Text: Hebrews 11:8-9a It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him.

Who likes surprises?
There are good surprises and there are bad surprises.
A good surprise might be a bigger tax refund cheque than you expected;
an unexpected visit from someone special;
a surprise party to celebrate your birthday.

The following conversation between two young children was overheard in the playground:
“Close your eyes and open your mouth.  Guess what this is?” as the little girl popped something into the mouth of the little boy.
“Is it jelly bean?  Red I think,” came the answer after the first taste.
“Nooo.” was the reply from the little girl, “Try again”.
After the second taste, “Is it a chewy bear?”
“Nope.  I’ll give you a clue.  It isn’t something people eat.”

Yes, surprises can be unpleasant.  You’ve had them in your personal lives and no doubt you are thinking about recent unpleasant surprises in your congregation and school communities.  These are the kind of surprises that no one wants.  But they come anyway.

In today’s readings we have heard a lot about Abraham.  Now there’s a man who had to cope with surprises –  most of his surprises were very unsettling. They included having a child when he and Sarah were very old and then being told to sacrifice that child.  Today I want to focus on his first surprise.  Out of the blue God said to Abraham, “Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to a land that I will show you” (Gen 12:1).

Now Abraham was a very successful man.  He lived in a very rich, sophisticated and civilised part of the world.  He was very wealthy with a great amount of pasture land, sheep, cattle, camels, goats – you name it and many servants.  God was asking him to leave this beautiful land behind and go to a foreign country, live in tents, become a nomad, and head off on a journey that will take him only God knows how long and to a place a place that only God knows.

Abraham could have easily said, “No way, God. You want me to leave all this and go across the desert to some unknown foreign land for an indefinite time.  It’s clear you have some kind of grand plan but give me a hand here, God.  Can’t you give me some kind of reasonable explanation why you want to turn my life upside down?”

But we don’t hear of any kind of conversation like this between Abraham and God. We are simply told, “He left his own country without knowing where he was going” (Heb 11:8).

Why was Abraham able to simply take off to an unknown place?
Why didn’t he stay in Haran where life was so good?
Simply put – faith – faith that led to Abraham to trust God and so confidently do as God had said.
We are told, “It was faith that made Abraham obey God”.
“By faith he lived as a foreigner” in that strange land, always on the move.
Today we heard God say to Abraham, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward.” Then we are told, “Abram put his trust in the Lord”.

When our life takes all kinds of unexpected twists and turns, it is this same kind of faith that enables us to view everything differently.  We can be in strange and uncertain circumstances but still be full of hope, confident and strong in the face of everything that’s happening. The apostle Paul expressed this kind of faith when he said that he can face all kinds of trouble through the strength that Christ gives him (Phil 4:13).

What do we mean by faith?

Faith is trusting in the promises of God.  Faith is trusting a promise made by God no matter how weird it might be (like a couple of geriatrics, as Abraham and Sarah were, becoming parents for the first time). Faith believes that a promise is a promise.
When God promised Abraham, “Do not be afraid, I will protect you” (Gen 15:1), he trusted God to keep his word.
When God promised that he would give Abraham and his descendants a new home, Abraham trusted him, even though he never saw this happen in his lifetime.
Faith trusts that Word from God that says, “I will not forget you.  I have written your name on the palm of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16)
Faith simply takes God at his word even when we can’t see around the next corner of our life’s journey and we don’t know where we are heading.
Faith believes the promise that we are his dear children and that he will always be watching over us as we travel the ups and downs of life’s journey.
Faith in our loving heavenly Father leads us to obedience even though we can’t see where God will lead us.  We are told, “It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him.”

One day, Zac and his father were climbing on some rocks that lined the seashore.  Suddenly Zac’s father hears a voice from the top of a big rock, “Hey Dad! Catch me!”  Zac had jumped and then yelled and was sailing through the air straight at his father.  They both fell to the ground.

When Zac’s father realised what had happened he gasped, “Zac!  Can you give me one good reason why you did that?”

He responded with remarkable calmness and simplicity, “Sure, because you’re my Dad.”

Isn’t that a story about the faith of a Christian?  Whatever life might throw at us and whenever the sharp bends and unexpected corners catch us unprepared, we can throw ourselves into the loving arms of our heavenly Father with complete confidence knowing that he will always be there to catch us. Just as Zac trusted the love of his father, we too can trust the love of our God.

That’s all very good you might be saying, as I have, “But I’m no Abraham”.  Maybe these words sound familiar to you, “But God, this is all so unfair. I know you’re there and that you love me but at this moment this does nothing to take away the pain and the hurt and the grief. I’m sorry, God, but it seems you’ve left me in the lurch to deal with all this by myself.  I can’t help myself when I say, ‘You aren’t being very fair’.”

We aren’t told if Abraham had any struggle with God’s command to relocate but we do know of another man who lost everything and struggled to understand God.  That man was Job.  He came to the conclusion that it’s not God who is unfair.  Life is unfair!  It’s the world we live in that is unfair.
It is sin that causes trouble and crime in our community, on our roads and wars among nations.
It is the frailty of our bodies that brings sickness and pain and disease and the need for hospitals, surgery and medicines.
It is death that causes us anguish and grief and heart ache as we are faced with the loss of loved ones from this life.
It’s the economic events in this community that has caused the grief and heartache in this church and school.
It’s life that is unfair.

We may not understand the trouble that is happening in our lives and we may be overwhelmed with doubt that everything that is happening is so unfair and that God isn’t playing by the rules of what we think is fair, but the last word in all of this is the Bible’s call to see beyond all that is happening and see in faith the love of our God and his call to eternal life where all the unfairness of this life will come to an end.  “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see”, we read in Hebrews.  This is what Job meant when he said, “The Lord gave and now he has taken away.  May his name be praised!”  In other words, “I have been subject to some extremely unfair treatment in this life and even though I don’t understand why, in faith I can look beyond all that (right now and in the life to come) and see God’s loving face”.  Job trusted God regardless of his present circumstances.

This kind of confidence and praising of God in the face of all kinds of tragic circumstances is not unusual.  Some people may think it strange to be able to praise God in the face of trouble, but it does happen.  Even when the journey ahead is unclear and seems to be full of trouble, in faith you are able
to trust God as your loving heavenly Father; he made you and he knows you personally and intimately.  He knows what you are going through at any time.
Faith leads you to believe that God really loves you as shown in his Son, Jesus, and that this love is as strong for you as ever;
Faith enables you to be confident that even in the most confusing and troubling times and things don’t make any sense, you are held in the hand of God who loves you so deeply. 

The Bible never belittles human disappointment or the agony and trouble that we have in this life but it does add one key word – temporary.  What we feel now, we will not always feel.  Trusting God we are given the ability and strength to rise above the troubles and anxieties and leave all our worries in the hands of our Saviour.

In Jesus, we see the perfect example of what it means to have faith. He faithfully carried out his work in an unfair world, opening the path for each of us to have eternal life.  When we are weighed down with worry and our sinfulness and we feel like giving up and feel as though he has let go of us, in truth he has his arms firmly wrapped around us.  “I am your good shepherd.  I know you. I love you. I will not let you go. Together we will walk into the future”.

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

Text: Matthew 13:1-9 Jesus said, “Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants. But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: some had one hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty.” And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”

These days we are very waste conscious. We have recycling bins where we can place our old magazines and newspapers. We are encouraged to recycle our tins, bottles, and plastic containers. We have water restrictions to conserve this precious commodity. We are a society that has become extremely conscious about conserving and recycling as much as we can. For those with children parents seem to be always turning off lights to conserve energy and keep down the power bill.

When you look at the Bible you find that there is quite a bit of waste. At the beginning of Matthew’s gospel the birth of Jesus is recorded. We read how cruel King Herod massacred hundreds of innocent Jewish baby boys. What a waste of human life! Could this waste have been prevented maybe if less had been made of Jesus as the new born king and consequently King Herod would not have felt so threatened?

Or what about the woman who poured a jar of very expensive perfume on Jesus’ head? The disciples who saw this became angry and asked, “Why all this waste? This perfume could have been sold for a large amount and the money given to the poor” (Matt 26:8,9).
What about Jesus’ story about the woman who wasted so much time as she searched high and low for just a couple of coins or the one about the father who wasted money, clothes and an extravagant party on a rebellious son who had wasted all his money and came home a smelly beggar.
There is the story about the Samaritan who wasted time and money on a Jew lying in a ditch on the side of the road – someone he didn’t even know let alone someone he knew didn’t like him.

I wonder how many people actually saw and heard Jesus preaching and teaching and yet how many people believed in him and followed him. You might say that a lot of Jesus’ words and efforts were “wasted”. Much of what he said fell on deaf ears. Many of his miracles were greeted with unbelieving hearts. And in spite of all of his love, his words, and his deeds the vast majority called for his death, “crucify him, crucify him” they called. And what could be more “wasteful” than the death of a kind, caring, loving and, above all, innocent young man like Jesus. He gave up his life for the sake of his enemies! What a waste!

And then we come to this parable of Jesus today. A lot is made of the fact that there was a lot of waste –
some seed fell on the path where birds came a picked it up,
some fell on rocky ground where it grew but because of the shallow roots of the new plants, they soon withered and dried up in the heat of the sun,
some fell among weeds and thornbushes where the young plants were choked.
What a waste of good seed!

Jesus took his story right out of the everyday world of the farmer in Palestine two thousand years ago. That there was a harvest at all is a miracle considering that a large proportion of the seed the farmer sowed went to waste.  But in spite of the farmers wastefulness some of the seed fell on the good soil, and wonder of wonders, took root, grew, and produced a harvest 30, 60, 100 times over.

What if the farmer decided not to sow his seed because he knew that much of his seed would go to waste?
What if the farmer decided not to plant because he guessed that there might be a hailstorm that year, or a drought, or severe frost?
The farmer is a risk-taker. Every time he puts seed in the ground he is taking a gamble. (I saw a bumper sticker that read, “Legalise gambling – why should farmers have all the fun.”) But the farmer has reasonable expectations that nature is on his side. The sower works according to his hope for a harvest.
He doesn’t make the crops grow.
He isn’t responsible for photosynthesis.
He doesn’t cause the heads of grain to form on each plant.
But he sows with the expectation that there will be a harvest – in fact, he sows with the hope that there will be a bumper harvest this year.  He knows that no sowing means no harvest and so no food for his family.

The parable ends in joy, a celebration of a great harvest. There is waste, yes, there is wasted effort, wasted seed, and disappointment. The sowing has not been efficient but the story ends with astounding success and a remarkable harvest.

Jesus was very realistic. He knew that there would be a lot of waste when it comes to the gospel and the life of the Christian. Of thousands of words that are read and spoken in a church service how many are heard, taken in and applied to our relationship with Christ and our life in the church. We are distracted; our minds are cluttered with many concerns and cares. God speaks, we don’t hear what he says. What a waste!

Often waste gives us an excuse not to do anything.
Why put a lot of effort into writing a sermon when only a small proportion of it will actually be heard and taken to heart?
Why help those who come to the church looking for food and money – it all seems such a waste?
Why keep on trying to tell family members and friends about the love of Jesus – when it all seems such a waste of time and effort? The failure to bring results can give us a very good reason not to do anything.

It really would be quite depressing for a farmer to realise that so much of his hard work will come to nothing.
Some seed grows but withers and dies because it can’t sink roots down into the hard ground.
Some seed is eaten by birds, some choked by thorns and weeds. Jesus explains that some people hear God’s Word but their lives are filled with so much trouble, worry, anxiety over money, jobs, possessions and family that what God has to say to them is soon overwhelmed by all of this. If we read the parable up to this point and no further we could quite rightly that say that this is just too wasteful.

But Jesus doesn’t leave us at that point. In spite of the waste, he promises a harvest. Our work, his Word, the church’s witness are not in vain. There is waste, there is defeat, but there is also the promise of a great harvest.

All God asks of us is that we continue to speak God’s Word at the time and the place where it can take root in the hearts and lives of people. Following Christ, and sowing the seed of his Word, is like planting a garden. We place the seeds in the ground with the conviction that there is a power for growth within them that we ourselves can in no way provide. We may plant them too deep or not deep enough. Lack of rain may cause the ground to grow hard, rocks may prevent some seeds from taking root, weeds may choke others out, but one day a tiny green sprout pushes up through the dark earth, and our heart jumps for joy!

Christ calls each of us as his disciples to simply sow the seed, and to do it out of love and gladness for the grace we have received. He calls us as his disciples to speak the Word that tells of God’s love, to serve our neighbour in need, to labour with patience, to do our best to help those in need, to do whatever we can with the abilities we have been given. And when we have done our part, he promises that our labour will never be in vain. There will be results! Some seed will fall into good soil and produce fruit. We don’t have to worry about the size of the harvest, or how long it will take to grow, or even if we live to see it. We can leave the results to God.

A group of people worked hard to convince their congregation to begin a school as a witness to the community and to share the love of Christ in the every day happenings of a school. There was constant resistance from the members and when the matter was finally put to the vote, the proposed project was soundly defeated. After the meeting one person was heard to say with some bitterness, “It’s a waste of time trying to get this congregation to do anything, to get moving and take some risks.” She left the congregation for another church.

Three years later at a workshop for school committees much to her surprise she met a group of people from her former congregation. When she inquired why they were at this workshop they replied, “Our congregation has just decided to go ahead with the school project. We are members of the Establishment Committee.

There seemed to be so much wasted time, energy and enthusiasm when this project was first proposed. Sometimes it takes a while for seed to germinate and as we wait it’s not hard to become frustrated and despondent. We need to realise that we don’t have any control over precisely when the seed will grow.

We know of missionaries who worked hard sowing the seed of God’s Word and for a long time there wasn’t any harvest.  It took many years before they could see some results.

There is a great deal of waste, frustration and defeat in the Kingdom of God.
We become discouraged because we don’t see the results of God’s Word at work immediately in the lives of people.
We admit that there are times when God’s Word could have been a powerful influence in a person’s life but we failed to recognise what that Word could do, and so failed to act.
We admit we have focused on what we have to do get God’s Word to grow in the lives of others and not relied more on God and his love and left the results to God.
We, here at St Paul’s, are in the business of sowing seed. We sow a lot of seed through our congregation, our school and aged care village and also further afield in far away places. We throw out a lot of seed speaking God’s Word of love and care to one and all. We might easily say we are wasting a lot of seed; wasting a lot of time and money and seeing only a small return.

It’s easy to forget that by the persistent grace of God there is a harvest. We may not see it right now, but at some time down the track with further watering and care, there will be a harvest. We remind ourselves that there is no limit to the God’s commitment to us and the work his Spirit does in growing and nurturing our faith. We thank God that his Word declares to us the joyous news of forgiveness in Jesus Christ for our failure to be extravagant sowers of God’s Word, and for the multitude of excuses we come up with for not fulfilling our calling as disciples.

May the Holy Spirit make us more concerned about being faithful sowers, sharing God’s Word of love and forgiveness and being caring cultivators nurturing those who are still growing in their faith, always praying that both we and they may be there when the harvest is gathered in.

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

Back in the dim dark past during my secondary schooling the only team sport for boys was football – Aussie rules to be precise. I enjoyed watching football but couldn’t play myself. I did give it a go but replacing my glasses was getting too expensive. Reluctantly the headmaster allowed us to form a basketball team. One of the guys knew something about basketball but the rest of us didn’t have a clue. We went to the local basketball stadium to watch a game and get a bit of an idea how it was played. We didn’t have a coach at the beginning, however, one the boys had played before and became our coach (sort of).

We didn’t have proper goals to practice goal shooting, we knew barely anything about the rules and techniques of the game, but the team was all fired up, and with new uniforms were ready to whip all opposition.

Our first game was against one of the oldest and biggest schools in Adelaide, Pulteney Grammar. The score was easy to remember – Pulteney Grammar 66, Immanuel College 6. We had loads of enthusiasm and good intentions, but that wasn’t enough to score goals. When the sports results were read out after Monday morning chapel you could see the headmaster cringe when he heard the basketball scores.

Can this be said about the way we live our Christian lives?
We have loads of good intentions, excellent plans and even enthusiasm
but somehow never get around to carrying out those good intentions?

As we read our Bibles and hear God speaking to us at worship we learn what God’s love has done for us through Jesus.
We hear how Jesus has made us his new people through the forgiveness of our sin and how we have been adopted as his own dear children and made members of his family.
The Bible tells us that faith in Jesus is a very practical thing and should affect our everyday lives. Listen to Paul, “You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. … Forgive one another …. To all these qualities add love … Christ’s message in all its richness must live in your hearts. … Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col 3:12-15).

Paul is describing a new lifestyle. He is telling us that Christ in our lives makes a big difference to everything we say and do, to the attitudes and values that we have. Christ in our lives gives us a whole new perspective on how we can serve others and work together with our fellow members in the church.

But still in spite of all of this, I know I have to confess, and I suppose I’m not alone in this, that too often there is a gap between what we know we ought to do, and what we actually do as followers of Jesus.

Perhaps most of us live our Christianity like poor old Grandma Schultz hanging out the washing. She goes to the laundry to fetch the pegs, notices a mouse, and runs inside to find a trap. She sees a grimy spot on the kitchen floor, rummages through the cupboard for a cleaning rag, and comes across an old letter from cousin Hilda who lives in the Barossa Valley. She reads it and finds a recipe for streusel kuchen. She goes to the kitchen and seeing the jam boiling over on the stove, opens the window and sees Grandpa in the garden. She remembers that she needs some tomatoes for lunch …… somehow the washing just never seems to get hung out! Grandma Schultz had good intentions but she was a busy person but never got around to doing anything properly. She was always sidetracked by something that seemed to be more urgent.

Likewise, when we hear the Scriptures and are encouraged to let our light shine and make a difference in the lives of the people around us we happily say “Amen” and resolve to let our faith really shine.
There are things we want to change in our lives – get rid of some old habits and attitudes.
We want to be more considerate, and helpful and co-operative, to be more open, to be less critical, to be more tolerant of others with different opinions, to be more patient.
We want to let our Christian faith show by being more understanding toward our husband or wife, being around more for our kids.
We really want to try our hardest to get on with that person who really gets under our skin.
We want to worship more regularly, pray more often, be more helpful, and contribute to the congregation more regularly.

Maybe after hearing a sermon or attending a Bible study we make ourselves a promise that from now on things are going to be different. But too often all of our good intentions remain just good intentions. Somehow it’s all much harder than we thought and it’s much easier to fall back into our old pattern of doing things.

The Apostle Paul struggled with this, “I know that good does not live in me—that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it” (Rom 7.18). Paul here says that he knows what he should do; he knows what God wants him to do; he knows that he has been brought close to God and made holy through Christ’s suffering and death but he keeps on doing what he knows he is not supposed to be doing. I think we can all relate to that.

In the gospel reading today we hear Jesus say to us, “Come to me”. What could be clearer that that – straight from the mouth of Jesus himself. When life is getting too much to handle and you feel the weight of trouble, sickness, and worry falling heavily on your shoulders, Jesus says, “Come to me”.

It’s like he wants to give us a good shake and bring us to our sense as he says “Come to me” because he knows that we are not able to keep our heads above water in our sea of trouble. He reminds us that we don’t have to carry all this alone. He is there to help us. “Trust me, rely on me, believe me when I say to you, ‘Come to me’”. But do we take this invitation seriously? Most times that invitation becomes real only after we have sunk into depression and made ourselves sick with worry.

God tells us through the scriptures to let love rule our lives. “Put on love” we are told, and yes, that’s a good idea we say. But no sooner have we stated our intention to do just this than some low flying temptation comes our way and we end up doing exactly the opposite.

We are a lot like Grandma Schultz, dithering here and there, with every good intention but never getting around to doing what we had originally intended. Sin is very real in our lives. We are tempted to make our religion something separate from our everyday world, and we leave our faith in Christ at home when we go to work, or we forget we are members of God’s family when we are out on the sport’s field or having a great time with mates and friends. We know what we ought to do and we might have every good intention, but the circumstances influence us to do otherwise.

Have I told you about the bloke nicknamed “gunner”? I was intrigued by his nickname and thought he must have got the name “gunner” because he had been in the military. Anyway, one day I asked one of his mates why this bloke had the nickname “gunner”. He laughed as he explained, “Don’t get me wrong now, Gunner’s a great bloke, but as long as I’ve known him he’s always gonna do this and gonna do that, but never gets around to it”.

The apostle Paul is admitting that he is a good candidate for the nickname “gonna”. In fact, we are all “gonnas”. We can know all about Jesus and what our faith means for our everyday life and one day we’re “gonna” get around to making a few changes in our lives.
One day we’re gonna get around to caring for the needy neighbour.
One day we’re gonna do something about spending more time with the family.
One day we’re gonna do more for the church, be more regular in our church attendance.
But the truth of the matter is that somehow we never get around to it. We have every good intention, but we never do anything about it. To put it bluntly, our faith is good in theory but putting it into practice is quite another thing. It seems we can never change!

Paul expresses his frustration when he says, “I don’t do the good I want to do; instead I do the evil that I don’t want to do. … What an unhappy man I am”. But he doesn’t remain locked in this feeling of helplessness. He thanks God for Jesus who is able to forgive even someone who knows what he ought to do, has every good intention, but doesn’t follow this through. Jesus is good news for everyone. He died because of our distractions. He died a bloody, brutal death to free us from the curse of our sin. He died for saying that one day we’re gonna get around to being a better follower of Jesus. We have a new hope. We don’t need to be afraid of every inadequacy, every doubt, every threat of failure. We are forgiven.

In Christ there is a new beginning. There is a change. In Christ we can break out of the old mould where we replace God’s will simply with good intentions that never amount to anything. With Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit our faith becomes more than something theoretical. It becomes an integral part of our lives. The living Christ becomes a powerful force in changing our attitudes towards other people and how we see our role in the life of the church. The living Christ fills every part of our lives and when burdens and troubles preoccupy our minds and lives, our theology tells us that we have a God who loves and cares for us. This is not just an interesting theological fact; it is the living truth for our lives.

Luther talks about faith in this way:
Faith is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, so that it is impossible for it not to be constantly doing what is good…. Without any coercion a person is willing and desirous to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything for the love of God and to his glory….
Faith is not simply knowing about Jesus and saying that one day we’re gonna be more active in our Christianity. Our faith is very practical everyday thing.
You learn to be caring and concerned about people.
You serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion.
You are patient in times of trouble, praying at all times.
You do everything possible to live in peace with everyone.
You are willing to do whatever you can to support the mission of God’s church.
You gladly do these things and more because your faith in Jesus has become a busy active, living thing, giving an effective living witness to the world.

No doubt there will be times when all these become good intentions that are never fulfilled and we express our disappointment as Paul did. “I know what I ought to do, but I don’t do it”. We join Paul in expressing our thanks to God for the forgiveness we have through our Lord Jesus Christ. He forgives and renews us and sends us out from here today to live our faith as we go about our daily tasks.

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

Text: Genesis 22:1,2,7,8,14 God called to Abraham, “Abraham!” And Abraham answered, “Yes, here I am!”  “Take your son,” God said, “your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me.”  As they walked along together, Isaac spoke up, “Father!” He answered, “Yes, my son?”  Isaac asked, “I see that you have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide one.” And the two of them walked on together. Abraham named the place “The Lord Provides.” And even people today say, “On the Lord’s mountain he provides.”

People have problems with God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his only son and the willingness of Abraham to carry it out.
Scholars have debated this story;
Bible study groups have puzzled over it;
some have dismissed it as a fictional story that foreshadows the heavenly Father’s sacrifice of his own Son;
some have placed the story in the too hard basket refusing to believe that God would ask anyone to do such a thing.
Others have marvelled at Abraham’s trust in God.

Our feelings complicate things. We are horrified as Abraham sets on his trek – Isaac beside him, wood on Isaac’s back, the pot of hot coals, and a knife in his belt, and Isaac’s innocent question about the whereabouts of the sacrifice.
We hold our breath as Abraham ties up his son, places him on the wood on the altar and raises a knife to kill Isaac – or would it be better to say Abraham is about to “murder a child”.
Then there is our sense of relief when, at the last moment, God intervenes and stops Abraham from completing what appears to be a senseless slaughter of his only son.

Questions rage in our minds.
What kind of God would ask a father to sacrifice his son?
What kind of father was Abraham who was happy to comply?
Should he really be held up as a model of faith for us all?
This can hardly be held up as an example of child protection. If Abraham tried this kind of stunt today he would quickly find himself labelled a monster and locked up for a very long time.

Let’s take a closer look at this story. Firstly we need to note how much Abraham loved his son Isaac! That boy was a true miracle baby. It was physically impossible for a couple nudging 100 years old to bear a child. Sarah even laughed when she was told she would become a mother. Two old gray haired people becoming parents – that sounded just too ridiculous, too impossible. But with God, nothing is impossible. Isaac was born – truly a gift of God’s grace.

God had told Abraham that this boy, resting in his arms, meant that God was keeping his promise that a great nation would come from his descendants and that through this child would come great blessings for all nations. We get some idea of how special Isaac was to Abraham when the writer of this Genesis story very carefully retells God’s words emphasising that Isaac was the delight of this old man. God called Isaac, “your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love.”

But then came the blow! One night God came to Abraham with an important request. “Take your son, your only son Isaac whom you love. Go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” I can’t begin to imagine what emotions must have surged through Abraham’s heart.

I don’t know how you would respond to a command like this, but I know I wouldn’t have reacted as Abraham did. My reaction would be more like, “Are you kidding, God! I’ve waited 100 years for this boy! There’s no way I’m going to do this!”

But that’s not how Abraham responded. Incredibly we are told he got up the next morning and saddled his donkey. He chopped the wood, got the pot of hot coals ready, took two servants and his son, and set out for the place where God had told him to go. Could we say at this point that he loved his son, but he loved his heavenly Father more?

After a three-day journey they arrived at Mount Moriah. Abraham told his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.”

Did you catch what Abraham said? “The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.“ He fully intended to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, but he had that remarkable faith that believed that somehow, and he didn’t know how this would happen, both of them would return. As Abraham and Isaac are walking, Isaac notices something is missing. They have the fire and the wood but where is the sacrifice. Notice what Abraham says. “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

And that’s exactly what happened. God did provide. As he raised his knife to kill Isaac the angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham.
“Don’t hurt the boy or do anything to him. Now that I know that you have obedient reverence for God, because you have not kept back your only son from him.” Abraham sees a ram and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. He names the place “The Lord Provides.”

“The Lord provides.” This is a common theme in the Bible. Throughout the pages of Scripture, God is portrayed as the One who sees and cares for all of our needs.
We hear about how the very hairs on our head are numbered.
We hear of his concern and notices when one insignificant sparrow falls to the ground.
We hear about Daniel who is delivered from the mouths of lions.
Gideon and the remnant of his army are rescued from their enemies.
The Israelites are saved from the Egyptians when a path is made through the sea. And so we could go and on. The Bible is a book about how God loves and provides for his people.

From time to time we hear how someone has questioned God and why he hasn’t done something when things aren’t going the way they believe they ought and they face extreme difficulties and challenges. The pain, confusion, upset, depression, bewilderment lead many to ask, “Where are you God when I need you the most”. The absence of God and his seeming failure to provide for their needs has been a constant cry throughout the ages. Just take a look at the book of Psalms, and you will hear the same questions being asked.

Is God personally involved with our lives?
We know God is love but why don’t we see more evidence of this in our lives and in our world?
We’ve asked God for his help and apparently he hasn’t heard us. The same old problems just keep on plaguing us.
God is all knowing and must know what our needs are but why won’t he actually do something to meet our needs?

We may debate and argue till the cows come home about the God who gives Abraham a son and a promise about grandchildren and great grandchildren, and then asks that he kill his only son and burn him on a sacrificial altar.
We could go on for hours about how a loving God would never ask Abraham to give up Isaac – even as a test.
We can discuss the reason God had to test Abraham in such a cruel and heartless way.
But the fundamental fact remains – Abraham trusted God and believed that he would provide and he did. The Lord provided. I can hear Abraham say to Isaac when he saw the ram caught in the bush, “See that Isaac! I told you the Lord would provide a lamb for the burnt offering.”

God will provide. So often we act and speak as if we had to provide. We talk as if everything depended on us. We feel that we need to have everything under control, every angle covered. Be hardheaded. Take no risks. The Lord helps those who help themselves, and so forth. If we wait for i-s to be dotted and the t-s crossed before we did anything then we wouldn’t get around to doing too much at all.

When God told Noah to build a boat – not just any boat but one of massive proportions – do we hear of Noah wanting to know all the whys and wherefores before he started building? This was a huge undertaking no doubt costly in terms of the money required to buy materials, tradesmen to build such a boat, his reputation, not to mention that according to the weather forecast there was no rain in sight. We are simply told that Noah did as God had said.

Obedience and trust in God go hand in hand. You see, sometimes we just have to say, “I don’t really know how this is going to turn out, but I believe that God knows what he is doing and I trust his love for me.”
We can be scared stiff by the personal problems that we are facing, our financial struggles.
We can be worried about the decline in the number of people attending worship worldwide.
We don’t know why there is such a lack of commitment by so many people to God, his Church, and what God wants to do through his church for the people of this community.
We can be overwhelmed by the myriad of challenges the Lord places before us because we don’t have resources to do what God is asking.
Our heads can swim at all the possibilities that God has placed before this congregation that we wonder if we will ever be able to rise to the occasion and faithfully carry out God’s plans.

God will provide. Are we ready to say that, in full trust? God may not meet all of our requests right now. He may not give us the people we need to carry out certain plans right now. A certain kind of ministry may have to be left unfulfilled until God supplies us with the right people to be able to move forward. But God will provide. He will provide a way for his plans to be carried out. There is little point in God giving us so many opportunities to minister to others and leaving us high and dry to work it all out by ourselves.  By the way, this isn’t an invitation to laziness or doing nothing saying, “Let’s not do anything until the Lord provides.” Rather an invitation to trust and be open to the way God provides especially through us.

The God whom we serve is faithful and true. This Old Testament event reminds us of our heavenly Father who was prepared to sacrifice his only Son. God did not spare his own Son. Since God went to this extreme for us, doesn’t it follow that it is not beyond God’s will and power to do extreme things through us and for us?

The real test of love is in the sacrifice that love is willing to make. God’s love went to the limit. He might have argued “Why should I? They aren’t worth it.” He might have reasoned, “Why bother? They will reject it anyway.”

Like Abraham, he took his Son – his only Son whom he loved more dearly than Abraham could ever love Isaac – and put him on the wooden altar shaped into a cross. His love for us compelled him to give the best he had. Love made a Father sacrifice his Son. Don’t be surprised if love, especially love for God, will cause you to do extreme things, to make sacrifices that you would not have otherwise made.

What we need to see clearly is that God is working out his purpose in our lives. What is important is his plan for us. The good news is not that we have a wonderful plan for our lives and our church and God will help us to accomplish it; but that God has a wonderful plan for our lives and our church and yes he will provide a way for us to accomplish it. He knows what we need, where we need it, and when we need it. “The Lord provides.”

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

 

 

 

Love isn’t love until it’s tested.

For example a parent’s love isn’t tested until a child disobeys or rejects their love. A child’s love of a parent isn’t tested until their mum or dad fails in a promise and lets them down. A husband’s or wife’s love isn’t tested until one breaks the trust of the other or acts in ways that are selfish or hurtful.

Love isn’t love until it’s tested.

But sometimes we test love the wrong way.

For example, a boy will often say to a girl, ‘If you really love me, you’ll let me take you to bed.’ Or children will often say to their parents, ‘If you really love me, you’ll give me what I want.’

Therefore the argument continues that if we don’t get what we want, then the other person doesn’t really love us. In this way we use love as a bargaining chip, or as an emotion to hold for ransom. In reality we don’t play this game of ‘love blackmail’ out of love, but out of selfishness, greed and lust. I suppose we could answer back, ‘If you really loved me, you wouldn’t test me and my love in this way.’

Now of course, true love sometimes withholds things. For instance, a good parent won’t let their children have chips and chocolate for every meal because they love them and know what’s good for them. It doesn’t mean love isn’t there, but love is sometimes expressed by not giving in to every whim and desire you have. Even though you might at first be upset about it, sometimes love and respect can be increased when a family member or friend doesn’t let you get your own way.

There is perhaps another one you test.

Have you ever said to God, ‘If you really love me, then you’ll give me what I want. Now what I want is happiness, good health, riches, no problems or difficulties, good friends, all my enemies to get their just punishment, and everything to go my way.’

You may then think that if everything is going your way, then God is for you and he loves you. But if you become unhappy, if your relationships break down, if you suffer in your health, if you’re poor, if you have problems or difficulties, if you have enemies who seem to get away with their treatment of you, and if things don’t go your way, then you may be tempted to think God doesn’t love you.

This is why some people say, ‘If God really loves us, he wouldn’t allow terrorists to fly planes into office buildings. If God really loves us, he would have stopped the earthquakes and cyclones from killing so many people. If God really loves us, he wouldn’t take young children away from their parents or let them get so sick, he would stop the spread of cancer, he wouldn’t allow people to suffer unjustly, or he would always protect the innocent.’

Some people then blame God for all their troubles and think God’s against them. They might think God is punishing them. So when people try to blackmail God into doing what they want for the sake of his love, people’s hearts aren’t softened, but hardened against God through their fear and rebellion.

Although God may sometimes allow the results of people’s wickedness to visit them, God doesn’t desire to punish his people. God doesn’t want to punish you, but he wants to strengthen your faith in him.

Although bad things may happen for no apparent reason, God will want to use your times of trouble and suffering to lead you closer to him. He may use your times of darkness and despair in order to test and strengthen your confidence in him.

In this way, God may use your troubles, your afflictions, and your tribulations in order to bring about perseverance and endurance. He might use your suffering to build up your steadfastness of faith. He may use your pain to put your character to the test.

You see, your character isn’t tested in good times when everything’s going your way. It’s only when things go wrong and you feel under pressure, under the weather, or under oppression, that’s when your character is truly tried and tested. So, will you crack? Will you take the easy way out? Will you bow to peer or public pressure? Or will you stay the path? Will you remain true and faithful? Will you trust God even when things don’t go your way? In other words, are you a fair-weather Christian, or are you in with God all the way and through all the storms of life?

Your endurance, your character and your hope are gifts given to you through faith in God, but you never put them to the test while things are going well. These gifts are tested and strengthened through your pains, your afflictions, and even through your tears. These gifts of endurance and character aren’t given to you on a silver platter, but given to you and built up through toil and heartache.

Also, your hope and your confidence aren’t based on your feelings (because frankly, you don’t feel very good when you’re suffering!), but they’re based on facts and truth. Feelings are not faith. Feelings are fickle and rise and fall in a moment. Instead, your feelings in suffering often identify your deeper spiritual needs.

So yes, the fact is that you may be going through troubles right now, or you might face them in the future. This doesn’t make you feel very good about yourself, about others, or even about God. But your feelings don’t negate the truth that through faith in Jesus Christ, you’re given peace with God. The troubles you experience aren’t sent as punishment, but God will want to use them in such a way to deepen your faith and deepen your confidence in Christ alone. After all, if everything went your way, why would you even need God or his Son’s death and resurrection?

Your troubles can help you realise your weakness and God’s strength. In fact, it’s often when you’re at your weakest that you realise again your need to rely on and trust God and his promises. After all, it was while you were weak, sick or helpless that Jesus died on your behalf. Christ bought you peace with God through his death for you when you were weak and sick with sin.

Therefore your sufferings aren’t punishment sent from God, or signs of God being cruel to you, but they may actually be blessings in disguise. Your sufferings can be good for you and your faith in God. Your sufferings may lead you to a deeper level of love, trust, and commitment. Your sufferings then, may be something you can actually boast in.

Now this doesn’t mean you should compare your sufferings with each other and boast to each other as if ‘my sufferings are bigger than your sufferings’, but instead you should pride yourself that through your sufferings, you’re being led closer to God and are growing in your confidence in him.

You can boast in your sufferings because they drag you to the foot of the cross, sometimes kicking and screaming all the way. They can force you to admit your weakness and helplessness. They’ll compel you to find confidence in the death of Jesus Christ. He died for you while you are still a sinner. He died for you while you are still helpless. He died on your behalf.

The cross is painful. Your own crosses of suffering are painful. But as you kneel at the foot of the cross you see your sins hanging on Jesus. All God’s anger against your sins are taken out on Jesus, so therefore your suffering can’t be punishment, otherwise Jesus died in vain.

As you look to that cross in your suffering; your pride, your selfishness and your vain glory are also being put to death. Sometimes every vain and transient thing you’ve unconsciously or consciously put your faith in is being stripped away so all you have left is Jesus on the cross. As you look to the cross, your only confidence grows from the fact that Jesus died for you in order to bring you peace with God the Father. Through the death of Jesus on that cruel cross, God demonstrated his love for you.

Christ is at work, not just in your happiness and your victories, although those things too are a gift, but Christ is most at work in your suffering. That’s where your faith and love and confidence and hope is truly tested and put to work. That’s also where God dwells – in suffering. That’s where you see him the most clearly, and that’s where you realise he is near.

It’s when you suffer, that your experience of God grows. For some people, this brings fear of God and is expressed through their anger and rebellion, but for you, your suffering should bring you closer to God. Therefore your sufferings are a blessing to you.

Thankfully, as you kneel at the foot of the cross, you’re also led to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. As you endure your troubles, you may sometimes think your own resurrection from your suffering seems such a long way off that you may think it’ll never come. But just as surely that Jesus rose from death, he still lives for you and will bring you to be with him in glory. If you have been reconciled and vindicated by his death, how much more will you be saved by his life.

As strange as it sounds, brag and boast in your sufferings. Not because they’re any worse or better than anyone else’s sufferings, but because through them you’re being brought closer to the cross of Christ. Rejoice because your hope and confidence in Jesus Christ through his glorious death on the cross will help you realise and experience God’s love for you and bring you closer to him. Rejoice that Jesus died on your behalf to bring you peace, love and hope.

They say that love isn’t love until it is tested.

God’s love for us was put to the test through his precious Son’s death on that painful cross.

When our hope and confidence in God is put to the test, may be brought closer to him, so that…

The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, even in the midst of our sufferings. Amen.

Pentecost 6

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

 

 

‘So, what’s your congregation like?’ That’s a question occasionally asked of pastors by other pastors, or by friends who don’t know the place well. Naturally, one would want to paint our congregation in the best possible light and focus on its strengths. But, having read today’s epistle reading, one could also say that our congregation is full of weakness. We’re not just talking about sin here (although we are sinners) – but weakness.

While we ponder that, let’s look again at the reading, because that addresses the issue of weakness.

First some background: Paul loved the Christians at Corinth, but at the same time their congregation caused him no end of grief. Some dynamic and charismatic leaders had taken over, and were now undermining Paul, and his ministry, and his message as well. These ‘super apostles’ as Paul sarcastically refers to them, were claiming that he didn’t really qualify as a real apostle. He lacked, they said, the proper credentials. He lacked physical presence and appearance. He wasn’t a good public speaker. He was indecisive they said. He didn’t demonstrate any special charismatic gifts,

nor did he have any great spiritual experiences to talk of. And what’s more, all his hardships and difficulties just went to show that he didn’t really have it all together.

So if he was really a spirit filled apostle, would he be hampered by all these weaknesses?

Now the funny thing was that Paul could have easily refuted all these claims. He could easily claim special spiritual experiences and we think of his conversion on the road to Damascus. In fact, in this passage he does (very hesitantly) share some kind of spiritual experience he had – being caught up into the third heaven, or paradise as he calls it, where he saw things he just couldn’t put into words.

He could have, if he wanted to, boasted quite freely about his qualifications and successes. But he didn’t. Instead, Paul made up his mind that he would only boast about his weaknesses. The very things that his opponents used to insult him, Paul boasted about. ‘You think I’m weak, do you?’ asked Paul. ‘Well, you’re absolutely right. I’m really weak. And I’m proud of it too’. Why did he say that? Because he had learnt the paradox that when we are weak then Christ is strong.

Our weaknesses allow the power of Christ in shine in our lives all the more. Paul himself had learnt this from bitter experience. After his special visions and revelations, he says that ‘a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, to keep me from being too elated’. Some kind of suffering, some kind of weakness, was given to Paul to keep him humble. People have puzzled over what this thorn actually was – was it bad eyesight, or epilepsy, or some inner turmoil?

We don’t know. But we do know that it really troubled Paul, because three times, over three successive periods, he pleaded with the Lord to take this ‘thorn’ away from him. But each time the answer came back: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’. The Lord was saying: ‘Paul, my grace is all you need. I can work despite your weakness, and you need to know that. In fact, I will work through your weakness. Paul, your weakness will bring glory to my name’. Here we have the motto of the Christian life: God’s power made perfect through weakness.

Think of the cross: Jesus hanging and dying in utter disgrace and helplessness.

Weakness?  But this was God’s great act of power.

Through that seeming weakness of the cross, Satan was defeated, and so lost his grip on our lives.

So think of how God passes his forgiveness to us: more weakness. Simple words of absolution read out of a book – nothing fancy or impressive and then some very bland tasting wafers and wine. It would seem rather unimpressive compared to some great spiritual experience. But that’s how God works. But now let’s get back to our original question. How is our congregation weak, or full of weakness?

Think of all those things which from a worldly point of view make us appear weak. Some might say that we are too small or too elderly or old fashioned. To many, that is a sign of weakness (although we know it can also be a great strength). Perhaps we are not the same as each other and so compatible with each other in regards to personal interests, or levels of education, or musical tastes? Perhaps we don’t have the latest technology? Perhaps we are not all as happy and enthusiastic and dynamic as we should be? Perhaps other places are more exciting to be than church? Perhaps we feel embarrassed about inviting friends to church – that they wouldn’t fit into the Lutheran culture? To many people, things like these make a congregation weak. But friends in Christ – this weakness (if it is weakness) is our glory! Because it is a continual reminder that we do not save ourselves. Our weakness is a testimony to the grace of Christ among us. Our weakness fixes our eyes on Jesus who is powerfully at work among us. Our weakness puts our faith in the right place – not in ourselves, but in our loving Lord. So we remember that when we see the human weakness in our congregation or in the wider church. We also remember our own personal weakness. AND THEN We remember that when the load of sin weighs heavily in our hearts We hear again of how Paul actually boasted in his weakness, And know that then God is glorified as we remember always those comforting words from our Lord to Paul And to us: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’. Amen.

Matthew 22:34-40

“Bodie the dapper Shiba Inu pulls in $15,000
a month as a dog model.”

That was a headline from a newspaper this week and considering that Elvis Presley’s dad once told to him there’s no money in playing music I wonder what Bodies’ Father said to him. I must admit Bodies ’a good looking fellow and good luck to him although I doubt he has any idea of what’s really going on.

We live in a changing world that’s exciting and sometimes beyond comprehension and I heard a scientist say that the only thing limiting us is ourselves because he is now to the belief that if we can think something up, it will only be a matter of time before we can make it happen and if that’s true, that is both unbelievably exciting and unbelievably scary because going on our track record our inventions are normally used for both the good and the bad. But above all, does this not sound like the tower of Babel ringing in our ears where the goal was to be as God. A goal that I would suggest that in our world of Babel is not something that we wake up in the morning with on our mind, but rather has crept in like the analogy of “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” Not a targeted attitude but a sub conscious “birds of a feather flock together situation” because there are some things we do that we know are not in line with being a Christian and in our own way we fight them as best we can, but there are other things that have crept up on us and become part of our makeup. Things not inheritingly bad and things that we are free to do, but things that fit the description as mentioned by Paul in 1^st Corinthians 10:23: “I have the right to do anything,” but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”–but not everything is constructive.

How true that statement is because free in Christ we are free. Free to muck up and free to make mistakes. We know that because of Jesus love for us, His never ending forgiveness and the redemption He brought for us on the cross. Fall down, get up. Get up, fall down that’s life as a Christian just as it is for those that are not.

My point today is not about being forgiven of our sins in Christ because that’s the show stopper.  Because you are, as is every repentant person who turns back to God and asks forgiveness in the name of Jesus. A repentance that may not stop what we do, but more like the addicted that wakes every day to a desire to no longer follow that path but then in weakness of body and spirit falls of the wagon as the day goes on and the process starts again. The inner fight that God sees. The fight he fights with, alongside and for us and whatever the earthly outcome, a heavenly fight that has been won by Jesus Christ who turns to His Father and says, Father, I have walked those shores and I know what they are up against and for them to keep the faith in such times is enough and so I ask that you forgive them.  And forgiven you are. Just as you are free in that forgiveness.

Forgiveness in Christ is not my point because that’s a given to all who trust in Christ. My point today is about discernment. Not discernment leading to our salvation, but discernment because of our salvation.

The discernment of things that we cannot base on brief and changing portions of time, but discernment based on the only sure words in an unsure world which is that of scripture. Scripture, God’s Word that is not to be torn apart and used as the right to start wars or used for selfish or misconstrued beliefs and conquests. But the whole of scripture in its entirety. A statement that rolls easily off the tongue but to actually get a full grip on is somewhat impossible through the eyes of fallen human beings and so thankfully, Jesus in today’s Gospel helps out and when asked mischievously by the Pharisees who are trying to set him up of “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the law?” Jesus replies: “You shall love your Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and Prophets.”

And if loving your neighbour as yourself isn’t difficult enough, in John 13:34 Jesus goes further and adds:  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Jesus has somewhat upped the ante because this is not just some fuzzy feel good love, it is the love of action. Love of action as best shown in God the Fathers sacrificing his son Jesus Christ for you and me. And in that action, in Jesus walking this earth we see God the Father of love.  Our God who created this world so that His love might be shown. His love that is more than a motive for doing something good for someone; but is an actual activity or event. Our English word “love” is used in four different ways. Firstly, in the sense of strong preference for something, like “I love chocolate”; secondly, mutual desire, as in “I want you and you want me”; thirdly, in the sense of an emotion, i.e. the tone of a desire, being warm rather than cold; and fourthly, a love that puts the other person first, a love that’s full of goodwill, even to one’s enemy, critic or opponent.

No one demonstrated that fourth love better than Jesus Christ, who is Love Incarnate, love in visible human form. The kind of love Jesus showed in all situations was new and different. A love that Jesus did more than speak about, but the love he showed and did with no strings attached to those in greatest need, regardless of their past or present standing in the community. A love so intense yet given so freely that no wonder He was constantly attacked by those who felt He was playing down the need to keep the laws of Moses.

And so asked by these Pharisee’s, the master law keepers of what is the greatest commandment, Jesus first of all makes clear to them that there isn’t just one, but two greatest commandments that belong inseparably together and yet again we see Jesus constantly resisted every attempt to drive a wedge between love for God and love of neighbour, insisting on their vital interconnectedness. These two commandments stand or fall together. Take away these two commandments, and the Old Testament falls in a heap. Nothing in Scripture coheres unless these two are observed. Jesus reminds His audience that the Old Testament consists of the writings of the prophets as well as the laws of Moses. The prophets constantly sought to bring God’s people back to what’s central: God’s covenant with us, a covenant that involves showing the same mercy to others as God has shown to us and we cannot turn a neighbour away without turning God away because Christ’s love for you gives depth, richness and joy to life. His love is a liberating love, liberating you from fear, doubt and disappointment. Nothing can separate you from His life-changing love. “We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us (Romans 8:37).” Our Lord therefore invites us to love our neighbours as He has loved us. He opposed any narrow definition of who our neighbour is. In His parable of the Good Samaritan, He changed the lawyer’s question from “Who is my neighbour?” to “Whom am I going to be a neighbour to?” Our neighbour isn’t simply someone who is in need, but someone who is an indispensable, inseparable part of our lives – they are an extension of us in our daily interactions.

Our neighbour is a moving target. It may be someone who’s crying on a bus to whom we offer a tissue, or someone who falls over at the supermarket whom we help lift up. We don’t need to waste time wondering if we love the other person before your eyes. We can act as if you do, and consequently we will grow in love for him or her. To love our neighbour is evidence that our love for God is real and genuine. Love of God endears our neighbour to ourselves as we thank God for all the people who have shown love to us. To love our neighbour is not a chore, but a gift given to us from God.

It’s so easy to say “I love everyone” and yet fail to practice love to someone who’s a part of your life every week. A Russian novelist wrote about an evangelist who travelled Russia telling about God’s love. Yet that same man couldn’t stand to be in the same room with anybody else. One man slurped his soup; a woman cackled when she laughed, another person snored when asleep. And so the author concluded, “Although he loved God in general, he couldn’t stand people in particular.”

In contrast in the story, “The Great Hunger”, an anti-social newcomer moves into a rural community. He put up a fence with “No Trespassing” signs. To keep out trespassers, he put a fierce dog behind the fence. One day his next door neighbour’s little girl crawled under the fence to pet the dog. The dog killed her. The rest of the community ostracised him. No one sold him grain to plant his crops, and he became destitute.

One day he looked out to see a man sowing grain in his field. He discovered it was the father of the little girl.

“Why are you doing this, you of all people?”

“I am doing it”, her father replied, “To keep God alive in me.”

That father knew of the inseparable link between love for God and love for neighbour, and he knew to put it into practice. That is the love we strive for.

A love we may never achieve this side of heaven, but in knowing of His love for us, there is reward in the striving, the reward that we’ve heard God and come to understand that even the smallest fraction of His love worked through us can ease the pain of others, increase their happiness and even can change lives.

A love like that doesn’t travel the world like a tourist on his or her own and return with only things to talk to people about, but love that travels with companions who share getting lost and being found, share the joys and hardships of situations and don’t think to leave the other behind, but slow down so they can catch up or even better, go back and ask if they would like to rest for a while.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

 

It may or may not surprise you that the other day, Josh and I were talking about Aussie Rules Football and in particular-coaching where we ending up matching up a current AFL coach doing very well to a legendary Rugby league coach and excluding tactics and just focussing of what would in this modern day be called “people management”, it appeared to us (and as both coaches have mentioned from time to time) the basis is honesty out without thoughts of manipulation. Honesty out that is then replicated by the players both back to coach, to their team mates, to supporters and indeed in their work results-being there efforts in training and playing. This is not unlike what we see at work in the second reading for today, from Thessalonians.

The Apostle Paul has been the founding pastor of this congregation at Thessalonica and has lived and worked with the people there for some time – certainly some months, perhaps even for a year or more.

The church began in this Greek city of Thessalonica through Paul’s missionary preaching, and through the baptism of converts who came to believe as a result of this preaching.

But Paul has done much more than preach. He has lived his faith. He has been living the Word and this is what has made the biggest impact and over time the people in this little congregation at Thessalonica have come to pick up what his attitudes and priorities were and adopted them for themselves and ultimately, imitate them.

This is what has happened and Paul makes mention in his letter to them – written after his time with them – of two particular special qualities they have. In verses 5 and 6, he mentions their conviction and their joy as Christians. Somehow they have learned these things and are putting them into practice.

And that somehow is through Paul himself because when Paul looks at the church in Thessalonica, he is looking in the mirror! During his time at Thessalonica, Paul shaped this church with his own values – so much so that after Paul left, they carried on in the way he had shown them. Paul’s great faith and conviction about Jesus Christ and his love for all people had rubbed off. They watched and they noticed and they imitated. In same way they had made Paul’s joy in the good news of salvation their own.

So much so in fact, that this little church had become famous not only in their own area but in surrounding territories and even beyond and so he makes note that the word of the Lord has “sounded forth” from them and made a huge impact on people near and far, so that now others were being inspired by them and had begun imitating them. Paul’s great passion and enthusiasm for telling the world about Jesus Christ had powerfully shaped them and they were now shaping the faith of others.

There’s a chain reaction here: Paul imitates Christ. The Thessalonians imitate Paul. And other Christians then imitate the Thessalonians. It is like throwing a rock into a pool – the ripple effect goes out further than we ever imagine and affects others in ways we never dreamed of.

As I look at the life of this congregation (through the eyes of Christ) I see the same thing at work. Not through me because you were like this when I arrived, but through your previous Pastors, your parents and family and others that have help shape your faith life and many people have grown and learned how to live out God’s love as they see others doing it.

We learn Christ through seeing and meeting Christ in each other. There are small acts of service in response to peoples’ needs, there is understanding and gentleness given to those with problems in life, there’s care and encouragement. And others watch as this happens and then imitate. It is beautiful and we help one another grow in this way.

But it’s not just inside the church that this happens. The ripples go out. As I look at families in our church, I see the powerful witness some of you parents give your kids by your own worship and service, especially the young kids who are still at home. When they see you worship and watch you sing and pray and see how this is part of your life, they are being formed in their faith.

But it is also the same with you parents of older kids that have grown up and left home and possibly left the church. Don’t under-estimate the power of your example of faith and worship and love. Never think that it is not being noticed and having an impact. It definitely is, even though you may see no visible response to it now and can be said towards your friends and work colleagues.

Of course there is of course an important role for teaching and instructing people in the Scriptures and the doctrines of the faith (Paul certainly did that at Thessalonica too); however the most powerful teaching was his example. What people see us do, what attitudes we display, what values we show. As Paul says, when this is happening, when the Holy Spirit is using us to lead and shape one another in God’s love, we often have no need to say a lot about it because our lives speak louder than words.

One thing lots of people in the church do not understand is that this is the mission of the church at work. The church works not through programs or buildings or spectacular attractional events or dynamic pastors – but through you, through us –imperfect us and sometimes struggling us, because though that is the case, we are by God’s grace, Christ’s children and his disciples.

As we live in this relationship with Christ each day, as a mother, a father, a child, an employer, an employee, a friend, a marriage partner and in all our roles, relationships and vocations in life, Christ is holding up our life before others so that in us, they may see him:

Does that worry you? It sometimes worries myself-especially if the focus is wrong and thinking of the dynamic: Don’t let it worry you because believe me, on a level playing field you are showing others Christ in the way that:

you might practice forgiveness;

• In the way you might show compassion and understanding;
• In the way you act and treat others with integrity instead of self-interest;
• In the way perhaps that you do not judge others in their problems but listen to them.

Things that you might not even be aware of doing yourself, but things you do because they are just part of who you are in Christ, and it comes out of you.

Some of you might know the story of Malcolm Muggeridge – a journalist and sceptic, who rejected the Christian faith. He was full of cynicism and ridicule about the Church and criticised it at every opportunity. As part of an article he was researching he visited one of the Hospices in India run by Mother Theresa (long before she became famous). He met her and interviewed her, and a lifelong friendship began.

When he, a couple of years later was converted and became a Christian, he said that meeting Mother Theresa was the great turning point in his life. Why? Because of her example of Christian love and compassion. It was what she lived more than what she said. He had no arguments against that. He had no way of attacking it. He saw God’s power quietly at work in this woman. As he put it, in her eyes, he met Jesus Christ for the first time.

In turn, Malcolm Muggeridge has influenced an enormous number of people towards Christ through his repentance and faith in Christ, and the way he has shared this in his writing and his books over the years. It’s that ripple effect again.

When we live in daily relationship with God the Father, through Jesus Christ, others see, and are powerfully impacted.

Perfect, no. People of some great skill, not an issue either way. Of great outer physical beauty-that’s in the eye of the beholder. In people believing that in Jesus Christ they are released to be able to get over themselves for the benefit of others-I think yes and that and the small things that surround that attitude is very a powerful and quietly dynamic way that God brings his Kingdom in the world.

In a court of law a witness says of what they have heard or seen to be true and through fallen sinners lifted up and having been saved in Christ we have no need to embrace the silly sideshows of life like holding grudges and carrying jealousies and so forth, but lifted up in Christ see that we are free of such petty and destructive activities and just get on getting on-and in this day and age-that’s  witnessing. Amen.

(With thanks for reference to work from Pastor Stephen Pietsch)

Matthew 22:1-14

Attending weddings sometimes can be a little traumatic. Going as a quest we may wonder if we’ll know anyone and stick out a saw thumb as the outsider.  I experienced that often which thankfully was always unfounded as after a bit of chatter and so forth most people didn’t seem to care much and ironically, often felt the same and were just happy to be happy.

For me though, my most fearful and nearing embarrassing moment came at my own wedding. The instructions were that once the bridal cars came into view and the bell ringer started doing his business, the groomsman and I would stand up and face the front until their entry. All normal stuff until the entry did not come because unbeknown to us one of the girls had left something behind so when nearing the church the cars kept driving to retrieve the missing item.

Unperturbed, the bell ringer persisted and for what seemed like hours, there we were standing at the brideless alter. Eventually the odd snigger was heard and finally after toiling away the bell ringer missed the note by a fraction of a second at which time the best man leant over and said “he’s weakening”.

Weddings can be a big deal for all involved but not as intensive as I would suggest as in those early times of the bible such as when Jesus walked the earth when a wedding feast was frequently very large. In fact a king or a wealthy person could invite an entire city to one and given that the Jewish norm was that it would last seven days, this was quite a commitment. A commitment aristocratic landowners with time for such leisure activities may have found serviceable. But a commitment that would prove difficult for peasants working the land trying to stay afloat.

Problem was that if a king was throwing the wedding feast, firstly it would be considered alike to treason to not turn up and which would almost certainly invite his wrath and secondly, if one did turn up not dressed in suitable clothing they were offered such a garment by the kings helpers and should they refuse it they too at the least, would certainly be under his watchful eye for the disrespect it brought to him.

These wedding feasts were a big deal and as an aside it opens up some meaning of when Jesus as a guest of a wedding in Galilee and being made aware that after only three days of the seven had past that the wine had run out. A situation that should it have remained would more than been just un-Lutheran like, but would have resulted in public disgrace and ridicule and so without access to a local BWS outlet, Jesus steps in as he often did. Not essentially to show his miraculous powers but more so from his concern for those involved and turned approximately 570 litres of water into wine and this wedding scenario is the background and imagery that Jesus uses before the listening audience in His Parable of the wedding feast where he takes something culturally well understood towards their understanding of a greater meaning and truth.

Today’s parable, the last of the three that Jesus tells in response to his audience of religious leaders who have been constantly questioning Jesus’ credentials with pointed allegations of who are you and how can you claim to speak for God when we are his mouthpieces here on earth.

They wanted to silence Him but Jesus will have no part of it and decides to get to the tin tacks and cutting through the theological red tape says since day dot you’ve been waiting for the promised Messiah to arrive and now that I am here, not only have you not listened or understood those previous prophets telling of this: but denied them, jailed them or killed them-soon not only will you refuse what I bring and the robe of righteousness I offer-soon I too will be refused to the point of death. This is clearly a conversation of the times and though we know the end it is not up to us to heap ridicule for those of that time because we have our own issues here: being that we are the ones, the Gentiles that Jesus speaks of by way of the king telling his servants to “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.”

So here we are at the feast and thank God the Father for the invite, Jesus for delivering it and the Holy Spirit for letting us understand it.  The feast, the wedding reception and celebration of life with Christ not from beginning at 6.00 PM till late at the local winery gardens, not from 8.45 am  till 10.30 am every Sunday morning at Dubbo or 11.45 till 1.00pm at Gilgandra and not even for the seven days as in times of past. But the completed feast of not seven days, not of seven times seventy days but of the unending completion.

A celebration with no “BYO” clauses, no need to scan over the bridal gift register and see what you can afford and not even the need to mortgage off the house to buy a new suit or dress because a glowing white garment made from the fabric of heaven is supplied at the door.

To not turn up would seem to rank as either gross stupidity to if not at least, a complete and unfortunate miscalculation of priorities. The unfortunate misunderstanding of priorities as seen in the Priest running  late for the temple worship and so crosses the road away from a person in need only for a good Samaritan to pick up the pieces. The misunderstanding of priorities that afflicts us all in our pageantry of vanity on this earth to where we see that though not like the religious Leaders of past who missed the promised messiah, we are not unlike them in the way we hold to preconceived and misunderstood ideas of where we derive our bodily and spiritual safety, happiness and contentment from.

Sounds pretty harsh but it is a truth that hurts and unfortunately this side of heaven that will be the case until we draw our last breath. That truth may hurt, but THE TRUTH does not. The truth that is Jesus Christ who doesn’t take back the robe of righteousness he gave us on entry, but continually cleanses it from our wayward ways threatening stains and soils.

This is the good news of Jesus lesson to us in the parable. A parable that doesn’t talk negatively or ridicule the people present because of their behaviour, but only in such a sense to those that flatly deny the invitation and or the robe He supplies.

The people though that are still on the guest list and though as yet they have not sent back a positive RSVP, these are that one’s that we at the feast are given the freedom to meet. To not just set in our designated table but to roam the city seeking out those yet in attendance and tell them of what they do not know or are missing.

Our relationship with Christ, like in all good relationships is based on trust, acceptance and love and though we are but a feeble member in this marriage, it is a match made in heaven to not bring in the loss of our identity in this world, but to find our identity in this world through our Saviour, our partner and our all, that is Jesus Christ.  A relationship that whether for rich or poor, strong or weak will bring joy because of Jesus who loves us without measure.

My own wedding day, though after a few early nervous minutes waiting at the alter without a bride, was a thing of joy and yet a few weeks after my wife Cathy seeing me in tears came to me to both enquire and give comfort. I explained that after knowing of the inner loneliness that can come from a life apart and now knowing the opposite through the gift of finding someone to travel in a life of love with, I was thinking about my best friend who had a journey not unlike that as mine. But for him he was still on it and in the joy of knowing the love I had found, I was overcome with sorry for my friend that was not only still on his own, but as for then, maybe even more so.

When we come to know Jesus we come to know that love. The same love he holds out with a yearning heart that others refuse his hand no more and see it clearly for the first time. His hand of salvation in heaven and His hand of hope here and now. His powerful hand that can turn water into wine, and His gentle hand that shows love and care and brings healing and joy as said so well in this “poem” (song-heal me).
For a moment there
I felt just like dying
But now I see that something inside
Is coming alive
No use running from a revolution
I just surrender to this evolution

Heal me lift me
Take me to the other side
Amazing grace
Has touched my face
And the sweet sound doesn’t lie

For a moment there
I just gave up trying
But now I see
You can let the light in
You can begin again

Heal me lift me
Take me and my soul will fly
My battered heart will make a new start
Let everyone know
I’m coming home again.

Amen.