Category: Lent

1 Samuel 16: 1-13, Ephesians 5: 8-14, John 9: 1-41

The closing words from today’s readings from Ephesians and Psalm 23 “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” and “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”

Christ has told us that “He came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind”

A four year old boy was woken in the night and told to run through the paddocks to the neighbour’s house four kilometres away and he can always remember leaving, but never arriving. That night a little light inside of him went out and though time passes, he still runs through those paddocks, leaving but never arriving and wonders of that goodness and mercy that was meant to follow him all the days of his life.

A mother hears the news that her son was found in a dead end road where the only sound was the birds chirping and the echo of a rifle bullet and that morning a little light inside of her was lost.

We stand by the bedside as our loved ones suffer in silence and a little light goes out. We see the atrocities of this world, the wars, the hunger and the injustice. We see the homeless, the abused and a body lying on a park bench next to an empty bottle and that light inside of us flickers perilously as we wonder of where their goodness and mercy was to be found.

And then one of those running from but never arriving stumbles towards those in the house of God only to meet with ridicule, judgement and accusation and to find that for them, there is no light to be found.

During the height of Communism’s campaign against religion in Russia, Easter sunrise services of the church were replaced with Sunrise Communist Rallies, which all people of a community were requested to attend. At one such meeting, as the rally was drawing to a close, a Communist leader asked the crowd of 10,000 if there was anything else anybody wanted to say. Nobody moved during a long silence. But then a teenage boy came forward to speak at the microphone. The leader warned the boy, “You must only tell the truth (meaning the communist truth-the theme of the rally). If you don’t, you will be shot on the spot.” As the boy stood on the podium he was flanked by soldiers, some with rifles pointed at his head. After a moment of silence he stood tall, and taking a deep breath shouted loud and clear, “Christ is risen.” Exploding rifles shattered the silence of the early morning and as the boy collapsed the crowd responded with 10,000 voices, “Christ is risen indeed”.

In tragedy, injustice and judgement from self and others a little light inside of us goes out as we wonder of that goodness and mercy that was to follow us all the days of our life, until we close our eyes.

That boy still running through the paddocks closes his eyes and sees the Lord Jesus by his side that night, and by his side now saying you don’t have to run any longer.

A mother closes her eyes and does not hear the echo of a gunshot at the end of a lonely dead end road, but the joyous sound of peace as another has been brought through the great tribulation and taken home.

We close our eyes and see that standing by the bedside of our loved ones suffering in silence is our Lord and Saviour still holding their hand tight as he has always done.

We see those that can run from no longer and have given up on arriving as they make their home on a lonely park bench with only an empty bottle as a friend until we close our eyes and see a man with the scars of nails on his wrists not pass by them in judgment of the wounds they carry, but take those wounds on himself as though they can run from, nor too any longer, that goodness and mercy that has been with them through the eye of the storm does not pass by, but reaches down and carries them with Him.

And as we open our eyes and see one of those running from but never arriving stumble towards the church, we see not a person in need of ridicule, judgement and accusation. But see a person born in the image of God and as they draw closer and the lines of their skin from their journey become clearer, our eyes are opened and we see that they are we, and like a boy confessing the truth as the gun shots rang out, we see that goodness and mercy has been with us all the days of our lives that as we fall we hear not 10,000 people, but an endless army of angels in joyous in song that another shall forever dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

While we ran in the night through the paddocks and though we could only remember leaving, and never arriving, our Lord has shown Himself to us that we who were blind now see Christ shining in the darkness that as He lead us on our journey home, He leads us before those that who are still running in the night and driving towards that lonely dead dirt end road see next to them a man carrying His own scars of this world look toward them with knowing eyes not of judgement, but with eyes of love and hear Him say, that it is too you for whom I have come. Amen.

“A noble man”

 

John 4:5-42

One morning in 1888, a man baptized and confirmed in a Lutheran church named Alfred Nobel picked up a French newspaper and was shocked to see his own obituary. A news reporter had made a mistake. Actually Nobel’s brother had died, but the reporter got it wrong and did the story about Alfred. But in the story Alfred Nobel saw himself for the first time as the world saw him, “the dynamite king.”

Alfred had made a fortune manufacturing explosives. He was described as a rich industrialist, but there was no mention of his real passion for a peaceful world. From that day and unbeknown to his family, friends or colleagues until after his death, Alfred Nobel began to make arrangements for the purpose of his huge estate and began to arrange for the Nobel peace prize to be given each year to one who had contributed much to the cause of world peace.

A great story of how God can transform the works of this Christian from something that could fuel warfare to something that can fuel world peace.

The legendary American country and western singer Hank Williams in 1953 died from heart failure aggravated by alcohol and drug abuse at the age of 29. A man with “tortured soul”, but a man who from the pain and though it didn’t subside wrote these words:

“I wandered so aimless a life filled with sin
I wouldn’t let my dear saviour in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord I saw the light.

I saw the light I saw the light
No more darkness no more night
Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.”

A great story of how God can bring his saving peace into and amongst even the most self-destructive of hearts and two great examples how unlike the other false God’s of history that demand their followers change their ways that they be entitled to go up, our God, God the Father that came down to us to meets as we are. God the Father that gave our world his Son Jesus the Christ to not create or strengthen the barriers between the unworthy and his kingdom, but to smash them apart that we see the truth as recorded in today’s Gospel because in Jesus talking to the Samaritan women he is shattering many cultural, religious and social barriers, as no self-respecting Jew would dare start a conversation with a Samaritan, never mind a female one at that.

Those two criteria alone would place her at the bottom of the heap, spiritually unclean and not to be associated with. But Jesus in interacting with this woman is not so much purposely breaking the protocols of the day to prove a point to her or the disciples; Jesus talks to the Samaritan women simply because she was there and he doesn’t act in an assumed role in order to accomplish an evangelistic goal. The reason Jesus acts how he does is because that’s simply who he is, and he doesn’t meet her in judgment or as a second rate citizen,

but meets her as a child of God that needs to be re-united to the Father. However it is not all one way traffic in Jesus just meeting the judgments of others against her as she shows some bias herself in the tone of her reply to Jesus request for a drink.

There is a cynical note of “what you a Jew, the Jews who consider us dirt, but now that you need us, we’re okay then. Jesus ignores her comment; he wants to win her not the argument. He does not ridicule, accuse or judge her, but meets her where she is at and gently and patiently leads her on a faith journey, where he causes her to take a second look at herself, at her prejudice’, her assumptions and her sins in order to reveal himself-and his life giving water. Yet recognizing and confessing Jesus as the Saviour, as great as that is, still is not the ultimate end toward which Jesus is calling her.

Throughout the Gospel Jesus repeatedly says that his mission is to accomplish the will of the Father. He has come to point people to God, to bring them to God. Perhaps the most significant part of the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan women is the move from their discussion about the spiritual water that Jesus himself is, to their discussion about true worship.

The move in this direction is not coincidental, because the worship of God in spirit and in truth is at the heart of Christian theology. While we know from the Gospel, that over the next two days, many other Samaritans come to confess Jesus as the Saviour. To become saints in Christ, and though they still are sinners, they are forgiven sinners.

This Gospel story ends and we don’t hear of these people again, but it would be foolishness to assume that having been saved in Christ, that everything was perfect for the rest of their lives, or that they were in no need of any further spiritual strength or growth. That would not have happened for them and it doesn’t happen for us.

Like the Samaritan women-Christ’s meets us where we are at and has a conversation with us, exposes us: our prejudice, our assumptions and our sins-so that he can reveal himself.

Like to the Samaritan women, the change in us comes about because of Jesus revealing himself to us, not because of something we do, or something we want to believe.

The change comes not from us, but from Jesus. We are not saved because Jesus reveals our sin, but because he reveals himself to us, so he can bring us forgiveness and salvation, and bring us to faith, and keep us in faith.

Jesus is not a party to the much quoted Australian tall poppy system-of building them up, then bringing them down as we can handle that by ourselves and though we continually fall short, Jesus continually comes to us where we are at, and just where that place is, where we are at spiritually can change as we travel our earthly journey.

It’s like putting our finger in a stream, stresses-heartache, joys; struggles are all around us, are part of us-and move us in different directions. It’s not one size fits all. Just like our gifts can be unique, so to can be our shortfalls and shortcomings, and in them Jesus adjusts to us and comes again and again to us where we are at, comes to us in our sin, and comes to us in our needs.

The only constant is the cause and the cure, Sin and Christ. Sinners in ourselves, yet saints in Christ. That’s our deal, and because that is our deal-we are continually pulled between the two, and this side of heaven-that grating between the two in our lives will continue and that is why we are here today brought together in the Truth of Christ, to praise and worship our Lord, and to be in His presence

To hear the Word of God and have faith in his promises that no matter how we see ourselves, or how we feel, God covers us with His grace. God the father who today in worship meets us where we are at, in joy or in sorrow? Spiritually high or low, and says to us

come and receive my gifts and be strengthened.

We see the baptismal font and are reminded of the promise. That in faith we are given eternal life. That in faith we accept Holy Communion as the body and blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and are strengthened in body and soul to life eternal.

That in we repentance and belief we are forgiven. That through no skill of our own, or our efforts, or good works or even our love to God, the work has been done for us in Christ that God does not see each of us as we see each other, but sees us glowing in the righteousness of His Son.

That’s the Grace the Lord brought to a Samaritan sinner, and that’s the Grace the Lord has brought to you who know the truth, that in Christ, and in Christ alone that no matter where you came from, today you are saved and no matter where you go, be it as an Alfred Nobel, a Hank Williams or a Samaritan women, He will go with you and lead you home. Amen

“A love no greater”

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 & John 3:1-17

On Thursday I saw a teenage boy in his school cloths with an obvious mental disability holding hands with his grandma and my heart melted.

A musician and poet on tour and alone in his hotel room wrote these words for his little boy back home:

“May you always feel the sunshine and take time to taste the rain,
May your friends be true and caring and I hope you are the same;
And in your fleeting passage, leave a little bit behind
For the children who will follow in your footsteps, along the sands of time.

I dreamed there was a world for you, without the rush of rockets
And the thump of khaki gunships in the sky
But there were rows of eucalyptus and trains for little boys
Tadpoles in a still black creek and playgrounds full of noise
and in my vision, fear and greed and anger were the only things to die
May the wind blow gently through your life, may your principles be strong;
May you stand up and be counted when you work out right from wrong
May your nights be short and peaceful, may your days be warm and long;
May your eyes be filled with kindness, may the seeds of wisdom grow
May you seek for truth and beauty and when you find it may you know

May you help feed those who are hungry, and comfort those who hurt
May you always fight for justice for all of us who walk upon the earth.” (John Schumann “For the children”)

Beautiful words of hope and, yet words mixed with sadness in the reality of growing in our world of hunger, pain, fear, greed, war and anger.

Words of apprehensive hope that parents can relate to as they look to their children , and often words bringing unwanted sadness in reflecting of what has gone before that children can relate to as they see their parents near the end of their journey.

In today’s reading from Romans we hear of Israel’s first great patriarch and a “hero” of the bible in Abraham. A man called by God as recorded in Genesis 12 “To go from your country and your relatives, and your father’s house to the land I will show you and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” and Abraham believed, trusted and obeyed.

Then later when camped at Shechem, the Lord appeared to Abraham and renewed his promise that “To your descendants I will give you this land,” and that as Abraham surveyed the very land before him there stood a flourishing enemy stronghold, yet he believed, trusted and obeyed.

Later again God promises to the sonless Abraham that from his loins will come a “great nation”-as innumerable as the “dust of the earth” and your own son shall be your successor and Abraham believed, trusted and obeyed.

Yet later again, the much awaited son Isaac has been born-only for Abraham to hear the call from God to sacrifice his only beloved son on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah. Words that if it were us and I would most surely believe for Abraham himself must have been the most unwanted of his whole life. But yet again Abraham trusted and obeyed in perfect obedience and even when asked by Isaac  where they will find an animal to be sacrificed? He answers “God will provide himself the lamb” and as he raises his hand with Isaac lying on the sacrificial alter, at the last minute an angel of the Lord stops him.

What a journey. A journey of faith and of serving the Lord beyond reproach or criticism. In top gun speak this guy “is the best of the best” and yet the bible tells us not in his actions and deeds was Abraham saved, but only in his faith.

It almost seems unbelievable until I think of that boy in the shop holding hands with his grandma and ask myself, what of him-how does he earn his way to heaven. What of the kids living in the slums of a third world country-how do they earn their way to heaven, and then in turning to myself I see clearly that yes, there is no other way than in Christ.

The joy Abraham must have felt when Isaac was born, and the unfathomable pain he must have felt as he raised a dagger above his son on that mountain top.

The joy of God the father as he rested on the seventh day and saw that his creation was good, and his aching heart for what lie ahead when it was torn apart in sin.

His aching heart for those hungry, for those who cannot help themselves and for all that walk upon this broken world and how he must have felt when his own Son in the garden of gethsemane sweating blood in duress asked “Father, is there another way”.

And as we hear his answer of, “no my Son there is not” those famous words from John 3:16 come to our mind “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”, and from our mind permeate through to our heart as we try to understand such a love that would see him knowingly hand over His only Son, his faultless and sinless Son for the wolves to devour that they be fed.

No one can come to faith through reason but through the Holy Spirit. But having been given the gift of faith we see there can be no other reason that we will surely reside in the heavenly life that awaits than through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

There is no other way, and in your faith in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone today you stand as the forgiven children of God and though we must work, our work is not for self but for those that the Father brings before us that we may do to them as he has done to us and help feed those who are hungry, and comfort those who hurt.

The rabbi in a small Jewish village vanished every Friday morning for a couple of hours. Devoted villagers boasted that during these hours their rabbi ascended to heaven to talk to God. A sceptical newcomer decided to check it out, so he hid one Friday morning near the rabbi’s house to watch. The rabbi rose, said his prayer, put on the clothes of a peasant, and left with an axe in his hand. The newcomer followed and watched as the rabbi chopped firewood and carried it to a shack in the humblest part of the village where an old woman lived with her sick son. There he stacked enough wood for a week and returned to his house. The newcomer became a disciple of the rabbi and from then on when people would say that the rabbi ascended to heaven, he would add, “if not higher”.

God may have other work planned for you instead of gathering firewood, but getting to heaven is the work of God himself, which he has done for you through his Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

 

Genesis 2:15-17;3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19;

Matthew 4:1-11

A tough minded CEO was touring one his company’s factories when he came upon a young man leaning against a filing cabinet, humming a song and just watching the action around him. The CEO went up to him and asked him how much he got paid. The young man said, “About seven hundred and fifty dollars a week.” “Well here’s two weeks’ pay,” the CEO said, stuffing fifteen one hundred dollar notes into the man’s pocket. “Now get out of here and don’t ever come back.” As soon as the young man had gone, the CEO turned to the department manager and shouted, “Who hired that bludger?” To which the manger responded “We didn’t hire him, he was just here from the courier company waiting to pick up a package.”

Sometimes it helps to ask and listen first in order to and understand what’s really going on behind what may appear and as Christians, as the Church-the gathering of those around Christ we too grapple with our instinct of taking our pre-conceived ideals to scripture rather than letting scripture form our ideals.

One of the things that happened in past ages in the church is that people got hung up on sin. They felt guilty all the time about everything – even about things that were not sinful at all and unfortunately they laid this burden on others too. Maybe some of you grew up in times when the thought of a bit of fun or jovial banter within the gathering of the faithful was not only frowned upon but maybe even heretical.

This sin-driven thinking is unbiblical and I would think both unhealthy for those in the church and by way of extension, unhealthy for those yet to have met the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Those who already know self and others judgments and don’t need it re-in forced to further guilt, but rather acknowledged that they see not the Law condemning and restricting, but the Gospel absolving and freeing.

In more recent times there has been an equal and opposite reaction to this sin-conscious kind of Christianity. Naturally enough, when there’s a reaction the pendulum does not stop back in the middle, where it achieves a balance, but swings to the opposite end.

And so today there is a tendency to not only down play the idea of sin, but sometimes deny the reality of it altogether. It is seen as offensive. The thought of being personally, morally responsible before God, and confessing a sin is uncomfortable and some Christians including pastors and church leaders do not even like to hear the word mentioned.

This denial of sin is also unbiblical and just as unhealthy as being sin-obsessed and guilt ridden.

This is where we turn back to the scriptures, for their correcting and balancing influence in our lives, in particular today’s readings. Because here we find that they are not hung up on sin. Nor are they hung up on denying sin. They are hung up on something quite different – grace!

In today’s Genesis reading we have that old story we know so well – the story that describes the way human beings rebel against God and, in their fear and insecurity and pride, seek to be God themselves.

This story is powerful because it touches our conscience. It holds up a mirror to us, and shows us that our lives are not as perfect as we maybe thought they were, and that deep in our own nature is that same tendency to push God away.

The Romans reading today describes how this story touches us all.

Yet that is not the end as in today’s Gospel, Matthew describes the ministry of Jesus, who has sometimes been called the second Adam. He is the one who, out in the desert as he was being tempted and tested by Satan, did not fall when he was given the choice between going for glory and power or staying with God. And because he, unlike the first Adam, did not fall into that trap, because he was obedient to His Father, because he lived a life of true self-giving love, because he gave his life as a redeeming sacrifice, he is able to undo the effects of sin, able to blot our all our guilt and take it from us completely, able to undo the curse of death and give us back what God always wanted for us, eternal life with him. As Paul says in Romans 5:15:

“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.”

This is grace. Grace does not deny sin or its seriousness or its power. God’s grace, in Jesus Christ overcomes sin and defeats death. And this is yours for the asking, freely and with no strings attached.

This is the message of the Scriptures and these three readings for the first Sunday in Lent really summarise the whole core message. They are not hung up on sin and death and on living in guilt and shame and neither do they deny sin.

They are gloriously and endlessly pointing to, hung upon and relying on the Grace of God’s plan to save all humanity from sin and death, and bring them into the abundance of life that is joyful and free.

The time of Lent is a pronounced time of reconnecting and renewing of our faith. A time for us to acknowledge that yes we are not perfect, not to deepen the guilt but to see that guilt washed away through a man named Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ who left the confines and majesty of His heavenly home to come among the muck of our sin to see and taste it playing out in our lives and His Fathers once perfect creation. Jesus Christ the Son of God who reduced himself that he feel the pain of thirst, hunger and physical infliction. The Son of God who reduced himself that He know first-hand the alluring temptations of Satan’s lies and manipulations that he places before us and the world. Jesus Christ, not remote, unknowing and judging from some far- away place. But Jesus Christ with us now who as He once felt everything sin can dish up as He walked this earth, still feels through us those same bumps, bruises, doubts and hurts as we still walk this earth.

Jesus Christ the Savior walked this earth and knows the deal down here and Jesus Christ our Saviour who walked this earth that we know the deal up there and in lent we focus on the deal that went down on that first Easter where in nothing other than to turn towards and believe in Jesus Christ our Saviour have our sins been forgiven and though while still on our walk we need to acknowledge the sins we carry, we need not be downcast and desponded, but up cast and of joyful hearts and minds as we hear His message given to bystanders some 2,000 years ago that while he hang dying on a cross, the same message He gives to us today as the resurrected Lord, that “it is finished” and so no longer do we need concern ourselves with earthly death in sin, but look to Him and be assured of eternal life in His righteousness.

American actor Roy Rogers was once asked “if he had only 48 hours to live, how would he live it?” To which he responded “one hour at a time”.

Yes we carry sin, but we are carried by a much greater power and that is the truth of the Gospel in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who found us when we knew Him not, carries us when we see Him not and gave His life when we deserved Him not, that most assuredly in trust in Him and in Him alone we will be re-united with those that have gone before and those with us now, and in that sure knowledge do we carry on today, living with and serving our Lord, living with and serving His people and living our lives in the peace of His promise, one hour at a time. Amen.

John 12:1-8

“A fly in the ointment”

It’s the time of the Passover and Jesus knowing he is a marked man by the Jewish authorities, shows courage beyond belief and has walked into the lion’s den and gone to Jerusalem knowing the fate that awaits him. But this night, whether maybe yet again finding there’s no room in the Inn or just wishing to catch up with his great friends, he is sharing a meal in the home of Martha and Mary, and oh to be a fly on the wall witnessing such a surreal gathering of people.

Martha as usual is busy working and serving others with the meal preparations. Lazarus, who mind you has only been recently raised from the dead, is present. But the “staring” roles other than Jesus centre on Mary and Judas who seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum in their dealings with Jesus.

Mary it would seem, in her love for Jesus has thrown human convention of thought or society standards out the window. Firstly the ointment she applies to Jesus feet is not of the “black and gold variety” because it was worth in today’s standards a full year’s wages, and if we go by the bureau of statistics, this ointment she is plashing about is worth about 70,000 Australian dollars. Never mind you that in her act of wiping Jesus feet with her hair she is not just showing her humility and love, she has smashed any thoughts of her inhibitions as no respectable women would ever appear publically with their hair unbound as it was considered immoral.

Then at the other end of the spectrum is Judas who having been given the job of “treasurer” by Jesus says what would seem logical, to sell the precious ointment and use the proceeds to feed the poor and if we were there and unaware of the truth that he actually wanted to take some of the proceeds for himself, this would seem a reasonable and sensible suggestion. While this is going on Martha and Lazarus are in the back ground and as the family fortune one way or another is about to leave the building, seem quite content.

While for us to hear of the love and generosity of Mary, Martha and Lazarus is humbling, it’s also if we are honest unfathomable, because if we could truly put ourselves in that household, I’m not sure we could guarantee to be a Martha, Mary or Lazarus any more than we could guarantee not to be calculating and self-considering like Judas.

Yet right amongst this. Amongst Mary’s almost unparalleled throwing of “caution to the wind” in her love for Jesus, Martha’s dedicated work and support for all those present, Lazarus chatting with and entertaining his guest and saviour at the table and Judas, the one given the trust of and being in charge of the money yet who is pilfering of the proceeds and who will soon go one step further and give up Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. There in the centre of this condensed overview of society sits Jesus who will shortly not throw caution to the wind and hope on a favourable outcome, but will throw himself to his accusers in the sure knowledge that their response to him will be unjust, spiteful, cruel and terminal.

He walks towards them, and towards his cruel death in his love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus. And he walks towards them and towards his cruel death in his love for the Judas’ and his love for those plotting against him. A man who after having experienced the love of Mary and the hatred of the authorities will ask his Father, ask the one with limitless power “To forgive them, for they know not what they do”.

Last week I watched a movie about a father and a son who could not see eye to eye. The father a respected doctor, and his son who dropped out of school and travelled the world as a back packer. The father who saw his son’s free-wheeling ways as irresponsible and his son who saw his father as structured and without spontaneity. One’s mantra was “this is the life I chose” and the others that “you don’t choose a life, you live a life”. It was an enjoyable movie and as I watched the final scene showing the father free and in full back-packer regalia walking through a busy market place in some far off Eastern country it indeed did provoke romantic thoughts of doing something similar to feel that sense of freedom within our world.

Ironically the very next day I read in the paper an article written by a world traveller that after he talked of the wonderful adventures he had had as a full time traveller, finished with the warning that if you are considering such escapades, don’t do it thinking it will bring you freedom from your issues in life because they will still be with you, only just in another part of the world.

Whether we chose to be where we are in our lives at this moment or just seem to have fallen here is not the point. The point is that because Jesus has chosen you, you can choose to live a life irrespective of where that may be. Whether with the open love of Mary or the hidden sin of Judas, when life is seen through the grace bestowed by God the Father to us through faith in Christ alone you are free “to shoot for the stars” or free not to, because in Christ you are following your dreams no matter what shape they take.

You are not Mary, Martha, Lazarus or Judas. You are who you are and that is who Christ loves. Thinking of you as you are today Christ went to the cross, not for what you should or will be-but who you are today. So live life, walk in the rain in your shorts or use an umbrella it doesn’t matter as either way you do not walk alone. That the outward love of Mary we may not have, but the love of Christ to Mary we do have, and that’s what matters, and knowing that is living a life.

Two thousand years ago Jesus in his love for those who knew him and loved him he walked to the cross. Two thousand years ago Jesus in love for those who neither loved him nor knew him he walked to the cross and asked the Father to forgive them “for they know not what they do”.

Two thousand years ago Jesus walked to the cross knowing that a group of sinners will be here today needing to be forgiven. And as he sees us groping in the dark with our sins. Sees us make mistake after mistake and sees us in our “Judas” moments as we selfishly turn away from the need of others. Yet in hearing our cries for help and forgiveness and our throwing “caution to the wind” to know that he is our only chance he sees our faith like that of the precious ointment that Mary placed at his feet. That he sees us trust in nothing other than faith in him alone and risk being ridiculed by those around us, he turns to the Father and says “you know what they do, but forgive them-for you know what I have done for them”.

So should that confused fly on the wall in Mary’s house visit yours, let it be confused no longer and let it see the freedom that comes, when a man named Jesus visits.

 

Luke 15: 11-32

“There’s no place like home”

“See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans, wearin’ yesterday’s misfortunes like a smile. Once he had a future full of money, love and dreams. Which he spent like they was goin’ outa style. He’s a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he’s stoned. He’s a walkin’contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction. He has tasted good and evil in your bedrooms and your bars, and he’s traded in tomorrow for today. Takin’every wrong direction on his lonely way back home”.

Words from the Pilgrim-A song by Kris Kristofferson that could apply to the prodigal son in today’s text. A man that seemingly had it all, a good life on the land, financial security and a loving family.

The word prodigal means to “live extravagant and wastefully” and indeed it seems the younger son was “A man that had a future full of money, love and dreams, but which he spent like they were going out of style”.

I’ve seen several times, particularly in farming where a son asks for his share of his inheritance so that he can be independent. But this young man, the prodigal son gave his father the greatest insult and hurt you could imagine. Not so much by his leaving home, but back in those times in him asking his father for his share of the inheritance, he was effectively wishing that he-the father was dead. This was like an act of treachery that could result in the son being in physical danger should the locals get hold of him.

Yet, his loving and generous father, much I would imagine to the disgust of locals and his family agrees to his request and once received, the son promptly sets off on a long journey to a distant land and begins to waste his fortune on wild living. When the money runs out, a severe famine hits the country and the son finds himself in dire circumstances. He takes a job feeding pigs, and as pigs were considered unclean in Jewish society, he has fallen to the lowest of the low, never mind that he is so destitute that he even longs to eat the food assigned to the pigs.

The young man is destitute and without friend, favor or future and if he still has any pride he would have surely felt those eyes looking, yet not looking as he picked up cigarette butts or asked for a few dollars out the front of the IGA while his soul burns with shame knowing that he has no one to blame but himself. The shame and guilt carried that can consume a person and alluringly, almost teasingly entice further self-destruction. This man is on the knife edge but in his desperation he remembers what once was and by the grace of God sees a ray of hope in life, that of returning home. But not as a son to the man he hurt and insulted, but to beg to be his servant.

The father who had been watching and waiting, seeing his bedraggled looking son walking towards him rushes out, stops his son in his tracks and before his son can get out his planned speech, receives him back with open arms of compassion. He is overjoyed by the return of his lost son! Immediately the father turns to his servants and asks them to prepare a giant feast in celebration.

Meanwhile, the older son is not one bit happy when he comes in from working the fields and discovers a party going on to celebrate his younger brother’s return. And dare I say could we not understand this as his brother having sought his share of the inheritance returns with nothing and is smothered in love by his father. Maybe thoughts of now he will get another slice of the inheritance pie came to mind. But the father tries to dissuade the older brother from his jealous rage explaining, “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” And we are left at the end of the parable to wonder the outcome of the older brother.

One prodigal son has returned, one is still on his journey.

In our busy lives we walk past people. Stressed we have arguments and disagreements. Wronged we seek justice and when unloved we become unloving until that moment when it’s too late. To when if only we could have that one more moment where we could take that loved one in our hand and hold them once more. Not to forgive them because that’s not even a thought, but just to have them home again and be with them is enough. Even though we are sinners, we know that love. That love though which is miniscule and judgmental in comparison to God the Fathers who gave his own Son for you, that you may with him like the son returned home-so it is too you.

When the boy came home, he had everything he threw away restored by the good grace of the Father.

1. The Robe – His Purity – Here stands the son in the rags of his sins. He doesn’t look like a child of this father. But, the father orders the best of his robes to be brought and to be put on the son. This robe would cover all the stains and dirt of the pig pen. This robe would make him look like the father. Imagine a servant walking up, who had net been there when the son returned home and seeing this boy from behind in the father’s robe. He would naturally mistake him for the father! This robe served to erase all the visible signs of this boy’s sinful past. When a sinner comes home, they also receive a robe from the heavenly Father. This righteousness is not the righteousness of good works or of human goodness. No, this is the very righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to those who receive Him by faith. When we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, all the pain and the stain of our past is forever washed away! All the dirt and the filth of a life of sin is forever washed away from us!

2. The Ring – His Privileges – After the robe came the ring. The ring was a symbol of son ship and authority. The one with the ring could speak for the Father! The one with the ring had access to all that belonged to the father! The one with the father’s ring was in a position of great privilege! When old, lost sinners repent of their sins and come home to the Father, they are given the great privilege of being recognized as His sons, 1 John 3:1-2. They are given the privilege of speaking for the Father, Act 1:8. They are allowed access to all that belongs to the Father as well, Rom. 8:17, Psa. 24:1; Psa. 50:10. When we come to the Father, He opens the storehouses of His grace and gives us everything He has!

3. The Shoes – His Position – The father calls for shoes to be brought for the feet of his son. Only the slaves went barefoot, sons wore shoes! This boy returned home desiring to be just a mere hired servant, but the father is determined to recognize his position as a son! In the boy’s eyes, he didn’t even deserve to be a slave, but even lower, even a hired servant. The father, however, looked at him and said, “This is my son!” The father alone determines the position and worth of his children! Saved by grace, you became a child of God! He no longer sees you as a slave or as a sinner, but he sees you as His darling child, whom He loves like He loves His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ! We are right to humble ourselves in His presence, but let’s never forget that if we are saved by grace, that it is the Father Who determines our standing in the family and not we ourselves! What I am saying is this: Don’t let the devil or the flesh keep you down by telling you that you are not worthy to be a child of God. In Christ you are truly saved, you have been accepted by the Father in Heaven and He has called you His child!

C. V. 23-24 He Found Rejoicing – Ill. The fatted calf was kept for special occasions. The fatted calf was the Father’s way of sharing His joy with all around. Instead of a wasted life, the father was celebrating a life redeemed and restored! So it is when a sinner returns home to God tb he Father! There is rejoicing in Heaven. There is rejoicing in the House of God. And, there is rejoicing in the heart of the redeemed sinner!

All that have walked this earth apart from Jesus have sinned. Yet all those that once walked this earth in faith in Jesus now truly know his love in its fullness. For us that still remain, who still sin and make mistakes Jesus says come to me for I will give you rest and bring you my father’s love, for as I spread my arms on the cross in bearing your sins, my father’s arms are still spread in love waiting for those still wandering.

I have sinned and no doubt will sin again as will we all. Yet Christ walks with us that we know of God the Fathers love. His love that has no boundaries. His love that asks us not to be saints but makes us saints. His love today that comes to us in Christ Jesus who looks at us with loving and understanding eyes and says “I know how tough it is-so come to me and rest. I gave my life for you-that you may live in peace. I love you now, as you are-know that peace because I have restored you for in me you are that younger son, and what I did for him I do to you.

Brother and sisters in Christ, you are sons and daughters of God. You have been restored. Let it fill your hearts with peace and pray for those still on their lonely way home.

 

Luke 13: 1-9

“Not drowning, waving”

In today’s Gospel Jesus is talking my language when he talks of people by using the imagery of them as a fig tree that has been fertilized with manure, and if you’re like me you know what it’s like to be in the manure with only the depth that varies. Yet Jesus uses this analogy as a good thing in that it helps the fig tree to grow, helps us to grow.

Before my current healthy lifestyle of a strict diet of all foods healthy (not) I visited a doctor and for the first time, told him how it truly was. Later when he received back the test results he remarked that “the positive results did not seem to make sense” and suggested “that physically it is a minor miracle”. Likewise some would suggest that I’m here talking to you as a Pastor may be a miracle of the same ilk. But somehow, I am here and somehow, you are here. Somehow, while travelling through the ever present manure of life we turned this way instead of that way-and that I suggest is the miracle because in those moments when the world closes in, in those dark, dark times whether we be a victim of others actions or of our own actions, the way out can appear a long way off-maybe even out of sight.

Something’s just don’t make sense and never will.

When I was in a remote mining town one of the first people I met was a charming and friendly young man at the cricket. Several weeks later he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment after a young tourist’s body was found in the foetal position down a mine shaft. How does either of the families of those two young people carry on in life? It is beyond comprehension the scars that they must bear and may we never know such pain and that saying “that there’s always someone worse off” rings true but the fact is, we all do carry our own scars of life with us. Scars that can destroy us, scars that can strengthen us and scars that are still open wounds.

I was speaking to a person once who was dying and was concerned of what his standing will be before God as he did not have enough time left to make up for the wrongs of his life and when Jesus tells us, tells me in today’s Gospel to repent or die I would be more than a little concerned if I did not understand the word repentance.

The word repentance, like sin is often used as a weapon and accordingly misunderstood in our world. And if you don’t agree try getting on your soapbox in Macquarie Street and voicing your opinions to those present that they are sinners who must repent or die. It’s offensive because it suggests that they are sinners and we are not and that the only way out is to maybe drop tools and join the monastery.

That they and we must repent is true. But far from being it being a curse that Jesus demands we do to ensure that we are miserable, he asks us to repent so that we know freedom, because to repent is to turn towards God. Not to be miserable, but free of our misery.

Jesus asks us repent to free us from the bondage of the scars we carry and says you don’t have to do that any longer. You don’t have to worry what others think of you or even what you think of yourself. You don’t have to prove to the world and yourself that you’re worth something.

Sometimes our lives can be a bit like starting pre-season training or renovating a house as when you look back you think if only I knew that was going to happen I never would have started. Yet somehow we are all here today scars and all. Scars that God did not bring on us. But scars that somehow he used to bring us to hear of Christ, to somehow bring us to turn towards God in repentance and be free.

As they say God works in mysterious ways and how he has worked through our “stuff” is unique to us all and how he has adapted to our situations is a testimony to His concern that we understand Him and know His son Jesus Christ who in his love accepts all how they are and says I gave my life for you, to bring you forgiveness and eternal life.

Yes God works in mysterious ways and indeed we have seen one today in the Holy Baptism of Hayden. Baptism is a gift from Christ to Hayden as he travels through this world knowing he won’t have to look over his shoulder. It is a promise towards eternal life and a gift for everyday prior knowing that Christ gave us a very straight forward message, “Be Baptised and believe that I am the Son of God. The Saviour sent to earth to bring you forgiveness and eternal life”.

Christ has promised to Hayden to know that surety and the freedom it brings and Christ reminds us today of that same freedom we have in him. So live, truly live knowing that in the dark Christ is there guiding you home and when in the light, revel in it in thanks for a man who gave his life for us.

Christ has given Hayden a promise signed with his own blood that on his journey he never need to wonder. A promise that he offers to all that they too may know peace.

 

Genesis 15:1-12,17,18

“Free tickets to meet the Boss”

In the reading from Genesis we are told of God and the certainty of His promises when he makes a covenant with a man we know of as having great faith, Abraham.

In a vision, the Lord came to an ageing Abraham without children to announce that his offspring would be in number like the stars in the sky-and in his trust of God’s words, in his faith in God he was a righteous man. Yet ironically this man of great faith who trusts God with this miraculous promise, when told by God that he will possess the land he stands upon asks “how am I to know that?” And far from telling him to get a grip, God acts by giving Abraham a covenant in a manner known in the day where the participants would cut animals in half, then walk together between them as a pledge that such a fate would befall any of them who breached whatever the covenant or promise was between them.

Yet here, by walking through the animals alone, God puts all the responsibility upon himself. He gives Abraham a promise that he, God the Father cannot even break no matter what may take place in Abraham’s life from that point on. This is a big promise. There’s no only if you do this or don’t do that’s. This is God’s Word set in stone irrespective of circumstances. What’s more, God makes his covenant with Abraham while he’s in a deep sleep. A covenant with Abraham, a covenant with his descendants and a covenant that has flowed through to us while we slept when in Romans chapter eight verse five, we hear that:

“God demonstrated his love for us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

Abraham was called to faith and given an unbreakable promise due to his faith alone.

Christians are called to faith and given forgiveness and eternal life due to faith alone.

After Abraham received his promise and though this Holy man also made many human mistakes along the way-God stuck by His Word.

We have received our promise in Christ, and though we make our mistakes-Christ remains resolute in his promise that in faith alone are we saved, and like Abraham, the apostle Paul and the repentant King David, bow to our knees in the realization of the amazing grace we have received and pray that we too can be his messengers. His messengers to those like us who know doubt, loneliness and hurt. But his messengers who know the peace of grace amongst the chaos. His messengers who with Christ go into the chaos that others may too may see and be guided by Christ’s light on their travels.

In 1982 Bruce Springsteen released his fourth and critically acclaimed album titled “Nebraska” One such critic wrote that “The songs deal with the ordinary, blue collar characters that face a challenge or turning point in their lives”. (The last song on the album) “Reason to believe is like the others which are largely of a bleak tone. Reason to believe is a complex narrative that renders its title phrase into mocking sarcasm and unlike previous albums, very little salvation and grace is present within the songs”.

Bruce or the “Boss” as he is known truly seems to understand life’s struggles and that his songs on this album, and if fact that most of his songs are of the ordinary and marginalized I do not argue. But I was a little thrown by his understanding of “Reason to believe” as lacking in the presence of salvation and grace because it was one of the first songs that attracted me to his music-because to me that was what it is about.

It goes like this:

“Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true. She said “Baby I’ll work for you every day and bring my money home to you. One day he up and left her and ever since that she waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back.

“Take a baby to the river Kyle William they called him. Wash the baby in the water, take away Kyle’s sin. In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away. Take his body to the graveyard and over him they pray. Congregation gathers down by the riverside. Preacher stands with his Bible, groom stand’s waiting for his bride. Congregation gone and the sun sets behind a weepin’ willow tree. Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on effortlessly.

Lord and he’s wonderin’ where can his baby be. Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe”

That Baptism and a Christian funeral are mentioned and yet is described as lacking grace and salvation is perplexing for any Christian and why that critic would view this as a song of mocking and sarcasm can only be based on the book-end lyrics where we hear of a lady who gives everything to her love only for him to leave her, and of a young man that is abandoned by the love of his life at the marriage alter. Yes, if we were in these situations it would be easy to join the critic in doubting our Lord’s governance or at the very least, thoughts of “why or where are you know God” might come to pass.

Yet far from sarcasm I would suggest this is deeply theological when we see how these two people respond to such great hurt and abandonment, not with anger or rejection toward those who have left them, but with hope.

“One day he up and left her and ever since that she waits down at the end of the road for Johnny to come back” and “The groom stands alone wonderin’ where his baby can be”.

Is this not the love and hope that a parent would feel for their runaway or lost child? Is this not the biblical story of the father who waits for his prodigal son to come home from in the big city in despair, and is this not our Lord who sees us taking every wrong direction away from him, yet never turns away, but works and lives in the hope that his children will return home.

Jesus Christ our Saviour walked to the cross so that he can walk with us and guide us home, that God the Father who waits at the end of our dusty tracks sees us coming and welcomes us with his words from revelations chapter seven:

You have come out of the great tribulation and been washed clean in the blood of the lamb. Never again will you hunger. Never again will you thirst. The sun will not beat down on you nor any scorching heat and I have wiped every tear away from your eyes”.

And these are not flimsy words; these are of an unbreakable promise as given to Abraham for God follows in the book of Revelations with dire warnings for anyone who adds or detract from these truths.

Washed clean by the blood of the lamb and justified in faith in Christ alone is your covenant. A promise that no humans, forces of darkness nor God himself can break. A covenant promise to you today and a covenant promise that Christ wants others to know when he says: “Come, let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life”.

Ten or so years ago over a few beers and a couple of music DVD’s I introduced a friend of mine to the music of Bruce Springsteen and that night after I professed my desire to see him in concert if he ever comes to Australia again my friend said, when he does we are both going. A few months ago Bruce’s Australian concert tour tickets became available and while considering going I thought of the price, if I’ll have time and even the effort involved and decided I will forgo the last opportunity I would have to see him live. Then my friend rang me and reminded me of that night ten or so years ago.

So on the 22nd of March we’re off to Sydney, after mind you he travels from South Australia just to get to Dubbo. A man of his word, that has kept his word at far greater cost than me and I know that through him I’ll do what I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time and while if it wasn’t for him I would have missed my opportunity- it cannot make me feel better of him because I don’t think that is possible.

And so the Lord to us. He loves us before our good works, but he also loves those that wait yet to know him, who need to know the grace and hope he offers.

The Lord heard our cries and came to us, the Lord hears the cries of our neighbors and though in faith we are already saved, invites us to travel with him that while on our journey, others may see his light and be guided home to meet the loving Father.

On his death bed, John Newton the author of amazing grace farewelled his earthly life with these final words “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour”. That is true for us, and true for those that Christ asks we shine his light upon.

 

Luke 4:1-13

“Wounded or Broken”

No doubt you have read in the papers of the extraordinary allegations of the amount of football clubs in both Aussie Rules and Rugby League being accused of using performance enhancing drugs. It has been like an avalanche and I wonder, if the amount of people and clubs involved is proven correct, just what will the authorities do? We’ve seen in previous year’s clubs having been stripped of past premierships because they have broken the salary cap, so what do the authorities do in this situation?

Firstly I must say, at the time of writing this these allegations have not been proven, but if they are, with whole clubs involved, I have to wonder if the players even knew what they were being given was wrong.

Who knows? But I do know that we are all tempted when something we desire most, is placed before us in arms reach.

In years past a friend of mine visited his client who raced greyhounds. At the conclusion of their business talks and being shown around his clients personal greyhound racing track he asked of his training methods and was told that when the trainer wanted to “get a dog up”, he would tie a real cat to the lure, so that in practice when the dog caught up to it, there would be a fierce and deadly confrontation. Then on race day-the dog was primed to win thinking that is was still going to chase a real cat. After my friend questioned his training methods the trainer simply said “that if I want firsts and not fourths, that’s what I have to do.

The problem with temptation is that it can be very subtle and we can self-justify it. Every one’s doing it, it’s not hurting anyone or it’s not a big deal. And that may be the so at the time, but just like someone embezzling their employer or meddling with addictive substances, it often starts out small- but ends big to where the person looks in the mirror, trapped, disgusted and asks “how did it come to this”. Many become wounded and live with those consequences, the guilt, self-pity and anger for the remainder of their lives. And some are broken, and even contemplate taking their lives to end it.

And that’s the dark sides plan, to wound and crush so that our eyes are taken of Christ and to offer earthly alternatives that seduce and seem logical. Yet amongst all our errors and self- seeking, Christ offers life. While we walk with our wounds, he carries us and when broken, he doesn’t offer death, but life.

When I was very young I was aware of the trauma Jesus suffered but I used to think “how life changing it would be to know for sure like Jesus did, of the guarantee of going to heaven”. I would think if I knew that as a certainty I wouldn’t have to worry about living up to expectations, worry about what people thought and be just free to simply help others and not worry about my stuff. I thought if only I knew it for sure, I would be free of myself”.

Now I look at myself, the accumulation of sins-this ogre of a person and only wish I had the heart of that little boy. It seems the older I’ve got, the more aware of myself I’ve become-and it isn’t nice and I don’t like it. I have seemed to get worse, not better. Yet ironically, in that, somehow against all logic I have come to know the truth. That in my wounds of sin and brokenness, that one thing I used to think- that if I only knew for sure I would wake up in heaven after my last day has been answered. Not answered by human thought, but answered by Christ.

Christ who in today’s Gospel when after his baptism is taken to the wilderness to suffer and be tempted. Like when we are wounded and tempted so was Jesus. When he was hungry and starving he is tempted to use his powers to feed himself. He is offered the logical human way of saving his people by coming as a warrior king. And is told the truth, that he has the powers of heaven to do it. All things offered are logical to human thought. Yet Jesus answers with scripture to deny his tempter. Answers which are illogical to human thought so that he can achieve the most unhuman thing that the world has ever heard. That regardless of your place in the world, regardless of your trailer load of moments that you have fell too, he says believe in me-that I have come to bring forgiveness. Because I feel the sorrow and anger you carry. I weep because I know the truth and I only want you to know the truth-that you can live life knowing that you will be with me on your last day. I do not lie, I came to bring you forgiveness, you, you a sinner-I forgive you.

I have beaten sin and death for you. So lay your burdens at my feet-for you are free. Live your life. Live your life knowing that when it doesn’t seem possible-that you are saved. Live your life knowing that when it seems life is truly a blessing-enjoy it without guilt, and know that you are saved.

In regards to those sporting allegation’s I mentioned earlier. The one that I particularly noted was that some individuals were given these performance enhancing drugs by people with the purpose of then blackmailing them into acting as they wish on the sporting field so that they could place informed betting on the games.

Attacking one area to get at another. Using something that they know the person wants more than anything to trap them is not knew and is the tool of God’s opponent. It’s a trap to make us believe in our circumstances and our feelings up and against what Christ tells us. The forces of darkness tempt us, and then when we succumb, accuse us. Or said better, tells us the truth-that we have failed God by breaking his law.

He uses scripture to assault even the most knowledgeable bible scholar with the truth, that they-that we have failed, and that in knowing that his allegations are true, we become wounded. Wounded that we die a slow death when we start thinking that our circumstances and feelings are the basis of our logic-and that in that logic we are beyond our Lord’s forgiveness and salvation. Or wounded and like a trapped animal and fight back and try and win our place in heaven back with our good deeds and pious lives.

Wounded in our lives we fight back-fight fire with fire. Make our own rules based on our situations and feelings. Or wounded as the boat takes on water and simply resign to the fact and go down with the ship. This happens in our individual lives and in the life of the church. These attacks are not of flesh and blood. These are spiritual attacks to wound both people and the church and mislead them away from the truth. To show our situation to us to cause a re-action based on ourselves and our society that leads us away from the truth, away from the words of our Lord and Saviour.

Jesus, fully divine yet fully human in the desert was offered by the devil using scripture, a way out. What’s more a human logical way out. Yet Jesus who felt pain, temptation, hunger, thirst and all the tribulations we suffer withstood and answered not from his human self, but from the word of God. To instead of falling to the situation at hand, called on the word of God for the answer.

Jesus trusting in his Fathers words bore his cross to the end to bring to the world the truth of his Fathers love. His love that we cannot fully understand. His love that is illogical to human thought. His love that the devil hides behind our human feelings, failures and wounds.

His attacks to hide and distort the truth are particularly strong against those in Christ, and those coming to Christ. It is a fierce fight that we cannot fight against with our thoughts. It can only be fought against by relying upon what Christ has told us, regardless of how we see ourselves.

The devil tells us of what we know of ourselves while hiding the truth of Christ. Jesus tells us the truth of himself that overshadows what we know of ourselves.

Jesus says be baptised and believe and you are saved-yet human logic is played on to question this.

Jesus says I accept you as you are. I have brought you forgiveness and salvation-yet human logic says it can’t be that easy.

And finally our human logic is right, because it wasn’t easy. Was it easy for the Father to see the pain His sinless son endured? Was it easy for Jesus to not call down the angels when on the cross? Is it easy for our Saviour to see those he loves still suffering in not knowing the truth?

The forgiveness and salvation we have been given is no cheap grace-it came at a great cost. At the cost of Jesus Christ the living God who dared trust the truth of his Father and not that of human thoughts.

Jesus the Saviour who asks we not base the truth on our own understandings, situations or doubts, but on what he has done for us. To fight worldly human truths with his truth by promising that:

I see your afflictions, sin and your pain. I see your longing soul and the paths the destroyer has taken you. But I have taken on myself your weaknesses. When you cry out to me I save you in your distress. Come unto me all that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

For when you were enemies, you were reconciled to my Father in my death, and being reconciled in me you have been saved. Trust in me with all your heart and not your own understanding or feelings, for I tell you the truth:

I have delivered your soul from the battle that was against you and delivered you from the hands of the wicked and sanctify you with the truth, that I died for you and no one will ever take you from me.

So be strong and of good courage, fear not nor be afraid for I go with you and will not forsake you or fail you. Should you fall, I will pick you up. You are mine and where I am, you to shall be also.

 

John 12:20-33

The moment

That moment. That moment in time where everything that has gone before on your way there is now just a memory. Whether planned for, trained for, thrust there against your will or just somehow you’re there: that moment has arrived-and you are staring it in the face.

On the 30^th October 1974, boxing legend Muhammad Ali was fighting the Brash young and fit bull of a man in George Foreman for the World Championship. Because of Ali’s ageing body compared to the brute force of Forman’s-not only was he the rank underdog, those close to Ali, including his trainers feared greatly for his health. Winning the title was not the concern, Ali making it out of the ring-was their concern.

Ali himself knew his chances, and so on the first ring of the bell, he unleashed everything he had. He knew his best, maybe only chance was to take Foreman by surprise and knock him out in the first round. It did not work, after getting over the initial onslaught by Ali-Foreman unleashed in fury, anger and unrelenting force.

After the first round, Ali staggered back to his corner and slumped in his chair and the trainers knew their fears had arrived.

Ali’s trainer summed up the situation: “Our fear for his safety had materialised. We did not know what to do, but knew he should not go back out there. I looked at Ali, and it was the first time I had ever seen fear in his eyes. Here for the first time, he knew was a boxer he had no answer for. That was better than him. Then I saw a change, it seemed as if he was looking deep within himself, his eyes re-focussed-came alive again and I heard him say to himself ‘this is the moment you have waited for your whole life’”.

In our Gospel, Jesus ’moment has arrived.

Up till now, the tension has been steadily mounting. In chapter 2, verse 4 Jesus had spoken of his coming hour. But now, he has entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and things start to move quickly.  It is the time of the Passover festival and the town is a hive of activity with  Jews making the journey there from all over Israel and beyond.

Jesus is alerted by Philip and Andrew that some visiting Greeks have asked to speak to him. We are not told whether Jesus spoke to them or not, but he sees the significance-that Jew, Gentile, Greek alike will hear the truth of the Gospel.

His moment has arrived and in verses 23 and 27 he announces his plight.

“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified”,

and “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour”.

Like in the Garden of Gethsemane here we see both Jesus divine and human natures.

In the Garden, Jesus in his humanity asked “is there another way”, and now, he is “troubled and anxious”.

In his divine nature, he knows that the moment of his suffering and death was at hand for the purpose of Glory to the Father in the salvation of the world.

In this we see the paradox’s of Jesus victory.

He must die, so that we can live.

Jesus will shortly be judged, yet he will bring judgement on Satan and overthrow him.

If we were literally there during these times, without the knowledge of what’s ahead-being Jesus resurrection-Jesus’ announcement of what was to come would have been puzzling at best.

So using the picture of a grain of wheat, Jesus shows that death is in some cases necessary for new life. The seed has to be buried in the ground before it can produce ears of wheat containing hundreds of grains.  Jesus is saying that his death is necessary before the great harvest of gathering together God’s people can begin.

But as with Jesus, there are two sides to the story. Yes he must die, but that is also true of his disciples, to us.

We must die to grow. Certainly that is the case literally upon our physical death: to be raised to live in eternal life.

But it’s also the here and now- our moment’s here on earth that Jesus talks off.

“Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it”.

How does that make you feel?  I do have my moments as Robbie Williams sings where“I don’t want to die, but I aint that keen of livin either” But I generally prefer the former.

Our Saviour Jesus was both fully human and fully divine, and that’s how it had to be to re-unite God the Father and humankind.

Here on earth we are both sinners and saints.

Sinners in ourselves, yet saints in Christ.

To “Hate this world” is that part of us-that human part, our sins, our self- serving, greed and so forth.

The part of ourselves we don’t like, where we fight it, yet with not a lot of ground seemingly made.

But saints in Christ-because we hand those sins over to Christ, that he brings forgiveness.

In the defeat of our efforts of self- renewal we throw ourselves in mercy at Jesus feet, and receive the victory-his victory, and in Christ we are renewed.

I mentioned at the start, that when Muhammad Ali was in the ring against George Foreman his boxing moment had arrived. Every bit of practice, the running, the planning, throwing punches in training and receiving them-they had all led to that moment, and through, basically sheer willpower and courage, in his moment he was victorious.

But what of the moments when our courage and our will power are have been long exhausted. Where we’ve come to that moment, and it’s too great for us.

The man Muhammad Ali beat in that boxing title fight, George Foreman, a head strong 26 year old was inconsolable. Ali had won the unwinnable fight, and Foreman had lost the” unlosable” fight. He was broken and crushed. In his own words he was so full of hatred that he wanted to hire a hitman to get back at his enemies-except there were too many of them. The following years he fell into such deep depression that his loved one’s feared he may never recover. They feared for his life.

Should you have been or have known a person that is at the bottom, with no fight left in them, or yourself-you will know it’s a perilous situation,  a knife edge, and the outcome, the moment can go either way-it is literally facing death in the face. It’s as if you, they, need a miracle.

George Foreman was on that knife edge. Later he would say that “I was dead, and where I was, was nothingness, just nothing”. This was his moment, because in that nothingness, alone and beaten, he came to know Christ.

In 1977 George became an ordained Christian Minister and in 1994 aged 45, he became the boxing world champion of the world.

Asked of his life he said this: “When I lost that fight to Muhammad Ali in 1974 it was one of the best things that ever happened in my life. It was my chance to have a second chance to live.  I found out that the greatest thing in the world—the greatest existence of anything—is that God made us human beings, and that I found out how to love my fellow man.  I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to truly appreciate human beings’ lives until they’ve found Jesus Christ”.

The apostle Paul, in jail-persecuted and awaiting his own death, wrote I have fought the good fight and run the good race.

As do we, in and with Christ we too are fighting the good fight and running the good race.

Jesus died on the cross so that we can live. That was Jesus moment, and when you came to believe, that was your moment. Live in that moment.

Verses from Ecclesiastes 3:

“No-one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and to do good in their lives, and also that every person should eat and enjoy the food of their labour-it is the gift of God.

To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant, and time to pluck what is planted.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh.

A time to mourn, and a time to dance”.

Yes, live with passion, cry without guilt, mourn in hope, be yourself, laugh at your shortfalls, take some chances, follow your dreams and be humble in your achievements and pray in sureness, and thank God, that because of Christ we can.  Amen.