily slip into the habit of justifying our sinful thoughts, words and deeds by explaining how it doesn’t matter if we’ve broken God’s commandments – and even to say they don’t apply to us in particular situations. As someone said to me recently: ‘I know it’s wrong, but …’ And I felt like saying, ‘You were going really well there until you said “but”’.
When we fall into this temptation, I think we risk regarding Jesus as little more than John the Baptist or one of the prophets, because, if we explain away our sin, we forget how urgently we need Jesus’ saving help. We make a Saviour out of ourselves by justifying ourselves. Today, Jesus asks us, in effect: ‘Who am I in your life? Even though you call me “Lord”, am I really Lord of your life?

The Text: Matthew 15:21-28

She was desperate. You could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice. The urgency, the fear verging on panic, the despair. Her little girl was suffering from demon possession.
We don’t know more than that. How long had it been? What were the symptoms?
But our idle curiosity will not be satisfied. Matthew tells us only as much as we need to know. She was a desperate Canaanite woman seeking help for her daughter. Jesus was in town. He’d gone to the coast with His disciples, to the region of Tyre and Sidon on the Mediterranean. This wasn’t Israelite territory, it was Canaanite land. Ca- naanites were named after the descendants of Cain, the son of Adam who had mur- dered his brother, Abel. Canaanites were those people that were supposed to have been purged from the land under Joshua. Israelites hated Canaanites. The animosity was mutual. The Israelites called the Canaanites “dogs.” ‘Filthy dogs’, if you really wanted to drive home the point. We don’t know what the Canaanites called the Israelites.
She heard that Jesus had come to town. She’d heard the reports that were going around about His power to heal and cast out demons. There was a faint ray of hope.
She sees Jesus and goes running after Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Son of David is an Israelite way of speaking. The Israelites knew that the messiah would come from the house of David to establish his throne. Son of David, she called Jesus. A Canaanite speaking like an Israelite. Maybe if Jesus mistook her for one of His own countrymen he would help her.
It’s kind of clever, actually. Talk like an Israelite and maybe Jesus will do you a favour.
Some people think in those terms. Do you? Some people try to transact with God in prayer, trying to negotiate a favour. Do you? People like to get all “religious” when they pray. Pile on those religious phrases higher and deeper, thinking God will be im- pressed and do what you ask. Do you?
Jesus meets her pleas with stony silence. “He did not answer her a word.” Nothing. Silence. And she keeps on calling out to Him, over and over again. “Son of David, have mercy on me. Son of David, have mercy on me. Son of David, have mercy on
me.” To the point where the disciples who are with Jesus say, “Lord, she’s driving us nuts. Tell her to get out of here!”
What would you have done? Jesus, your last hope, greets you with silence. He turns His back on you in your need. He turns a deaf ear to your heartfelt prayer. He slams the door in your face, and His friends give you a kick for good measure. What would you have done? Left? Maybe shoot an obscene gesture? Go and find another healer, another religion, or at least another congregation? What do you do with this sort of Jesus?
And then Jesus speaks. He doesn’t really speak to her directly. He just speaks, reminding her of who she is, and who she isn’t. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Ouch! It doesn’t get much harsher than that, does it? Sorry, I’m busy. Sorry, I’m not here for you. Sorry, you’ll have to go somewhere else, I can’t be bothered with you and your problems. If His silence didn’t do the trick, that should have settled it for this woman. It’s a dead end. Jesus isn’t going to help you.
But she keeps persisting and pressing and praying. She comes up to Jesus, this man
 who had just said He hadn’t come for her, and she kneels down at His feet. “Lord, help me.” No more Son of David pseudo-Israelite talk. Just a simple prayer for mercy:
Lord, help me. It doesn’t get more basic than that. No religious fluff, no charades.
Jesus seems unmoved, hard, cold, uncaring. “It’s not right,” He says. “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” His silence was bad enough. His harsh statement about His being sent only to the lost sheep of Israel was even worse.
But this was worst of all. A dog. He called her a dog. A “little doggie,” yes, but a dog, nonetheless. She’d heard that slur in the marketplace, on the street corner, from the mouths of the Israelite men as they spit. But from Jesus?
And what about this Jesus? What do you think of Him? What would you have done if He called you a dog in your hour of need? This isn’t the kind of compassionate Saviour we picture in our minds and our hymns and our art. This Jesus is mean, uncaring, un moved. This woman isn’t even asking anything for herself, she’s asking for her helpless little girl. The only thing that Jesus seems to notice is that she isn’t an Israelite.
But she is undeterred. She won’t let Jesus off the hook that easily. His calling her a dog gives her the opening she is looking for. “Yes, Lord, Canaanite dog I may be. Call me whatever you wish. It’s true, there’s no way around that. I’m a dog. I’ll accept that.
Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters ’table.”
Did you hear that? Did you catch that unreasonable line of reasoning? She accepts Jesus’ word on her, that she’s nothing more than a yapping dog bugging Him on His way and that He really wasn’t even sent to the likes of her, and yet she finds in all that a handhold for faith. Even the dogs get to lick the crumbs off the floor. And what glo- rious and wonderful crumbs they are when they fall from this Master’s table!
The next word from Jesus is praise. He loves it. This is music to His ears. Faith talk! Trust!
“O woman, great is your faith.” No longer as a dog, now Jesus addresses her with dignity and respect. “O woman.” He commends her faith, in the hearing of HIs disciples who do not yet understand faith. They think they’re the big men hanging out with Je-
sus. They don’t get it. She does. Faith clings to Jesus even when Jesus seems to have turned His back on you. Faith clings to Jesus even when He looks you in the eye and says, “I haven’t come for you.” Faith clings to Jesus even when He calls you a dog.
Faith hears “yes” inside of God’s “no” and trusts. Faith holds Jesus to who He is Saviour and Redeemer. O woman, great is your faith.
This is not meant to get you to look at your faith and size up your believing. It’s intended to get your eyes off yourself and onto Jesus. Your faith is only as good and as strong as the Jesus it clings to. The woman’s faith, her trust in Jesus, was vindicated.
“Let it be done for you as you desire.” He is for her, and for her daughter, after all.
Though she’s a Canaanite, yet through faith she is a daughter of Abraham, as Paul explains in Romans. Jesus is Son of David, even for her. His Word is solid and sure. Her daughter was healed instantly.
Prayer isn’t like instant porridge. Some get put on hold. But when God puts you on hold, as Jesus put that poor woman on hold, it doesn’t mean He has abandoned you.
It might mean that Jesus wants to put your faith on display so that the world would understand what faith in Jesus looks like. It looks like a dog lapping up crumbs falling from the master’s table. And if that comes as a blow to your ego, good! Our ego, that old Adam in us, needs that. We call it repentance, that change in mind from self to God.
There really is no shortcut to faith like that of the Canaanite woman. There is only going off-road with Jesus, together with all the twists and turns that life under His cross entails. It may be the surprise of sickness, or demonized daughters, or silence, or a harsh “no”, or being humbled. It may mean waiting patiently for the resurrection while feeling like a dog most of the time. To the world’s way of looking at things, life under the cross of Jesus can be a dog’s life, but the crumbs that fall from that table are rich in-
deed His Body and Blood giving you forgiveness, life, and salvation. A dog never had it so good.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen

The Text: Matthew 14:22-33
Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so when facing storms in our life,
we may have courage and not be afraid knowing your Son Jesus Christ is with us.Amen.
There are some things you can do.
There are some things you can’t do.
And sometimes they’re the same thing!
Now, before you think I’m talking in riddles (and perhaps I am), I’d like you to think how many times Jesus tells his disciples to do things they shouldn’t be able to do.
And then, even if they should be able to do what he asks, they often fail in their task.
For example, just before today’s reading Jesus asked the disciples to feed five
thousand men (plus women and children). The disciples naturally complained they didn’t have enough to feed them. It’s too hard. They can’t do it. It seems they failed Jesus’ test.
But in the next moment, Jesus blessed a small pile of bread and fish, gave it to the disciples to distribute it (after all, he told them to feed the people), and after everyone was fed, there were still twelve baskets of left-over food.
This is amazing! Miraculous! Unbelievable! Even though they couldn’t do it, with Jesus’ help, they did it!
Then, in today’s text (which comes immediately after the miraculous feeding of the five thousand), Jesus told them to cross over to the other side of the lake by boat while Jesus said goodbye to the crowds and went off by himself to pray.
But during the night the winds and waves came to torment his disciples while they were in the middle of the lake. Here in the dark they’re alone, afraid, and tortured by the scary and chaotic storm. Then, to top it off, just when they didn’t think it could get any worse, Jesus walks toward them on the water!
Now, before you criticise the disciples’ frightened reaction when they saw Jesus, what would you think?
I mean, if you’ve been taught your whole life to be afraid of the sea because it’s a chaotic place filled with pagan gods and demons and evil spirits, and you believe you’re under demonic attack by these chaotic winds and waves this whole night, and then, you see a man walking toward you on those waves, what do you think your reaction would be like?
Maybe you’d squeal like frightened little girls like they did! They thought Jesus was a ghost or a phantom walking toward them to finish them off!
But then Jesus spoke to them. The words he spoke are good to memorise and
paste on your walls at home.
Unfortunately, the words he spoke are often watered down a little in our
translations. Literally, Jesus says something like: ‘Be encouraged’ as if he’s
commanding courage to fill their frightened hearts so they can stand firm in the face of evil and chaos. We too wouldn’t mind a bit of courage to stand firm in the face of persecutions and struggles at times.
He also says: ‘I am’, echoing the holy name of God of ‘I AM WHO I AM’ as once
announced to a frightened Moses before he led the Israelites out of Egypt. This is the same ‘I Am’ who is the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the Good Shepherd, and the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This is the One who says ‘I Am with you to the end of the age’ at our baptism.
And then he says: ‘Don’t be afraid’ as if to order their fear to stop, just like he soon orders the wind and the waves to stop.
Wouldn’t it be good to not be afraid of what people think, or to not be afraid of
failing, or to not be afraid of what people will say or do to us, or to not be afraid of the troubles we face in life, or to not be afraid of sickness or death?
So, in their distress Jesus tells them: ‘Be encouraged! I am! Don’t be afraid!’ These words are a command, an assurance, and a promise of salvation despite the storm.
Now, coming back to doing what we can and can’t do at the same time, Peter
has the nerve to ask Jesus to command him to go toward Jesus on the water,
thereby doing what only Jesus as Lord of heaven and earth could do.
Now, you’d think this is something Peter can’t do. Even though Jesus seemed to defy the laws of nature, a human can’t walk on water!
Yet Jesus gave him a simple command: ‘Come!’
Amazingly, miraculously, and unbelievably, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus! He shouldn’t be able to do it, but he was doing it!
Wouldn’t you have loved to see the faces of the other disciples!
But again, we can’t do what we can do. Peter is soon distracted by the wind and sinks. He calls out for Jesus to save him as the chaotic sea begins to swallow him up. Jesus reaches out his hand and saves Peter before commenting on his little faith and doubt.
In a sense, Peter is a symbol of all believers.
You see, we’re at the same time we’re full of faith and unfaith. We can both do
wonderful things, yet we also completely fail at times. We can love exceedingly generously and graciously, and yet we can viciously hate and abuse each other.
We can be incredibly selfless and yet be extraordinarily selfish. We can be filled with hope and joy and yet flounder in the despairing depths of hopelessness. Even the strongest person of faith will also experience times of doubt and fear.
Therefore, the cry of Peter to Jesus: ‘Lord, save me!’ is the cry of both the strong disciple who can do miraculous things, as well as the miserable sinner who struggles with doubt, despair, and confusion.
We cry out to Jesus as the only One who can save us from sin, from the devil, and from death itself. Even when we can’t reach out to him (because it’s something we both can and can’t do for ourselves), he’s the One who reaches out to us. In this way, instead of us being able to cling to him, he’s the One who clings to us and holds us safe.
In our world today there are many things which torment us in the storms of life and faith. We need his encouragement, the assurance of his presence, and for him to calm our fears.
The storms we face (which often make us afraid) could come in the forms of
school studies or excessive workloads. It could come from peer pressure or bullying.
It could come from unrealistic expectations of ourselves or from those around us. It could be the upheaval from changes in our circumstances.
It could also be struggles with family, friends, or even church members. It could be coping with human frailty as we get older and fear being a burden on others. It could be political or economic struggles as we face the storms of dissent or deception as we make a stand for God’s view of marriage or gender over public
opinion. It could even be the inevitable storm of death – either our own or one of our loved ones.
All the time we may struggle with what we can and can’t do.
While we all know we can look to Jesus Christ alone for strength, for hope, for life and salvation, we struggle to do this. It’s both something we can and can’t do!
Every time we attempt to keep our attention firmly fixed on Jesus Christ alone by our own powers, we find ourselves distracted by all the fears and problems of this world. In some ways, fear drives us to Jesus, but fear can also drive us away from
him. Now, of course we can always pray that God would take our storms away so we could live in peace and harmony now and into eternity, but he doesn’t always do so.
While the winds did die down when Jesus got into the boat, the storm was still
raging while Jesus and Peter walked on the water. God also chose not to remove the storm of the cross from Jesus either. Jesus walked through the storms of apathy, ignorance, abuse, whippings, beard pulling, and death in order to give us forgiveness, peace and life.
While God doesn’t always take the storms away, he promises to be with us in those storms. As we face the waves of hostility, the winds of guilt and shame, the howls of health problems, and even the final storm of death, Jesus calls out to each of us:
‘Be encouraged! I am! Don’t be afraid!’
The great ‘I AM’ of the Old Testament is here with us. Just like he was with those troubled people of the past who both could and couldn’t do what was required of them, he is also with us.
By ourselves we can’t survive the storms of life without fear, or have faith in a loving God who allows trouble to visit us, or even love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind or strength. You can’t do it. I can’t do it. It’s impossible.
But Jesus comes near to give us courage to endure those storms. Not only this, but through faith he empowers us through his Spirit to do what we can’t do by
ourselves.
Jesus comes near to assure us the ‘I AM WHO I AM’; the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Elijah; is here with us and won’t let us face our battles alone.
He comes near so that, even if the storms rage around us, we’re no longer afraid of them. Even if we feel ourselves flounder, Jesus is the one who reaches out to save us and restore us through his forgiveness, grace, mercy, peace, and life.
While we can’t cope and do all these things alone, with God’s help we can. We
can endure courageously. We can have faith. We can have peace and hope in
the face of life’s storms and evil and death.
Yes, there are many times we’ll feel we can’t live by faith alone, and those storms will blow fiercely and we’ll be afraid, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, who is the presence of the living Lord Jesus, we can endure. It’s something we both can and can’t do at the same time.
Therefore, no matter what storms any of us are facing at this time, let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Let’s be encouraged. The ‘I AM’ is with us. Don’t be afraid.
And it’s in this way that the peace of God, which surpasses all human, will continue to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

The Text: Matthew 14:13-21
What do you have? Do you have a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in, clothes
to wear and food to eat? Do you have a car or have access to some form of
transportation? Do you have a bank account and does it have any money in it?
What luxury items do you have and what other odds and ends are lying around
your place? Could you pack all of your possessions into a suitcase or would you
need a removalist van to make a shift?
In 1964 Donald Horne, a Sydney journalist, referred to Australia as the ‘lucky
country’. This phrase stuck and has since been used to describe everything from our
weather and wide-open spaces to our overall quality of life. Many don’t realise
Horne’s quote has been taken out of context. He actually said: ‘Australia is a lucky
country, run by second-rate people who share its luck’.
You may sometimes think the people running our country are still second rate, but
most of us would agree that we are blessed to live here. Australia consistently ranks
in the top countries in the world in terms of our quality of life. It has always been
seen as a land of opportunity, a desirable destination for migrants and refugees
alike who are seeking to start a new life.
But there are still the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in our society. The gap between
the richest people in the land and the poorest is significant. Where do we see
ourselves on the wealth spectrum? Is it easier for us to focus on what we have or on
what we do not have?
Our Gospel reading deals with the very well-known incident in the life of Jesus where
he miraculously fed a crowd of thousands. It features in all four Gospel accounts –
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which is why it is very familiar to us.
Jesus had just heard news of the death of John the Baptist so he had withdrawn to
a remote place to regroup and grieve. But the crowds came from the surrounding
towns and followed him out there. Despite his grief, Jesus had compassion on them
and still set about healing their sick. The day passed and evening came. Jesus had
met their needs and it was time for the people to go home and get some dinner.
But Jesus said they didn’t have to go away and he instructed his disciples to feed
them.
The disciples didn’t have the resources to feed this large crowd – 5,000 men, with
the women and children to be added to this number. In addition to this, it wasn’t
actually required. You could see this as an ‘unnecessary miracle’. This wasn’t a life
or death situation of poverty-related hunger. The people could easily go and get
their own food.
No one asked to be fed. No one expected to be fed. There was no need.
But Jesus insisted. He took the food they had – five loaves of bread and two fish –
and miraculously turned it into a meal that fed all of the crowd of thousands. There
were more leftovers than what they had to begin with. So what is the moral of the
story?
Is it a call for us to meet the needs of our hungry world – ‘you give them something
to eat’? When you think of what we do have here in Australia then it is easy to see
this miracle as an encouragement to share what we have with those less fortunate
than us.
It is easy to use this account to focus on what we have, to be reminded of how
richly blessed we are in comparison to elsewhere in the world. The moral then
becomes one of counting your blessings and sharing your blessings. No one is going
to arc up about such a conclusion. It’s only fair and reasonable to expect us to give
from what we have, whatever that is.
Only…that’s not our text! It is not how the story played out.
What did the disciples have? They had nothing really – only five loaves of bread
and two fish. And in John’s account we hear that even this meagre amount wasn’t
what they had at all. It belonged to a boy (John 6:8-9). This miracle is not about
getting us to give from what we have. There is nothing especially miraculous about
that. We do that all the time to varying degrees: depending on our generosity and
on the perceived need.
Most of us are moved to give from what we have when we hear about an urgent
need: a severe famine in Africa; a child requiring life-saving surgery; a natural
disaster that devastates a community. We respond to these crises and so we should!
But again that’s not what our text is on about.
In the Old Testament book of 1 Kings (17:7f) we hear of how the prophet Elijah
miraculously provided oil and flour for the widow at Zarephath [pronounced Zar-eh-
fath]. On that occasion, the life of the widow and her son were at stake. With the
feeding miracle in our Gospel account there was no such crisis; no life was at stake.
There was nothing urgent or special about the situation.
As the disciples said: the crowd ‘can go to the villages and buy themselves some
food’. It is because the miracle is so unnecessary that you start to wonder why Jesus
did it and what is he trying to teach through it.
The natural order of things is that we take care of ourselves. We try and get
ourselves to the point of self-sufficiency; to the point where we have enough. If we
have more than enough for ourselves then we can share. But this mindset and
natural order of things is such a limiting one really. It is limited not only by what we
have but also by what we are willing to release, to let go of what we have. And we
are notoriously bad at doing that.
This miraculous feeding occurred once the disciples realised what they didn’t have;
that they had nothing to offer. In Matthew’s Gospel account, we see the greatest
miracles occur when people bring with them the least. It isn’t what we have that
makes us effective disciples in God’s kingdom.
Earlier the religious leaders presented their credentials to John the Baptist by saying:
‘we have Abraham as our father’ (Matthew 3:9). But John wasn’t overly impressed
with that, telling them that God could produce children from stones. It isn’t about
what we have but about what God can do with what we don’t have.
We see this throughout Jesus’ ministry. He was brought those who had diseases,
those who had severe pain, those who had demon possession, those who had
seizures, those who had blindness and those who had paralysis (Matthew 4:24;
15:30). It is not the greatest list of attributes to bring to the table; and yet Jesus
healed them all.
For, what did Jesus have? In the world’s terms he didn’t seem to have much at all.
He told his followers: “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has
no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). So he didn’t have a roof over his head.
And when he came to Jerusalem to claim his throne as king all he had was a
borrowed donkey (Matthew 21:3).
But he did have authority: he had the authority to teach the truths of God’s
kingdom (Matthew 7:29) and he had the authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6). And
in the lead up to this latest miracle we see that he had compassion on the large
crowd that had come out to see him (Matthew 14:14). We have a God who loves
us and cares for us. We have a God who wants to give us each day our daily
bread. We have a God who wants to heal our hurts and bring us life and make us
whole. It turns out that he doesn’t need a whole lot or even anything from us in
order to make these things happen.
So what do we need to have? We need to have ‘ears that hear’ (Matt.13:43); that
is, the ability to perceive that God’s kingdom follows a different pattern to that of
the world. And we need to have ‘faith as small as a mustard seed’ (Matt.17:20).
And God has provided even these to us because we don’t have them naturally. For
even when we have so little (or nothing at all) God can still move mountains. God
can use us to feed the hungry and heal the broken through what he provides,
rather than through what we have. God will see to it that his kingdom comes, on
earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

The Text: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

“Jesus told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field’” (v31).

The game of Charades is an acting game in which one player acts out a word or phrase, often by miming similar-sounding words. The other players try and guess the word or phrase. The idea is to use physical rather than verbal language to convey the meaning to another party. The game of Charades can be very frustrating for both parties, especially if you are either struggling to be understood or struggling to understand. If you have played the game, chances are you have experienced both sides of the equation.

The game aside, you might have carried out a charade in a real-life situation – such as when you tried to find a toilet in a non-English speaking country.

We probably use charades more than we realise, given that a large percentage of communication is non-verbal. Apparently only 7% of our communication is conveyed through actual words, whilst the rest comes through the tone of our voice, facial expressions, gestures, posture and other non-verbal forms. Anyone who is married will know how just a look from your spouse can convey a whole world of meaning without any words needing to be said.

In our Gospel reading for today Jesus uses a series of parables (pictures or images from everyday life that teach about spiritual realities) in an endeavour to describe to his listeners what the kingdom of heaven is like. The attempts of Jesus to explain it made me think of this game of Charades. Jesus is teaching and his disciples and the crowds are struggling to understand. The reason for this confusion comes from a language barrier. But it is not a normal language barrier.

The problem was not the linguistic differences between speaking Aramaic, Hebrew or Greek—the predominant languages spoken in Israel at that time. Jesus was not restricted to using physical rather than verbal language to convey his meaning. The real language barrier was the gulf separating heaven and earth, the divine and the human.

How does one begin to describe the kingdom of heaven to those who are so accustomed to the kingdoms of this earth? You can’t use the normal language and descriptors because they just don’t apply. The kingdom of heaven is not like the kingdoms (nations/countries) of this earth.

So, what is it like? How would you describe the kingdom of heaven to others? What words or images would you use to unpack God’s eternal truths in a temporal context?

We have a tendency to think of it in expansive and elaborate terms. Surely God’s heavenly kingdom must be significantly greater than our experience of this world’s kingdoms. So we might speak of it in terms of how it far exceeds anything we can possibly imagine—it is bigger and better and brighter.

But the kingdom of heaven is not like the kingdoms of this earth. It is not simply a bigger and better and brighter version of what we experience here on this earth. It can’t be adequately described by adding a few adverbs and some other superlatives to emphasize its magnificence.

Jesus surprises us in the way he describes the kingdom of heaven. He surprises us in the parables he tells to convey its true meaning. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, it is like yeast, it is like treasure hidden in a field, it is like a pearl of great value and it is like a net that was let down into the lake. These are very ordinary images that are used to describe what must be the most extraordinary of truths—God’s heavenly kingdom.

A mustard seed!? Yeast!? Hidden treasure!? A single pearl!? A fishing net!? Surely not! Surely such things can’t possibly do justice to the task of painting a picture of the kingdom of heaven!

But this is the picture that is painted by the one who should know what the kingdom of heaven is like. Jesus is the Son of God who came from heaven to reside with us here on this earth. He did it in order to bridge the gap between the two.

And Jesus uses that which is unimpressive to impress upon us how distinctive God’s kingdom of heaven is from our normal experiences of the kingdoms of this earth.

And it needs to be distinctive and different. For—let’s face it—we have had how-ever many thousands of years to build our own kingdoms and nations and what have we accomplished? Have we found an answer to the issues we face? Have we managed to establish a strong enough, big enough and successful enough kingdom to combat poverty and greed and violence and sickness and death? We live in a world where the different kingdoms can’t live at peace with each other. At any time in history conflicts are waged between kingdoms and nations, where they try to exert their strength. The kingdom of heaven is not like this—it is not like a bigger, more powerful version of what we already have. We don’t need that.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that is planted in a field. It seems small and insignificant, just as the word of God that is sown in a person’s life seems the same. But that seed grows to become a plant that provides respite, just as God’s word grows in a person to produce good works that will bring blessings to the earth.

So, the kingdom of heaven is seen at work when one person chooses to forgive a wrong done to them rather than harbour feelings of anger and revenge.

The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that is mixed into a large batch of flour. The yeast is hidden in that flour but it works all the way through it in such a way that all the flour is impacted by it. Likewise, the kingdom of heaven is not restricted by any border or limits established by the nations of this earth. It transcends cultural, political and geographical divides and defies any attempts to restrict its influence.

So, the kingdom of heaven is at work even in those kingdoms where Christianity has been outlawed, though its true influence may be hidden from view for a time.

And even though the kingdom of heaven is described in ordinary terms it is still beyond all earthly value. It is like that treasure hidden in a field and like that pearl of great value. That value is not always easily and instantly recognised, but when it is, there is nothing on this earth to compare to it. Both men in the parables sold everything they had in order to attain what they had now found.

So it is with those who receive the kingdom of heaven. Their world view and system of values is altered completely because they find true worth in God’s blessings.

King Solomon understood this. In our Old Testament reading (1 Kings 3:5-12) Solomon was presented with an incredible offer from God: ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you’. He didn’t ask for wealth or long life or for power over his enemies—all things that our world might place a high value on. Instead Solomon asked for a discerning heart and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Above everything else he wanted God’s values in his life and this was considered to be a truly wise approach to life.

In addition to being given the wisdom he requested, God promised to give him wealth and honour as well—because all things are God’s to give.

And that is why ‘the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish’. Regardless of what the kingdoms of this earth claim as their own and regardless of whether people choose to acknowledge the sovereignty of God or not, it does not alter the fact that God’s kingdom is an all-pervading one.

We don’t have to enforce the kingdom of heaven on this earth because, as the Psalmist declares, the earth is already ‘the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it’ (Psalm 24:1). In the Lord’s Prayer we pray: “Your kingdom come”. But Martin Luther said in his explanation of this prayer: “Indeed, the kingdom of God comes of itself even without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also”.

The kingdom of heaven to which we belong is full of surprises. It is not like what we might often expect or even want at times. But despite the way it is hidden in the little and ordinary things, it continues to grow—in us and in all the earth.

Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He demonstrated what the kingdom of heaven is like, not only through his parables, but also through his actions.

The kingdom of heaven is like a King who was hung on a cross by his own people to die. There is not a lot to impress us about that image but through this sacrifice Jesus has conquered sin and death and has brought us into the kingdom of heaven.

May we continue to explore the truths of God’s kingdom of heaven through his Son, Jesus, and may we come to see how the kingdom, the power and the glory are his, now and forever. Amen.

The Text: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so that we may not lose heart
when the weeds of conflict, deception, or persecution come, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

You know, there’s so much to do (and most of it seems too hard or too complex), so you might feel stressed or anxious. Perhaps things haven’t worked out as you hoped, which might make you feel angry, frustrated, or depressed. Maybe you’re feeling tired and worn out. Maybe you feel as if you’ve let yourself or someone else
down. You may have succumbed to temptation again and feel bad or upset
about yourself.
But it may not just be about your internal struggles.
It could be that people you trusted or looked up to have let you down. They lied to you, argued with you, or withdrew their support from you. The world around seems to be filled with bad news or bad people. Even in the church, people who confess to be Christian don’t seem to be very forgiving, gracious, or merciful.
In response we might feel upset, let down, flat, depressed, angry, or frustrated.
All of these feelings and responses to what happens in our lives aren’t unusual or uncommon. Many of us can feel depressed, discouraged, worn out, or troubled.
We might feel like giving up, running away, or hiding from whatever’s affecting us.
It often happens when things don’t go according to our plans, or when we don’t feel appreciated for our effort, or when we have health concerns – either for
ourselves or someone we love. It happens when we get more complaints and
criticisms than words of encouragement or appreciation. It happens when the bad we experience seems to outweigh the good. It happens when we realise the people in church are not as holy as we hoped.
So, in response to what happens to us, we feel disillusioned, disheartened, and are tempted to give up.
I’m not sure if any of us are feeling this way at the moment, but I wonder what
might Jesus say to those who feel disillusioned and depressed by broken dreams, troubles and tough times?
Well, today he gives us an illustration of a man who sowed his best seed into his field. Since he later identifies himself as the sower, he probably gave loving
attention to every seed he planted. He knows his field, he knows his seeds, and he knows what he’s doing. He works patiently and diligently in order to get a good result. You’d think he’s guaranteed to succeed, and the resulting crop would be abundant and productive!
But at night an enemy came to sow a different seed. He also gave proper
attention to every seed he planted. He knows the field, he knows the seed, and he too knows what he’s doing. He wants to spoil the farmer’s crop, so he sows weeds among the good seed in order to ruin the harvest.
Now, unlike many weeds in our gardens which are easy to identify from our good plants, these particular weeds are often called Darnel wheat today, which is a false and very deceptive wheat.
This weed looks just like wheat right up to the moment when the wheat starts to produce seed on its head. It’s only then that the weed is revealed for what it truly is. So, by the time the weed is discovered, the crop is ruined.
Discovering this weed, the workers of the field come to their boss and tell him
about the false ‘wheat-weed’ which spoiled the crop. They ask whose fault is this?
Who would do such an evil thing? Who would ruin such a good crop?
Almost matter-of-factly he says his enemy did this.
Now, you’d think he’d be furious. His crop seems totally ruined. His careful work of planting the seed appears to be a complete waste of time. That’s not just a bad day or a bad week, but a bad season!
If this happened to any of us, we might want to exact revenge on our enemy, but we may also feel depressed, disillusioned, or want to give up.
The workers, like us, want to do something about it. They want to fix the situation.
They want to make everything right. They figure the best solution is to pull out all the bad weeds.
To us, this seems a simple and logical conclusion – if you want a good crop, then get rid of the bad weeds. If you want a good week, then get rid of all the bad things which happen. If you want a good world, then get rid of all the bad people or lock them up. If you want a perfect church, then let’s get rid of all those who aren’t faithful enough, spiritual enough, or who don’t seem to be living like a ‘good Christian’.
But strangely, the one who planted the crop doesn’t talk of revenge, even though he knew who did it. He also doesn’t show any despair or depression. In fact, he seems to show no emotion at all.
Instead, he says ‘No, leave them there, otherwise you’ll end up uprooting my good wheat. They’re my prime concern. Wait until harvest time and then we’ll divide the excellent wheat from the worthless weeds. The weeds will burn in hell, but the good grain will be gathered into my kingdom.’
Leave them there. Let the weeds live among the wheat.
In other words, this seems to suggest we need to continue to put up with difficult people, troublesome situations, conflicted relationships, evil attacks on the innocent, bad health, bad weeks, and an imperfect church. In fact, we’ll have to put up with evil and all its iterations until harvest day at the completion of the age.
Of course, this doesn’t appeal to us where everyone wants instant solutions and quick fixes to all our problems. It also doesn’t appeal to people who want a
trouble-free life, lasting good health, no more evil people, or even a perfect
church free from sinful and hurtful people.
It also doesn’t appeal because it doesn’t tell us what to do. The wheat is passive during this whole story and continues to be passive even after the harvest. The only thing we’re told to do is if we have ears, then we’d better listen!
But hidden behind this strange command is the fact the good grain who live
surrounded by weeds will have ears and will use them. Because they hear and trust the promises of the good gardener, they won’t despair when they have to live surrounded by deceptive and evil plants.
So, there’s no quick fixes. No guarantees of success or happiness. No magic wands to make all our problems and frustrations disappear. There’s only a call for us to keep listening to God’s Word with patience, endurance, and perseverance.
What frustrates and surprises people is; following Jesus isn’t all about fun and
success and happiness. Following Jesus isn’t about good times and a complete
freedom from evil. Following Jesus often involves suffering and putting up with all the bad weeds in our life. Following Jesus means the evil one will specifically target God’s chosen ones to ruin our faith and our loved ones’ faith.
Jesus has planted his precious seed of the gospel among us which tells us to rely on his work which has been fully completed on the cross rather than relying on our own work. But the devil will also plant misunderstandings, deceptions, and lies among us, which spread doubt in God’s goodness and mercy. We may even hear things in devotions or books or sermons or church conferences which sound good, but the true telling is when the fruit appears.
Those who hear and believe the Spirit-inspired Word of God will produce the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control. The fruit of those who only want to hear what they want to hear for their own benefit will be impurity, discord, jealousy, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy.
Jesus never guarantees every plan we undertake will be successful. While we’re still here in the world there’ll continue to be troubles and hardship and frustrations and persecutions and evil. We’ll be tempted to despair or give up.
Just because we’ve had a bad day, a bad week, or a bad life, doesn’t mean
Jesus doesn’t love us. Jesus still cares for every grain of wheat in his field. He knows each of us and he knows about all the ‘weeds’ we put up with.
While we may be tempted to think the proof of God’s love for us is only when God gets rid of all our troubles, it’s because he cares for us that he may leave the troubles, frustrations, difficult people, and stumbling blocks there.
Now this might seem strange but think of it this way: If any of our troubles and heartaches lead us to pray to God for his mercy, to search the Scriptures for assurance, to go back to his holy Sacraments, and force us to look to him for help, then our troubles were turned into blessings for us.
In other words, if our troubles and the evil we experience lead us to the cross of Christ so that we learn to rely on him rather than our own works or plans, then the devil’s plans have backfired!
It’s not our fault some things don’t succeed. It’s not Jesus’ fault things go wrong. If we experience pain and suffering, it doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us. God’s Kingdom is hidden among us and will be preserved until the end.
If any of us feel like giving up, then we’re encouraged to not lose heart. We’re to be faithful to the simple task Jesus has given us – to listen to him. We’re to keep on receiving his gracious holy nourishment in the Sacraments. He may not always take away all our troubles, but he’ll supply us with what we need in order to endure our times of trial.
Let’s be encouraged by the good news that all his good grain will be gathered up into his own barn. Jesus says the ones who hear his words are his precious people who’ll be gathered up in his arms and taken to his eternal kingdom of grace and
peace.
Therefore, for all those of us who have ears, let us hear……so that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Text: Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

I’m not a gardener – I can barely gather the motivation to drag out the lawn mower
and mow the grass. I look with envy upon those who live in apartment blocks and
don’t have to worry about how long the grass is growing or how many weeds there
are. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about this. For I know that in Genesis, working in the Garden of Eden was a blessing that Adam enjoyed. In fact, the name Adam means
“from the ground or the earth.” But I also understand that one of the first punishments of Adam’s sin affected his enjoyment of gardening: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” So, most of the time, I don’t feel so bad about my reluctance to do gardening.
But in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus uses a beautiful gardening analogy; a well-known parable, “The parable of the sower.” As we heard, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart. I think we all know this situation.
Maybe you’ve tried to share the Gospel with someone. Maybe you’ve invited them to come along to church or a church function. We shouldn’t be surprised or disheartened when this happens. Instead we can recognise the truth about what Jesus says about this seed we attempt to sow: the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart. This is a spiritual battle going on. This is frontline work on the battlefield and before we attempt to do anything like this we need to spend time in prayer and seek the protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit. So remember that when you’re trying to share the Gospel with someone and they are rejecting it, even antagonistic to you – if that’s happening then your efforts are working.
Too often we think when someone rejects our invitations that we’ve failed – far from it.
The more we work – the harder the devil works. But we work knowing that God’s Holy Spirit will work where and when he pleases. That’s encouragement to persist in praying.
Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. This is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.
This is a sad situation. A person has heard the word – received the word – but then falls away when they are persecuted because of their acceptance of the word. This calls for us to take particular care of those who are new to the faith. We can’t just invite them – introduce them to the church – and then leave them and work on someone else.
This puts a great responsibility on the church to follow up visitors and newcomers to our church. We don’t just put them into our database, put them in the directory and send out the bulletin and that’s our job done. No, this may take a lifetime of nurture and maybe they may be the only person that God puts before us. This is not about quantity – trying to get hundreds or thousands through the door. No, the Bible says that
the angels in heaven rejoice over even just one sinner who repents. And this cannot be just the role of the Pastor or the Pastoral Assistants. We all have the responsibility of looking out for those who are absent for periods of time. Something has happened, maybe major, maybe minor, but it’s important to find out in case we can help. If not, at the very least it gives us more to pray to God about; to commend to God’s wisdom and strength.
Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. This is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.
This is also an all-too-common situation where priorities quickly take over. Sadly with 7 day work week – our 24/7 society – sometimes church on Sundays become the easy part in our life to neglect. Not intentionally, perhaps. This is not saying that church isn’t a priority, but it is the easy one to manoeuvre around. Sundays have quickly become family days for so many organisations, especially sport. But before we become critical of families – can you imagine what a child might think of church when a parent says to
them – you can’t play footy this morning – we have to go to church. Or, you can’t goto your friend’s birthday party because you can’t miss Sunday School. It’s a tough situation for growing families!
Children quickly begin to see church and related activities such as Sunday School as the enemy. How often don’t we hear young adults reject the church because it was shoved down their throats? I don’t know what the answer is other than this is a real
challenge for the church to work adaptively with families.
Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!” This is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
There’s probably not a lot to analyse here. Sometimes we sow a seed of faith and it grows, but what we can gather from Jesus’ final statement is that sometimes it produces a hundredfold – sometimes sixty and sometimes thirty. So he affirms – this is not about numbers, but faith, and yes, faith even as small as a mustard seed. Maybe there will only ever be one person that God places in your life to mentor and nurture in
their faith. In fact sometimes we may only have laid the foundation that someone else builds upon. This is what even St Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3: By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it.
The final thought which the Parable of the Sower leaves us is that we can sow the seed anywhere. The farmer in our parable intentionally threw the seed on the path. There was no hole in his seed bag, rather he intentionally threw the seed everywhere and
anywhere. Even though he would know that they were not good places to sow seed, he knew that ultimately it was not his decision or power to make them grow. Have you ever thrown out food scraps and sometime later you’ve seen something grow –
maybe some potatoes or tomatoes and yet when you try to grow them nothing appears. That’s how it is with God’s mission in the world.
Sometimes the most extraordinary results come from our unintentional actions. As, again, St Paul says in 1 Corinthians: I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. Today’s Gospel reading is all about mission work. And mission work is different to anything else we do because we cannot measure it by human measures. This is where we are called upon to trust in God and the work that he is doing which we don’t always see.
So let us be like the sower in our parable – let us sow wherever we go. We can spread the seed of God’s love every day, in every aspect of our life, as we go about loving our neighbour as ourselves. So may God bless you as you sow his seed of love wherever God sends you.
I’m not a gardener, and we might think that we are not missionaries. But we can all spread the love of God wherever we go and with whomever we meet. And let us trust God in all this who promised in our Isaiah reading today: 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.
And the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus; the Word made flesh. Amen.

The Text: Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus said: Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Something strange has happened in the way we live our lives.
Once upon a time most people spent most of their lives doing things that were
physical—working the land with hand tools; running the household with great effort; making things with hard physical labour.
We can think of God’s word to Adam after he was thrown out of the Garden of
Eden: Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. By the sweat of the brow you will eat food, until you return to the ground.
People would work hard all day, and by the end of the day they were exhausted.
People would work hard all their lives, and by the time they were old, their bodies were worn out.
Then people started to get cleverer. People invented all sorts of machines that took over many of the hard tasks – machines for the household, and for working the land, and for manufacturing things in the factories.
I think that most of you would agree that our lives today are much easier than the lives of previous generations. Much of the burden of hard physical labour has been lifted off our shoulders.
But then something strange happened. We have realised that we need physical activity. We need physical exercise to keep us healthy. We need to do things that make us tired.
So what did we do? We invented some more machines, machines that we use to exercise, and we put them in gymnasiums, and sometimes in our own homes, and we use them, not to take away the physical efforts of life, but to give us the sort of physical effort that will help us to stay healthy.
Our text today talks about hard work, about the burdens of life, that leave us
exhausted, worn out. It talks about relief from your burdens, and rest, and
refreshment, and recuperation.
But then it also talks about a new burden, a new exercise that you need for the
good of your health.
Jesus says: Come to me all you who are weary and weighed down with heavy
burdens. Jesus promises: Come to me, and I will give you rest, and refreshment. But then he challenges us: And now pick up my yoke, and learn from me. Learn how to live a life that is healthy and strong.
What are the burdens that weigh people down? What makes you tired?
Do you get tired physically? For all the labour-saving devices that we have, life can still be physically demanding. At the end of the day we may feel tired and worn out.
Our bodies have their limits, and when we have been doing physical work, we
reach the point where our bodies tell us. If we are ill, if we are carrying injuries, then we become even more aware of our physical limits.
We feel tired. We need rest.
As you grow old, you become more and more aware of the loss of physical
strength. You cannot do the same tasks you used to do. You appreciate rest and
quietness more and more.
But there are other kinds of burdens and other kinds of weariness.
Today, when we spend less time and effort on physical work, our levels of mental stress have grown at least as much. As life has become more and more
complicated, our emotional stress keeps going higher. We talk about the pressures of life. There are pressures all around us—we are expected to succeed, to be able to manage new tasks, new technology, and we often get to the point when we cry out: I can’t cope with it all. Give me a break.
We have financial pressures—all the things that we want to get, the security we hope for. We struggle to make ends meet.
We have relationship pressures. We want to love and be loved. So often our
relationships become difficult and we carry disappointments and regrets.
There are pressures within us. We want to be successful. We want to be able to
manage. We want to be independent. But again and again we are reminded of
our own limitations. We feel that we have failed.
But the greatest pressure, and our greatest failures, are spiritual.
If we are honest, we know that we are not the people that we would like to be. We do not live the life that we know that we should live.
I know that I am not the person that God wants me to be, and expects me to be, and commands me to be. I know I should obey my God, and I should live
according to the life that God has set up for me. But I don’t. I fail. I disobey God, and I break God’s commands. The greatest burden we carry is our moral failure.
We try to get around it and think that as long as we do our best, that should be OK.
But it does not work. We carry a great and terrible burden of guilt. We have sinned against our God.
If we think back to Paul’s words in Romans 7, it is one of the most honest cases of facing the guilt within our human hearts: I am a prisoner to the law of sin which is at work in my body. What a wretched man I am! We can hear his frustration, his anger, almost despair. If we are honest, we know that we all share in the same sort of
struggle.
I once shared this passage with a person who was struggling with addictions
gambling addiction, alcohol and drug addiction, sexual addiction. This person
wanted to break free, but the reality is that an addiction keeps grabbing you and dragging you back.
So you have the burden of terrible frustration and guilt. You want to do what is right and healthy, but the urges to do something to satisfy your desires is so great that it keeps dragging you back.
Sin is an addiction. We don’t want to sin – but we do. Those desires to do
something, even if we know that it is hurtful—they keep grabbing us and dragging us down.
That is what Paul is speaking about, and we feel it too: I don’t understand what I am doing, and why I keep on doing it. I don’t do what I want to do, but I do what I hate. I know that God’s law is good, and I want to do what is right. But sin is living in me, and I keep on giving way to sin. I have the desire to do what is right, but I do not have the strength to carry it out. ….I don’t do the good I want to do, but I do the evil I don’t want to do.
We hear his great frustration, and we share that frustration. Who will rescue me from this body of death?
But Paul also has an answer. Paul knows where to go for relief, for release, for rest.
Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
That is also the answer that Jesus himself has given. That is the invitation that Christ gives to us: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. Come to me and I will give you rest.
One of the great gifts of God is rest. Rest is peace, relief, refreshment. When we have rest, our bodies, and our minds, and our spirits, have the opportunity to recover, to gather strength again.
When we are tired, we just want to stop, to put our feet up, to crawl into bed, to go to sleep. When we are rested, we are ready to start again. Our energy and our strength have returned.
We have been made in a way so that while we rest we are made strong. Our
bodies and our minds are refreshed and rejuvenated. If we are sick, often a good rest is the best medicine, so that your bodies can heal themselves, and overcome fevers and infections.
There is a beautiful psalm verse: “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for God grants sleep to those he loves” (Psalm 127:2)
Jesus Christ offers rest. But now it is rest that brings health and recovery from our spiritual weariness, from our burdens of sin and guilt. Jesus Christ offers to take our burden. Jesus Christ has taken the burden of our sin and guilt all the way to the
Cross. He has carried that burden and he has paid for that guilt with his own life. So
Jesus says to us that we do not have to try to prove your own goodness—not to
God, nor to ourselves, nor to anyone else. Jesus takes away that pressure.
And Jesus tells us that as we come to him in repentance, he forgives us. He takes
= away our sin. He sets us free from the burden of guilt, and that terrible frustration when we can never avoid following our human sinful desires.
Jesus gives us that deep rest and peace, for we know that our sins are forgiven.
With that rest we are refreshed, rejuvenated, recuperated. We are ready to live
again, with the strength and energy that comes from God’s Spirit.
But just when we think that all of our problems have been solved, Jesus comes back and says: But now I have something for you to carry. Take my yoke on upon you. A yoke is the big heavy beam of wood that was placed over the shoulders of a team of oxen, so that they could pull heavy loads. Jesus is putting a load on us.
Is it easy to be a Christian, to follow Jesus, to live for Christ? No, because Jesus also has very high expectations on us. Jesus calls on us to be totally dedicated to our God, to serve God with our bodies, minds and spirits. That is demanding, and it can mean a huge effort, a deep sacrifice.
Has Jesus lifted off one burden, and replaced it with another? Yes—and no! Jesus takes away the real burdens that wear us out and threaten to destroy us. But remember how we spoke about another sort of effort, about work, about exercise, which is part of healthy living that creates a healthy tiredness.
That is the sort of task and challenge that Jesus gives us. Jesus says: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
If you look at a yoke, you will see that it is not meant to be carried alone—it is
always carried by a pair of oxen. Jesus tells you, I am giving you a burden, but I am not expecting to carry it by yourself. I am not plonking it on top of you to weigh you down and oppress you and destroy you.
No, I am gentle and humble in heart. I am giving you something that is going to help you and build you up.
Jesus says that he is carrying that burden with us. Learn from me. When you share the tasks and challenges of Christian life, you are sharing in the life of Jesus Christ.
You are sharing the life that comes from God. That is a privilege, not a burden. And it is a challenge that makes you stronger, that builds up your faith. The more you respond, the more you grow, and you appreciate more and more what God is doing through you and what God is doing in you.
With Jesus Christ, this yoke is easy, this burden is not too heavy. As you commit to God’s tasks, yes, you do get tired. You know that you have been putting your body and mind and soul into it. But it is a healthy tiredness. It is the tiredness that brings refreshment and new life.
Until you finally have finished all of your tasks. Then you have a new rest and an eternal peace. Then you are living in the peace of your heavenly Father. For Christ has given you the rest for your souls. Amen.