Category: Lent

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. 

 

John.3 14/21

Over lent we have been hearing the story of God’s saving plan for the world. In Jesus’ story, and in our story. They are like a trinity; all are together or not at all. We accept forgiveness in Christ and we are overjoyed. We accept forgiveness in Christ and God is overjoyed.

God wants to forgive, not for some, not only for the small sins and not only once-but continually, and no sin is too great to be blotted off our record in Christ.

The Gospel of our Lord and Savior, we hear it every week. Why? Because we need to hear it, again, again and again.

Why? Because it is so hard to get our head around. Me, you, us-forgiven in Christ-as we are now.

It seems too good to be true. It can be dumbfounding to us-and knowing this, the devil, NOT God, latches onto our human thoughts and continually suggests there has to be more to it-and to our human nature-who could argue.

Except for one thing, it’s not what we think of ourselves, it’s not what other’s think of us, that’s immaterial-it’s what Christ has done for us: that’s it-and that’s why can it be so difficult to just simply accept.

Martin Luther wrote that if you only read one of the Gospel’s, read John, and it seems no-coincidence that the most known piece of scripture is written in the book of John.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

Pure Gospel. This one verse, those twenty six words of John 3:16 sum up the whole Gospel.

Likewise, in the Gospel today, these verses, tell us of the glory of God’s character, the nature of his life and his desire to share that life with his creatures. It is about God coming amongst us and the mixed response he receives to his offer of divine and eternal life. It is a vivid snapshot of God and our world.

When parents see their child in distress, they just wish they could take their place, it’s terrible.

Imagine how God would felt while Jesus was being persecuted.

Not enough that he was innocent. Not enough that crucifixion was the most cruelest and tortuous form of death, it was also considered shameful and degrading.

The irony abounds, because for Christ’s followers after his death and resurrection, they could not talk of their savor without talking of the manner and place in which he died.

Yet it doesn’t stop there, who put Jesus to such a terrible place. The Romans-yes, the Jewish authorities-yes, us-yes. Every person that has or will sin put Jesus on the Cross, and the irony-sin, humankind put Jesus there: and what was Jesus response-To those very present that day, what did Jesus say? “Forgive them Father they don’t what they do”.

What does Jesus say today? “Forgive them Father they are with me”.

It is all one way traffic, God who loves his son, sends his son to die for those he loves. Jesus, in love of his father and of us-lets the sin of the world, our sin cause his death.

It all seems back to front land. In human reasoning anyway.

God sending his Son Jesus into the world. Those that receive him, not from their own will, but born of God, through the gift of faith-believing in his name, become the children of God-and saved. We hear this and we know it’s true. We don’t even have to think about it, like we know that wall is made of bricks, we just know it is.

Using human logic this story is unfathomable, but from the faith worked in us, it’s simple isn’t it?

We know that’s the story, that’s the big picture. If it’s that simple, then how come life can still seem so difficult?

Looking at it from a step back, that big picture: why do we worry or struggle with anything, just enjoy the ride.

But it’s not like that, is it?

Because we are still in the battle. The battle that when not seen at arm’s length, but up close and personal is much tougher.

The ongoing battle: Conflict, good versus evil, the light versus the darkness.

Yet we can still struggle, and sometimes big time. We can suffer from moments that threaten to crush us, the darkness seems strong, the darkness of our sin, temptations, and our flesh seem on constant attack.

It’s a battle that sometimes feels unwinnable, and it would be if it was left to us-we are not strong enough. So Christ fights for us-he is our hope, and our defence. He is our light in the darkness.

When sick, troubled or lonely in the night, we wait for the sun to rise in the east-we wait for those first rays of sunshine, because we know that while we’ll still carry our woes with us, they never seem quite so bad in the light of the day.

Like in those moments when we are spiritually haunted by our failings, our weaknesses, our sin-we cling to that light of Christ-even when we can’t seem to see that light in ourselves, we cling to it; we know it’s our only ray of hope.

We have many moments of joy, moments of clarity where we feel like we are all but in heaven, blessed moments to cherish.

But sometimes, in despair because of our sin, crushed by others and our own circumstances and actions, or in despair and great sorrow due to the death of a loved one, that place can seem a long way off.

Here, this side of heaven-we dwell in the light of our Savior Jesus, yet because we are still amongst the darkness, at times, just surviving in Christ can be enough.

I was reminded of this recently when I was reading of some United States troops serving in a particularly dangerous part of Afghanistan. One of the soldiers, when talking of the amount of colleagues he’s lost from walking on land mines said;

“The only way to survive mentally here is to celebrate the small things, and that small thing is surviving another day, that is a victory-because we know that the only safe piece of ground is that which is under your two feet”.

Sometimes it can come down to as simple as that, to face another day in Christ is a victory worth celebrating. He is the safe place where we stand.

In faith, be it in our moments of sheer joy or moments of great distress-we see the true light, the light of Christ in the darkness, our saving light.

In today’s Gospel we are told of the light of Christ and of the darkness of sin, those saved and those condemned. If you are like me this can make you feel a little uneasy, because not only do I not always dwell in the light, sometimes the light even seems to be a bit dull.

But that’s life. Everyday being a Christian, is not any different from our whole life as a Christian. We have ups and downs. One minute or one month we feel on top of this “being a Christian” thing, but the next minute or the next month we’re back to square one-seemingly in the darkness.

But that’s again the irony, in the darkness is where we see ourselves and it doesn’t look so good. Any light we had seems extinguished, like someone has turned off that little torch light we were trying to see with. But then in the darkness-when our little strand of light from three triple A batteries has gone-we see the splendor of a lighthouse, shining bright-showing us the way to safety.

Verse 21: “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light”,

It’s not the being in the darkness-our sin that condemns, what condemns is refusing to come into the light of Christ. Refusing his offer of forgiveness.

Verse 21 continued: “so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been done through God”.

Are these good deeds God is talking about, yes because any good deed we do is not from us but from God, from the Holy Spirit working in us.

But more so, much more so-“what can be seen clearly that what we have done has been done through God” is his bringing us redemption-that’s the good deed, the good work-not something we’ve done, but by simply accepting Christ, sent by the Father to save us-to accept and trust in his “no questions asked forgiveness-to accept his offer of life.”

So “that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”. In the original Greek text, how it is written has two meanings: Eternal life of course, but not a waiting and wondering-but a “done deal eternal life”-it’s already in the bag-so go forward without the burden of any doubt.

Groucho Marx once famously, ill and in hospital and reading the bible was asked why he was doing so, and he answered “he was looking for a loop hole”.

The love of God and forgiveness in Christ alone, that’s not a loop hole-but a never ending canyon.

The love of God to us. Daily and throughout our lives, we may spurn it, doubt it, not return it and not always understand it. But no matter what-God’s love remains resolute and unwavering.

We may wonder away from His love, but His love for us does not wander from us. A pastor once told me a story and it about sums it up.

A man who felt he had fallen out with his wife, one morning, wrote her a note saying so and left her and lived a life of selfish careless abandon: partying, seeing other ladies and being basically reckless.

Years later, after using others and being used himself; he started thinking of his wife of long ago. How she cared for him and how she had loved him, just as he was. (and) he came to wish for those days again.

He wrote her a letter telling of all the things he had done and of how he now felt. But he finished his letter with: “You may be re-married or forgotten me. Whatever the case I have no right to even ask you to see me again, and if you do not-it would be as it should be, and I will leave you alone. But I will be the train tomorrow that passes by the old oak tree on the edge of the farm. If you tie a red ribbon to it I will l can get off at the next station. If not I will continue on my way.

The next day on the train, the passenger next to him asked him of his unease. So he told him his story, and when the train was about to round the corner before the oak tree, he asked the man if he could look for him-as he wasn’t game.

When the train came around the corner, he heard the other man crying, and said “don’t worry for me, after what I’ve done, I did not even have the right to ask her to have me back”.

The other man said, “No look for yourself”: and as he opened his eyes-he saw the oak tree covered in red bows.

The Love Of God.

Looking at our life, do we have doubts of ourselves-how could we not?

Looking at Christ’s life, do we have doubts of God’s love for us, how could we?

Amen.

 

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, aftera 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.

Mark 8:31-38

 
One cannot but feel for Peter and the disciples, and how they must have felt when we hear Jesus words to them “Get behind me Satan”. I’ve been called many things that haven’t always been pleasant, but thankfully that is not one of them.

But to Peter and the guys, “Satan”. The same guys who we know from earlier, when meeting Jesus for the first time: seemingly didn’t think twice- just gave up everything and followed him.

Starting Mark chapter 1, verse 16: “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. ‘Come, follow me’, Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men’. At once they left their nets and followed him.

But now, looking at Peter Jesus says “get behind me Satan”, and in what seems like a stern lecture, follows with “you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”,

and then to the crowd as well “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it”.

Seriously, they give up everything, then when trying to talk Jesus out of knowingly and purposely, like a lamb to the slaughter walking into a situation, where he’ll be set up, tortured and killed.

They get mentioned in the same breath as “Satan”.

Fair dinkum, in all seriousness, what do you think might be your response?

For me, maybe the term “thanks for nothing” might come to mind.

(and) in thinking that, right there, Jesus has got me-and anyone one else that may have felt the same way.

Our logical human response shows our focus, our focus on ourselves, or at the very least, we are thinking like Peter in human terms.

Human terms that appeal. Last week we heard in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus being tempted by the devil in the desert.

But Mark did not tell us of what the temptations were. Matthew does, and they don’t seem blasphemous or openly evil. But they are, because the devil is in the detail, or better said, in the subtlety.

Jesus is hungry, so is tempted to “tell these stones to become bread”. In our lives this equates to doubt sown about our physical needs, our retirement, our financial needs.

These needs are real, but doubt is sown to separate us from trust in God-to create a barrier.

Next, Jesus is tempted to deny the Word of God. After taking Jesus to the highest point of the temple overlooking the city, the devil says “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written that He will command his angels to lift you up in their hands so you will not strike your foot against a stone.” This is like a dare with logic.

For the Church today, this can be seen when we put our logic before the Word of God. So much so that the Word is not preached, taught or acted on in its totality.

It’s the temptation to not trust or depend totally in God’s ways, but ours.

Lastly we hear that Jesus was ‘offered’ “all the kingdoms of the world, if only he bow down and worship him”-the devil. Firstly it is ludicrous because it was not his to offer, but his temptation is against God himself, to defy God.

This temptation involved the purpose of Jesus actual coming into the world. Jesus came to redeem people, not to rule them. Satan’s suggestion to Jesus, and still followed by many today, required no suffering and death. Thankfully, Jesus chose God’s way, the way of the cross.

The path of Glory rather than that of a suffering servant.

I don’t think we need any examples of how that works out in our society, or we might be here all day.

These temptations appear attractive and “natural” and appeal to all “natural” human instincts and that is why they are so dangerous.

The ways of the world appeal to us naturally, the ways of God don’t, and left to our own devices, as God knew, that’s how it would have remained.

Something has to give in this stand-off, and someone did. God did.

God gave himself, His Son Jesus. Jesus, fully divine, yet fully human. Jesus the messiah, our Saviour, the divine one. The Son of God, yet the Son of God who felt hunger, pain and temptation. The Son of God who in the Garden asked “is there another way”. The saviour who had his mind on the things of God, our Saviour who denied himself and willingly walked to the cross for us that we may live, to re-unite us with the Father.

To not leave us to our own devices, but to leave us to his devices. His strength and His gifts.

The gift of Holy Communion. Where we receive the true body and blood of our Jesus Christ to strengthen our faith, to bring forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

The gift of Baptism. To deliver us from death and the devil, to bring us forgiveness and grant salvation to all who believe as the Word and promise of God declare.

In Romans 6:4. St. Paul writes, “We are buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, that we too might walk in newness of life”. Did you hear that, “newness of life”?

What is this “newness of life”? The small catechism tells us clearly, that ‘It signifies that the old Adam in us, together with all sins and evil lusts, should be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance and be put to death, and that the new person should come forward daily and rise up, cleansed and righteous, to live forever in God’s presence”.

Daily sorrow and repentance, and the new person come forward daily.

Is this not what has been instructed in today’s Gospel. That “if anyone would come after me, they must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”. To have our minds on “divine things, not human things”.

These words from Jesus sound hard, sound impossible, sound like law, but come to life as Gospel. They bring freedom because they release us from ourselves. Release us from getting pulled along by the worlds offer and promise of self-gratification in “things”. Consumerism, that if not for Christ would imprison us.

In Adelaide, every Easter and Christmas there’s debate about opening the shops on day’s registered as public holidays. Comments like, we are backward compared to other states prop up every time.

Last year in the paper, there were numerous people who said they went on a trip interstate because there shops were open and Adelaide’s were not.

Seriously, is that where we are as a society?

In Christ we see these things-consumerism- for what they are. They are not what life is about. They are good servants, but not good masters. Christ is the life.

In Christ we are free and given life-he is our need and our focus.

So, is everybody ready to deny themselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus? To lose our lives for Jesus and the Gospel?

Well thankfully we’ve made a good start and there’s not a colosseum with hungry lions in sight.

You have made a good start because you have done it today. Because, if you had your sights on human things, you may have slept in, or gone shopping in instead of coming to church.

But you’re here, because your sights are on divine things. Today we join in worship.

We thank Jesus by accepting his grace in confession and absolution and the body and the blood of Christ in Holy Communion. These are divine things.

Even more, those who have children, children that God loves with a passion-you brought them here today, in Christ’s presence. Just like you did when you carried them to baptism. You are serving Christ and the Gospel as he has asked.

Unfortunately, there are others, others that Christ loves that are yet to know him. The people we meet and work with everyday. Play sport with, socialise with. Our friends, work mates and even those that we don’t see eye to eye with.

Each one loved by God. Each one that God wants that they know His peace and his love.

Keep our minds on divine things, and die to self and serve Jesus and the Gospel. That’s where it’s at-in the people he has brought before us in our daily lives. That’s our calling, that through us-they may hear of Christ, to be drawn closer to him.

It is amazing that sinners like us, in Christ are Saints. Forgiven.

(and) it is amazing that we, are living examples of God’s love and that we are involved with Him in his work. His desire to meet those he has placed before us.

But at times, serving those before us in and with the Gospel can seem like a very thankless task. And it is,

if our focus is on us getting or seeing the results. That’s the beauty of our Lord, we just go about our business endeavouring to live like a child of Christ, like the disciples, we don’t rush ahead of Christ, we follow Christ.

(and) in following Christ-we don’t see our love of all those we meet, we see Christ’s love of them.

Like the disciples, we follow Christ and we see him meet the hurt, the down and outs-the homeless, addicted, prostitutes and so forth. We see him meet these people-and see through His eyes. His eyes that look beyond their outwardly condition.

Whose eyes see and understand how easy it is for fragile humans to be caught up in ways of life and actions that “somehow” just seen to creep in. Through Christ’s eyes-we see what he sees-

not a looser, not a person that should just get over it, and not a person that’s got what they deserve.

We see him looking and seeing a beautiful child.

We see him weeping in sadness in their pain and loneliness,

and we see his happiness and his smile.

His happiness and smile, and the happiness of the angels and all the company of heaven when just one more person comes to faith. Faith in his promises.

Serving our neighbour is not a thankless task, because serving our Lord is not a thankless task. Not for the thanks he will give us in return for our service, but for the thanks he has already given us.

The thanks he has already given us?

But Isn’t it the thanks we give Christ?

It’s a yes to both.

In the film Jerry Maquire starring Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger, after a break up in their romance, Tom returns, says hello and begins to apologise for his errors. Renee, stops him apologising and says “you had me at hello”.

She didn’t need the apologies. Just him returning was enough.

Following Christ and serving his people is not a task, it’s a response for his love that we have already received.

When one of his children return home, when one of his children bow down and ask for Mercy for mistakes, guilt, greed, mistakes and flaws. When one of his children ask for mercy during times of hardship. Christ says to them, says to us: thank you my dear child, but you had me at “Lord have mercy”. Amen. “

 

Mark 1: 9-15
As Jesus was coming out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open, and the spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came down from heaven, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”.

What a glorious picture.

But then the very next verse: “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness for forty days amongst the wild animals and being tempted by Satan”.

What is going on here? If it was us, looking through our eyes the response of “this is not what I signed on for” might come to mind.

Thankfully Jesus is not of our ilk. Make no mistake; Jesus felt the temptation, felt pain, hunger and thirst as we do. But because his focus was God the Father, he gave himself to his Father’s will-whatever the cost.

In the wilderness, Jesus’ successful struggle against temptation prefigures His final victory on the cross. From the days of Adam and Eve, we have continually fallen into Satan’s traps .But Jesus after having united Himself with fallen human beings through His Baptism, won a preliminary victory over the evil foe’s temptations. At the cross, Jesus gained an even more wonderful victory over the devil’s temptations, and in His resurrection we see his power broken once and for all.

Jesus, with his eyes on the Father-walked to the cross for us-for our salvation, because his focus was on the will of The Father.

You will remember that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweats blood. Sweating blood is a medical condition that can happen when under enormous pressure. This is the pressure Jesus is under, but he achieves His Fathers will because His focus is His Father. His life was not cluttered up with other “stuff”.

When I worked in the bank, a man after desperately trying to keep the family home, after going through the heart break that all he had worked for was going to be taken away- came in, threw the keys to the manger and said-finally it’s over, I’m free.

In our lives, at some time or other, we will spend time in the wilderness-struggling.

When things don’t seem right-where our life doesn’t seem to go to script.

A few years ago, a friend told me to go see a movie that he highly recommended. To not spoil it he didn’t tell me anything about it-just the title.

So along I went.

Unfortunately I was running a bit late and I missed the start.

But it didn’t matter; I got the gist of what was happening. The thing was I thought it was rubbish-but in trust of my friend’s recommendation I hung in there, but it didn’t get any better.

At the end, while walking out and thinking “what was my friend thinking”, I happened to notice that the movie he had told me to see-was in the room next door-I had watched the wrong movie.

But our lives are not of fiction, they are real-and sometimes we find ourselves in the wilderness.

Tough times that hurt, that don’t seem fair.

Times when that Aussie outlook, “She’ll be right mate” doesn’t cut it.

But In our tough times, our wilderness moments-he is with us, to sustain us-to strengthen us and to give us hope.

That’s the truth, we know this in faith.

Yet, in the here and now, the events our daily lives sometimes blur our vision, and it can become hard to see our saviour there with us.

In our baptism Christ has promised to be with us, to always be with us and get us to that day when we are re-united in heaven.

But in the middle, sometimes in our lives we start to wonder what is actually going on, where the script of our lives is different to how we imagined it.

Things turn out differently.

Test Cricketers have remarked, that at the height of his powers that when Shane Warne released the cricket ball, it would spin so furiously that they could hear it zinging past them.

When Shane was asked of his freakish ability he remarked that he believed it was due to an accident he had as a child were he broke his wrist,

and having not gone to the doctor-the bone’s set incorrectly, that later seemed to give him a un- natural ability to spin the ball.

When Shane broke his wrist, I’m sure he would not have predicted such an outcome.

But our lives are not like watching a game of cricket or movie script with only our fleeting emotional attachment. Our lives are real, as are the things that come our way.

My dear Christian friend who lost his teenage son to illness would go out into the paddock,

Look to the heavens and shout “Why Lord, Why my Boy, why my boy.

I cannot imagine the pain of my friend-I could not even try.

We could look piously at people in these situations and say “Trust in the Lord”, or give some, “get some faith type of comment like Job’s mates gave him,

Until it’s us. Until our moment brings us to our knees-where the hurt is so absorbing we cannot rejoice.

And only ask why?

Yet, when we look back over times in our life, terrible hurtful times where we seem to have been abandoned, we see in hindsight that we were not alone.

In the Gospel we heard today Christ was there in his own wilderness struggle, in the Gospel everyday, he is with us in ours-carrying us on his back when we can no longer walk, bringing hope when we have no hope and bringing help when we are helpless.

When Adam and Eve fell to sin in the garden, God responded by clothing them.

Daily we fall to sin, daily we doubt and daily we follow our own way and not that of the Lord.

Yet in our failure to walk with Christ, he responds by walking with us.

He does not meet us in scorn,

But meets us in love, and reveals himself to us.

At the fall in the Garden, God clothed two sinners for their protection and warmth on their earthly journey.

In Jesus, God gave sinners his Son, for our protection and warmth on our earthly journey, and clothed us with the righteousness of His Son for our salvation.

With our world’s distractions it can be hard to see the trees for the forest: lent is a time of putting things down-these distractions, so we can focus on our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Banjo Paterson one remarked that “If you don’t put down a brick you can’t pick up a castle”.

On Ash Wednesday we entered lent. A day that some of us, for the next forty days have decided to give something up.

How could this be described? Maybe like a New Year’s resolution without the time span.

There’s an element of truth in that-but what is different is the motivation and the desired result.

As we enter lent some of us may have made a decision to give something up and that’s fine. But giving up for lent is not like a new year’s resolution. Lent is not about not giving up the PlayStation 3 for the sake of it, it’s about purposely using that time to hear and be drawn near our Lord.

To read the bible, pray, family devotions-or simply to sit and think.

To have quiet time with God.

In our hurly burly world and its distractions, that is not as easy as it sounds. But making that time is the essence of the Lenten period, to reflect on Christ in our lives and on our priorities. To get them in order during this time of anticipation as we wait to hear of our Saviours death and resurrection at Easter.

To see what God has done for us. Given His Son to resist temptation for us. Given His Son to win the battle that we could never have won.

To see how daily Jesus meets us, walks with us, restores us and strengthens us.

 

To let us go forward, knowing Christ is with us-come what may. AMEN.

 

Text: John 11:1-6
A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, became sick. Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived.  (This Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.)  The sisters sent Jesus a message: “Lord, your dear friend is sick.” When Jesus heard it, he said, “The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.” Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.

In order to bring glory to God

Ten year old Tim and a group of his friends were constantly harassed by other kids at their school. They were bullied, stood over for money, and because they were the smallest boys in the class they were powerless to do anything about it. One day after another incident, they talked about how they could put a stop to all this. Some of the boys were all for ganging up on the bullies, ambushing them, even getting some of the bigger kids to join them. Tim wasn’t convinced that an all out war on the bullies was the best way to go. Someone was going to get hurt – most likely they would come off second best. They sat in silence for awhile. Tim quietly said, “Instead of using the same tactics as the bullies, why don’t we do just the opposite. Let’s get everyone to be kind to one another – not just us but everyone in the whole school”. His friends thought he was crazy.

To cut a long story short the group decided to give it a go. The idea caught on and soon the whole school was making an extra special effort to show kindness and do good things for one another. Teachers were impressed at how well every one was getting on. Those who had been harassing the younger kids didn’t know how to handle all this kindness and gave up. Tim was hailed a hero by parents, staff and students. As he was riding home alone one afternoon, a kid from another school jumped out in front of him brandishing a metal bar. He wanted Tim’s bike. Tim died on the footpath from a fatal blow to his head.

That is a sad story. The change that happened at Tim’s school was amazing. This only made the event that ended Tim’s life even more heart wrenching. A young person who had his life in front of him, someone whose plan changed a community and yet his life was tragically cut short. That just doesn’t seem fair. In fact, it’s not fair at all.

Where was God when this happened?
Why did he let this to happen?
Who knows what great things Tim might have accomplished in the future with his innovative way of tackling hostile situations? He might have become a world leader and used his ideas to stop conflict between warring nations. But now we will never know. We want to understand but we can’t help but ask “Why?”

Today in John chapter 11 we hear that Jesus’ good friend Lazarus is on his death bed. Mary and Martha sent a message to Jesus about their brother’s critical condition. We are even told how much Jesus loved these sisters and their brother like they were his own family. And yet he gives a very strange reply, “(The death of Lazarus) has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory”. In fact, Jesus deliberately delays going to see this family.

That’s so strange. When we hear the news of a close friend’s condition it’s normal to rush and be with the family. But not Jesus. Jesus knew that Lazarus had already died but still friends need friends at a time like this. We might even want to ask the question why Jesus didn’t rush to the side of those whom he loved – that is so out of character for the one who was always ready to help and comfort even when it wasn’t convenient. As we know by the time Jesus got there Lazarus has already been dead for 4 days. Jews believed that the spirit only left the body after 3 days. That meant that Lazarus was as dead as dead can be. Jesus had even missed the funeral. Lazarus was already in a tomb.

All of this must have seemed so unfair.  Jesus healed many other people.  Why couldn’t he come to see Lazarus?  Restore him to health?  Where is Jesus?  Why is he taking so long to get here?

Jesus explains, “This has happened in order to bring glory to God”. This is a troubling saying from the mouth of Jesus. It might easily be interpreted as meaning that God has deliberately made life hard for Mary & Martha & Lazarus so that he can get all the glory. But that would make God a monster – deliberately hurting someone so that he can get everyone’s attention.

This is not the first time Jesus says something like this. Last week we heard the story about the man born blind. His disciples want to know whose fault it was that this man should be born blind. Jesus says that it’s no-one’s fault. “He is blind so that God’s power might be seen at work in him”.

Let’s clarify what Jesus means. The key to understanding what Jesus is saying here is in the words ‘so that’ and ‘in order that’. Jesus is saying this happened and this will be the outcome.
The man is born blind, it’s no one’s fault, God certainly hasn’t caused this blindness but the outcome will be that God’s glory will be shown.
Lazarus dies – God doesn’t take his life, but the outcome will be that God’s glory will be shown. And that’s precisely what happens when Jesus heals the blind man and when he raises dead Lazarus.

Both of these events cause a ripple effect amongst the people who witnessed these miracles, either, on the one hand, faith in Jesus as their saviour or, on the other hand, a stronger determination to get rid of Jesus. We are told immediately following the raising of Lazarus that “many people believed in him”, and then a few verses later it is reported that “from that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to kill Jesus”. This miracle at the grave of Lazarus brought the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday even closer.

When Jesus spoke of his own suffering and death he referred to the horrors of what was about to happen as his time of great glory. Out on Calvary’s Hill there was nothing glorious about the humiliation and suffering involved in a crucifixion. There was nothing glorious about hanging naked from a cross while bystanders jeered as his life slowly drained from the body. He will suffer and die and the outcome will be that God will be glorified. Jesus said as he looked down the road to Jerusalem, “The hour has now come for the Son of Man to receive great glory” (John 12:23). These are shameful events but forever people will give glory to God for all that he suffered.

Have you ever thought of the hard times in your life in this way? They happen so that God may be glorified.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that God deliberately chooses you above everyone else to go through a particularly hard time because he wants his glory known. We know that God is loving and compassionate and doesn’t send us hardship so that his name will be made great.

Bad things do happen. There maybe reasons why they happen like carelessness or self-centredness but sometimes bad things just seem to happen randomly. Like Tim who had only done good and yet out of the blue something bad caught up with him. That happens to us as well. For some inexplicable reason suddenly we find ourselves facing cancer, the loss of a parent or child, depression, the loss of everything that we had worked for through fire or flood.

It’s not that God doesn’t care or isn’t concerned about us. In fact, in the story about the raising of Lazarus we see just how much Jesus cares. It is reported that Jesus’ wept as he stood at the grave of Lazarus.
He felt the pain of Mary and Martha.
He felt the anguish that death brings.
He felt the pain for those who refused to believe.
Today he weeps for those caught up in war and famine.
He weeps for children lying in hospital with serious medical problems.
He weeps for those who feel unwanted, unloved and useless.
He weeps with each of us and feels the pain and anguish that we feel. But in all of this he also sees these as opportunities to bring about something good. God can use the bad to bring about something good in our lives and in the lives of others.

When trouble comes our way miracles do happen.
What we had thought were irreconcilable differences with another person are suddenly resolved. There is an inexplicable change of heart and there is healing.
There are times when the healing that takes place in our bodies leaves doctors dumbfounded and every time we tell the story we give witness to how rough the treatment was but how God’s loving hands carried us through it all to come out the other side with renewed confidence in his love and care.
We like happy endings. The grief that Mary and Martha felt was very real but so was their joy as they saw Lazarus walk out of the tomb.

But every story doesn’t end with a miracle. Just because we are God’s people doesn’t mean that we won’t have tough times that will shock us and wear us down.
You pray, you ask for a miracle, you commit things to God but it seems like he’s not listening. And yet, even though things don’t turn out the way you would have preferred there can still be a happy ending and God gets the glory.

How does that happen? It’s easy to give God the glory when he heals us in a miraculous way. It’s easier to convince people of God’s healing power when your experience is evidence of this.

But it’s quite a different matter to state that God is good even though things have turned out all wrong. There are those for whom life is tough, they suffer pain, they feel alone and helpless and yet they still trust God, even when everything that is happening in their life would dictate that God can’t be trusted. They believe God is with them even though it sure doesn’t look like it.

The fact is that God is good, not because everything in life is smooth sailing. He’s good because he comes with us into the valleys of despair, he climbs the difficult and slippery slopes with us, he feels the highs and lows that we feel, and when we feel as if we can’t go any further he carries us. Hurt and pain will always be close by during our life on this earth but we can be certain that he doesn’t leave us to endure these alone.

Bad things may be happening in your life right now, but somehow God is in this with you. He promises that you won’t be tested beyond what you can endure and he will bring you through it. Pray that he will help you to be strong and that his glory might be seen in the way that he helps you through the hard time ahead. Look at the cross and see again God’s unshakeable love for you. Be assured that when you are the weakest, God’s power in your life is the strongest.
Amen.