Sermons

Peace: Humanity’s Impossibility. [Advent 1 ~ Hope] Malachi 3: 1 – 4; Philippians 1: 3 – 11; Luke 1: 67 – 78 When we consider the amazing things humankind has achieved – successful heart and brain surgery; landing people on the moon; communicating instantly with anyone anywhere; a closer step to driverless cars; it is a wonder that we cannot make peace.  Peace-making is the one thing humankind seems totally unable to achieve. Or … is it that we are unwilling to achieve it? Is it because the price of peace requires a healthy dose of humility? I don’t know why, but we can’t do it! On the second Sunday in Advent we light the peace candle. This is a world wide liturgical practice. Christmas and peace are synonymous in a way. Christmas carries a spirit of goodwill. It is a ‘good feel’ time. To Christians it is not surprising because the Christ-child, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Prince of Peace [Is 9:6].  Remember that amazing Christmas of 1914 in the trenches when soldiers from both sides spontaneously ceased fire, came out of the trenches and exchanged greetings. Not surprisingly commanding generals forbade such action in the future. The theological hymn attributed to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth and the father of John the Baptist, beautifully proclaims a great truth about the very secret of peacemaking.  But let me pause here to say that I am not talking about the peace that comes from either the absence of conflict, or escapism that blocks out the conflict.  I am talking about the peace where people having been reconciled to each other; having learnt to live with differences and to build just communities. True peace means justice has taken place for all and people are reconciled. Zechariah speaks for the first time at the naming service for his son, John.  Zechariah blesses God for his son’s birth and the promised birth of Mary’s child. He sees in these children God’s blessing on the nation. He speaks of ‘a mighty saviour’ about whom the prophets spoke who will rescue the people from their enemies.  He recalls God’s mercy to his people of old and God’s promise to care for them.  He sees in the birth of these two boys the action of God rescuing and forgiving the people. He sees that John the Baptist and Jesus, will ‘guide our feet into the way of peace’. [Lk 1: 68-79] Zechariah was a man of deep faith and reflection. He had no access to world wide instant digital information. He only had his ordinary day-to-day experiences of home, temple and market place to inform him. He was close to his people. Jeremiah’s poem of praise expresses his knowledge and reflection on the history of his people: their longing for freedom from their enemies and the forgiveness of God. They longed to return to the time when they would rule themselves. They longed for God to act again.  They longed for peace.   Zechariah says of his son John [Lk 1: 76-78]; “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. …  the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  This passage of Scripture informs us that peace comes from God, of God’s forgiveness and that Christ will lead us into the pathway of peace. The prophet Isaiah also speaks of ‘the way of peace’ [59:8]. Peace is what we make with God’s help.  It’s not given; it’s something we work for with God. Humankind needs to walk down a certain pathway to establish peace.  Nelson Mandela said, “If you want to make peace with your enemy,  you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” Pope Paul VI said more. “If we wish to have true peace, we must give it a soul.  The soul of peace is love. It is love that gives life to peace, more than victory or defeat, more than self-interest or fear or weariness or need.  The soul of peace is love,  which for us believers comes from the love of God and expresses itself in love for humankind.” These texts reveal three important actions that establish peace. Firstly, peace is a pathway we take.  Peace is a result of our willingness to work at it.  The only way to work at peace successfully is to work with God and others.  Many thinkers acknowledge that peace is the very thing that eludes humankind. Why? Well our default character of self-interest and independence always creates flaws in our human efforts.  Human nature seems to default to egotism and autonomy.  Altruism and community struggle to rise against the currents of self-interest and pride. This is where we come to the second important action – Reconciliation. We need to be reconciled at every level: the personal, inter-personal and the spiritual.   We need to be reconciled to who we are, others about us and to God. Loving God and our neighbours only comes about when we are reconciled to God, self and others. Here is where forgiveness received and given is so important. Forgiveness received and given results in humble people. The humble will inherit the earth Jesus said [Mt 5: 5].  The third essential action is holiness. That is not a concept we often talk about. Holiness is right living and right behaviour that builds others up and honours God. The audit we need to do is ask whether our actions, words and thoughts honour God and others? All three of our texts pick up this same point of right living and right behaviour when they speak about justice and compassion.  These texts point to our responsibility to the poor and disenfranchised such as the

Mind Full or Mindful. [Advent 1 ~ Hope]   Jeremiah 33: 14 – 16; Luke 21: 25 – 36; 1 Thessalonians 3: 9 – 13 I sat in the chiropractic surgery the other day pondering the texts for this Sunday. The wall in front of me was filled with ‘inspirational’ quotes. Some amused me, some were banal, but this one caught my imagination, “Mind full or Mindful”. In a way Jesus was saying something about this when he said, ‘Be on guard! Don’t let yourselves become occupied with too much feasting and drinking and with the worries of this life, that Day may suddenly catch you like a trap.’ He was speaking about his Second Coming. Jesus was reminding his disciples to be watchful. Clearly Jesus understood that we get our minds so full of things: the things we hope for, the things we want to do, the things that disturb us, the things we should be doing, the things that worry us and the things that distract us. It is a fact that our minds are full of stuff – distractions, dreams, diversions and disturbances.  Reflect a little on our lives and how full they are. That is not wrong in itself. There is blessing in having things to do. There is blessing in being able to contribute. But the workload can be a curse. We all need time to stop and reflect. Why on earth do we have on the very first page of Holy Scripture the notion that the Seventh Day is a Day of Rest?  That Day of Rest is not simply about worshipping God, it is being mindful of who and whose we are. It is the opportunity to set aside the mind fullness of life – the life full of things – and be mindful of God, self and others.  Is it not a model to apply to our lives? For every six things we do we should pause and reflect on the seventh.  Have you ever found yourself to be so busy that you have either missed something or made a bad decision?  We talk about the wisdom of hindsight. It is so much easier to see what should have happened after the event.  But surely the point is that if we want to act wisely we need to stop and reflect. To put it another way, if you want wisdom you need to listen. Wisdom is not about filling one’s life with knowledge, it is about pausing to listen to life, what others say, and what the Spirit says to you.  Mindfulness is almost a cottage industry now. People write books and run seminars on the subject.  They are good and useful. But friends, the Scripture is full of examples of mindfulness: of men and women who heard the call to greater things. The actors in the drama of the birth of Christ are examples of mindfulness. Scripture tells us that the Sabbath Rest is important. We have a rule about it. Sadly we think the rule is about controlling us and robbing us of independence. What fools we are! We think that psychology has something to offer us when so much truth lies in the Scriptures that we ignore. The Sabbath Rest is the time to pause and to look back to God and look forward to the future – mindful of the deeper things of life.  Now I have used some of these ‘mindful’ programmes and read and practised ‘mindfulness’, but I am mindful in the first instance of what Scripture teaches us about prayer, meditation and worship. Our texts today are about being mindful of what is going on and how it all fits into God’s grand scheme. Mindfulness results in increased peacefulness, health and alertness. Let’s start with Jeremiah.  This prophet lived in a period some 600 years before the birth of Jesus. He lived in a time where there was reason for despair. Their enemies surrounded the people of God and the city was under siege.   There was every reason to believe that God was either too weak to protect them or so angry with them that he was punishing them. All seemed lost. And to cap it all Jeremiah was imprisoned by the leaders of his city for prophesying that the city and temple would fall. He was right and the city did fall. But Jeremiah could also see the day when God would forgive and restore the people to their land, city and temple. He completes this section with the words; the Lord is our righteousness [33: 16]. What power lies in these words for they contain a great truth. When we become mindful of God we start to enjoy the strength, beauty and love of God. God is our righteousness. Jesus said something similar. His words are apt for today. When we see strange weather patterns, people confused and frightened by the power of the seas and winds then the Son of Man will appear. I quote the Luke 21: 25.  “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.” I am not going to pretend to know when Christ Jesus will return. And I am certainly not implying that the extreme weather conditions in Queensland and NSW this week, the dramatic melting of the north and south poles in the past few decades and the disastrous destabilization in nations around the world, resulting in millions of displaced and homeless people, are signs that the end is coming.  But I am saying that such times as these, are times for reflection, not simply action.  We need to empty our minds of prejudices, fears and the desire to keep things as they are and become mindful of what is happening and could happen.  Jesus’ charge to his disciples remains true for us today. ‘Be on guard!  Heed Jesus’ advice to ‘look, listen and

Christ the King Sunday 1 Samuel 8: 1- 22; John 18:33-37; Rev 1: 4b-8 Are there any advantages in being subject to another? Would you vote for a republic? Or, would you keep the Sovereignty of the UK?  A question that may seem irrelevant to us, but I suspect that we too will face another referendum in the future. But this sermon is not about that. It is about the heart of the matter, that is, how we view our independence, whether collective or individual. Our independence is so important to us.  We might ask, ‘Is there any advantage in being subject to another?’  Being subjects of a monarch goes against the very notion of independence, individualism and democracy.  The problem lies in the simple dichotomy we construct: this either or. The reality is different. We can never be entirely independent of others. We cannot be an island unto ourselves. If it were possible we would become a desert island bereft of friends and support. On reflection there needs to be a balance between independence and subjection. There have been moments in my life where I have been dependent upon others.  There have been times when I have been subject to another’s leadership. This has not necessarily been a bad thing; in fact often it has been to my advantage and my growth enabling me to stand alone, which sounds contradictory. So the matter is very much a question of balance and what the outcomes of my independence or subjection might be. This Sunday begs these questions. Our texts raise the questions about our views on our independence or our subjection to a sovereign. Our New Testament texts, or Christian Scriptures as some prefer to call them, speak of Jesus as King.  Pilate asks Jesus if he is the King of the Jews. The book of Revelation declares Jesus to be the ‘ruler of the kings of the earth’. A theme Handel beautifully expresses in his oratorio Messiah. Now in each instance the notion of Jesus as king is political.  Pilate wants to know if Jesus is king to ascertain whether Jesus constitutes a threat to the Roman Emperor.  A king other than Caesar would be making a counter claim for the people’s loyalty, unless that king was a vassal king. The writer of Revelation is explicitly making such a claim in stating that Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth’: ‘the alpha and the omega’ of life [Rev 1: 5,8]. Politics are at the heart of Jesus’ kingship. For the people of Jesus’ time it was solely a choice between Caesar or Christ. This was a life and death choice. To whom are you giving your allegiance?  Today it is so easy for us because we are given the lie of secularism. That is, we are told that religion is a private affair so you can be loyal to your family, your tribe and your nation and still have your faith. Your faith is a private matter society tells us. Christ Jesus is not a private matter for one simple reason – to be Christian is to live the Christian life out in public. It is either King Jesus or yourself. It is either King Jesus or your country.  It doesn’t always follow that your country, albeit Christian, is Christian. Two examples of that dilemma in the Western World were Nazi Germany and Apartheid South Africa.  Both countries had and have strong Christian traditions. Both governments of the day used the Church and most Christians supported the political order of Nazism and Apartheid respectively.  Kingship was not always the metaphor God used to self-describe. In the days of Samuel the governance of the land was through the prophet-priest. His sons were expected to take up the mantle of leadership, but they behaved badly. The people asked for a king. In Samuel’s dying days he was asked to be a kingmaker. Samuel was not happy. He saw the dangers that come with earthly kings. He understood that absolute power could so easily corrupt the king. By the way I would argue that the longevity of the English monarchy is due to the checks and balances placed on England’s kings, which began with the 13th Century Magna Carta. The Jews wanted a king. For Samuel the Law of God meant God alone was king. In the end God allowed the people to have their way. It is not without significance that their outstanding kings were those who were humble and godly in their practice. This stuff about King Jesus is very important. Jesus does not deny that he is king. What he insists upon is that his kingship is not like that of the world’s kingships. He tells Pilate that if his kingship was like that of the world he would have an army and they would defend him. Jesus is not saying that his kingdom is not of the world, but that it is from heaven. His kingdom is directed by the truth, love and grace of God.  He doesn’t and won’t allow his followers to behave like the followers of earthly kings. And he goes on to define his work as a witness to the truth. Here the concept of truth goes beyond the notion that truth is making sure that what you say corresponds to what is. For Jesus truth is the essence of divinity. We read that Jesus comes full of grace and truth [Jn 1:8,14]; that Jesus is the truth [14:6]; and, that the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth [16:13].  What is the nature of this king Jesus?  This last Tuesday, during the weekly time set aside to pray, I sat here in the sanctuary area contemplating how I might share afresh this old theme of King Jesus.  I wondered how I could visaulize this concept.  The notion of Jesus the Crucified one as the king of all the rulers of the world seem so far from our comprehension. I sat

A Reflection on Psalm 16 and the N.T.Book of Hebrews   – by Geoff Serpell The16th Psalm reveals that fear can be overcome by trust in God. Being complete means happiness and contentment whilst we have the gift of a conscience to help our unswerving faith in God. The lectionary reading from Hebrews requires us to keep stirring up- the church, having the example of God’s Son, making a supreme sacrifice, forgiving, and loving so we too may follow His great example, putting our tangible assets to one side and encouraging each other to have a stronger faith. If we see the psalms as a book of worship for the Hebrew congregation of the day, then this `16th is a hymn. The request to be kept from harm in uncertain times is similar to the Lord’s Prayer, “Save me from the time of trial”.  Verse 7 is like a prayer, leading to contemplation, meditation and reading the scriptures.   Beth Tanner, connected to the South Melbourne Baptist Church, comments on the psalm and reports a game her family plays with local and national news programming. They list all the things they were told to be afraid of in a 30 minute span. The average is from 6 to 8 per broadcast, ranging from races of persons, to scary multi-national terror groups, “to the dangers of sunscreen”. It is Mrs Tanner’s way of showing her children just how much of the media is designed to keep them fearful. The theme of the Psalm is an antidote to a culture of selling fear. The theme is trust God in the face of an uncertain future. The person who has the characteristics in this psalm is “complete” and so is happy and content. Being content lies not in material assets, which are not going with us when we pass on, but rather being content with God and our relationship with God and our relationships with each other and our place in God’s Kingdom. This completeness provides us with strength and confidence to speak out and act against worldly unjust powers. We have also been gifted a conscience to keep us in the way of the Lord. Finally the psalm concludes with praise of what is to come in the future and that future is secure in God’s hands. The kingdoms of the world are violent and unjust taking Saudi Arabia and Nigeria as two examples, so trust should rather be placed in God’s right hand where our complete selves are to be found.   My New Bible commentary says that the NT book of Hebrews is a gold mine for those who want to dig deeply.  There is much treasure here to enrich our understanding of God and his purposes.  We are provided with insights into the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the nature of salvation. Of interest is to ask who wrote this book. Paul? Maybe not. Maybe Barnabas, the Levite from Cyprus. Another guess is Apollo, a highly educated Alexandrian Jew. It matters little who God chooses to write Hebrews. The book was written to encourage Jewish converts, familiar with the Old Testament, to not revert to Judaism. The theme of the book is the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ as revealer and mediator of God’s Grace. The promises and prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the ‘new covenant’ or New Testament, of which Christ is the mediator. Hebrews could be called the book of better things. In our secular litigious society, there is the trend to make more and more laws. Rarely do we examine the heart of what is going on. This resembles the situation in Hebrews in which every priest stands day after day at his service offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. When the way is lost we want more laws and control, but these do not change the underlying situation. The writer of Hebrews is clear that Jesus’ offering changes this dynamic for all time.  Now a new covenant will be made with people’s hearts and minds, and the Holy Spirit will institute and enable a whole new way of being and doing for God’s people.  In acts of love and Christlike service there is no law or legal impediment. Jesus was to share fully in our humanity, to suffer and die, so that he might fulfil the high-priestly role of making atonement for our sins. Hebrews encourages us to endure in faith, hope and love whatever the struggles and difficulties we have. We are able to live out our faith to the full, and have a life of love in action. The fact that  Christ, our great high priest,  has opened the curtain to the blocked access to the Most Holy Place in the Jewish temple, calls us to exercise our freedom- confidently drawing near to God in faith, continuing public witness to our faith, and encouraging one another through service and love. Here is an analogy from cooking: if you don’t stir up the pot on the stove, the ingredients will settle to the bottom, stick to the pot and eventually transform into a mass of charred gunk. Stirring not only keeps the goodness from settling to the bottom but also serves to blend a dish that is savoury, delicious and nourishing.  Through love, we are required to stir up one another and encourage us all to do good works. We should keep the pot cooking and we need to be regular in worship. In a gift book from our son Andrew, called “Australian Stories of Hope and Joy”, a chapter written by the Australian Rev. Gordon Moyes who was the Minister at Cheltenham Church of Christ years ago, relates the recovery of an World War two aeroplane from a crash site in Greenland. Years after the crash, a Bob Cardin planned to burrow 268 feet down through ice to remove the plane piece by piece using a

Giving All ~ Armistice. Psalm 127;  Mark 12: 38 – 44 At the 11th hour on the 11th of the 11th month in 1918 the armistice agreement to end the fight was signed in the railway carriage of the Commander of the Allied forces in the forest of Compiègne. The death toll was enormous. It is estimated that there were some 15-19 million military and civilian deaths and about 23 million wounded. 62 thousand Australian armed personnel died. It was supposed to be the war that would end all wars, but it didn’t. Armistice or Remembrance Day is symbolised by the red poppy. And the reasons for this lie in a mixture of biology and personal history. In May 1915 Lt. Alexis Helmer, a Canadian Artillery officer was killed. His friend, Major Dr John McCrae, was asked to conduct his funeral as the chaplain was engaged elsewhere. We are not sure how soon after the funeral, but some say that evening, John McCrae sat down and penned a poem as he reflected on the day’s events and the loss of his friend. What inspired McCrae was a phenomenon that had emerged during the war. The common red corn poppy is found in Europe, North America, Asia and is a native of the Mediterranean region. The seed only germinates when is exposed to light. So the seed can lie dormant in the earth for many, many years. As the trenches, ordinance and traffic churned up the fields of Flanders the seeds came to light. What they experienced was that the poppies germinated and dotted the graves and battleground with red flowers. It was thought that the blood of soldiers fallen into the soil had redden the flowers, but it was the biological nature of the plant. It is thought that the sight of poppies and the death of his friend, whom he had buried, inspired him to right the poem, In Flanders Fields. The poem begins with these words;  In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, and ends with  If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders’ Fields. After the war the poppies and poem were remembered. A French woman, Anna Guerin, brought the poppies made from silk and sold them in Britain to raise funds. A US academic, Moira Michael, bought one and having read McCrae’s In Flanders Fields, vowed to wear one in remembrance of the war. In 1919 at an international gathering of YMCA secretaries Moira raised the importance of the poem and the poppies. Out of that discussion arose movement to sell the poppies both as a fundraiser for returned wounded soldiers and as a remembrance of the dead. Within a short time the selling and wearing of red poppies in remembrance of the dead soldiers became a lasting tradition. Today we remember the Australian men and women who went to war motivated by their faith in God, King and Country, and filled with the values of duty, loyalty and commitment. The Australians were remembered for their bravery and their mateship.   They gave their all, and for some it was their life. Shirley Edwards and Geoff Serpell supplied some helpful information for us. Shirley’s father, John Francis Dunn was an armourer in the 1st Australian Flying Squadron and went into action in 1916. His commanding officer was the first trained Australian pilot, Lt. Richard Williams who in time became the first Chief of Air Service of the RAAF, which was formed in 1921. Geoff shared information that he had gathered from a visit Villers-Bretonneux.  The Australians became known as ‘Diggers’ a term they used themselves. It is a term that was used in the 1800s and came to be used of the Australian service men in the Anglo-Boer war, because many of them were miners and they used their mining skills to the advantage of military engagements. There is no better example of the impact made by the Diggers during World War 1 than in the small French village of Villers-Bretonneux, about 16 kilometres from the strategic regional centre of Amiens. It was here on Anzac Day 1918 that the Australians recaptured the village whilst halting the rampaging German advance. Villers was liberated and it was the last Germans’ throw of the dice. It went on the defensive after this reverse and the Digger had played a substantial role in turning the tide. The people of Villers-Bretonneux have never forgotten the Australians’ role in saving their town. A plaque outside the Town Hall attests to the Australian Army”…From a population of just 4.5 million people, 313000 volunteered to serve during the war.65% of these became casualties.’ Down the road from the Town hall is Rue Victoria and the local primary school. It is named the Victoria Primary School in honour of the schoolchildren of the Australian state of Victoria who donated their pennies to help rebuild it after it was completely destroyed in March and April 1918. It was rebuilt in 1927. In that school’s quadrangle is a large sign with letters half a metre high, in English, and they read: “DO NOT FORGET AUSTRALIA”. A plaque on the front wall says in part: “May the memory of great sacrifice in a common cause keep France and Australia together forever in bonds of friendship and mutual esteem.”  Above the classrooms the school treasures an Anzac museum, containing a fine collection of memorabilia, artefacts and photos commemorating Australia’s role in liberation of their town. We will remember these men and women because of the legacy they left us of hope, courage, honour and mateship as they struggled through extreme adversity. Many died and many more returned physically and mentally scarred.  Our remembrance does not honour the warring, because there is no justification for war. All wars are caused by our failure to work through our differences, our prejudices, our self-interest and greed. Foolish and selfish people bring about war. We remember them

Two Commandments = One.  Mark 12: 28 – 34;  1 John 4: 7 – 21 Can Christianity be reduced to a simple principle? The 1961 musical, the Carnival, told us that ‘love makes the world go round’.  The popular song has been sung by Perry Como, Deon Jackson, Paul Anka, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna to name a few. But they were really singing about romantic love.  Whatever we mean by this word ‘love’ it has something to do with its root meaning: a strong feeling of affection whether sexual or platonic; for things or for people.   He who loves not, lives not. Ramón Lull Love is the key to the entire therapeutic program of the modern psychiatric hospital.  Karl A Menninger. Last week we focused on faith as one of the key components of our humanity. This week it is love.  Our reading from Mark shows Jesus being questioned by a Scribe. Jesus had already responded to the Sadducees with their questions on tax and the resurrection, which were designed to trap him [Mk 12: 13,14,18]. Jesus’ wise answers silenced the Sadducees. A Scribe observing Jesus’ artful responses comes up and asks, ‘which is the first commandment?’  Jesus answers with the Shema and the first and second commandments. The Shema is the Hebrew for  ‘hear, O Israel’.  It is the call to the people to hear God. Each day a devout religious Jew will recite the Shema and the first commandment. It is found in Deuteronomy 6 and it is followed by the Great commandment. Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.  5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.  8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead,  9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. There is no doubt that the Shema and the Commandment to love God is of paramount importance to the Hebrew people. It was so important to keep in mind that God is One and that Israel was to love God that the people were to have these words before their eyes as they moved about. Some took to literally wearing on their heads and arms small leather boxes containing these Scripture passages. Now the verb ‘to love’ used in Deuteronomy is a personal word that is used for family relationships. It evokes the sense of desiring God and enjoying God.  Loving God involves the whole of one’s being –  one’s heart: the seat of emotions;  one’s soul: the core of one’s being; and  with all our strength: the essence of our will.   The verb ‘to love’ implies an intimacy. The language used speaks of an inter-personal relationship. It is a profoundly awesome statement, because we are commanded to enter an intimate relationship with this awesome creator God. This level of intimacy is made clear just a few verses later in Deuteronomy 7 where we read in verse 7. It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples.  8 It was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors. How … how amazing is that? God the Creator loved them and chose them for a special task. That’s extraordinary! That’s the incredible part of our faith, not that God exists. They were to love God because God loved them first and made a covenant to bless them so they would be a blessing to others [Gen 12: 3].  The 1st Letter of John 4:19 says exactly same thing – we love because he first loved us. Jesus has answered this Scribe with an answer that goes to the very root of the Jewish faith – God is One and we must love God with all of our being.  But Jesus adds the second great commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ Did you know that this command is only mentioned once in the whole of the OT in Leviticus 19:18.  The ‘neighbour’ referred to their fellow Jews and all aliens in the land. It is a social law governing the prohibition on killing, adultery, and stealing [Deut 5: 17-19]. It formed the basis for trading honestly [Deut 25: 13-16]. And it underpinned all rules and laws that addressed the poor, the marginalised and the exploited so that they would treat each other with dignity [Lev 19: 9-16]. The Scribe sees the truth of Jesus’ teaching and he earns the affirmative comment from Jesus; “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Here we have a window into the heart of God and the intimacy between seeker and God. It is a truly beautiful picture of Jesus and the Scribe – a moment of truth where common minds met. We will understand more if we understand the background. The Scribes were interpreters of the Law of God both the written and oral law. The Sadducees were did not accept the oral law neither did they believe in the resurrection of the dead. Scribes and Sadducees were not on the same page. Now in the Scribal schools of interpretation there were two approaches to the Law of God. On the one hand there were Scribes who wanted to expand the Law to encompass all aspects of life to ensure obedience to God. On the other there were Scribes seeking to simplify the Law.  Some kept expanding the Law and others wanted to reduce the Law. Jesus clearly wants to reduce the Law too. There is a story of a proselyte coming

Your Faith has made you well.  Romans 12: 3 – 8;  Mark 10: 46 – 52 Is it possible that reason could replace faith?  Faith is so important to us.  Imagine a life without faith – no friends, no freedom, no hope! Yes, that is what it would be like if we didn’t have faith. Faith makes it possible to have friends, freedom and hope. Let me explain.  Every time we get into a motor vehicle, or an aeroplane we do so trusting that others using the road and airways will behave responsibly. Because our faith is generally rewarded we tend to take such steps without thinking. Your faith in road users tells you that the car hurtling down the road towards you will keep to their side of the road. When we meet someone for the first time we accept them with a degree of faith. We have learnt to have faith in others because we have experienced the faithfulness of parents and significant adults. They have not only been faithful towards us but have put their faith in us entrusting us with responsibility.  I know that sometimes things are not perfect in our upbringing and faith is broken down. But all this goes to show is how important faith for living. All our relationships are dependent upon faith and faith maintains them faith. And it is this faith that leads to our maturity and freedom. Faith is one of the key components in our humanity that allows us grow and become, and live with hope.  Faith in tomorrow helps us find solutions to life. Faith helps us take the next step when we can’t see the staircase. An inspiring example of this are the INVICTAS Games where armed service persons, who have suffered loss of limbs and great mental stress, have competed in a spirit of true courage an mateship.  I firmly believe that God created us this way.  I believe that God has created us with three key components that are the essence of relationships and the root cause of our freedom. Paul emphasises this in Corinthians 13 where he says that there are ‘faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love’.  [1Cor. 13:13]  Today I want to talk about faith.  I was inspired to do so when I read the Gospel reading set for today regarding Bartimaeus.  Jesus said to him,  “Go; your faith has made you well.”  Wow!  His faith had made him well.  How big is that! Jesus’ statement tells us so much about faith. Now the Bible has a lot to say about faith and the part it plays in our lives. I am going to look briefly at some aspects and then come back to the Bartimaeus story.  Faith as a gift.  Faith I have argued is part of our humanity. It is one of the key components along with hope and love that make us human.  It is God’s gift to us.  Early Christian thinkers understood this. But they were equally concerned that we exercise this gift with humility, lest we think that it is our faith that saves us. Ephesians makes it clear that we are saved by faith, which is a gift of God [Eph 2: 8-9]. In chapter 3:12 we find the statement reiterated in the words through faith in him.  But a growing number of scholars are saying that our English translations haven’t got it right. The Greek genitive applies to Jesus. That means it should read through the faith of him. My reading of Ephesians convinces me that it is the faithfulness of Jesus that saves us just as we sang about God’s faithfulness at the beginning of the service (TiS 154 Great is your faithfulness).  So we all have the gift of faith in us. It is how God the Creator made us. So the following  apocryphal story of Jesus arriving in heaven may help us see the two sides of faith -our faith in God and God’s faith in us.  The angels greeted and praised Jesus when he arrived in heaven after the Crucifixion and Resurrection. They asked what he had done to ensure that his mighty work would not be forgotten. Jesus replied, ‘I have asked Peter, John, James and my followers to tell others.’  The angels asked again, ‘What have you done to ensure that they will do that?’ Jesus replied, ‘ I have asked Peter, John, James and my followers to tell others.’ But the angels persisted. They said, ‘You know Lord what humankind is like. They forget and they fail you. What have you done to ensure that your good work will never be forgotten?’  Jesus replied, ‘ I have asked Peter, John, James and my followers to tell others.’  Increase our faith.  It is not unnatural for us to ask God to increase our faith.  In a sense one could take the metaphor of faith as a shield and say that there are times when our shield needs maintenance.  I have always taken great comfort from the story of the father who brought his epileptic son to Jesus. Jesus wasn’t present. He was up the mountain of Transfiguration. So the father asked the disciples to pray for the boy.  But their prayers seemed ineffective.  When Jesus returned the boy went into convulsions again.  The father explained to Jesus what had happened. Jesus’ response was telling. He spoke of the insufficiency of the disciple’s faith. You see the disciples were not perfect. They had lots to learn. May be their greatness lay in their willingness to learn. The father turned again to Jesus and asked him to help. Jesus replied, ‘that everything is possible for the person who has faith’ [9:23]. And there we have that thought again. Jesus is saying you have faith exercise it.  The father of the boy plaintively cries out; “I do have faith, but not enough. Help me to have more.” [9:24] So often I have cried out to our Lord

The Armour of God. [Eph. 6] Ephesians  6: 10 – 24 What does the story of Noah share with the Armour of God in Ephesians?  The armour of God in Ephesians like the story of Noah has been well used in children’s ministry.  Boys love the swords and shields. Children can place the animals in the Ark. They both provide tactile interactive lessons. All very good, isn’t it? I pride myself on having a competency in children’s education. When I was the General Editor of a National primary school religious education programme I edited out these texts in the lower levels and reserved them for grade six.  Why? You see both Noah and the Armour of God are adult texts with very sophisticated thoughts. What do they have in common?  In the first place they deal with evil at an advanced level.   Secondly they both encourage us to stand against the evil.  Evil is addressed in both texts, albeit in different ways. The armour of God’s description in Ephesians is preceded with the reason for it.  We are standing against evil in all its power: the forces of evil, principalities, heavenly beings and demonic powers.   Now all this language has been purged from our conversation in most Western churches. We don’t talk about the Devil, or demons, or spiritual powers. We Westerners know that reason tells us all we need to know.  Therefore we are the one’s who do the evil. That is, any evil is purely a human activity. We just need to educate ourselves and set some rules and all will be fine. It has nothing to do with the demonic in life. But is it really as easy as all that? Now I am not asking you to believe in the Devil, or demons, or cosmic forces of evil, if that is what you don’t believe in. Personally I keep an open mind on the question as to whether there is or not a Devil, or demons or powers of evil in the world. I am asking to consider something about the nature of evil. Let us consider what happens in our institutions, community structures and workplaces. You join a company, a club and even a church and you find that there is a spirit or atmosphere in the place. I recall my brother, who claims not to be a Christian, when entering the Biblical research centre where I was working remarking in the entrance hall, “This place feels so peaceful!” He immediately on entering the building felt the atmosphere.  There was something there that was more than the sum of the individual people in it. The research centre had its own spirit. You say, ‘that’s absurd’.  Have you never been to a place and felt something about the place, the environment.  You enter a place and something about it makes you want to respond in a certain way. My brother felt that on that occasion. We talk of friendly churches. Of course individuals determine the friendliness, but the friendliness can reach a level that is bigger than the individuals. The notion that something can be greater than the sum of its parts is as old as Aristotle and we call it synergy.  Take a beam that is 6×4 (150x100mm). A single beam of that size will not be as strong as a laminated beam of the same size. Synergy does not only apply to the physical world but human communities.  When reading for my undergraduate degree in divinity I learnt that institutions and systems have a force that can be demonic.  That is, the culture of a place affects those who enter that culture driving and controlling the behaviour. Create a culture of ‘making the most money as you can’ which is rewarded by individual bonuses, and don’t be surprised to find that the outcome means those in power serve their own interests before those they serve. The evolving culture will be characterised by greed and self-interest. Correspondingly values like trust and integrity will slip. As these trends grow and become integrated into the institution they drive the group. Those entering the institution will be caught up in it. If a new person protests they will be put aside. Most who enter will take on the culture. That is what I see as a form of the demonic, where the culture drives us down a pathway of self-interest at the expense of others.  This is what has happened, I believe, with our banking and financial institutions. This is what happens in politics.  A culture becomes evil when it sets aside respect and justice for others. Evil is present when injustice and elitism, truth and unity are compromised. When the collective wrong-doing becomes greater than the sum of the individuals then the demonic has entered and toxicity emerges. The forces flowing from these cultures are powerful.  This is what Paul is writing about. And we ignore this wisdom at our peril. It is not easy to combat such evil.  [I could go on to talk about how criminalising refugees leads naturally to showing less compassion to these displaced people. Examples abound in history of how we characterise a people so that we can empower ourselves and the total force of this leads to discrimination, injustice.  Apartheid, Nazism, Sexism, Chauvinism all exhibit the same characteristic and have become toxic and demonic forces that gather people up into them.] Now the only way we can combat such forces is by standing against them. We need to stand together– shoulder-to-shoulder as the ancient soldiers did.  On the battlefield the soldiers would stand shoulder to shoulder making a wall of defence with their shields and weapons. This is why we are encouraged to put on the armour of God.  The military image of this passage should not distract us from the truth here. The Armour of God reflects the spiritual nature of the warfare.  There is the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of proclamation,

Two Ways To Live. [Eph. 5]   Ephesians  4: 17 – 5: 21 When is imitation not imitation?  We live in a very divided world?  There is a fundamental divide between good and evil: God and humankind. That means we are faced with choosing between one way or another. Jesus said that one couldn’t serve both money and God [Mt 5: 24].   In the book of Revelation our Lord spurns those who are lukewarm: neither hot nor cold [Rev 3: 15-17].     Divisions rack humanity. Divisions between rich and poor, homeless and housed, refugee and citizen undermine peace. Ideological differences threaten our harmony and progress and not least concerning energy resources and climate change. Our confidence has been shattered by the greed and selfishness exhibited by our banking and financial institutions. Morality seems to have slipped to a low level of selfishness infecting all walks of life. We live in a world that challenges us to decide how we want to live our lives. Basically do we want to serve our own interests or are we going to serve the interests of the community and our environment?  There are two-ways to live. We can live by the law of loving our neighbour as ourselves or just loving ourselves and what is ours. Indifference, ignorance or luke warmness is not a moral response. Those of us studying Ephesians could not help seeing our world in the text. Ephesians describes the common world as darkened in their understanding, having no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint. [4: 18-20]  Our world happily separates itself from God. We seem to have little shame about our greed and the breaking of a moral code. If anything we are embarrassed if we are caught.   In contrast Paul writes, No more lying, then! Each of you must tell the truth to one another, because we are all members together in the body of Christ. If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day.  Don’t give the Devil a chance. Those who used to rob must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for themselves and to be able to help the poor.  Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.  And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.  Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ. [4: 25-32]   The Ephesian Christians are challenged to imitate Christ. [5: 1]  The challenge is appropriate. They are Christian now. They follow Christ. They are to live the life that Christ leads. But they have come to Christ from the world.  That means they have to put off the old life and put on the new life in Christ [4: 22-24]. Christ Jesus’ way is not the way of self-indulgence, greed, stubbornness, or ignorance of God.  What was true then is true for us today. We spend most of our lives working and playing in an environment of self-interest, competition, acquisition and greed, which rubs off on to us. We are infected by the ways of our culture. We must put off the culture of the world and take on the culture of Christ if we are to be true to Jesus Christ. Treating coming to ‘church’ like a tonic that we take once a week to inoculate us from sinfulness is not the Christian life.  On the contrary it is precisely this view that has led the Church to the position where we have organised our structures like the world’s and entered a downward spiral. Those first Christians understood what imitation meant. Today we tend to hear imitation as mimicry. We look to our heroes and copy their dress and hairstyles. Paul, Philo and early Christian writers expressed what the Roman-Greek culture understood about imitation. Imitation was living one’s life by the values and beliefs of the hero they followed. They understood that the rulers were to imitate their gods, and the people their ruler.  That is why Paul could write to the Corinthians saying,  “Imitate me, then, just as I imitate Christ.  I praise you because you always remember me and follow the teachings that I have handed on to you, but understand Christ is supreme”. [1 Cor 11:1-3] This same thought is expressed in 1 Thessalonians [1:6-7] and 1 Peter [2:21]. And in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us to be perfect – just as your Father in heaven is perfect [Matthew 5:48].  Indifference is amoral.  Ephesians rightly does not give us a moral and ethical code to follow, but correctly points us to Christ Jesus whom we are to follow. That is the choice with which we are faced. There are basically two ways in life: God’s and the World’s.  Which way are you choosing, for to choose you must. Only nobodies sit on the fence. History provides us with many stories of people who chose Christ, took up their cross and let the light of God shine in this world. Christian Reger was one such Christian.  He survived four years of Dachau Concentration camp in Germany during the 2nd World War. Reger was not a Jew he was a German. His crime was that he was a minister of the Confessing Church led by Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonheoffer. The Confessing Church stood against the Nazis. Reger’s organist

Walk the Talk. [Eph. 4]   Ephesians 4: 1 – 16 Are you walking your Christian vocation or just talking it? ‘Walk the talk’ basically means to perform actions that are consistent with our claims. The phrase ‘walk the talk’ is a 20th Century phrase. The notion of walking the talk goes back in time. E.g. In Shakespeare’s Richard III the 1st Murderer says; “Fear not, my Lord, we will not stand to prate; talkers are no good doers: be assured we come to use our hands and not our tongues.”  This distinction between talkers and doers is as old as the hills.  Paul in Ephesians encourages us to ‘walk the talk’, writing walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you have been called [KJV 4:1]. He says the same thing 4 times in chapter four. [Note that in modern translations the verb ‘to live’ is used instead of ‘walk’.] In Ephesians chapter 4 we come to the practical side of the faith. The first three chapters have explained the basis of the Faith, which is that we are saved by God’s grace through the faithfulness of Jesus [3:12]. God’s grace redeems, heals and transforms us into the people God wants us to be. That wonderful song written by the converted slave-ship captain, John Newton, says it all.  Amazing grace (how sweet the sound) that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. `Twas  grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed! Ephesians describes the wonders of the faith. God loves us and God rescues us through Christ. God rescues us from the powers of evil and our destructive selfishness. Rescued we become the Church. The church is not something we belong to like a club membership. Rather we are gathered through Christ into a unique group, which represents Christ on earth.  We are Christ’s body on earth. We are the Church. As the Church – the community of Christ, we form the Temple of God. God dwells in this Temple, the body of Christ Jesus on earth. That is what God’s grace has done for us – made us a new instrument of peace. Now we are asked to ‘walk it’ – to live out our lives with actions consistent with these truths. Our lives must exhibit the unity and the corresponding peace that belongs to the body of Christ on earth – the Church. We are not encouraged to follow a set of rules. That is not the point of ‘walking the talk’ in Christianity.  The whole point is that we maintain the unity of the faith.  We Christians are to put every effort into maintaining the unity of the faith [4: 3].  We have been told in chapters 1 and 3 that the great secret plan of God is to bring all things in heaven and earth into a unity so that there can be peace [1: 9-10; 3: 3-10]. God’s grace doesn’t mean we have a guaranteed seat on the heavenly train. God’s grace means that we have been recruited to be God’s witnesses – God’s people with a special task that involves maintaining unity in the Church, Christ’s body on earth, and promoting peace to all peoples.  God’s intention is to reconcile all things so that we can have peace [1: 9-10].  Peace is the very thing we don’t have in this world. We don’t have personal peace. We are restless creatures. We don’t have peace with others. We have fractured relationships.  We don’t have peace with other peoples. Tribalism constantly tears us apart. What is important to note is that peace comes as a result of unity. When we are united we are naturally at peace with each other. If God calls us into unity in Christ Jesus then we are also called to maintain the unity. This is what we are to do – maintain the unity in the Church. Unity needs to be maintained, because we always default to some kind of disunity.  To maintain the unity we need the right attitude.  The attitudes that foster unity are humility, gentleness, patience, and lovingly caring for each other. Our attitude is crucial to peacemaking and unity.  So Paul writes; I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life [walk worthily] worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace [4: 1-3]. Maintaining the unity of the Church is our chief focus through developing our fellowship and maturing into compassionate agents of grace. Right actions flow from our unity. We need more than the right attitude. We need the right attributes. The essential attribute of God is God’s oneness. Whenever the Scriptures speak of God the underlying thought is that God is one. So when we speak of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we speak of an undivided unity. When we speak of God as the Creator we read that Christ is the co-Creator and it is the Spirit who forms order out of the chaos [Gen 1: 1-3; Jn 1:1-4]. Creation is the work of the Trinity. We need the right gifts to build up the Church.  God gives us those gifts. They are named in Ephesians. They are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. God gifts us with these tasks, which builds and renews the Church. The Church needs not only the right attitude and attributes, but needs the right gifts for growth so that the Church can fulfil its task. We might find it easier to be gentle, remain patient, caring for each other, if we remember that our task is to develop our unity. Focused on unity we will naturally take these attitudes and attributes into our daily