Category: After Pentecost

” The answer my friend is blowing in the wind “

 

Poor old Nicodemus, he is a ruler of the Jews and somehow he has been “touched” by the Words of Jesus. So under the cover of darkness so that his colleagues would not know, he has gone to talk to Jesus. This is a big deal for him because here he is, an elite person in his society-that has been taught and taught the accepted ways-the only commonly accepted ways and he goes to consult Jesus.

We can almost hear him thinking, I wonder if what he says is true-and one part of him hoping to hear the truth and the other part, almost scared that he may hear the truth, the truth that will not sit comfortably with his current lifestyle. Where he would have to say to others-I was wrong-or just as hard, or harder to be prepared to go from respected rabbi and the associated society backslapping to….well, quite probably just the opposite.

His question of “how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Given the situation I would suggest is more than appropriate.

His question reminds me of the many times I have been asked why I decided to leave my previous occupation of 25 years in the finance industry and become a pastor. Often, people are dumbfounded by it and when I answer their question I tell them the truth. Being that essentially I do not know-I can point to several incidences and times that give me confidence that maybe it was a good thing, a correct thing to do-but the how it came about-that I honestly cannot really answer-it just seemed to happen.

Any of us here today, do we really know when we came to believe, for most-I would suggest that over time it just seemed to happen.

In a world that’s mantra is be masters of our own destiny, it seems an absolute mystery that a person who has seemingly mastered this world, a person of extreme wealth and prestige will bow down next to a beggar from the slums and both stretch out their hands, humbly in hope and faith to receive the body and blood of Christ.

Of being born again in the spirit. Jesus tells Nicodemus: “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit”.

What a great answer to us here today. Did we decide to be filled with the spirit of faith-no, it just seemed to happen, are we to judge or believe that we can control who, how, when others will come to faith-no.

It would seem we are helpless, and in ourselves we are because no amount of logical discussion, no amount of tearful and joyous testimonials can bring a person to faith. They can get a person inquisitive or want to know more-but can cannot bring them the spirit of faith.

Prior to leaving Adelaide, one of the removalists asked the “why a pastor?” question and during our discussion it became apparent that he was well versed, very well versed in fact in the contents of the bible but also said, “I would like to believe, but I just can’t”.

Born again in the Spirit. Was this guy Baptised? I do not know. He wants to believe but can’t-how’s that work-I do not know.

But what we do know, is that God wants this young man to be of his kingdom-and how the Holy Spirit will do that-is in God’s wisdom and ways.

God works in mysterious ways-isn’t that the truth. We can but marvel of his wisdom.

Born again of the spirit-like Nicodemus we can ask how does this work. Of course we are talking Baptism-but how does that work. How does Holy Communion work, how is it that the Words of God are not just letters on paper-but work like a living and growing organism.

We could hit the theology books and come up with a majestic answer-but in truthfulness, all those answers could still get back to a follow up question like our kid’s ask us-how, and another how, and another.

There are so many things we do not know-“God is and always was”. Try that one on for size.

A lecturer at the sem. asked us-why doesn’t the bible tells us these things-and I think this was about the only answer I got right in my whole first year when I nervously responded “because we don’t need to know” to which he added, it might even be negative for us to know.

Studying the scriptures-that is an honourable thing for all Christians to do. To study how God has saved us, why he needed to save us by sending his Son, to be inspired to act on his love to us by loving others-absolutely-But we don’t read them so that we can become God like. Those big questions-God doesn’t tell us because we don’t need to know.

Those big questions like how and where the spirit does its business.

We are told what we need to know.

Today’s verse: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

That, God tells us-because we need to know it-it is important.

That Holy Baptism, Holy Communion and the Word of God brings and builds faith-so that we believe in His son-we know these work because God has told us they do-he has told us because they are important.

“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes, so it is with everyone born of the Spirit”.

How did we come to faith, to believe and trust in those Words of John 3:16-we know the ways God has told us-through Holy Baptism-The Sacraments-the Word of God.

How they work, I do not know and don’t need to know except that they do work.

If you have ever doubted your standing before God-just remember that the spirit has blown your way-come to you, that now you believe. And if you ever doubt the future-remember the past-that in our sin-in our shunning of God-he chased us down-would not give up until he had us, that against our natural wishes, he put it all on the line so that you are here today.

Jesus said “treat others like you like to be treated” and “love others like you love yourself”. Well what if your love for yourself is not so great, what if you know that you don’t deserve to be treated with any respect or kindness?

If you have ever wondered of those two statements from Jesus, like I have. Think of your standing before God-how he wanted you so much in His kingdom that the spirit blew your way-You are Important to him.

So treat others like we like to be treated, love others like we love ourselves-I do not know how that pans out because that can change with circumstances.

But what has panned out is that we, you have been given faith. How we like, or feel like we should be treated, how we love ourselves sometimes may not be so useful.

From how we have been treated, how we have been loved by God to bring us here-we know that he will continue to do so. The rich man next to the poor, with the gift of faith holding out their feeble hands at Holy Communion, today, with the gift of faith when we hold out our feeble hands-rejoice in the gift of the Body and Blood of our Saviour, and rejoice that you believe-and rejoice in the proof of how important, how highly God thinks of you-given as proof to you by you being here.

And pray-that the Holy Spirit will be heard by those that have not joined us yet-that they too will bow before the Father, alongside their Saviour Jesus and marvel of his love for them. Amen.

 

: Ezekiel 37:1-14

“Over to you God”

When investing in Real Estate, the mantra is location, location, location. In Australia, high end would be water frontage on Sydney Harbour. Prime real estate. Manhattan, New York, Beach front, Monaco-If you have to ask how much, you can’t afford it.

Then there’s Jerusalem, and specifically the Temple Mount. Now we’re talking the epee-centre of real estate. A piece of land that no amount of money can buy.

For the Jewish community, this is the holiest site on earth. The sight where King Solomon built the temple in which the high priest communicated directly with God. The site that now houses the Muslim Dome on the Rock-revered by them as the location of Mohammed’s ascent to heaven.

One scholar noted that the destruction of the temple and loss of the land, and resultant inability to rebuild the temple is considered by the Jewish as a far, far greater tragedy than the holocaust. The holocaust where some six million Jews perished-two thirds of their community.

This has been hotly contested land throughout history. As it is in today’s Old Testament reading.

In the year 597 BC, a time in which the people of Israel have been gravitating away from God to that of false religions and the ways of the surrounding cultures and the time where the Babylonians successfully invaded and claimed rule over Jerusalem. After pillaging both Jerusalem and the temple of their riches, the King returned with them, and prominent Jewish officials, craftsmen and approximately 10,000 of the Jewish population-among whom was Ezekiel, to Babylon, which is in present day Iraq.

In short, this group of Israelites have been taken from their homeland and not only are they in a foreign land against their wishes. Their ability to worship at the temple, the place where God was present has been taken from them.

A situation that the group Boney M sung about in their son “By the rivers of Babylon”. Using words from Psalm 137 and their own they describe the situation:

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes we wept, when we remembered Zion (Jerusalem). When the wicked carried us away in captivity….now how shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.”

They are away from home, and away from God, and now in their exile, and only in their exile have they come to truly know what they have lost, what they threw away by abandoning God and as said in psalm 137 “How they wept when we remembered Zion/Jerusalem”.

This is not a good place to be, both physically or spiritually-a seemingly hopeless situation.

They abandoned God, and now God has seemingly abandoned them. But now they weep of that loss. When we hear the word repentance we may think of being sorrowful of our ungodly actions, our sinful actions. Of course there is that aspect; we admit that in our service confessions

“Almighty God, merciful Father, I a poor helpless sinner, confess to you all my sins, and repent of all the evil I have done. I have deeply displeased you and deserve your punishment in time and in eternity. But I am sorry for my sins…”.

But repentance is more than being sorry for our sins; it means to turn towards God, and in their exile, although seemingly without hope this Jewish community have now turned back to God.

They say history repeats and indeed it would seem so. When the forefathers of these people were captives in Egypt, in The Book of Exodus we are told that “the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help, and their cry for rescue came up to God and he heard their groaning”, and as we know, God enlisted Moses into his rescue plan.

History repeats- In their repentance, God hears his people in Babylon and now enlists Ezekiel to prophesise to the people, to announce the Word of God to them.

“Then God said to Ezekiel, these bones are the whole of Israel. They say their bones are dried up, their hope is lost, they say they are completely cut off. Tell them…I will put my spirit in them, and they shall live, I will place them on their own soil, and then they shall know that I, the Lord, has spoken and will act, says the Lord”.

Given the gravity of the situation we might have thought that it would be appropriate for Ezekiel to enquire further as to how this may come about, but when God asks him, can these bones live-can Israel be restored, there’s no maybes, no how’s or let me think about it for a moment, not even “yes Lord in you bring life to them” but just simply ‘O Lord God, you know’.

What an answer of faith. This is a tough response to give-a response that says no matter what it looks like, and no matter what the outcome-a total trust in God’s ways and actions. This is our “your will be done” response. Your will God, no matter how confusing, no matter how hard it may be to see any goodness in it-at whatever personal cost or hardship-in trust in God-we’ll just go with it.

That trust, just going with it is not so easy, because often, very often God acts differently to how we would expect.

To slaves in Egypt, God doesn’t send down a battalion of angels, but works through a fallible human being, Moses. Likewise in Babylon, God works through Ezekiel.

Is this how you would do things? Try this one. You created the world and all its people-they owe everything to you but their response is to basically say thanks for that, but we don’t need you anymore so we are outa here. I’m glad God acts different to how I would to such a bunch.

This bunch impoverished in sin, does God justifiably unleash his wrath on them? No he unleashes it on himself by giving his Son to be beaten, tortured and sacrificed in their place. In our place.

The words we pray at the start of the weekly message in the sermon. “May the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you Lord” come from Psalm 19, but are also used appropriately in that Boney M song “By the rivers of Babylon song”. Appropriate because like in the sermon, like in the situation they faced in Babylon and like Ezekiel answered “O’Lord, you know” there is a sense of trusting in the Will of God. That God will act and will make things happen even if how he does it make no sense to us.

We do not need to know how, that by living out our Christian life as best we can, that somehow God will use it to help build His kingdom in Christ-that’s His business and we’ll just go with it. We only need to know why-that he wishes for all to be delivered from the exile of sin in this world. To give them the gift of repentance, to see and turn back to God, and to cling to the redemption and forgiveness delivered by Jesus.

That’s what we know and that’s what we have received.

Moses, Ezekiel and now all those saved in Christ-us-recruited by God to let his voice be heard by those still held in captivity. To know in faith and trust, that in our lives as Christian’s that God will use our words and actions so that his voice be heard and seen-FROM US, maybe seems a strange way of getting things done but let’s just go with it and leave the rest to Him-He’ll sought it out. Amen.