Sermons

Life’s Winters become Summers. Jeremiah 1: 1 – 10;  Luke 14: 1, 7 – 14 I was annoyed that an injury had interrupted my fitness programme. I could not run. I had injured my right foot’s 1st large metatarsal. In fact the injury had persisted for weeks and I was limited in how far I could walk. Running and walking was not possible in spite of the expensive shoes recommended by the podiatrist. One week my cousin recommended the gymnasium to me. I used to do a lot of gym work so I tried it out. Well, how pleased I am.  My fitness level is way above what it was before. The injury that had set me back eventually pointed me to a different fitness programme and I am much better for it. If I hadn’t had the injury I would still be plodding along with the old programme. By the way my metatarsal is slowly recovering too. It is interesting how a loss of one thing can lead to finding something better.  It just takes time, some persistence and a little bit of hope and faith. I have found that a sickness that sends one bed for a day or two can become an opportunity for reflection. One hears stories of people who have faced major illness and through their persistence, hope and faith have come to a better place, or at least a new place that also brings wholeness to one’s life. A gardener understands that all too well.  The winter downtime accompanied by rigorous pruning leads to new and vital growth in the spring. Without the rigorous pruning and the apparently deathless sleep of winter most plants would not be flourish. There are spiritual lessons for us in these personal and natural events of life. Yes, sometimes the sickness and loss last longer than nature’s winter sleep and are far more painful than an annual pruning.   However these downtimes can become times for reflection and renewal. Our lives can be turned around for the better in spite of the physical and emotional scars we carry. All is never lost. I do not want to make light of our sufferings and deprivations, but I do believe that these hard times can become opportunities for something new and meaningful. I believe this especially so as a Christian. The Holy Spirit not only comforts us but also guides us to a new future. The sermon could end here. That’s it.  But let us look at a big story of disaster and suffering recorded in the Bible and what came out of it.  We begin with Jeremiah, the prophet, who lived through the reigns of three kings, a catastrophic national disaster and great personal suffering. The book of Jeremiah is filled with personal reflections that reveal the tough nature of his calling. We tend to read Jeremiah’s call and focus on the call and the fact that he tried to escape the calling by pointing out to God that he was not a very good communicator.  Well, he should have known better because Moses, Gideon, this preacher and many others had tried that line with God. It doesn’t work. God just says, ‘I’ll get you over that hurdle, don’t worry’. I’m not going there in this sermon. Instead I felt led to concentrate on the content of his mission.  God called Jeremiah and said to him that his job will be to uproot, pull down, destroy and overthrow nations and kingdoms, and then to build and to plant [Jer 1:10].  Phew!  What a task?  To accomplish this mission Jeremiah would have to confront, challenge and bring a message of disaster. He had to tell the king and people that the nation would lose its independence, its sovereignty and king. Worst of all Jerusalem’s magnificent Temple would be destroyed.  Jeremiah obeyed God and not surprisingly he was very unpopular. Very few accepted his message. The rest stubbornly held on to the belief that when God blessed King David there would always be a king of David’s line, and the city and temple would always be there. The Covenant God made with Moses at Mt Sinai stated that God would provide for the people and that the people in return would faithfully follow God’s laws, which were the laws of love.  That is, love God and love one another. That was covenantal agreement. Jeremiah pointed out that if the people disobeyed God and trusted in themselves they would stumble and suffer. Prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and others pointed out that what was essential to being a loyal follower of God was to love God and be just, faithful and honest in dealing with each other as well as any strangers in the community. But this wasn’t the case. The people paid lip service to God in worship and carried on with their selfish pursuits. So the people were going through the motions of faithfulness but were not sincere. They had been warned that God would punish them.  All this was happening in times of political unsettledness.  As you listen to the political situation you may have a déjà vu experience. There were two great superpowers, Babylon and Egypt, which were vying for dominance.  I guess the bottom line was either trade or the control of land or both.  There was Assyria, which morphed into Babylon, competing against Egypt for influence and control in the Middle East. Judaea and Israel were small nations at this time. They tried to manipulate the politics.  They put their trust in political alliances and in the naïve belief that God would never let the Davidic kingly line disappear, or destroy the Temple and city, no matter what happened.  First Israel was conquered and the capital Samaria fell to the Assyrians, then the Babylonians took over from Assyria.  Judah, with its capital Jerusalem, managed to maintain some independence for a while. Unfortunately their king, Hezekiah, tried to cuddle up to Egypt but it didn’t work. Egypt

Freedom & Service Luke 13: 10 – 13;  John 8: 31 – 47; Galatians 5: 1, 13 – 15 Have you been set free? Do you want freedom? What’s it look like? “Woman, you are free from your illness!” [Lk 13: 12(GN)]  shouted Jesus to a woman who had entered the synagogue. She had been bent over for 18 years.  That would have been an amazing experience for that woman! Just imagine being set free from something that had bound you for 18 years.  One thing we all long for is freedom, whether it is freedom from physical or mental pain, or the pain of rejection or the pain of shame. Last week I spoke about how unforgive-ness imprisons both the victim and the perpetrator, and how forgiveness sets the victim and perpetrator free. The things that enslave us can be physical, mental, psychological, social and political.  The desire for freedom in the human spirit is so imbedded that it begs the question as to why we are not free, but we are not.   Jesus says in John’s Gospel that the truth will set us free [Jn 8:32]. Jesus teaches that his freedom is grounded in his teaching and practice.  Secondly, Jesus understands that humanity is enslaved or imprisoned by sin [Jn 8:34]. Jesus is talking about the condition of being sinful not sinful acts.  The essence of sinfulness is that our minds are focussed elsewhere. Our chief focus tends to be on ourselves, and that inevitably comes at the cost of others. The Greek word used means ‘missing the mark’.  I find that helpful. What we are focussing on is missing the mark. The true mark is Jesus.  The false marks concern our interests. It is a matter of getting our deep life-shaping-priorities right.  We want to exercise our rights and independence. But when all is said and done we find ourselves slaves to something. In reality we are never entirely independent of anything or anyone. Freedom is a very big subject.  We commonly think of freedom as liberty, independence, and latitude to do and say what we like. All I can do today is provide a Christian and Biblical picture of what the first Christians understood and secondly how we might become truly free.  I pray that you might discern in this sermon God’s will for you. Let us start with a word picture of the first Christians way of life and what it looked like. The first followers of Jesus, like Jesus, were Jews with a view on life.  They believed that God would send the Messiah / the Christ to set the Jewish people free, restore the Temple and gather the twelve tribes. [Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah.] There is no doubt that this is how they perceived Jesus. Jesus gave them hope and inspiration. But as the events unfolded their idyllic picture of the Christ began to fracture. Jesus’ crucifixion was not expected. The Christ was not meant to be crucified. Actually Jesus’ crucifixion was the absolute opposite of what was anticipated. Then came the Resurrection, which was followed by an out-pouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. The inspiring and empowering experience of Pentecost was followed by persecution, which led to their dispersion. They left Jerusalem and found refuge in other towns and cities. But they took their persecution and rejection as a badge of honour, because they believed they were the followers of God’s Messiah/Christ. When they were told to be silent they found the freedom to say ‘no’ to the Jewish leaders.  They would not and did not remain silent.  Instead the Spirit gave them the boldness to proclaim Christ Jesus more fervently [Acts 4: 20,31]. Secondly, when the Gentiles began to follow Christ Jesus the first Jewish followers found the freedom to loosen their ties to the traditional Jewish expectations of what was to happen.  They no longer held to the view that the Temple would be restored.  Nor did they dwell on the traditional belief that the 12 tribes would be brought together.  They began to see that God was doing something different. God was building a new temple, but the stones of that temple were the hearts and minds of his followers.  They began to see that the Gentiles sharing in the blessing of Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit meant that God was gathering in the Gentiles, not merely the 12 tribes of Israel.  This meant that it was not Judea or ancient Israel that would be reclaimed, but rather the world was to be claimed for God in Christ Jesus. They understood that the mission of God encompassed the Roman Empire. The result of this was a radical freedom to preach the Gospel in face of rejection and at times deliberate and violent persecution. King Jesus set them free to serve the Kingdom of God. Freedom was one of the marks of the first Christians. They were unfettered by fear of the authorities. They were untrammelled by meaningless tradition. They were unconstrained by small visions.  So it is not surprising to read Paul’s letter to the Galatians – Freedom is what we have – Christ has set us free. Stand, then, as free people … do not become slaves again [Gal 5:1]. Paul goes on to speak of the calling to be free.  This statement begs the following questions.  What are we set free from? What are we set free for?  In the first place we are set free from the power of sin. In the ancient world sin would have clearly included being controlled by the demonic powers of evil. We westerners don’t think like that.  However we cannot deny that our bad behaviour becomes bigger than us and like demonic power controls us. We find ourselves caught up in genocidal programmes, industrial slavery and prejudicial fears that systematically hurt and destroy people.  Christ Jesus sets us free from such powers.  Secondly, we are set free from self.  Paul and

The Power of Forgiveness (2 Samuel 19) Luke 15: 20 – 32; John 20: 19 – 23   Can you imagine a world where every person, every community, nation and tribe work on payback?  Can you imagine a world that harbours every grudge and grievance and demands justice? Justice without mercy is not true justice, it’s just payback. Payback emerges out of the wells of anger and revenge.  On the other hand mercy – kindness and forbearance – springs from the waters of love and humility. Forgiveness and mercy offer us a way that allows relationships to start again. Solzhenitsyn stated that our capacity for forgiveness distinguishes us from the animal world.  I would say that to forgive or to apologise is the beginning of becoming truly human. In Shakespeare’s play the Merchant of Venice, Portia disguised as a lawyer, tells Shylock that justice without mercy is not justice. When Shylock asks Portia to explain why he should show mercy to Antonio, Portia responds [Merchant of Venice, Act 4:1, lines 185f]: The quality of mercy is not strained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. … Though justice be thy plea, consider this,  That in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy. Portia reminds us that mercy and forgiveness benefits both the giver and the recipient. She points out that justice alone will not bring reconciliation. Shakespeare has spoken well through Portia. These truths are at the heart of the Gospel and the Bible. Jesus’ words to his disciples in the Upper Room on the evening of the day of the Resurrection are so relevant today. John tells us that Jesus breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” [Jn 20: 22,23. Cf. Mt 18:18]  Now what does this mean – if you retain the sins of any, they are retained?   Is it not true that when someone offends us we feel a degree of resentment if not anger?  If we don’t forgive the person these feelings don’t disappear: they merely reside in the inner recesses of our mind.  While we think that we have dealt with our feelings we have not. We have merely pushed them aside for the moment. Those feelings continue to quietly corrode our thinking and being. They can make us physically unwell and they certainly harm our spiritual well-being. In other words the sin is retained. Now if I have been offended by X and I don’t deal with it, a wall is erected between us. Every time I see X we may be quite sociable but we don’t get close and there is always that unspoken thing between us. You see, if I do not forgive X I retain X’s sin against me. That is what Jesus is getting at. I retain the wrong done to me and that forms a barrier. However if I forgive X then we are set free to relate to each other. Jesus’ commission is very relevant to both our private and public lives. So what is the forgiveness process? Firstly there are three recognitions that need to take place.  Recognition one is that we hurt each other by our thoughtless remarks, selfish acts, our wilfulness, prejudices and fears. Something small can become something quite large. There are those hurts that are big, but even the little ones can grow. The ugliness of insults, our looking after ourselves at the expense of others and the greed that takes more than we’re entitled to causes deep rifts, hurts, and injustices. Unless we take time to forgive we will merely construct a deep pits of resentment and anger, shame and guilt. The hurt continues to grow. Recognition two is that we need help to forgive. Forgiveness is never easy, neither is it simple. We need to humbly admit that we need an exemplar: someone who can show us how to forgive. It is in Jesus that we find the compassion and humility that makes forgiveness possible. More importantly Jesus has already forgiven us and begun the process for us.  Recognition three is knowing that retaining a feeling of  unforgiveness is bad for us.  When we have been hurt by someone’s thoughtless or selfish behaviour the hurt turns to anger and resentment. Such feelings become cancerous. They can ruin our well-being.  Likewise when we have hurt and offended someone we experience guilt and shame.  Shame and guilt affect the way we relate to people. Then we are the ones needing forgiveness.  We need to forgive and to be forgiven for we are sinners.  The steps of Forgiveness.  The first step is to acknowledge the offence and its affect on us.  Don’t pretend either to yourself or the person who has hurt you that it “doesn’t matter”.  It does matter.  The second step is to be prepared to forgive.  This is the hardest step. The forgiveness begins with our willingness to forgive. I once prayed for three weeks everyday to forgive someone who had really angered me at work. I finally reached the point of forgiveness. There was never reconciliation as there was no opportunity to meet with the person. However I was set free from the anger and resentment and found I could relate in a meaningful way with that person. The willingness to forgive together with God’s help to forgive set me free.  Thirdly, if there is the opportunity to do so, approach the other and tell them that their action has hurt you. If that person either denies it or defends their action listen, but avoid an argument.  Just reiterate that you were offended by their action and leave it at that. If you have begun the forgiveness process in your own heart your anger and resentment will

The Importance of Our Stories. 2 Kings 2: 1 – 2, 6 – 14;  Mark 1: 4 – 12, 21 – 27 It is our custom after Sunday worship to have lunch watching ‘Songs of Praise’. I find it relaxing and worshipful after preaching. Last Sunday’s ‘Songs of Praise’ told the story of St John’s Ambulance.  I was reminded again of the importance of stories and how they can encourage, inspire, and nurture hope and faith in us.  The St John’s Ambulance story reminded me of one of the major contributions Christianity has made to Western society and that a good thing is never lost.  St John’s Ambulance is a modern dynamic charity founded in 1887, but did you know that its heritage goes right back to the 11th Century?  The story runs like this. In about 1020 A.D. St Mary of the Latins’ Abbey in Jerusalem established a hospice for pilgrims. In the second half of the 11th Century a lay Benedictine monk came to the St Mary’s abbey. His name was Gerard and he became known as the Blessed Gerard.  Gerard was put in charge of the small hospital. During a period when the Christians were driven out of Jerusalem Gerard was permitted to remain. The hospital survived and when the 1st Crusaders regained control of Jerusalem the hospital expanded under Gerard’s leadership. He established more hospitals along the pilgrim way. Gerard established the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John in Jerusalem, whose task was to care for the sick pilgrims. The order grew and spread throughout Europe and Britain.   During Henry VIII ‘s reign the monastic orders were dissolved.  On 7th May 1540 the day on which the Order of St John was dissolved in England the last prior of the Order, Sir William Weston, died. It was said that he died of a broken heart on hearing the news. However Sir William had failing health at the time.  It was in 1887 when British society was going through the upheaval of industrialisation that the order was revived in a different form. Concerned about the health of people and the lack of any health scheme for basic health care a group of Christians remembered the order of St John. They resolved to ‘resurrect’ the order of St John using its ancient medieval insignia.  They established a voluntary program training people in basic first aid and offering it freely to all people. They took on a uniform and the insignia of the ancient Order of the Knights of St John.  Their ministry prospered and now it is part and parcel of our society. Today we benefit from the basic first aid training of St John Ambulance.  I was immediately caught up in this story. The story spanned many centuries. It showed how the Church has always played its part in wider society. It showed how the Church has shown the world how to care. I uncovered how a careless world will destroy some good, but the good will not go away.  The story encouraged me.  I was buoyed by its success and I delighted in this ministry that continues today.  I was also encouraged by the fact that this ministry filled a needy gap.  It showed the Church at its best. It uncovered the truth that our current day concepts of nursing and hospitals have their roots deep within the Christian Faith.  Certainly Roman society had little time for nursing. It is confessed by Roman doctors that when the plagues came they escaped to the country. The plagues thrived in the cities where sanitation was less than elementary. Densely packed housing had streets with a central gutter in which all was thrown.  We have evidence from the writing of the famous Roman doctor, Claudius Galen, that during the plague doctors left the city and the sick were put out in the street to die. What happened during the plagues was that when a person got sick they were placed outside in the street and left to die. It was a matter of survival as it limited the infection and /or contagion.   There is plenty of evidence that Christians, motivated by the sacrificial love of Christ for the world, would care for the sick. Christians cared for each other and for their neighbours even at the cost of their own lives. Jesus inspired them. They believed if Jesus had suffered for them they should suffer for others. It is a fact that basic nursing such as keeping someone at an even temperature and hydrated will help a sick person survive.  The Christians became known for their ministry of care for others. We forget that nearly all of our compassionate structures in society like nursing and care for the aged and dying have their roots in Christianity. Christians emerged in the Roman Empire as people who loved others. Another pagan’s testimony to the love of Christians for others, even those outside their own group, comes from Emperor Julian who hated Christianity. Julian wrote a letter, which we have to this day, to the high priest of Galatia in 362 A.D. stating that ‘pagans needed to equal the virtues of Christians, for recent Christian growth was caused by their ‘moral character, even if pretended’ and by their ‘benevolence toward strangers and care for the graces of the dead’. He also wrote that ‘the impious Galileans (Christians) support not only their poor but ours as well. Everyone can see that our people lack aid from us’.  Julian tried to drum up support for pagan charities and pagan compassion for the less fortunate. Julian’s motivation was embarrassment and competition, whereas Christians were motivated by the Christ, crucified and raised. The St John Ambulance’s tradition stands firmly in this early Christian ministry of nursing.  There is little evidence of such nursing-care taking place in the Greco Roman world.  After the fall of Rome and the growth of Christianity, the monasteries of the Church became places offering the basic

Heaven’s Food & Heavenly Company  Mark 14: 22- 25;  Acts 2: 37 – 42; 1 Corinthians 10: 14 – 18 Is  Napoleon won his victories by concentrating his forces with unexpected speed. But this meant forced marches for his soldiers, living in the country where supplies soon ran out. Lack of food meant much illness and many casualties. ‘An army marches on its stomach’ he said, and offered a prize of 20,000 Francs to anybody who would invent some way of preserving food. A Parisian chef won the prize with a plan for a process of bottling food previously heated. Later in London the method was improved by substituting tins for glass bottles (the beginning of the canning industry). The manufacturers kept the French name boeuf bouilli, so the English soldiers called it bully beef. [Drinkwater, Quotes & Anecdotes p.216] Jesus gave us food too. He knew we needed it. Its similarity to Bully Beef is that it is containable and transportable. Here the similarity stops. There are stories of Christians celebrating Holy Communion in countries that persecuted Christians. In Stalin’s Siberian labour camps Christians hid Communion wafers in cigarette boxes and celebrated Communion deep in the mines. In China a Chinese priest, who worked as a lowly market labourer selling soap, wrapped the consecrated wafer in linen and then placed it inside the soap wrapping. He had a method of letting his parishioners know when to come. They met him ostensibly to buy soap, but in reality they were collecting the ‘host’. Then they would go home and gather in small groups and celebrate Holy Communion. It was not the material food value that mattered, it was the powerful spiritual truth that was important. The elements of grape juice and bread spoke of the ‘blood’ of Jesus shed in absolute love for us, and the bread spoke of the nourishment of his being and teaching for our living.   Holy Communion has always been a special time.  I don’t know how to explain or articulate that truth, I only know for me and others who have told me their stories, that it is holy moment. At Holy Communion God meets us communicating sacrificial love. Secondly, it is the risen Lord Jesus who is the host at the table.  We give thanks to and worship not only a sacrificed Christ, but also a risen Christ.  The symbolism is simple yet profound.  We come forward and humbly stand or kneel – I prefer to kneel – with head bowed and hands cupped to receive. Our physical posture tells us that we are recipients of God’s Grace – God’s love in action.  We don’t thank those who have served us because they are not the hosts who are providing the food; they are merely the servants who serve in the name of our Lord. They have prepared themselves to serve us by first receiving the heavenly food of the Body and Blood of our Lord.  We receive the bread and wine in thankful silence or with a quiet – ‘Amen’. The other method of receiving Holy Communion is sitting in the nave. There symbolism shifts. Firstly, for practical reasons, we have to take the elements from the paten and tray of communion glasses, but we now hold them and wait until all have the elements. Then we all eat the bread together and then take the grape juice together. That symbolises our unity as God’s people – one loaf and one cup for one people.  In some mysterious way these actions coupled with our faith quickened the heart and build up our faith.  Our consciousness of the others about us is heightened. We are no longer looking at our fellow Christians but receiving heaven’s food for us. Ironically it is in that moment when we are most conscious of communion with Christ Jesus that we become more aware that we are a community of believers bound together by Christ Jesus and the Spirit. To my left and right kneel, stand or sit my brothers and sisters in Christ – my eternal family. This now takes us to the second profound effect of Holy Communion – we are a community. It makes sense doesn’t it? Jesus didn’t give us a cafeteria to go to, he gave us a table with a meal for all. So not only are we receiving our ‘heavenly food’ but also we are celebrating our community. This is the where the fellowship of the Church begins – at the Lord’s Table. Holy Communion not only feeds us but reinforces that we are one large family – a fellowship of people so the biblical writers could say; So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. [Eph 2: 19 – 22]  The imagery is so powerful.  We are God’s children, a family and members of God’s household.  We form together the bricks of the spiritual temple of God. As we bond together in Christian love we form a temple where God is present.  Here together God meets us and dwells with us. That is why worship is so important. Our fellowship is rooted in these truths:  founded on the work of Christ Jesus, blessed by the Holy Spirit, joined together we become God’s temple. This is a spiritual truth with practical implications. We have not met together because of some common interest. We have met together because we belong together in Christ. This is why Paul could write to the Corinthian church and say; God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Now I appeal to you,

Hope, Prayer & Promise.   Psalm 85;  Luke 11: 1 – 13 Is  “What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life,” stated Emil Brunner a significant 20th Century German theologian and pastor.  We cannot live without oxygen and life without hope is meaningless. Hope is as important to us as oxygen.  That’s quite a claim, but the secularist and the religious agree that without hope there is despair.  Of course we all understand what hope is – that is, until we have to define it. There is hope and there is hope. I want to talk a little about hope but not at the level that ‘Bill’ and ‘Sam’ were speaking of hope.  Bill asked Sam, “Have you ever realized any of your childhood hopes?”  Sam responded, “Yes, when my mother used to comb my hair, I often wished I didn’t have any.” How full of hope those first disciples were. There they were travelling around with this exciting preacher who carried the presence and wisdom of God with him. They sat at his feet and asked, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” [Lk 11: 1; Mt 6:7]  No doubt Jesus’ praying inspired them.  Jesus did teach them to pray. He gave them a simple prayer that captures all for which we ever need to pray. I once read that the Lord’s Prayer, as we call it, is the prayer we should first pray or the prayer we should finally pray. It is appropriate to use it either as a blue print for our prayers or the prayer that we use at the end to ensure that we have covered all things. We could say so much about the Lord’s Prayer but this sermon is not about it.  It is about the relationship of hope to prayer and the relationship of prayer and hope to God’s promises. Now it is not clear what comes first – hope, promises or prayer. It doesn’t really matter. But we can be clear about the fact that hope, prayer and God’s promises are inter-connected in our life’s journey. Firstly, let us talk about ‘Hope’.  Hope is a very important ingredient in being human. Nothing can be achieved without hope. Though not all psychologists agree that hope is an emotion it is very much like an emotion [James Averill 1990].  Hope affects the way we perceive things, the way we behave, and it motivates our responses to events, especially in the case of adversity. It seems that all humans have a degree of hope and the level of hope has much to do with our early nurture and experiences. Andrew Fuller wrote; ‘Hope is one of the principal springs that keep humankind in motion’.     Christianity has seen hope as one of the three theological virtues: faith, hope and love. However we want to understand the nature of hope and what its source may be, but we cannot deny its presence for all of us.  Emil Brunner spoke of hope as one of the ways in which what is merely future and potential is made vividly present and actual to us. Hope is the positive, as anxiety is the negative, mode of awaiting the future.   Secondly, what is the relationship of hope to prayer? Is there a connection between hope and prayer? Hope is the belief, that there is a better way, a more positive outcome and that God wants the best for us.  Prayer is practicing our hope. Prayer springs out of a hope that there is more to life. Simply put, prayer is asking God for something; and, hope is the faith that God will answer. Hope is the confidence we have in God’s promises.  Prayer is the conversation between God and us. When we are in sync with God’s principals and commandments, our prayers become aligned with God’s purposes. It is important to align our desires with God’s will. Thus prayer is more than voicing our wishes and requests – it’s about developing our relationship with God.  Thirdly, our hope and prayers rest upon the foundation of God’s promises. The prophet Jeremiah expresses this truth in chapter 29 verse 11 where he writes; For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.   In Hebrews 10:23 we read; Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.   We can now say that the ground of our hope is what God has done through Christ Jesus and the evidence for our hope is the Spirit confirming in our hearts that we are God’s children. If we turn to our reading we will see how hope, prayer and promise work together.  The disciples in hope request a lesson on prayer. Jesus teaches them what prayer is. The Lord’s Prayer is the classic model for prayer. It covers all that is needed. It begins  – “Our Father, your will be done, forgive us our sins as we forgive others and give us our daily bread”. Luke tells that Jesus after teaching the prayer encourages his disciples to pray persistently.  The importance of persevering in prayer is that we develop an understanding of what we are asking and of God’s will.  The point is that we often ask for things that are not necessarily the best for us.  Through persistence in prayer we develop our relationship with and understanding of God. We learn what God’s will is and pray accordingly. Luke makes the point that God intends us to have the best as Jeremiah suggested when he said God has plans for our welfare and future.  But Luke adds something very significant.  God, Luke says, will give us good things just as a parent wishes to give their children good things. But Luke makes it clear what is best for us. God will

Which ‘spirit’ leads you? Amos 8:  1-12;  Luke 10: 38 – 42; Galatians 4: 1 – 9 Is  I hadn’t been at Tyndale House for more than three weeks when my brother came up from London to see me. It was my first time in the UK. I will not forget his initial remarks as he entered Tyndale House. He said, ‘this place has a peaceful – a holy feel about it’. He had recognised something about Tyndale House while standing in the entrance hall. The spirit of the place hit him. Tyndale House is a Biblical Research Centre in Cambridge UK and independent of the University. It is a place of studious quietness and where conversations were mostly about one’s area of research. It did have atmosphere. The place had its own spirit. Now I imagine you can identify with the notion that places have a spirit or atmosphere. Entering a place of worship will have a different ‘feel’ to a university campus, railway station, airport, or food hall. But having said that it is very difficult to articulate exactly what we mean when we say this place has a spirit. To speak of the spirit of something or someone is to speak of the prevailing tendency, animating principle, dominating characteristic, and soul of that place. So to speak of the spirit of Tyndale House in Cambridge one would be speaking about its animating principle as study; its dominating characteristic as the search for truth and understanding; and, its essence as quietness and respect. The combination of all those things amount to its spirit. We can legitimately talk about the spirit of other things.  The spirit of an international airport terminal is unique. It would be characterised by busyness, anxiety, boredom and relief, if you were at the end of the journey.  You couldn’t describe the airport as a peaceful or inspiring place.  The other important thing to recognise is that the spirit of a place or the environment affects us for better or worse. Entering a place of worship as opposed to a busy transport terminal will have a different effect upon us.   I want us to reflect on these matters today as the Bible often speaks both indirectly and directly about the spirit of the people, culture and environment.  The warnings in the Bible about worshipping other gods and following the ways of other cultures are about the effect of the spirit of such places. We don’t ponder this truth very much, but the Scriptures remind us of it.  Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, encourages the Galatian Christians not to turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits [Gal 4:9]. The elemental spirits refer to two aspects of life.  At one level the ‘elemental spirits’ are the ‘ABCs’ of life: the basic conventions of society, of socialising and of cultural practices. They refer to the forces that shape our lives socially, psychologically and politically. At a deeper level they refer to the spiritual forces of cultures and religions. We might say that today in our Australian culture the elemental spirits might refer to our culture’s values and beliefs. Such values and beliefs help us up to a point, but they also confine and restrict us. We have social conventions about being nice to each other, which at best help us socialise and at worst prevent us from speaking or acting the truth about things.  The simple greeting, “How are you?” followed by ‘I’m fine” can be problematic. When I greet someone who is very sick I am careful how I greet them. You see “How are you?” can be construed as a request for a health report. ‘How are you?’,  generally just means ‘good to see you’.  Our response, ‘Good, thank you’ is really saying … something like, ‘Good to see you too!’ Our little conventions are not without their difficulties. However there are bigger issues.  We find streams of cynicism in our culture preventimg us from seeing the positiveness of life or the good in certain people. The force of these things is such that we get caught up in the cynical conversations and hide behind the polite conventions of our society. The material idolatry drives us to making money even at the expense of others’ well-being.  In recent times we have seen examples of this in our financial institutions. Cynicism spawns doubt and distrust.  For all the good things about our country – and there are many – we struggle to achieve ethical financial behaviour and our personal well-being is undermined by a strong negativity which spawns depression. This spirit of our culture is not Christian, yet we can be enmeshed in it. The point I want to make is that our culture is not Christian – it may be influenced by Christianity or a religion, but that is not the whole box and dice. Paul responds to the clash between the elemental spirits of the Greco-Roman culture and the Spirit of God in Galatians. Paul presents his readers with a choice: the choice of following the ways of the world or the ways of God. That choice is just as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago. We Christians confuse many of our culture’s conventions as Christian. For example, God calls us to responsible selfless love for others, whereas our culture calls us to insist on our rights. Christians are called to love and our culture calls us to be tolerant. Tolerance is a good thing but love for our neighbour is a far finer thing. Our conventions of social niceties can prevent us from speaking the truth about our faith and belief in God. Think of how many times you have avoided talking about your faith because of the social expectation of friends.  Maybe we follow the spirit of our culture so closely that we don’t even realise that we are doing it! Paul encourages the Galatian Christians to be led by the Spirit and not

The Holy Spirit – Sermon by Anneke Oppewal   Readings: Genesis 1: 1-5; John 1: 1-5;   Matthew 28: 16-20 When Peter told me he was doing a series of sermons on the Holy Spirit with you I was excited and daunted at the same time. I’ve always had a bit of an awkward relationship with the whole idea of the Holy Spirit personally and it was always a bit suspect in the Church I grew up in. It conjured up images of raised hands and ecstatic scenes I, and the Church I come from, didn’t want to be identified with. A little bit, once a year, on Pentecost Sunday was fine, but for the rest we mostly made sure to steer well clear of it as much as possible. We were more focused on Jesus, as a friend and companion, our saviour and Lord, and the Father, creator and sustainer of the world around us. I guess we didn’t quite know what to do with the Holy Spirit, and even less with the related concept of the Trinity that seemed even more confusing and hard to understand. In our scriptures the Holy Spirit is on the scene from the very beginning. It is God’s Ruach to use the Hebrew word which has a difficult to translate meaning, but means something like breath or life essence that is said to be hovering over the waters from before creation. It is this Ruach, this essence that is said to be present in the Holy of Holies in the Temple, it is what descends in the shape of a dove on Jesus at his baptism, it is what Jesus promises his disciples will stay with them and work with them after he has gone, it is what he breathes onto his disciple when he meets them after the resurrection in an upstairs room in Jerusalem. In other words: The Holy Spirit is a concept and a presence that is there from the beginning and keeps popping up all through the bible. But if you feel a little awkward, confused or not entirely sure around the concept of the Holy Spirit or the idea of the Trinity that is connected to it, you are definitely not the only one. It took the Church a couple of centuries to figure it out and find words to define it, and when it did what it came up with in the creed was, and is, more often than not, not experienced as very helpful by many. I guess that is simply because when we start talking about the Holy Spirit or the Trinity we are trying to find words for something that is very difficult, if not impossible, to define or fully grasp. And perhaps that is the entire point of the exercise, that we discover, when we try to define God, when we try to find words for who and what God is, that we discover that when we move a little deeper, there are no words that adequately describe or define God. That there is more to God than we can ever grasp or say. And yet we try, and have tried, as Christians, to say something about what is the essence of God, about our core understanding of God in that concept of the Trinity, saying that God for us is Father, Son and Holy Spirit in equal measure, one yet three, three but one, with the Holy Spirit, at least in our teachings, equal to the Father and the Son, giving expression to what God is together. Christian doctrine, our faith, says that God can and will be experienced in three main, and very different ways. As Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, Father of Jesus Christ and of all creatures. As the Son, saviour, brother, example, guide, a man of flesh and blood who lived our life, suffered our death, and is alive today, walking beside us, now, guiding and caring for us still. And as Spirit, as breath, movement, energy, inspiration, comfort and a powerful intangible presence that is way beyond what we know or define. Putting it like that may complicate things, but it also creates room for us to have different experiences of God and relate, at different times and in different contexts to God in ways that are not always the same but may vary, wildly. It means, it tells us, that what we know of God, what we experience of God, how God may reveal Godself to us, does not necessarily have to be the same all the time. There is room for difference. God speaks, reveals and relates to us in different ways. As Creator/Father, as Son/brother and as Spirit/ energy. It may not be a coincidence that these three ways of God relating to us, coincide with the three ways of us being in the world according to the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. He says we all are an ‘I’, a person, an individual that relates to itself. We are aware that we are, individuals, entities, defined and differentiated from what is around us. We are also a you, an entity, and individual, defined and different from others that always are in relation to others. Our ‘I’ not really fully known or knowable until we are, until we encounter others and become a ‘you’. I am an I, but when I become a you because I relate to another person something is added to who we both are. Me knowing you and you knowing me adds to each of our knowing ourselves and our being known by another. Confused? If I lived on an uninhabited island all my life and never met anyone but myself I would never learn to speak, express, think, or be as much and as deeply as when I am there with another, or more than one, other. We get that, right? But then we are also infinitely more than that. There is a whole host of things that go

What the Bible says about ‘Sex’! Leviticus 18: 1 – 24;  Romans 1: 16  – 27 I had a strong sense that I should focus on a growing concern I have. Every time I switch to a news commentary programme on TV or talkback radio the subject comes up.  Well, it seems like every time and the same claims are made. The insulting denigrations of the Bible are uttered. And what the Bible doesn’t say is trotted out as something that it does say. It concerns and annoys me that a half-truth becomes a full truth resulting in belittling the Bible.  I’m referring to the alleged claim of Israel Folau who has stated that homosexuals will go to hell. I put up a post on my ‘Facebook’ stating that the Bible doesn’t say that homosexuals are going to hell; that the Bible doesn’t understand the concept of homosexuality;  that I am saddened by the silence of Church leaders on this matter and it has nothing to do with religious freedom.  In the four passages of Scripture in Leviticus [18 & 20], Genesis [19], Judges [19] and Romans [1] hell is not mentioned in connection with sexual acts between same-sex people.  Now we can easily dismiss the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 and Gibeah in Judges 19.  They are not stories about homosexuality, as we know it today, but about the custom of heterosexual men raping men as an act of terror. We call that buggery and it is not uncommonly used as a weapon of terror in war zones even in our time.  The Leviticus and Romans references certainly aim at same-sex intercourse. Not surprisingly the act is condemned. That has been true right up to the end of the 20th Century. However by the end of the 20th Century many Western countries decriminalised homosexuality as we had come to understand that homosexuality is not a matter of choice but a natural sexual orientation for some of the population. A simple test is to ask yourself if you chose to be heterosexual. What homosexual people choose is to declare what they have known since their awareness of sexuality. They have had to struggle against the conventional wisdom of a heterosexual society.  That is, if your gender is male then you are sexually male and vice a versa. Today homosexuality refers to a same-sex oriented person desiring a relationship with another of a similar orientation,  just as heterosexual people desire heterosexual relationships.  What is the Bible talking about when they refer to same-sex coupling? We can’t get away from the fact that such an act was taboo, but still the references in the Bible are specific. The references in Leviticus [18:22; 20:13] and Romans [1:27] are respectively about ritual cleanliness for worship and eroticism.  Leviticus 18 is all about how God’s people should behave and keep themselves pure to worship God. In the opening verses of Leviticus 18 God’s people are told not to behave like the Egyptians and the Canaanites. In Canaan the popular religion was the worship of fertility gods. Part of the fertility cult’s worship involved sexual acts which were both hetero and homo-sexual. They also conducted sexual acts with animals. The context is a wild erotic culture.  It is a step too far to conclude that this is a condemnation of homosexuality as we understand it today.  It is a condemnation of fertility cult practices. Romans 1 also condemns same-sex relationships and sex with animals! The context is about seeking erotic experiences [See Plato’s ‘Symposium]. Let us hear what Scripture says. In Leviticus we read; You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it: it is perversion. [Lev 18:22,23]  In Romans we read: Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. [Rom 1: 26,27]  To simply conclude from these texts that God condemns homosexuality is a step too far. Notice too, that hell is not mentioned. Such behaviour taking place for fertility cult rites and erotic experiences is condemned along with touching a woman with a menstrual flow and child sacrifice.  What I find interesting is the list of sexual activities carrying the death penalty in Leviticus. Yes, same-sex sexual activity carries the death penalty for both and equally so for a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, his father’s wife, or his mother-in-law or an animal. In each case both the man and the woman or other person or animals are to be put to death. Adultery carries the death penalty! We also read that a man shall be excommunicated from the community if he uncovers the nakedness of others and if he lies with a woman who has her menstrual flow [Lev 18:20]. If we are going to jump to literal conclusions about one thing shouldn’t we include the others? Adultery in the Bible is rightly condemned because it is an unfaithful and a selfish act. However the Bible is a complex book and we cannot avoid the episode of adultery and murder committed by David with Bathsheba. For all of King David’s dastardly acts he remains a revered Biblical figure.  And there is that instance of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. Jesus says to those who would stone her – the Law at that time allowed this and I am not sure where the man was – those who are without sin can throw the first stone. No one dares to pick up a stone and Jesus sends her away with just a word not to do it again [Jn 8:1-11]. It seems that Jesus wasn’t ready to respond to the letter of the Law, but rather to respond with grace and mercy. 

The Untapped Power!   2 Kings 2: 1 – 2, 6 – 14;  Mark 1: 4 – 12, 21 – 27 Power over other people, power over nature, power over supernatural forces and power over oneself – such is the four-sided goal of humankind.  It is quite amazing how much energy and cleverness goes into these pursuits. In contrast we feel so lost when we have no control. Powerlessness devitalizes. Our Bible texts tell us that Elisha wanted the power of Elijah and got it.  Jesus is described as a man of authority and power.  In the brief extract from Mark’s account of the Gospel the authority and power of Jesus is clearly recognised by the crowds. Jesus demonstrated his authority and power in his teaching and the exorcism of evil spirits [Mk 1: 21 -27].  The Gospel according to Mark has numerous examples of this. Jesus had the authority to forgive sins  [Mk 2:10] and the authority to drive out demons [Mk 3:15]. Mark gives us a very interesting insight into Jesus’ power in the story of the woman with the haemorrhage. When she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and she was healed, and he felt the power go out from him [Mk 5: 28-30]. Jesus’ authority and power amazed people. This instance of the woman being healed and Jesus feeling the loss of power begs the question; ‘What was the power that Jesus had?’ The Gospel writers, Mark, Matthew and Luke, each tell us that the Holy Spirit descended upon him when he was baptised [Mk 1:10; Mt 3:16; Lk3: 22]. They tell us that the Sprit directed and sustained him in the wilderness [Mk 1:12; Mt 4:1; Lk 4:1]. Now Mark does not refer to the Holy Spirit often, but he says enough to make it clear that the Spirit is working in and through Christ Jesus. However Mark is speaking indirectly about the Spirit when he refers to Jesus’ authority and power.  What we find in both the Old and New Testament is that when the Spirit works in the servants of the Lord they have an authority and a power. Jesus’ authority and power is a sign of the Spirit being in him.  We witness the presence of the Spirit in others when we sense they speak with an authority and power that is healing and energising. We recognise the Spirit in ourselves when in doing the Lord’s work and we feel carried or strengthened to a point where we are surprised.  However we may not always recognise the Spirit at work amongst us because the Spirit’s work is to point us to God and Christ. The Holy Spirit’s work is partially hidden because the Spirit never points to herself. We know the Spirit by her work not her person. We identify the Spirit by looking for the Spirit’s effect upon us. That is, we are looking for those mysterious little nudges that move us to do things. We might call it our conscience but it is more than that. We experience the Spirit when something strikes us about the Bible or something is said about God.  The Spirit is working within us when we are moved to be thankful to God, feel blessed in worship or convicted of wrongdoing. The Spirit is working in us when we sense our need for God.    In contrast we read about Jesus revealing the nature of God through his profound teaching, driving out of demons, his crucifixion and resurrection, but the Spirit is always pointing us to the Father and the Son.  Grammatically speaking the Spirit is not the subject or the object of the sentence but the verb: the Spirit is the theological doing word. The Spirit is always helping us see the work of God in Christ in the world. The Spirit touches our hearts and minds and leads to God. Our mistake is to overlook the Spirit’s ministry or underestimate it.    From the Bible passages read today we learn a few things that help us. We learn that the Spirit’s power is available to do God’s work, not to achieve our own ends.  J. Stuart Holden wrote; God does not invest a person with power for any other work than that of the Kingdom of God. That is very important to remember.  We learn that God wants us to be powerful.  It is a wonderful thought that God wants us to be strong.  God wants us to have the confidence to speak God’s truth and to act for the good of others.  When Jesus saw that his disciples were anxious about standing up for themselves he said to them; I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict [Lk 21:15]. If we pause in the midst of our anxiety and stop to listen to God we will not be disappointed for God’s wisdom will come. In my early Christian years I recall doing just that – praying for the Spirit’s guidance – and at times being amazed at what I said. Every Sunday morning we see the Spirit’s work helping us worship. I know that to be true.  I know because there are times when I feel far from being ready and willing to be here, but God honours my faithfulness. I know that the worship leaders increasingly are experiencing God’s strengthening presence.  I also sense that the Spirit works amongst you. Sometimes it might be more correct to say to me at the door, not ‘thank you, Peter’, but one of the following.  ‘Thanks to the Spirit for speaking to me through the sermon.’  ‘Praise God as the message spoke to me.’  ‘God spoke to me this morning.’  The great joy in my ministry is seeing the work of the Spirit in you and watching your growth and maturity in Christ.  Jesus’ metaphor of the Vine & Branches found in the Gospel according to John 15 helps us understand