Category: After Pentecost

Peace and grace to you. Amen.

Text: Luke 15:4-6

Jesus said, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them—what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it. When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbours together and say to them, “I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!”

As you may or not know, Cathy and Josh took me to Sydney over the last 3 days.

A few things stick out, the beauty of the harbour, how the architecture is so mixed up-bran new next to old, how friendly all bar 2 or three people were and how the car drivers see a gap a few feet wide when changing lanes and go for it-those drivers would be great NRL/Aussies rules players.

It was a wonderful 74 hours from departure to return home with memories that will never leave me. All of them, and not the least when on my why back to the motel in middle Sydney, a young man of about 25 years old, well dressed in a suite bought a muffin from the deli or a

Billy Baxter’s type of place knelt down and gave it to a homeless man on a bench with his bottle of cheap wine and after, as he walked away, looked back with an obvious heartfelt compassion.

Who knows the homeless mans story, and who knows the story of the well dressed professional. Maybe underneath they are the same-and maybe this is, or was their story.

As the sun slowly peeked over the horizon, the sheep one by one opened their eyes to greet the new day. Their shepherd had herded them into the sheep pen last night and they felt safe and secure because they knew that the shepherd was watching over them and protecting them.

Suddenly there was a panicky bleating that started with one voice and then the whole flock joined in. The shepherd was not sleeping in the gateway to the pen as he did every night. Where was he and why would he leave us?

They thought “He’s abandoned us. The shepherd has abandoned us!” The flock was in blind panic and they all joined in the cry condemning him as an irresponsible and reckless shepherd. They would all die. A bear or a wolf would soon see that the shepherd was not there and what would follow was too horrible to think about.

The frenzy carried on until after sunup, when one of them saw the shepherd coming over a distant hill. The sheep rejoiced. They jumped and frolicked and bleated with joy but their celebration didn’t last long. There, on the shepherd’s shoulders – was a sheep! One of their own who was always getting into trouble, always the last to do as told, losing the way and sending everyone into a panic. Just different and didn’t really fit in with the other sheep. Truth was No-one had even missed one of their own that morning.

The sheep were dumbstruck. What was the big idea? The shepherd had left all the good, cooperative, and well-meaning sheep to go rescue an uncooperative and silly one.

The sheep held a meeting and appointed the ram to take the flock’s complaint to the shepherd. They had it all written out and their complaint read like this:

Whereas, some days ago, we, the sheep were left alone to fend for ourselves, and

whereas, we were given no indication that the shepherd intended to return and

whereas, the uncertainty over the shepherd’s return caused serious distress amongst us, and

whereas all this distress was caused over a sheep that nobody really likes very much in the first place,

therefore be it resolved:

that we, the sheep, do strongly protest our abandonment on the night in question,

that we demanding a full explanation of the reasons for said abandonment, and

that we demand an apology for such thoughtless and irresponsible action on the part of the shepherd.

We demand better care and consideration.

Signed … The Flock

When the shepherd received the message, he called a meeting of all the sheep, and responded to each of the items in turn.

“Yes, it’s true I left the flock a few nights ago, and you were left to fend for yourselves for a while, but one of your own was in danger and goodness knows where she might have ended up. Nobody objected those other times I went out to look for one of your lost lambs.”

“Yeah but it’s different – that was a lamb,” answered one of the sheep,

“As to the part about not knowing whether I’d come back,

Haven’t I always come back and never abandoned you before? Haven’t I always protected you from wolves and taken you to fresh pastures and streams of clear water? I have never abandoned you before, why would I start now?”

“And as to this part about it being unfair, what was unfair about it? Wouldn’t I have done the same for any of you?”

“Well,” said the ram, “going out and saving all the rest of us, that’s one thing. But, you put all the rest of us in jeopardy for her.” He pointed to the once lost sheep who, true to form, was already starting to nibble her way some distance from the rest of the flock and would most likely need the shepherd to get her back again.

“That’s what really bothers us”, said the ram, “Why didn’t you just let her take her chances? She didn’t deserve to get saved. She doesn’t deserve so many chances. When will you go off again to look for that ditsy sheep and leave us alone?”

And for once, though he probably didn’t know it, the ram had told the truth. The lost sheep didn’t deserve to get saved but neither did any of the others deserve the care and protection the shepherd gave them.

This story would have had a movie type happy ending if it concluded with “the lost sheep never wandered off again, the flock never complained again and they all lived happily ever after”. But In real life at some time the shepherd had to carry every one of the sheep on his shoulders even when they were uncooperative, unwilling and complaining.

The ram and the rest of the sheep were right when they said that the lost and wandering sheep didn’t deserve to be loved by the shepherd the way she was. Jesus had the same problem because people were saying that the people he mixed with and shared dinner with didn’t deserve to be sitting at the same table as this distinguished teacher. They complained, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!”

They didn’t understand the kind of love that Jesus has. It’s a love that looks past the ugliness of disease and sin.

He reaches out to social outcasts, and touches the oh so shabby and contaminated lepers.

He didn’t shy away from the demon possessed.

He had no problem with the Samaritans even though they were despised by everyone else,

and when he spoke about the Good Samaritan, and talked with the Samaritan woman at the well and the Samaritan leper, the love of God was shown in even brighter colours. Jesus had no problem with the tax collectors or with those who openly showed their hatred toward him.

Even the Pharisees were not beyond the reach of his love. We call it “grace”. Jesus loves sinners and even dies for them even though his love is completely undeserved.

We know it makes more sense logically for the shepherd to forget about the wilful disobedient sheep and look after only those who were willing to trust him and really appreciate everything he does for them. That’s how we operate mostly.

If someone does something nice for us we respond with a similar nicety and when someone hurts us we respond with equal and even greater hurt.

Rarely would we respond to unkindness with extra generous kindness or reply to rude words with gentle and tender words. It just goes against the grain to respond in this way.

And this is the point that Jesus is making to those who criticised him for mixing with social outcasts, open sinners, the helpless, the marginalised, the dispossessed and the oppressed. He doesn’t treat them with the scorn and disgust expected from a holy man. He does the opposite. He welcomes them and even eats dinner with them – a sign of acceptance as people whom God loves and wants them to be a part of the Kingdom of God as much as anyone else. Jesus is making a statement through his eating with these people that they are valuable and treasured by God as much as, and perhaps even more so, than those who think they are righteous and well-connected when it comes to sitting at table with Jesus.

In Jesus’ parable it made more sense to look after the ninety-nine sheep who had stayed near the shepherd Jesus and not been tempted by greener grass elsewhere, rather than go tramping all over the wilderness looking for one silly sheep who will repeatedly wander away from its caring shepherd because it thinks it can take care of itself in a hostile world.

To the shepherd every sheep is a treasure; every sheep is valuable; no sheep will be lost if he can help it even if that sheep is obstinate and rebellious. That’s the kind of love that Jesus has for us.

It’s the kind of love that led God’s Son to leave the safety of heaven and became one of us, he suffered and died for us, he risked everything for us, because of his love for the lost. He is passionate about the lost and did everything possible to make sure that the lost don’t stay that way and are safe by his side. He wants none of his sheep to face God’s judgement for rejecting the love that is shown to them in such a generous and unrelenting way.

Jesus concludes his parable with the shepherd saying, “I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!” Each of Jesus’ stories about seeking the lost ends with a party.

In the kingdom of God, when the lost are found there is great rejoicing. When one sinner repents and responds to the love and care of the shepherd there is great rejoicing in heaven. You can imagine the angels happy and celebrating every time someone who is lost is found and welcomed home by our heavenly Father. Each time Jesus talks about the lost being found you can sense something of the passion he has for making sure that no-one stays lost. His passion for the lost even extended to the cross where he gave his life for those who had lost the way and nailed the Son of God to a wooden beam.

A question that needs to be asked in view of this parable is this – how passionate are we about seeking out the lost and returning them to the safety and grace of their shepherd? It’s easy to deflect that kind of question to others or to the congregation as a whole and in that way let ourselves off the hook. It’s easy to hear this Word of God and say, “When will the congregation take God’s passion for the lost seriously” or “When will this person or that committee or council take seriously the seeking and saving of the lost?”

Rather than looking around at others first of all we need to ask ourselves that question, “Do I have the passion of the shepherd to leave all else behind and seek out the lost?” “What have I done to seek out and carry on our shoulders those who are lost – lost not only in the sense of missing from the side of the shepherd but also those lost in trouble, or sickness, or sin, or whatever else causes them to be separated from the One who truly values and loves them? Have I had reason to join the angels in heaven and rejoice over one person who is lost but has now been found?

God’s grace is to be shared. It comforts, soothes, forgives, reassures, values each of us as individuals and it also drives us to ensure that everyone gets to know and appreciate how much God loves them and wants every single person who is in some way lost to return to their heavenly Father.

God’s grace seeks us out and through the blood of his Son restores us to his flock again and it challenges us to be like Jesus to seek and to save the lost. Amen. Adaptation of message from Pastor Vince Gerhardy.

 

“The day before the day after”

Luke 14:25-33

I was writing this the day before our national election and as I write, considering the battle of wits that we’ve seen over the past months I’m not sure if I’ll be happy or sad that this real life political version of master chef, the apprentice or big brothers is finally over with. Cloak and dagger, miss-placed loyalties, school yard bullying and half-truths-if it were the newly released T.V mini-series it may attract quite an audience. Problem is this is not a fictional sit com in the 7.30 time slot to be applauded for its drama; it has real outcomes that effect real people and that being the case, wouldn’t it be nice-that whether we like it or not that we could just be told how it is in clear non jargon and non-drip feeding brutal truth and honesty so that we really know just where we stand. The hindrance of such truth though is the truth itself because if a politician did tell us, they may lose the election because of it. Winston Churchill once said that “Democracy is the worst form of government (except from the other that have been tried) apart from the alternatives” and he’s right and that’s why millions over time have given their lives for freedom and democracy. Yet as he said it has it’s shortfalls like in our political system here where today on day one, that the new Prime Minister has only been given three years till the next makes it hard for him to tell and bring in hard core change. I honestly feel for politicians because I believe most are true believers, or at least went in as true believers, but it must be hard to keep on track and not get lost in the whims of the day and govern to a long term goal without the surety of making it there in the first place. But that’s life and the same could be said of our own personal plans of employment, health and worldly well-being. Plans that are good and plans to work towards. Yet plans that may have to be adapted or even given up on as the world and our lives and priorities change over the shifting sands of time as seen in incidents such as what’s going on in the Middle East at the moment.

We live in an ever changing and sometimes confusing world. Yet as Christians we live knowing of the sure outcome of eternal life. Two polar opposites yet joined together in the faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in which Martin Luther described “as a living daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a person could stake their life on it a thousand times”. Faith in Jesus Christ is knowing you are forgiven and saved, and forgiven and saved in faith is knowing that when you are called from this earth it is not the end but the start of the eternal where “never again will you suffer from grief, death, crying or pain.”

At the Synod in Adelaide in regards to the sometimes intense discussions over women’s ordination our previous bishop stated “that scripture is not unclear on the subject as some have suggested, rather it is our ears that are unclear to scripture” and indeed in our mortal human lives on this earth there is much of God’s ways that seem to make no sense or confuse us and that’s O.K. But let not the powers of darkness lead you away from the one truth that all their forms of deception are directed to. ” That in faith in Jesus Christ alone you are truly saved, forgiven and given eternal life.

If that is the only thing you will ever know for sure it is enough, because that is the only truth that sustains in times such as spoken of, or even warned of in Jesus’ seemingly hard words heard today in the Gospel.

When about twenty five years old I was coaching a country football team and having made the Grand final I asked that for that week if they could look after themselves with their diet of what they ate and drank and if only for that week alone to put preparing for the weekend as the number one thing on their list. They agreed, except for the vice caption who took me aside and said “sorry but Jesus is always at the top of my list regardless of the situation”. I was stopped in my tracks-a little like in hearing Jesus words today in the gospel where he forewarns those listening of what just may come from following him.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”

Heavy words not designed to create a rift in families, but designed to prepare us for what may come from following Christ, up and against when the powers of darkness entice us to give excuses to put ourselves and other worldly things, including earthly life itself ahead of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

This message from Christ as seen through the context of those in reasonable health and living in the comfort of a free country like ours stop us in your tracks similar to how much of the book of revelations does. Yet in the context of imminent death, be it on a hospital bed, on a battlefield or through religious persecution as was the case for Christians when Jesus said this, and as indeed is the case in many parts of the world still to this day, these words like the last words in the bible prior to the benediction of “come Lord Jesus!” bring life out of death in that we will know for ourselves like that of our Lord Saviour himself who on the cross and after having accomplished His work of salvation gave up his spirit not in despair, but in the sure knowledge of what awaited him with his final Words “It is finished”.

Jesus Christ our Saviour does not lie and just as eternal death was finished in him, so too has eternal life arisen in him and though parts of scripture may be unclear through our ears, let it be clear that in faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of how far you may fall or to the heights you may climb that in faith in Jesus Christ alone you are saved and given eternal life.

The truth of our Lord and Saviour for both the end of our journeys and in our journeys of today. His Words that we heed and take with us as we carry our crosses in this world and as we work and live amongst the people and situations he has placed us, and that our crosses of sadness and hurt may be heavy, they are made light in the knowledge of what our Saviour has brought us. And though we may befriend and help those who repay us with scorn, abuse or by taking advantage of us, it is of no consequence because you know his truth, and his truth has set you free from the failings of yourself and from the failings of this world and given a new perspective where win lose or draw, you have already won. That in abuse from others or in thanks, we give ourselves to them because he has given himself to us and should the cross we bear be heavy, we carry it with us knowing of the cross that he carried for us. His cross that he bore for us, heavy with the weight of the sin of the world has freed us to rejoice in all things and all times.

There’s a great poetic lyric from a song on the airwaves at the moment (from passenger)

“I know a woman with kids around her ankles and a baby on her lap

She said one day her husband went to get a paper and …….. never came back

Mortgage to pay and four kids to raise, keeping the wolf from the door

She said the wolf’s just a puppy and the door’s double locked so why you gotta worry me for

Now he left a in hole in my heart a hole in a promise a hole on the side of my bed

Oh now that he’s gone well life carries on and I miss him like a hole in the head

Well sometimes you can’t change and you can’t choose

And sometimes it seems you gain less than you lose

Now we’ve got holes in our hearts, yeah we’ve got holes in our lives

Where we’ve got holes, we’ve got holes but we carry on”

And carry on we do. Not hiding our light but letting it shine and though your own song may have a tough chorus, it is your song that has brought you to where you are in the knowledge of his love.

It is true that we may be but beggars, but in Christ we are his and that is all that matters

So sing your song, for your song is his song. Sing it loud and live it proud knowing that in you he has painted a masterpiece that opens others eyes that they may too see the master painter. The master painter of life: The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who said “it is done” and who now waits to welcome home “his good and trusted servants”. Your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who waits to welcome you home and our Lord and Savior who wills to welcome all home. We rejoice in that truth, and rejoice as we serve him and those he places before us, no matter to us the earthly consequence. Amen.

 

Sermon: John 2:13-22

“Fair Crack of the whip”

 

Have you ever been part of breaking the protocols or rules of the day? That’s a bit of a silly question because we are Australians and that’s part of our DNA.
But what if breaking these protocols, or these ways of doing things need changing? When you are the few against the majority it can be very difficult, if not downright dangerous.
In the American civil war, a complex war but essentially characterized about North Vs. South. The North that did not have slavery against the South that did. The General of the south Robert E. Lee was attending church. Upon getting up from his pew to take Holy Communion, he noticed that a slave who had started to get up, noticed him and sat back down. On his way past him, he put his hand on his shoulder and said “come up with me, before God we are all equal”.
That may not sound that daunting until we reflect that segregation based on the color of a person’s skin was still a problem for President John F Kennedy in the 60’s.
These two men took enormous risks, both politically and physically-because they challenged and broke the rules of the day.In our Gospel today, we see Jesus breaking a cultural, religious and social way of doing things in his times.
Last week I mentioned a quote from the movie Jerry Maguire. This week another one from it comes to mind (I have actually watched more than one movie in my life). Jerry is working for this organization and in a moment of “inspiration”, writes a memo to the bosses and every employee stating everything that’s wrong in their workplace.
The next day, everyone’s slapping his back saying ÿer Jerry, great stuff”, then as he walks off they say to each other “gone by Friday”.
Jesus in his words and actions in today’s Gospel puts it all on the line. Seen later when the authorities use these actions and words against him in his trial to be sentenced to crucifixion.
Starting at verse 13: “Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables”.
Jesus is brandishing a whip. Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane when the guards come to arrest Jesus, Peter cuts off one of their ears with a sword to protect Jesus, in which Jesus tells him “to put his sword away”.But here, Jesus has the whip out-he is not a happy man, (and) to our ears, animals, doves and money changers-it seems a bit of a rabble-so it seems fair enough that Jesus has taken exception to all this-apart for one small matter-celebrating the Passover is, as recorded in Leviticus, as per God’s command.
Leviticus 23:4 “These are the feasts of the Lord, holy celebrations which you shall proclaim..On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover…and you shall bring offerings..”
To understand why the Passover is such a big deal to the Jews, Jesus and indeed God himself we need to know the background. To do so we go back to the book of Exodus. God has enlisted Moses to be the middle man- to bring about the release of the Israelites who are captives-slaves in Egypt.
In short, Moses’ request for their release is declined by the Pharaoh. Then, in an effort to have the Pharaoh change his mind-God brings plaques upon the Egyptians. Our modern equivalent would be like our trade sanctions against rebel countries that won’t toe the line. Firstly the rivers are turned to blood, so that it cannot be drank and the fish die. Then the place is overrun with frogs, then lice, flies, the livestock die, everyone gets painful boils, huge hail stones that kill everything not under cover, locusts and then pitch darkness for three days.
But after these nine plaques, the Pharaoh remains resolute. So God unleashes His piece of résistance. God instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that on the first month of the year on the tenth day, each household shall take an unblemished lamb and keep it until the fourteenth day, then they will kill and eat all of it with unleavened bread and put its blood on the doorposts of their houses. Because that night: and let’s hear it from God himself: Exodus chapter 12, verse 12 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both person and beast; and against all the God’s of Egypt I will execute judgment. Now the blood on your door frames shall be a sign. And when I see the blood, I will Passover you; and the plague shall not be on you”. God continues, “This day shall be to you a memorial: and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance”. As God had predicted, after a tragedy of these proportions for the Egyptians-every family losing their firstborn-including the Pharaoh-the Israelites were not just released-the Pharaoh drove them out-enough was enough-no more.The Israelites were released-free, and as commanded by God-every year in the temple the Passover was commemorated. That’s why it was such a big deal. So important that from all over Israel the people would journey to the temple in Jerusalem to make sacrifice’s like in the initial Passover.Again, we have to understand the times; Israel in comparison to Australia is a small country, but not small when your Landcruiser is a donkey or just your two feet. Just getting to Jerusalem was a huge feat, or at least their feet probably were time they got there. So, they didn’t bring their animal sacrifices with them, they bought them when they got there.
What of the money changers? Again we must consider the times. These people from different locations traded in different currencies. So they would go to the money changers and exchange their currencies for the local currency, so they could purchase their sacrifices.  Just like if we went to England, we trade our Aussie Dollars for pounds.
So there’s a 101 of the Passover history, and the goings on all seem to make sense. Yet Jesus brings out the whip.
In Australian, when we get told off for what we think is not wrong-we may use the term “fair crack of the whip”. But we see, indeed literally-it was a fair crack of the whip. Because upon Jesus entering the house of God, not outside it, but in it he sees a market place. People not just undertaking commercial enterprises-which is bad enough, but also profiteering-ripping off people who come to worship. He sees people and their actions getting in the way of true devotional worship-getting in the way between God and His people.
Fast forward two thousand years-to today’s times. As yet, thankfully I have never attended a church full of sheep, goats or doves about to be sacrificed.
Thankfully because they are no longer needed. Our unblemished lamb of sacrifice is Jesus himself. Jesus is our Passover. In Jesus-our sins are passed over and we are free of them-released from their captivity.We don’t come to church to bring-we come to church to receive. We don’t take to worship, we take from worship.There’s a lovely article in this month’s Lutheran, and I quote:
“One morning I was all hot and bothered because the old people at the church had trampled all over my brilliant idea. Why are they so boring? Why aren’t they passionate about their faith? I railed at Miss Perry. Why don’t they ever do anything? Why do they think that being a Christian is just warming a pew on Sunday mornings? Ever so quietly, Miss Perry said, Linda, are you sure you will still be warming a pew when you’re their age? By then you’ll have experienced much heartache and disappointment, with people and with God. Are you sure you’ll be as strong in your faith then as you are now”. Miss Perry has nailed it. Not because she told this young girl that enthusiasm is not good, because she didn’t. Of course we should always look at ways to connect with each other and the people around us. Always look at ways that might help bring and strengthen people’s, and our relationship with God. It’s an absolute yes to that.But she has nailed two things-One: How our lives can be tough-it’s not just all smooth sailing, and our faith will be tested, and Two: to get through these times with our faith and trust in God intact can be quite a miracle. The miracle’s we receive in worship. Hearing the Word of God, absolution and forgiveness, Baptism and Holy Communion. Word and Sacrament is where God gives his life strengthening miracles to us.
Word and Sacrament-To the world, what these bring seem ridiculous. Even parts of the Christian church ridicule the truth by questioning and denying scripture and its teachings and promises. These assaults on the Word of God and divine worship are from the same brush that Jesus encountered at the Passover. As I said, the church must always look at ways of connecting, of connecting so people will come to know God. But the Church must also stand up for the truth. Stand for something or stand for nothing at all.
In the book of Revelations we are given an account of seven churches-their positives and their negatives, except for the one titled the lukewarm church. Chapter 3, verse 15: Ï know of your works, that are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth”. Harsh words. Lukewarm, could this be like receiving the grace of God, his gifts we receive in worship in a “maybe they’ll help” manner.
In worship we hear and receive the Gospel. In Word and Sacrament we are given strength to believe, to be given faith and for our faith to be strengthened. Faith like that of General Robert E Lee, essentially fighting for slavery and a slave-that both approached our Lord and Savior as equals. Equals that deserve crumbs yet receive a banquet.
Today, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has forgiven your sins and strengthened your faith. It’s a gift and a miracle beyond our understanding. In Christ alone, we are saved.
Martin Luther was prepared to die for that belief, Jesus Christ died for it to be truth. And we live because it is the truth. Amen.

 

Luke 13:10-17

I’d like to begin to day by asking you to take a moment to look around you, I want you to look carefully at the people who are sitting around you. Do any of them look hungry; do any look thirsty, tired, lonely, unwell, incapacitated, or burdened in some way? OK now let’s focus our attention back here again. It can be difficult to see some of those things with a simple glance. If you noticed something and had the ability would you do something to fix them up right here and right now? Would you wait until after the service, or one day during the week or maybe the following week? It’s hard to say what we would do in any given situation unless we are actually presented with it.

Jesus was presented with a situation in our text; the woman appeared and had a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. He knew what to do, he called her over, he had the power to set her free from her ailment and he did. The time was right, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” and he acted.

The people who were watching weren’t so sure about what he had done though. The law states that we are to “Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.”

Here was Jesus, teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath and then disobeying the direct command of God by healing a woman – their interpretation of doing work on the Sabbath! The leader of the synagogue was indignant and was telling the crowd what Jesus had done wrong. But Jesus answered straight back calling him and those who were supporting him hypocrites and explaining that they would all allow their donkeys to be lead off to have a drink of water on Sabbath. So it stands to reason that it should be OK to do the right thing by this woman regardless of what day it is, and even more so that it is appropriate that she be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day.

Jesus didn’t want the woman to suffer for another day longer, after all she had been suffering for eighteen years already, and he wanted her to be healed, set free, right then and there. He set aside tradition and law and did what needed to be done for her.

Everyone there rejoiced at what Jesus had done, it was wonderful, his opponents had been put to shame and the woman had been set free. Shouldn’t that be what happens on our Sabbath?

Let’s take a moment to think about our own Sabbath day. We celebrate it on a Sunday because that is the day of the week when Jesus rose from the dead, when he won the victory over death for our sake. How do your Sundays look? Do you do any work? Are you carrying any burdens, are you hungry, thirsty, tired, lonely or unwell? What would it take to fix them? Do you come to worship to be healed? Is this time on Sunday set aside for building you up and healing you or do you do it out of obligation or a sense of duty? Is it about setting aside time to worship God and give him thanks for all that he has done for you? Is Sunday a time of rejoicing for you or a day of burdens?

Sunday (your Sabbath) should be a time when Jesus sets you free. He wants you to come to him, just like the woman in today’s reading did and receive healing. He wants to take away your burdens and set you free from their bondage. He wants you to be joyful in all of the wonderful things he is doing for you.

You may be asking yourself “How are we set free through worship?” We begin our service with a confession and absolution, here we come before God, just like the woman did and tell God what ails us? The pastor asks the questions to prompt you to think about the things that are going on in your life that are dragging you down, that are crippling you. It may be that the situation you are in is making you angry at God, that is something to confess to him, seek his forgiveness and be set free from its bondage. There are people in our congregation who are unable to move around freely because of physical conditions, there are those who are unwell. Some of you are having financial difficulties or are tied to mortgages and loans that make you feel like there is a big weight hanging on your shoulders. There are work situations that are making life unbearable, some are contemplating their transition into retirement. There are loads of ways that Satan gets his grip on us to drag us down and lay blame on God. Our time of confession is perfect to name those things in your heart and give them over to God for his forgiveness.

The next step in our service is to hear the forgiveness spoken to you, As a called and ordained servant of the Word, I announce the grace of God to all of you. On behalf of my Lord Jesus Christ and by his command, I forgive the sins of all of you who repent and believe. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Go in peace. This peace comes from having your sins forgiven, from being set free from your burdens.

Then we are fed by God’s Word and after that we are fed with the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. This is a physical and spiritual gift from God to us, to build us up and to heal us. He feeds us because we need it. Without it we will shrivel up and die. This is spiritual food that gives us new life, each and every time we receive it. It is for our good that we come and receive it. Each time that we do we are healed on the Sabbath by Jesus.

Jesus was a bit of a rebel, he ate with tax collectors and sinners, he conversed with prostitutes and did work on the Sabbath. Each time he did it was for a purpose, to set people free from the bondage of sin and the devil. He has given us the Sabbath for our healing, to serve us and for us to give him thanks and worship him. He wants us to come and be fed and healed, he rejoices when we do and wants us to rejoice with him!

Don’t let Satan stop you being fed by Jesus and his Word and Sacraments, don’t let him stop others being fed. Jesus has power over all things, he has the power to save us from the grip of Satan, he has the power to heal us and forgive us. He wants to be in a relationship with us, where we come to him to be healed and fed because we are in need. He calls us to come and worship him. All we have to do is come, enjoy our time of Sabbath rest, and be prepared to go out into the world and shine his light in it.

Amen

 

“Though we may Bolt, His Aim is endurance”

Jeremiah 23:23-29, Hebrews 11:29-12:2,
Luke 12: 49-56

Grace, Peace and Hope to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and may the words of my lips and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you Lord-Amen.

Some years ago a football club known for its party culture yet yearning for success enticed a legendary coach out of retirement. He accepted but by the third game was sacked and I still remember the president of the club saying (from how I remember it) “We had too, because while we knew that he would bring some hard truths to the club, to see some players in tears because of it was too much”, and I remember thinking no wonder they are unsuccessful, and still to this day they are looking for that elusive championship.

The truth can hurt, but so too can be not listening to it.

Early in my banking career I was invited to dinner with senior staff and valued customers and when one of them arrived late he was greeted by all at the table rising to greet him, except for me. Later in the evening he publicly and embarrassingly tore strips off me for not greeting him with the same respect that the others had shown him. Fair enough and it was a very good lesson for me that I’ve never forgotten. The problem was though, that what he didn’t realise was that the reason I didn’t stand and greet him like the others was because I considered myself inferior to him and to the other guests, and so thought it was not my place not to bother him by extending out my hand because why would he want to acknowledge anyone as lowly as me.

When I think of him and his public degrading of me a certain word comes to mind that is best not said here, but the point is that even though his manner of teaching was appalling and really about himself more than me, he did teach me a valuable lesson.

In our lives sometimes the saying “it’s not what you say but how you say it” is appropriate, as too is sometimes the reverse in that “it’s what you say, and not how you say it”. As Christians adhering to the belief that God has revealed His eternal truths to us in His inspired, inerrant word, the Bible, and that it alone is the basis of Christian faith (2 Timothy 3:15-17, John 17:17) and the source of all inspiration and teaching, I would suggest ours is “that it’s both what we say and how we say it” and after hearing todays scripture readings I find myself today and daily needing to pray with fervour our opening prayer and request that “the words of my lips and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you Lord”.

The Lords words today I would suggest are a bit of a wakeup call to me and maybe all of us. Firstly in Jeremiah God condemns the spiritual leaders for misleading people, that by not warning them of the impending judgement it has allowed people to slide into idolatry and immorality. Then, todays Gospel text smells of fire and warfare as Jesus in knowing of the opposition he would encounter offers no sugar coating to the apostles in preparing them for their own struggles and the crosses they will bear in following him. Finally, in the epistle which is always designed to bring light to how the gospel looks in our lives we hear of what’s been called “the roll call of the saints” that went before us and what they endured. Some tortured, mocked and flogged. Stoned to death, sawn in two and killed by the sword. Destitute, afflicted, mistreated and living in dens and caves. A chilling reminder of the past and with reports of an average of 150,000 + Christians martyrs each and every year still to this day, it is a chilling reminder to us today that gives light to Pauls words of encouragement for our lives “to run with endurance the race that is set before us”.

Paul speaking of the saints and how they endured said that in God “they were made strong out of (their) weaknesses. As Christians we are not to live our lives searching to be martyrs or mistreated, but in living and adhering to the Lord’s revealed eternal truths in His inspired and inerrant words of both Law and Gospel, should those situations arise we face them in Christ.

“Ultra-marathon runner Tony Rafferty said that during his run across Australia:

“He learned the significance of sub-goals. After struggling to complete 1500 miles, I realised I still had 2000 miles ahead of me. At this stage I was tired, sore, dejected and feeling sorry for myself. The task looked impossible. During this stage of depression I changed my thinking. I decided to run about 60 to 80 miles every day and try and repeat it as often as possible to see how far I could go. As soon as I made this decision my attitude changed. I started to feel confident and enthusiastic. I was confident that I could cover this distance each day. My mind was directed away from the huge distances ahead of me and it was focussed on my daily assignments. Because of this I was able to complete the run”.

So too could it be said of our endurance race. Most certainly in Christ the outcome is assured and the result decided. That of forgiveness and eternal life in faith in Christ alone. Yes in Christ that is assured, yet though we know what lies at the end we still have many hills yet to cross and only in keeping our eyes on Christ can we make that “60 or so miles per day”.

That 60 or so miles a day where “it is both what we say and how we say it”. That 60 or so miles a day that though not looking to suffer and be mistreated, are prepared to face such retaliation should our caring and loving words of the Lord to the world and our neighbours be turned back on us with hostility.

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ said that “he came to fulfil the law”, and we thank God for Him because most certainly we cannot fulfil its requirements ourselves. Yet he also said “he did not come to abolish the law”, “because the law is good” and without us knowing the law and our outright inability to uphold it, we don’t truly know and understand the Gospel of saved in faith in Christ alone. The Word of God is both Law and Gospel. The law that kills and condemns and the Gospel that saves. Harsh opponents yet working in unison to bring people to their knees that they be raised in joy and hope both today and on the last day, and that we may not understand why some of His words should be so, seen through Christ we do understand the one who wrote them and trust in Him on our personal journey that he has put before us and endure and delight in and with Christ as he brings before us those in whom we must serve with His Words that He has told us. His word of truth that:

“does not return empty but accomplishes that of His purpose (Isaiah 55:11) and in knowing that the “Lord stands at their door and knocks and that if they hear his voice and open the door, he will enter (Rev. 3:20)” –our wish is that they may hear as we have heard and receive as we have received and know through Jesus Christ the peace of God which most surely passes all human understanding.

So in the sure knowledge of being raised on our last day: Grace, peace and hope to you from God our Father and our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ as you travel on your earthly journey hearing His saving words for yourself and bringing them before those he places before us that they too may open their doors to a waiting saviour. Amen.

 

“Moments of clarity”

Genesis 15:1-6, Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, Luke 12:32-40

The other Tuesday, while helping pack up after the breakfast at the primary school and looking out the window at the kids playing I was filled with a sense of both joy and sorrow. Joy in that they seemed so happy talking and playing together. Yet a little sadness knowing that sooner or later they will know of the sheer gut wrenching trials of life. Some more than others, but all will face that day when life seems unfair and confusing.

A physiologist told me that in murder suicide situations, often the parent involved resorts to such a tragedy because through their own pain, they actually think they are saving their loved from suffering the same unbearable hurt. Jesus knows life can be hard and so no wonder his greatest burning desire is that people allow him to walk with them through the valley of the shadow of death.

Last week Janet gave me an article written by the son of a Vietnam veteran and how the emptiness and hurt played out in his life. Drinking to forget and taking out your anger on others. Conscripted randomly simply by his birth date into the tragedy of a war not of his making. A tragedy not for his two year tour, but for the remainder of his life and his son said that sometimes when drinking his father would quote a saying he brought back with him from Vietnam:

“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for I am the evilest son of a bitch in the valley”.

So sad, and so frightening that given a different time and situation, that there bar the grace of God those words could have been emblazoned in our lives.

When I was sixteen, my friend and I while in Adelaide for work experience, each night would catch the last bus home from Hindley Street. On the last night at about midnight we were beaten up by a group of 15 to 20 youths of the same age. My friend particularly was in a bad way and though he was a kind and good hearted person when we got home he was in a fit of rage and though I talked and begged him not to, he said with or without me he was driving back to find them. Worried for him I felt I had no choice so I drove him around the streets of Adelaide where I didn’t think they would be and talking him down that he may decide against using the loaded rifle he had in his hands and it scares me of what would have happened and where we would be if we came upon them.

Sometimes we have no choice and when we do, take the wrong one and as I looked out at those kids playing in the school hard and knowing of what they will face I asked myself how could we ever think that our God does anything other than grieve with the grieving and cry with the crying. Our God that will do anything that we trust in His Son Jesus Christ to finally know true peace when we meet him on our last day.

Looking out that window I asked of myself, that though we may fall to great depths in the valley of our lives, how could we ever doubt verse 32 in today’s gospel that “it is God the father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”.

Looking out that window all I could see was youthful happiness, yet I felt sadness for what may come. A moment of clarity seeing Jesus on that same walk to his own death and now with us on our walk. Jesus having felt the pain for himself and now relieving it through us and I asked myself, how we can ever, ever doubt that we are saved only in faith in Christ alone and not of ourselves.

Looking out that window I saw the children, the Vietnam veteran and myself, and though I or you may fall on our walk through the valley, we can fear no evil, for it is his good pleasure that he walks with us with goodness and mercy on our way home when the last piece of the jigsaw be put in place and see that it is in the shape of a cross.

All three readings today are about trusting in God, both now and in His sure promise at the end, and in looking back over our journey we see that as Jesus journey did not end on the cross, but in his being raised so that he may walk with us.

Looking back to the cross we too see ourselves being raised on our last day, and if we look back on our lives so far, sometimes we have that moment of clarity and see it was him who led us this way instead of that way.

I have no idea why I’m up the front talking to you instead of the other way round and the only thing I can think is what my Vicar Father said to me “that God seems to make a habit of not picking people from the top shelf”. I have no idea why I’m here but looking back on how it would have only needed one outcome to be different from how things played out, and though being a poor excuse for a pastor, I can only assume this is what I’m meant to do.

If you look back over your lives you to will see a measure of Joy and happiness and a measure of hurt, pain and anger, some of which will still make no sense. But even before the last piece of the puzzle is placed on your last day, if you look closely enough you will see Christ in them with you. Urging you this way instead of that way. Guiding you, weeping with you when you weep and carrying you in need, that you be here today knowing that you are a loved and saved child of God the father.

In Romans Paul has told us that “the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory of that which will be revealed to us” on our last day. What a day it will be for when we meet again with those past, and what a day it will be for the Lord when he can finally give us the full measure of His kingdom.

That day will surely come like the silence after a storm and though today we know not all the answers, we are known by him. Though we may not always see him, we are seen by him for he has told us:

That “God is our refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble”. As every word of God is pure and is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Because the Lord is faithful and keeps you from evil. For he most certainly restores your soul and leads you in the paths of righteousness, and whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”.

All ye faithful rejoice, for in God we trust, for he most certainly rejoices in being faithful to us. Amen.

 

 

 

“Gifted to gift”

Luke 12:13-21 and Colossians 3:1-11

For the past two weeks we have been talking about priorities. Firstly were Mary sat at Jesus feet and listened to him instead of busying herself with other good, but less important things. Then with prayer were God invites us to ask him for our needs, and though we may not receive things exactly as we ask, we will receive according to His desire to give us what is good for us and others in His will that we remain in, and others join us in His eternal kingdom.

Today we have the trifecta as Jesus brings up the topic of money and earthly possessions and as with how Jesus lessons to Martha and Mary and with how prayer played out, we see that earthly riches are not wrong in themselves but need to be kept in check as we are told to “Set our minds on things above, and not on earthly things”.

In 1978 Dr. Ron Sider wrote a much loved and sometimes despised book concerning the rich Christians, churches and governments of western nations and I suppose in summary you could say part of the book covered his view of the token effort in sacrificial giving to the poor and needy of the world. He made some very good points; as did a supporter of his book who went on to add this:

“Is it just Western Christians that are neglecting the poor today? No. I live in the Philippines which doesn’t have a very large percentage of Christians, but the population is probably 5 to 10 percent Christian. Even though these Christians live in the midst of poverty- it is my estimation that believers here are just as lackadaisical about caring for the poor as Western Christians are. This goes to show that the problem does not lie in wealth. Wealth is not evil. The problem lies in a lack of solid Bible teaching and a lack of compassion that comes from spiritual immaturity. Do you want to be a charitable Christian that models compassion and generosity? It won’t start with your checkbook, but it will start in your relationship with God that can only develop through the Word of God.”

It won’t start with your checkbook, but it will start in your relationship with God. Very perceptive because if we turn to the Bible we can see that many of God’s key people were in fact wealthy.

In Genesis Abraham was said to be “very rich in livestock, silver and gold”. Similar, Isaac we are told like his father “became a rich man and his wealth continued to grow”, and in 2nd Chronicles we are told that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah was a good king who did not worship the images of Baal and obeyed the commands of the Lord. And that the Lord blessed him and all the people loved and respected him so much that they brought him gifts. In fact they gave him so much that he became very rich.

Very rich people, yet God’s people just like the many, many of God’s people in the scriptures of very meagre earthly wealth. As that person I quoted eluded to: the poor can idol worship possessions as much as the wealthiest person and the wealthiest person can worship God as much as the poorest as best said from 1st Timothy 6:10: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. Note it’s not as many misquote as simply money being the problem, but the love of money that leads to what comes next in the verse: “(for) some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s”.

There’s the issue. Forget just money and possessions but add in status, a good reputation, sport, addictions and whatever else that gets you through the night-if it takes your eyes of Christ or gets in the way of your relationship with God it has become your idol and that’s the danger for as George Lorimer a well-known publicist wrote: “It’s good to have money and the things money can buy. (But) it’s good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven’t lost the things money can’t buy”.

Well said, but understated as in living in our society of we, myself, I and its consumerism we must not just occasionally, but be diligent and vigilant in ensuring that our gifts and possessions don’t come to possess us rather than the giver and bringers of all things good: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.

Rich or poor, CEO or bottom of the rung and whether we do this or that is not the issue as it comes back to our relationship with God and His word, and that can look differently through different people.

Near being ordained my vicar father asked me if I would be wearing a clerical collar in ministry. After I said, and naively in a way that I wouldn’t be because of connotations of status he went on to say that he didn’t think I would but then added: “When I left the Sem. I didn’t wear one because of the same rationale as you. But my friend did occasionally and in later years he said that he always wore it because over that time after having been abused and spat on when he wore it publicly-he saw it as a lack of courage and trust in the Lord should he relinquish its use”.

Two different perceptions, but neither right nor wrong because both done not for themselves but in their personal relationship with God.

Our relationship with God that Paul talks of in today’s epistle where he says to “Set our minds on things that are above and not on things that are on earth”. Here Paul is not despising the things of the earth but emphasising that this fallen world should not be our focus in our relationship with God through Christ. Verse 4: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory”. That eternal life which we now possess through baptism will be fully experienced in heaven and that through Christ we are participants in God’s glory no wonder Paul exhorts us to put off our old self of sexual immorality, impurity, evil desire and covertness, which is idolatry. And no wonder he says in the verse that follows todays reading to put on as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience and bearing with one another.

So how are you going with that? If you’re like me you may say not so well because this side of heaven we are and always will be works in progress. Yet when we came to faith, even if we didn’t know realise it, but because of his blood and the healing through his sacrifice our lives have been changed, as through His will Jesus has come to us that we might have a new better and fuller life. Because of Jesus substitution of his death for ours God brushes aside our old nature and recycles us into something usable and new in a way. No longer do we need to wonder in the dark-stumbling, groping and unsure because Jesus has brightened the path of our lives, and because of him we are restored. Our journey in Christ that is given imagery to in this story I read:

“A number of years ago the world watched three grey whales icebound off Alaska. They took turns coming up and grasping for breath at a small, lonely hole in the ice. The only way they could survive was to get to open sea five miles away. A seemingly impossible journey. But volunteers took chain saws and began cutting a line of breathing holes through the six inch ice and for eight days they encouraged the whales from one hole to the next. One of the whales died, but the other two lived when a Russian icebreaker arrived and finished opening a path to the sea.

Did the whales understand that when the chain saws started to rip into the ice that they were saved? When they heard the sound of the ice breakers propellers, did they know they would soon be free? Did they understand through it all that their rescuers had a master plan which would lead them to safety? We assume no to these questions and that all they could do through it all was to take one day at a time, going from one opening to the next, trusting that someone would help them”.

Great imagery of our journey with Christ, but even more so of his with us, as that is what it means to be alive in a living Lord. We cannot understand God’s plan, but as living Christians, renewed and empowered by the Spirit, we can trust him and we can follow him and the path that he gives us.

Six years ago I was giving a devotion at a school to some grade six students about serving God in our lives. And at the end, a boy who I had heard spoken of by a leading identity as an AFL football player of the future put up his hand and asked some questions. And it became apparent to me that he was thinking that to serve God he might “have to run off to the ministry” or something.

That was not what I meant so we talked of how he can serve God in his life, maybe even as an elite sportsperson should that come to fruition. And that this week I read that he is being tipped to go in the top ten, maybe as even as low as the first picked in next year’s draft, should he trust in and openly process to his faith in Christ while in the national spotlight what a great witness to God he will be. And should he be drafted to Port Adelaide Power, I know my work will have been done (only joking).

But one day the stadiums will be empty for him as they will be for us, and we will see that there is only Christ who remains, and as Rich, poor, CEO, elite footballer or not, as in today’s epistle we are to put of the old self and put on the new self for now “There is not Greek nor Jew, uncircumcised nor circumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free; but Christ is all, and in all”.

We are to put on as God’s chosen ones the virtues: of compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Yet these are not chores or ours to accomplish, but are gifts provided by God to live in our lives.

For in Christ alone through faith have we been saved, and saved in faith he has told us:

From 1st Peter 4:10 that “as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

And that from John 9:4, after the disciples asked Jesus whether the man before them with a physical impairment was caused by his sin were told, no “it was not that this man sinned, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. (and) We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; (for) night is coming when no one can work”.

On our journeys of sadness and our journeys of happiness, whether they be of much or of little earthly reward is of no consequence because we are all saved in Christ alone. All as one, yet all with different gifts from God, given to us not to accomplish for ourselves, but for him in the knowledge that through Christ we are participants in God’s glory here on this earth as we offer ourselves and our lives to him to use as he wishes. To keep our minds set on things that are above allows us not to serve the things of our world, but to serve his people. For as you are: rich or poor, CEO or not, God has given you the gift of Christ, and in your lives rich or poor, CEO or not, God has given you as a gift to the world, and to God be the glory. Amen.

 

 

Luke 11:1-13

When last Christmas I gave Cathy a handbag made by the designer label Guess, it reminded me of a quote attributed to Arnold Schwarzenegger who mentioned that “I saw a woman wearing a T-shirt with Guess on it. So I said (asking quizzingly) thyroid problem?”

A stumbling block in prayer life can be that we know that God the Father doesn’t need to guess how we feel or what we need because he already knows it, and in using the words of Martin Luther “I know not the way God leads me, but well do I know my guide” we may agree and add, so why pray?

Likewise, have you ever wondered how unusual it was that in the Garden of Eden with its grand population of two, that after their fall to sin and while hiding among the trees that the all-powerful and all-knowing God the Fathers actions as recorded in Genesis 3:9 are: “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’”.

A strange question asked by God and a logical question of prayer we may ask. A question from the all-knowing and a question from the un-knowing that are answered for us only in the revelation of Christ who has taken us from hiding in the bushes alongside Adam in sin, to standing before the Father in his righteousness. The revelation of Christ that has torn the curtain of the temple in two that now we talk to the Father not through fellow sinners, but through Christ himself.

To deny or doubt prayer is to doubt the Holy Scriptures and the redemptive powers of Christ himself. His redemptive powers born to us through his cross and resurrection that we be baptised into his family and have access to the Father himself who Jesus has told us today will hear our prayers and that they will not be in vain.

Access to the Father. Whether under a gum tree in central Australia or in a Cathedral in Rome. Whether on death row about to receive worldly justice or the Bishop holding court to the audience of a thousand, prayers are said and prayers are heard by the Lord himself. Through Christ’s atoning work on the cross he has fixed the fracture between sinners and God that we now have the privilege to complain, to beg, to ask and to thank the Lord himself as though he stands before in His compassionate, knowing and loving presence and with His welcoming hands out asking we draw near. Prayer is a great privilege and when in prayer we are souring in rare air indeed.

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

The Words of our Lord and Saviour himself and under the premise that we either believe him fully or not at all-his words here on prayer must be so.

So what of seemingly unanswered prayer?

I believe the answer was supplied to me from one of our own here today who commented that the Lords response to prayer is either yes, or yes but not yet, or no-because I have something much better in mind.

No because I have something better in mind. Wise words because could it be that the problem may not be us asking for an egg and getting a scorpion, but that unknowingly we are actuallyasking for the scorpion in the first place.

Is it wrong to ask for this and that? I don’t think so. I don’t think God will take offence that I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a new shiny red Lotus that goes zero to one hundred in 4.6 seconds with a top speed of 233 KM per hour. Would he mind if I had one, probably not but he might mind that should I get one, more than likely my last few demerit points might vanish along with my ability to travel in a parish that calls for travel.

As with Martha and Mary last week, prayer is about priorities-the Lord’s priorities that through the struggle of seemingly unanswered prayer become our own like seen by Paul that though his repeated prayer that the “thorn in his side may be taken away” was declined, was given so much more in hearing the confirming words of the Saviour that “My grace is sufficient for thee”. For as Christ prayed three times in the garden of Gethsemane that the cup of the cross might pass from him if it were his Father’s will, the cross became his lot and his glorious resurrection turned it all into the greatest of triumphs. So too today may a Christian have such a huge problem that they may keep knocking in prayer on God’s door until their knuckles are raw knowing that he will answer in his time and in his incomparable way, and far from asking for an egg and getting a scorpion, and though we may unknowingly ask for a scorpion, He will provide the egg all the same for we know that if God is for us, then who can succeed against us as neither hardship or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword, nor death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A hymn says it well, that: “Although we tarry long, He never comes too late” and Martin Luther, a man of deep prayer testified that:

“All who call upon God earnestly and in true faith will surely be heard and receive according to their petition; though perhaps not at the very hour and time, nor in the measure of their petition, nor exactly what they pray for, yet they will receive something much better, greater, and more glorious.”

Yes, God loves us too much to give us everything at the snap of our fingers because great character grows out of great wrestling in prayer, as we persistently and sometimes agonisingly shape our prayers towards His will.

In Genesis Abraham struggled with God in repeated requests that the city of Sodom might be spared from destruction and Jacob even with an angel of God. Tough times but in their struggles both Abraham and Jacob came to know God better and this is the supreme answer to prayer-fellowship with God.

Yet ironically, the by-product of prayer is greater than his answer to our petition as ultimately that closer life with God minimises the problem, as in His peace and strength we can handle it more with and under His grace.

So Lord, you can still throw that my red Lotus my way if you wish, but if not I’ll go with it for like the thief on the cross, I see that worldly things as such are of no consequence. That like the thief on the cross we see that the miracle is not that you forgive us of our sins, but the miracle that we came to ask you for what you so wanted to give.

Recently I saw a “Far side” carton in the paper that tickled my fancy where a horse is sitting in a chair with his mouth wide open, and the dentist while looking the other way says “before we start, I firstly need to know if you’re a gift horse”.

God, seem through Him giving us his one and only Son, gives us no such need to doubt is Words.

So Lord, though your ways can confuse us we know that your gifts are free, eternal and that you hold steadfast to them. You have told us, that “when we pray and ask for something, that we are to believe that we have received it, and in that-we will be given for whatever we ask”. So we bring before you now in silent prayer those things on our hearts and minds trusting boldly, that whether it be in our time or your time, or should you answer in the ways of our fractured wisdom or your perfect wisdom- we know that it shall be done for us according to your good and perfect will. Let us pray.

Personal prayer

Amen. It is so.

 

“Retail Christianity”

Luke 10: 38-42

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” One sentence of 21 words that defines the love of God the Father and the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. A string of words that once understood, describe the most wonderful truth that any person on this earth will ever hear. The glorious truth of Christ being raised from the dead, that we too will be raised on our last day. The truth that when it comes is like a glorious sunrise. A new day and a new start.

Yet the majesty of that morning comes at a price. The price that the Father and Jesus suffered in the darkness of our sins as Jesus was ridiculed, beaten and hung on the cross, that the Son may rise for us. And the price, hurt and agony of the lostness in our lives that we had to feel and suffer to see the truth of our Saviour and understand those words of John 3:16 for ourselves.

The words and truth of the Gospel in a nutshell that we’ve somehow come to understand-and as we should, we thank the Lord in worship and in our lives in response to what he has done for us. The Gospel we know, and the Gospel we come to further understand from today’s account of Jesus meeting with Martha and Mary. A story that seems so simple that one may have wondered why it even gets a mention. Yet ironically I would suggest a story that maybe as much a challenge to us and the Churches as maybe any in the bible. A story of hearing him first without first screening his words with our own prejudices or what we think needs to be done.

Jesus the Lord himself and others visit the household of Martha, Mary and Lazarus-and all I see is Martha busy preparing meals of thanks and Mary doing nothing. For me, I once saw Martha’s response as right and Mary’s as not so, and yet who does Jesus see as acting the most appropriate-Mary. And in that, we see the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Gospel that asks nothing other than we listen to him and hear him alone and know the truth, and to trust in it. The Gospel that is so foreign to the humanity of Christians and Churches of all denominations that it makes us easy targets for the powers of darkness who wish to misconstrue the truth of Christ. To make us raise our arms in celebration and sing of our great faith and our love for him. Of how we will climb mountains for him. Of what we will do. Of we, we, we to make us believe that worship is all about thanking and serving the Lord instead of the main truth, that it’s about coming to receive his gifts: of hearing His sacred Word, Holy Baptism and the Sacrament of the alter.

The story of Martha and Mary is a story about getting things in the right order in our lives and a story about getting things right about Christ, and both those things are explained clearly to us in last week’s Gospel where Jesus appointed the seventy-two workers to go into the community in outreach and upon returning they are full of joy saying ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name’. And Jesus response, (yes), I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven”.

Similar Paul says “Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’”. Getting things in the right order is Christ first, during and at the end of our lives. We know that and the Churches know that, because that is the Gospel of the Lord that we read in the bible, the Word of God. Saved in the faith which we played no part in gaining, saved in faith in Jesus Christ alone is the Launchpad for everything we do in our lives and that’s why we must hear it over and over. Like Mary we must sit at the feet of Christ before we busy ourselves, because without Christ as our only compass we will get lost amongst the distractions of the world in which Daniel talks of in “the last days”: “For many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase”. This knowledge is not God Knowledge, but worldly knowledge and worldly learning. It is knowledge that is not based on the Word and wisdom of God but on our words and wisdoms.

Our words and wisdoms that not only are no help in knowing God’s will, but more than likely will lead us away from His will. Look at us today and what we can do in space travel and medicine. These things are amazing and the brain matter to bring these into play is a gift from God. We’ve been given the ability by God to be able to cure and extend peoples worldly lives in ways that were not long ago unfathomable, yet the world seems to be advocating that it’s also right and good if we choose these gifts to enable responsible death. It wasn’t long ago we looked on in wonder as we made it to the moon. But now there are “war” satellites and the cry of finding another planet to rape and pillage for its resources or even habitat instead of simply following God’s ways and living within our means here.

We live in a world where we take responsibility and boast of our triumphs yet blame or sue someone else for our failures. In living in God’s world and listening to ourselves and not him we see that we are still living in the Garden with the fallen Adam and Eve and with the builders constructing the tower of Babylon. We of the world are drug addicts intoxicated with me, myself I and unless we acknowledge our illness and turn back towards God and listen to Him we will continue to run to and fro looking for that unobtainable fulfilment in possessions, self-righteousness through works and retail Christianity. To turn back to God and sit at His feet alongside Mary and hear His Word and not ours or the worlds. To serve the creator and not the created is not part of the remedy to our addiction, it’s the only and full remedy for like a women can’t be half pregnant nor a person be half alcoholic-a person cannot half trust God.

We the Church live in the world under God’s word and not that of our own. We are either not saved in Christ alone or we are. God’s ways are either all wrong or all correct and we either fully trust him or we don’t, and unbelievably, our all-powerful God gives us the option to deny him. To deny him and believe we can partly save ourselves. To deny Him and only take those of His words that society and we want to hear into our lives is to suffer in this world by having to “win”, to live running anxiously to and fro. looking for answers but finding none that last, living with regrets and unanswered pain, and living with that emptiness that our ways cannot fill. Or we can heed His Word and His way of our salvation in faith in Jesus Christ alone. His Word and His way that allows us to respond to the world in our daily lives as those who rejoice that their names have been written in heaven. To rejoice in not having to do things for our Lord, but boast in Him when we do. To rejoice that given forgiveness,we can forgive others, and boast in him when we do. To rejoice that we can truly live each day under his grace, and boast in him when we do. To rejoice when like Mary we see his ways are the only ways and not those of the world. To rejoice when we see the need to sit at his feet alone. And to boast of him, when he alone teaches us how to stand. Amen.

 

“Smile and wave boys, just smile and wave”

Luke 10: 25-37

For some reason on Wednesday morning I woke up thinking how odd and different it is in today’s society that we still call washing machines, washing machines (or at least I still do). Sought of like if we had stuck with calling aeroplanes “flying machines” like the wright brothers back in 1903. Or instead of being the world champion boxer, maybe the world champion puncher.

Some times it’s good to just strip things back to core truths just as Jesus does in his dialogue with the lawyer in the story of the Good Samaritan. The lawyer who is well versed in the law of God yet he feels the need to justify himself as in his heart of hearts he seems to realise the impossibility of fulfilling the commandments that he has just cited, of: “Loving the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself”. So he seeks to limit God’s uncompromising demands diverting the discussion by asking “who is my neighbour”. A question designed to lead to argument about who is and who isn’t and criteria to be established and guidelines written. A ploy like we hear so often today to take the focus away from what we should do, to why we won’t do it.

Jesus will have no part of it and uses the Good Samaritan story to turn the question around and makes no attempt to decide whether the victim was properly a geographical neighbour. Rather he asks the lawyer which of the three men was neighbour to the beaten and robbed traveller to expose what the true meaning of love thy neighbour is-that the issue at hand is neighbourly love rather than the identification of who are the neighbours.

Neighbourly love that for us is basically actions and not necessarily based on our feelings. Yes the Good Samaritan is said to have felt compassion for the wounded traveller and acted with kindness and mercy. The kindness and mercy that for all we know the two that passed may have felt but did not act on-be it that they were late and were rushing to get to the synagogue where they were expected to play a part of, or that, and understandably they looked the other way in fear wondering if the robbers were still around in this notably dangerous road well known for travellers being ambushed. And seen through those eyes it’s hard to throw stones at the two that passed by when we think of the times we have all felt the same fear in our own cars when passing a hitch hiker as night is about to fall upon them. Never mind that if we link it up even closer to the Good Samaritan story, that the hurt man is a Jew, this would be like now in our time, an Israelite putting it all on the line for an Arab, or vice versa, on a dangerous section of the border between their two countries.

As always, upon a first reading it’s easy to have a crack at the Pharisees and the like in Jesus parables and stories, until we put his words into our own lives and see our own greed, selfishness and lack of courage. Never mind that Jesus has told us to act in love like the good Samaritan to our enemies and to those we find hard too like.

So what price do place on our Christian integrity? Is it fear of persecution and retribution or unfortunately, even much, much less.

Walking home with a friend of mine at about 1 am in a large regional town after a birthday party I noticed a young man trying to push his broken down car from the middle of an intersection and after my urging my friend helped me start to push the car out the way. And push and make progress we did, until I heard the guy we were helping, for some reason start abusing us. So that was it, stuff you I thought, stopped pushing, grabbed my friend and walked around to the front of his car and pushed it back to where we’d started from.

Fortunately this was before my saintly ways of today (joking).

Would I do that again? I would certainly hope not but the point is that if we act on how we see fairness or what someone’s “just deserts” are instead of how Christ sees things, even if trying to do the right thing our “stuff” ultimately gets in the way.

So which of the characters are you in the story. The one’s that walked the other way or the Good Samaritan that really did put it all on the line. That you are neither may surprise. Yes we are all probably a bit of both at times-but the one we were and are is the wounded traveller.

There we lie, ambushed by our own and others sin bleeding in the gutter unable to help ourselves. Nowhere to go and on the verb of our death Christ came and lifted us up. Carries us before His Father and asks that we be restored at the price of his own life.

The story of the Good Samaritan is the story of Christ. Christ who didn’t act according to his own consequences but according to ours-that only in his actions can we be saved.

A man asked Jesus a question regarding his understanding of the ways of God and of salvation and was told of the ways of Christ. The ways of Christ that once understood allowed Jesus to say “you go and do likewise”.

The question of God, ourselves and others, that should in our confusion we too are led to ask of, he answers with a clarity that cannot be misunderstood or manipulated:

Romans Chapter 10, beginning verse 9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says ‘Éveryone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew or Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’”.

Though undeserved, the Lord has come to us and provided for us physically and spiritually. Come and lifted us up in body and soul that we have the faith to call on his name and be saved.

Pray that we to have heard his call to “go and do likewise”. To see our neighbours without distinction, and “to love them as he has loved us”, that they too will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Amen.