Sermons

What I came to do. 1 Corinthians 9: 16 – 23; Mark 1: 29 – 39 Christ Jesus has come to all and wants the best for us all. “That is what I came out to do”, said Jesus to his disciples. [Mk 1: 38] What always strikes me in this passage is that Jesus has had a very busy day well into the evening, and he gets up before sunrise to go to a quiet place to pray. Why? Surely there is reason enough to have a little longer in bed? Anyway how much time does he need? Before sunrise – before everyone else gets up? Mark paints another word picture for us depicting a day in Jesus’ early ministry. We naturally see all the healings and get caught up in that part of his ministry, but I believe that misses the point: two points actually. Firstly, he returns to Simon Peter’s house and is told about his mother-in-law’s illness. What Jesus does is significant, but the significance is lost on us, because of our cultural difference. In those days, a respectable rabbi would not take a woman by the hand. And we have no records, amongst the healings of that time, of rabbis healing women.  And certainly this would not have been done on the Sabbath. Jesus could have waited until after sundown that day, which was the beginning of the next day. Their days ran from sunset to sunset.  In healing this woman and touching her Jesus is subject to uncleanness and breaking the Sabbath law. Mark records something very significant here. Jesus cures a demon-possessed man on the Sabbath and heals a woman on the Sabbath. And he touches a woman he does not know.  Jesus will not be constrained by convention when it comes to our well-being.  And, more importantly Jesus’ actions proclaim that the Gospel is for all. That is the first and profound lesson:  all are included in God’s kingdom, and our conventions take a second place.  We should take careful note of the latter. The second point of this passage for me is that Jesus needs time alone. For what? Well, we are not told, but there are some clues. Jesus has become popular.  The beginning of his ministry sees a group of disciples formed and people respond warmly to this rabbi – a teacher who speaks with authority and acts with power. People have been healed and they see that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, is special.  They come to Simon Peter’s house in the evening because it is no longer the Sabbath.  Jesus heals. Reading between the lines the disciples wake up rather lazily. They discover that some early risers have arrived to see Jesus. This is exciting. They go looking for Jesus. They’re part of the show. For them it is about the success of Jesus’ ministry. The crowds are growing.  The disciples are pleased and excited.  When they find Jesus they tell him; “Everyone is searching for you.” [Mk 1:37] A little bit of exaggeration, but it is basically true.  The disciples think that this is what Jesus has come to do and they’re part of it. But they are wrong. Jesus has come to proclaim the message throughout Israel and to Israel. Jesus has also come to confront evil and lay down his life. They don’t understand this. Their lack of understanding is understandable.  Jesus needed time alone to reflect on what has happened. He needed to get perspective because others would not see what he sees. A successful day with crowds is tempting. The temptation would be to stay with the crowds and build a strong rabbinic teaching ministry. That’s what rabbis did. They established schools – at least the great ones did. But that is exactly the temptation he needed to face and reject. It is not that people should come to him, but that he should go to them. That is the Gospel: God comes to us in this one, Christ Jesus.  I think one of the great dangers in life is that we do not give ourselves time to reflect on our successes. We’d just rather repeat them. Never forget about the long journey – the goal. What you are called to: what God has laid on your heart. Jesus didn’t. This passage speaks to us of the scope and purpose of Jesus’ ministry: God’s Kingdom is at hand and it is for all: the rich, the poor, men and women, children, the outcasts and tax collectors. They will come to see that the Gospel is for all – even the Romans  – their enemies.  Now the Gospel comes in the power of God and God’s intention is to heal and restore us to our former image. Now for us healing has largely to do with our physical wellness. Healing often means the removal of pain, discomfort and limitations. Let’s briefly ponder about this. In my ministry of over 50 years I have come to see healing in this way. Firstly, I believe that God can intervene and that miraculous healings do take place. I have personally witnessed this.  But physical healing does not always come in the way we wish it. There is a testimony that goes back through time right to Paul, who had some physical ailment, that the physical ailment has been a means of witnessing to God. What if our physical ailment is the instrument of God’s message to others? What if the great healing is death itself, so that we can go to be wholly in God’s presence? I fear that we tend to see healing as the absence of suffering of any kind.  I am not sure that is a helpful understanding. Yes, I like being free of pain and any form of suffering. I like to be bouncing with energy.  But such health, when I reflect on it, is the health I enjoy and I want because it serves my interests. And our concern is

The latent power within. Deuteronomy 18: 15 – 20;  Mark 1: 21 – 28 You have the latent power and authority to change the world for good. Mark tells us that the first thing Jesus did when he began his ministry was to gather disciples. And the reader of the Gospel will observe that disciples are present at every point in Jesus’ public ministry, right up until the Crucifixion. Jesus’ past and present disciples are critical to the proclamation of the Gospel. Now Mark tells us that Jesus was a teacher and that he taught with authority. He (Jesus) entered the synagogue and taught.  They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. [Mk 1: 21b & 22]  Jesus’ teaching had a big impact on those who heard him. Not only was Jesus an amazing teacher he was an awesome teacher. At the beginning of his teaching ministry the unclean spirits identify Jesus. The demonic spirit in the man knows who Jesus is and what he can do. In the ancient world calling someone by their name and identifying who they are was seen as act of power and control over them. This ‘spirit’ not only knows Jesus’ earthly name but also knows his heavenly title – ‘the Holy one of God’. Those present would have understood that the ‘unclean spirit’ was powerful. But without hesitation Jesus drives out this ‘spirit’.  This incident is not incidental to Jesus’ teaching.  The exorcism shows Jesus as an authoritative teacher has power over evil.  So the crowd kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him”. [Mk 1: 27]  So Mark has provided us with another word picture of Jesus. Jesus has announced that the Kingdom of God was close, he has gathered disciples, who are so important to his ministry, and demonstrates that he teaches with authority and power. Now a kingdom is impossible without authority, and authority is useless without power. This is what Jesus is doing.  He declares that the Kingdom of God is present and he has the authority and power to constitute that kingdom.  The presence of the Kingdom is seen in Jesus and his disciples when they do the will of God: just as we pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.  So let us look at the relationship between authority and power.  The simplest way to illustrate the difference between authority and power is to place to pictures side by side. There is the truck driver in a huge vehicle. Driving on the road the truck driver has enormous power in his hands. When we are on the road we make sure we are not in the truck’s path. In our hands we may have a 4×4, car, motorcycle or bicycle, all have various rates of power but none have the power to stop the truck driver. However a person can – a police person can stop that truck by putting up their hand. Wow, that’s power. The policeman has the authority to do what no one else can do – stop the truck.  The policeman has been given the authority to do so by the government and carries the power of the government in this simple action. The truck driver has power but has very limited authority in contrast to the policeman. That picture of the police-person having the authority to stop the powerful truck helps us understand how Jesus appeared to the people of his day.  There Jesus was. Whatever he might have looked like and whatever personal ‘presence’ he might have had, he had authority over that which all others feared  – the demonic powers. Mark tells us that Jesus had authority and power. Power and authority are related terms but also different.   Authority is a power that is derived from another. Authority flows one way and downwards. Authority carries a delegated power.  Authority is given to us by another to act. So when we speak of Jesus’ authority we are speaking of a power given to him by God the Creator.  At another level Jesus is God so it is his authority. What I understand is that to speak of Jesus having authority is to recognise that Jesus is subject to the Trinity. That is, Jesus is not merely an individual acting on behalf of himself. Jesus is subject to the vision and plan of the Triune God. Therefore his power is not his alone but the power of the God-head and the Kingdom of God. The Gospel writers tell about Jesus’s authority and power in a few clear sentences.  Mark tells us that the people were saying;  “A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him” [Mk 1: 27].  Luke reports that the people were saying; with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come [Lk 4: 36]. Jesus not only had authority but the power over the spiritual realm. Power is a broader concept than authority. Whereas authority is the right to exercise power, power is the ability to influence and change situations. Power is not necessarily delegated.  Just being given the authority to influence and change is not sufficient. So our police-person who steps into the road to stop the truck does so in a manner that exudes confidence, belief and commitment.  The police-person doesn’t half-heartedly raise their hand. They act with conviction and commitment to the task given to them. They are the government’s agents who are given power to act in a certain way.   There is an integration of the way they present themselves, their dress, the confidence of their actions and the belief in the authority and power they carry. There must be some integration between the authority given and the person they are. Importantly their actions must also be consistent with a

Decision Time. Jonah 3: 1 – 5, 10;  Mark 1: 14 – 20 Decisions make us what we are or are not. It’s decision time. That is the theme of our readings today. Each one is about decision-making, and each one is about what God is doing.  When God acts we must decide.  Jonah first decided to disobey the call of God and through adversity decided to obey God. He proclaimed God’s message to the Ninevians and they decided to repent, and God decided to show mercy to the repentant Ninevians. The Psalmist (62) speaks of the longing for God to act and God’s promise to restore and rescue.  Paul writes to the Corinthians and tells them that the time for God to restore Creation is near and that they must decide to live rightly before God.  When God acts we must decide.  We must decide whether to be part of God’s action or not. Mark begins his well-crafted account of the Gospel telling us who Jesus is in verses 1 – 13. Verse 14 begins the narration of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus comes on the scene and presents us with a metaphorical fork in the religious road.  Which way will you go?   In verses 14-16 Mark provides us with a summary of the Gospel, which in common language reads, ‘it is time to turn around and face the right way’.  The Gospel is this; Jesus shows us the way to God and what God is doing about getting us on track. Mark tells us that the first thing Jesus did was to gather disciples. In our passage he calls Simon, Andrew, James and John. Two sets of brothers. All fisherman – all called to fish for Jesus.  Incidentally from now through to the Crucifixion Jesus never appears publicly without some or all of his disciples present. The disciples are crucial to the proclamation of the Gospel, just as we are. Remember the future of God’s community, from an earthly perspective, lies with the current followers of Jesus, not the future ones. We are the future – praise God.  It’s decision time. Jesus’ presence creates that fork in the road as to whether we will follow or stay where we are.  Jesus’ presence is such that we must respond. The disciples decide to follow. The crowds hear his preaching and in the listening many turn to follow him as Jesus gives them hope, faith and healing. The religious authorities come to hear this new preacher. The religious authorities are full of confidence about their correctness. They respond by deciding to destroy Jesus as he threatens their authority and the status quo [Mk 2: 6f, 16, 24; 3:6].  Jesus in presenting the truth of God is like a light shining in the darkness and the darkness wants to snuff out the light, but the darkness cannot overcome the light of Christ [John 1:5; 3: 19].  The light of Christ confronts the world’s darkness demanding a decision.  The decisions make us what we are.  Our decisions shape our future, whether the decision is a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.  I am haunted by a decision I made in my first few weeks of University. It was the 6th lecture in Intro-Greek in my 1st year at university reading for my undergraduate degree in divinity. The lecturer presented the results for our first little test. I did very well. He offered me the opportunity to go to Greek 1. I was in the divinity students group doing Introductory Greek. I wanted to go, but all my fears emerged. I had never done well at languages at school. I stayed. I always feel that if I had gone I would have achieved that standard of Greek that would have served me well in my post-graduate years. Instead my relatively poor Greek skills held me back. On the other hand my decision to say ‘yes’ to Jesus as a 17 year-old has completely shaped my life and who I am. And I have no regrets even though there have been times when I have baulked at the call of God. I am deeply grateful for the call. Indecision helps no one.  It is unhelpful to stand at the fork in the road and keep wondering which way to go and not decide. To stand indecisively at the fork in the road leaves us meandering through life. Indecision leads nowhere.  It is important to be decisive in a time of uncertainty, which is not the same as uncertain in a time of deciding. When we are faced with a decision we need to be decisive. Now when we read Mark’s account of the Gospel of Jesus we might be a little amazed at the response of the disciples.  It appears that Jesus walks past a few fisherman on the shore and selects a few! And then they simply turn around and leave everything and follow him.  It’s all a little amazing. Mark is not writing about the disciples, he is writing about Jesus. Mark is not interested in why the disciples decided for Jesus; he is interested in telling us that Jesus required disciples. So is there any indication why the disciples chose to follow Jesus? Yes, if we listen carefully to the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Let us recall that many people at this time were looking to God to send the Messiah. Let us also recall that Jesus didn’t drop out of the sky. He was the cousin of John the Baptist. So when Jesus begun his ministry he knew John the Baptist.  The Gospel according to John tells us that two of John the Baptist’s disciples saw Jesus walk by and John the Baptist said to them, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” [Jn 1: 35-42] One of these disciples was Andrew, Peter’s brother.  We also know, according to Luke, that James and John were partners with Peter [Lk 5: 10]. Mark says Jesus came and called Peter

Listening Opens us to God. 1 Samuel 3: 1 – 4:1a; John 1: 43 – 51 In my first sermon this year I shared my New Year’s Resolution: to make 2018 a year of the Holy Spirit.  I have felt led by the Spirit to do so. My personal intention is to be more sensitive to the guidance and blessing of the Spirit in my life. Hopefully you will share that journey with me. Being sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s encouragement, guidance and empowerment is not easy.  So it was with delight I saw that the lectionary texts set for this Sunday help us understand how we might be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Our texts give us two wonderful stories of God’s guidance.  I am going to focus chiefly on the Samuel text and its wonderfully crafted story of the call of Samuel: Israel’s great priest, prophet and kingmaker who lived in the 10th Century BC(E). Remember the background story of his childless mother, Hannah. She prayed to have a son and said to God that she would give her son to the Lord. Hannah did have a son and she did give that son, when he was weaned at 4 – 5 years old, to the priest Eli at the Shiloh sanctuary. We pick up the story when Samuel was probably in his late teens. He is serving in the sanctuary and helping Eli the priest, who is an old man and losing his sight. The story contains for us so many spiritual truths.  The story unfolds. Samuel has just gone to bed.  Then he hears his name called.  He responds. He doesn’t pretend to be sleeping. He gets up and goes to Eli. Who else would be calling him? Three times Samuel hears his name and three times he goes to Eli.  On the third instance Eli realises that it must be God wanting to speak to Samuel. Let us reflect on what we can learn from this. Samuel’s expectation is that if anyone is calling him it could be only Eli who, as his superior, would do so. No one else would be calling him. Why would he think it was God calling him? In the opening sentence of this account we are told that God’s ‘word’ was very rare in those days [1 Sam 3:1].  In other words the conversation between God and the people was formal and ritualistic: not dynamic and personal.  To put it another way, the practise of faith was not personal but ritualistic. There were few instances of God interacting with people in those days – very few we are told.  It would seem that there was a spiritual desert amongst God’s people. And we are told why in chapter 2 where we learn that Eli’s sons were doing bad things and Eli was not holding them accountable.  And the people were following their own interests.  Sounds familiar. Now consider these days.  The Church is in numerical decline. Our conversation with God is more formal than personal.  Our faith is more ritualistic than dynamic. For example, we don’t hear of people hearing God speak to them or seeing visions.  Our conversations about our faith are more likely to be intellectual rather than personal. And it is hard to distinguish between our secular friends and ourselves apart from church attendance. It is no wonder that Samuel wouldn’t be thinking that God was calling him. In fact we are expressly told in 1 Sam 3:7 that Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. Samuel had to learn a lot about his relationship to God and how God works. He needed to move from a formal relationship to a personal relationship with the Lord.  The old priest realises that God may be speaking. Eli then directs Samuel to say, if he hears his name called again; ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’  [3:9] Samuel does hear his name called and now he says yes;  ‘I am listening to you, God, speak.’  We come now to the second spiritual lesson for us today in this story.  Samuel heard his name and was now ready to listen to God: Samuel hears and listens. There is a difference between hearing and listening.  Hearing is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear. If you are not hearing-impaired, hearing simply happens. Listening, however, is something you consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that your brain works out what the sounds or words mean. Hearing naturally happens: listening requires concentration.  It is not easy to discern the voice of God and what God is saying to us. There are a variety of reasons why this is so.  It is possible that God is not speaking to us because of our sin.  God may be distant to us because we have moved away from God. But if we do hear God are we listening? Listening requires attention and effort. Samuel’s readiness has several degrees.   Firstly, he is willing to be a servant. He is serving Eli in the sanctuary.   Secondly, he hears and attends to the voice, even if he is mistaken. Samuel hears and responds. Thirdly, he is open to receive a word from Eli and then from God. He listens.   Fourthly he is obedient to the instructions.  Samuel is a humble person who is open and receptive.  He is open to a new possibility and he is receptive to a call to take up responsibility. So we learn that learning to listen, being humble and being receptive are important to our meaningful fellowship and ministry in the church. This whole incident must have been very disturbing to someone whose life followed a certain regularity and routine. Regardless of the prophetic history of the prophets and priests, we are given no evidence for thinking that Samuel was an adventurous, freethinking boy. Rather he comes across as obedient, humble and willing to serve. He seems more

My 2018 Resolution. Acts 19: 1 – 7;  Mark 1: 4 – 11 What is in the heart is more important than what is in the head. It’s Resolution time. Have you made any ‘NY’ resolutions? I did. I know when I was young ‘NY’ resolutions were quite a big thing. Of course keeping them was another matter, let alone remembering them. In my sermon-preparation this week I felt encouraged to have a special focus in 2018. I stopped and had a chat with God. I felt the Spirit’s affirmation. The inspiration came out of my reading and reflection on our texts. I resolved to make 2018 a year of the Holy Spirit. That’s my resolution for 2018.  Naturally as your minister you will come on the journey or at least watch it unfold. I do hope you will join me. Why, you may be asking?  Why the Holy Spirit? Well the Spirit plays such an important role in God’s purposes. Nothing happens in the Bible without the Holy Spirit’s action. Moses was so aware of the Spirit in the prophets that he wished all the people were prophets [Num 11:29]. The prophet Joel sees a day when God’s Spirit rests on all and says that our sons and daughters will prophesy [Joel 2: 28].  Last week’s sermon showed how Luke recognised that nothing of eternal substance happens without the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lectionary texts set for the first Sunday of 2018 pick up on the theme of the Spirit. Mark, who doesn’t focus as strongly as Luke does on the Holy Spirit, nevertheless makes it quite clear that Jesus will baptise us not with water but the Spirit. Mark also tells us that when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist the Spirit descended upon Jesus [Mk 1: 10].  Jesus, when he was soon to be crucified, said to his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit to be with them to guide, strengthen and empower them for service [John 14, 15 & 16]. Jesus told his disciples that the Spirit will tell you about me [John 15:26] and that the Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you [John 16:14]. So there is ample reason for focusing on the Holy Spirit, and not least because the Spirit is so often not well understood by us. The Holy Spirit is very important to our lives, to the well-being of the Church and the proclamation of the Gospel. So Paul’s conversation with a few disciples in Ephesus is not surprising. When Paul meets these people who are following the Christian Way he asks them; “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”  [Acts 19:2].  ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit?’  Paul doesn’t ask what they believed when they were baptised, or what was their theological understanding of Jesus, but did they receive the Holy Spirit.  Paul’s question is not about what is in the head but what is in the heart. The question about receiving the Spirit goes to the heart of the matter. Paul does not see Christianity being about what we believe but what we do. I appreciate that what we believe is as important as what we do, because what we believe should lead to what we do. But Paul with his question drills down immediately to what is important for the new believer. Did you receive the Holy Spirit? Their reply and their response demonstrate the relevance of Paul’s question.  They reply that they hadn’t and didn’t know about the Holy Spirit. When they are baptised into Jesus name the Spirit came upon them and they prophesied. These few disciples are now Spirit filled, Spirit directed and Spirit empowered. Wow! They no longer are a group who are following a new way. They have become a small band of Holy Spirit directed and empowered people.  Their faith has moved from the head to the heart, and we know that a heart driven person is an energised person. This doesn’t mean we no longer have to use our brains, it just means we have a new enthusiasm for what we are doing. Oh, that word enthusiasm: do you know its derivation and what it originally meant? It is derived from the Greek terms – en theos; that is, God in us or more colloquially, inspired by God.  The early Methodists were condemned by the formal Church of the day for being ‘enthusiasts’. Enthusiasm is wonderful, but those who don’t share the enthusiasm fear it. I accept that enthusiasm has to be moderated but not squashed. (Oh, for the problem of an enthusiastic church!) So receiving the Spirit will lead to God being within us and we becoming enthusiasts.  Secondly, notice that all they had to do was ‘receive the Spirit’.  God has given the Spirit to us. The Spirit is given to us in our Baptism and in our turning to and following Jesus. But like all gifts we have to receive the Spirit – open the gift up.  Let me illustrate what I am saying. Have you ever been in that embarrassing position with some electrical equipment that won’t work? You just can’t get it to function. So you ask some one to help you. (You know where I am going?)  They come look around and then switch on the power at the powerpoint. You feel so, so silly.  Something like that we have all experienced. (I’ve got to put my hand up on this one.) The equipment won’t work until it is switched on. And sometimes we need to be shown how to switch it on.  I want to share with you the testimony of some great servants of God and what happened when they received the Spirit. You will see that the Spirit works with us individually and that the sign of the Spirit dwelling in us is not expressed in the same way in each case. R.A. Torrey tells

Luke’s Story Picture of Jesus. Isaiah 61: 10 – 62: 3;  Luke 2: 21 – 40 Sometimes to run true to God is to run foul of the people. Bishop Tom Wright describes watching a lead light craftsperson setting the led frame for a stained glass window in the Cathedral. The lead lighter carefully laid out the frame for the beautiful glass he had prepared. The lead lighter used a rainbow of colour to vividly tell a story. Writers are like that too. Luke does what a lead lighter does – he sets out the frame for a window on the story of Jesus. In this instance the frame is not made of lead but the ritual events surrounding the birth of a Jewish boy. After eight days he is circumcised and later there is a purification ceremony. This is the frame for the coloured glass of the story so to speak. How would you have depicted this child born to be God’s king? Luke chooses sombre colours rather than the vivid colours of royalty and power.  Luke’s colours convey the very opposite power and royal splendour. If Jesus comes as the ‘Prince of Peace’ and ‘God’s Son’ he is not painted with the colours of power and glory usually associated with kingly rule. If Jesus is the Son of God his power is not like Caesar’s.  Luke is warning his readers that Jesus is not like an earthly ruler ruling with power and glory. He does this by putting Simeon and Anna in the forefront. They are his sombre and penetrating colours.  Both remind us strongly that Jesus enters a suffering world and will confront the suffering and injustice. Simeon is waiting for the redemption of the world and the consolation of the Jewish people. Simeon longs to see an end to his people’s suffering. They have suffered long under the rule of foreign powers and currently under the strong-armed rule of Rome.  Simeon’s desire to see the end of the suffering is also to see the beginning of God’s justice. Simeon for us represents the suffering people of this world looking for help to rise above the injustice and suffering.  Anna to is also sufferer.  She was widowed after seven years of marriage and never married again. It seems she is childless as well.  She became a prophet residing in the temple hoping like Simeon for restoration of Israel.  Both come out of the tradition and family of Judaism.  What Simeon says to Joseph and Mary is significant. He says that this baby Jesus, recently circumcised and named Jesus, will suffer for the people. To Mary he says, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”  Simeon also says that Jesus comes not only to rescue the Jews but to be a light to the Gentiles as well. So the Holy Family hear these prophets speak of their son in the most devout and esteemed terms for any Jew. This is God’s special child who will not live a life of pomp and wealth but a life of suffering. He will rescue his people and the Gentiles will turn to God as well.  Isaiah’s prophecies also speak of a ‘suffering servant’.  So Luke unfolds the story of Jesus’ birth with a somber picture of the salvation of Israel and the world through suffering.  Jesus will come to the suffering and heal them and liberate them, but he too will suffer it seems as Isaiah depicted. Luke wants his readers to understand Jesus’ role is different to that of earthly kings, and that Jesus’ kingdom encompasses the world. Luke prepares his readers to understand that Jesus’ glory is the defeat of sin through pure love that leads to the redemption of all. So after the happy birth of a Saviour born to be King we are reminded that the weight of the world rests upon this child’s shoulders. There are two further things to note in this word picture that Luke paints.   Firstly we see the characters surrounding the Christ-child. There are the young parents facing the future with their boy-child. There are the two old persons in their sunset years with hopes and dreams for a better world.  One an old priest devout and no doubt a family man. There is the lonely widow devoutly waiting and praying for the Messiah.  Luke draws readers of every age and stage into this story and does not avoid the reality of this child’s suffering role for the world.  Secondly, Luke has told this story concerning another person who winds her way through this sombrely coloured scene of suffering and hope.  It is the wind of the Spirit blowing through the avenues of life. We are told that the Spirit rested on Simeon [2:25]; that the Spirit had told Simeon he would not die until he had seen the Messiah [2:26]; and, that Simeon was guided into the Temple at the time when the purification rite of Jesus and his mother took place [2:27].  We are left no doubt of the role of Jesus and power of the Holy Spirit at work. I suggest there are three lessons for us. Firstly, that Jesus is the Lord of life who comes to us to suffer for and with us.  Jesus shows that through his suffering evil is destroyed. You may have noticed that I am fond of this phrase – Jesus suffers for and with us.  The suffering of Jesus has two significant features. Firstly, the easier one to understand is that God identifies with us in coming in human form. God clothed in human flesh tells us that God is for us – Emmanuel.  God identifies with us.  That was the point of Kierkegaard’s parable of the ‘Prince and the Maiden’ I told on Christmas Day. 

Love’s Obedience. Romans 16: 25 – 27; Luke 1: 26 – 38 Obedience is the fruit of faith; love the bloom on the fruit. I want to talk about obedience today. There is the story of Charlie and his teacher. His teacher said to Charlie. ‘This is the fifth time this week that I have had to punish you. What have you to say for yourself?’   Charlie replied timidly, ‘I’m glad it’s Friday?’ There is wisdom in children, as we know.  Three-year-old Bobby insisted on standing up in his highchair although his mother had reprimanded him to stay seated. She did this twice reseating him. After the third time, little Bobbie remained seated but looked at his mother and said, ‘Mummy, I’m still standing up inside.’ Yes, there is coerced obedience, which lasts as long as the power of coercion lasts. Then there is the obedience that is true and remains so even in the face of great threat: indeed in the face of the ultimate threat. That’s a special kind of obedience. Then there is the shallow obedience that is given to social conventions, traditions or cultural habits. This obedience is given with little thought and no commitment. Then there is the obedience that is based on that erroneous view that God requires us to obey religious and secular authorities.  I wish to focus on an obedience that emerges out of a deep faith and love.   In 1940 the order had gone out that incurables and the insane were no longer to be a burden on the Reich. Three high officials descended upon the Bethel institution (a huge hospital for epileptics and the mentally ill).  ‘Herr Pastor ‘, they said, ‘the Fuehrer has decided that all these people must be gassed.”  Pastor Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, Junior, looked at them calmly and said; ‘You can put me into a concentration camp if you want; that is your affair. But as long as I am free, you do not touch one of my patients. I cannot change to fit the times or the wishes of the Fuehrer. I stand under orders from our Lord Jesus Christ.’  In checking this story I came across this note: According to the noted psychiatrist Karl Stern‘s memoir, The Pillar of Fire (page 119), “There was a famous Lutheran pastor, Bodelschwingh, who built up a huge colony of feeble-minded, idiots and epileptics in Bethel in Western Germany. During the war, when the Nazis carried out the slaughter of all mental patients, Pastor Bodelschwingh insisted that he would be killed together with his inmates. It was only on the basis of his international fame that the politicians let him get away with it, and let him and the inmates of his colony live. This was a kind of last-ditch stand of Christianity.”  In another reference it was the high esteem with which general public had of Pastor von Bodelschwingh and his family that caused politicians to re-consider the decision to kill the clients of the Bethel institute.  Pastor Von Bodelschwingh stood in the tradition of countless Christians who faced death with courage for their faith and obedience to Christ Jesus. The pastor stood in that long line of tradition that began with Peter and John before the Sandhedrin when they chose to obey God rather than the religious authorities [Acts 4: 19f].  I would add that the young Mary, the mother to be of Jesus, also had such faith that led to her obedience. Whatever we may think of the story of the Virgin birth of Jesus – a mystery it is – we cannot dismiss the faith and obedience of Mary, and Joseph.  Mary stands out.  Scholars – some with blind belief others blinded by cynicism have critically examined the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s birth. I do not want re-visit those discussions. I not sure that such scholarly discussion finally help us in our faith journey. The story of Mary tells us some core truths.  The story tells us that Jesus was fully human; that Jesus’s birth was the work of God; and, that Mary was a faithful and obedient person.  Whatever the precise circumstances are we have a young woman, namely a virgin, who is pregnant with child before her marriage. There is something courageous in this woman who accepts her lot. There is much faith in this young woman who senses the divine has touched her life in a very special way.  Her response is an obedient response.  It is an obedience born out of a faith in God and a love for God. Mary responds positively to the task that lies ahead.  I think Mary’s obedience to God is what the final doxology of the letter to the Romans means when it says, to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, [Rom 16:26] It is a strange thought that faith demands obedience to God. Let pause to unpack this thought for a moment. At the first level this concept, the obedience of faith, means that what we believe determines our decisions. What we believe is what we value. The beliefs and values we hold will shape our decision making process. If we believe that a polite society is of great importance it will shape our decisions and responses.  If we believe truth is of great importance that will shape how we respond to life situations. If our faith is in Divine Transcendence, then that belief will shape our decisions.  Firstly, we must say that obedience is the fruit of faith. It is faith in God, who is the beginning and end of all things, who we believe in and therefore whom we obey. This is a higher obedience because there is a higher being who holds our life. Whether we call this transcendence, God or Christ or Life, it is that which transcends all else. To disobey goes against our very being.  That is why Pastor von Bobelschwingh and countless men and women have stood

Hope: the Oxygen of a Meaningful Life. Isaiah 64: 1-9;  Mark 13: 24 – 27 Is gravity pu? Today marks the end of the first week in Advent. Advent marks the coming of Christ Jesus to earth to live amongst us and reveal more clearly the nature and intention of God. Advent also reminds us that we live in expectation of Christ’s return and the fulfilment of God’s Kingdom. These subjects contain the themes of expectation and hope.  Emil Brunner wrote:  ‘What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope for the meaning of life.’ From times of old, people longed for, hoped for, and expected God to right the wrongs and bring peace. That longing, hope and expectation is as real and relevant today as it was yesterday.  We still have our troubles, our suffering and political turmoil. Injustices, abuse and exploitation remain.  We face our personal struggles and suffering. What sustains us is our hope. Our hope will be grounded in people, systems and of course God. Without hope our energy is sapped and motivation drained. We enter despair.  Without hope there is only death of the spirit and life.  It is hope they keeps us alive and keeps us expecting and working towards a better world. Oscar Hammerstein’s (II) said: ‘I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices. But reality is as beautiful as it is ugly. I think it is just as important to sing about beautiful mornings, as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn’t write anything without hope in it.’ Our Scripture readings speak of the hope that preceded the coming of Christ Jesus. The prophet Isaiah lived through the times when Israel had returned from Exile, but the hopes of re-building the Temple and re-establishing the nation were not completed. There was a sense of despair. Where is God?  That is the question that lies behind our Isaiah reading.  What kept their spirits alive is the memory of the great deeds of God.  So the prophet asks the peoples’ question;  ‘Why don’t you do it again?’  The prophet’s answer is revealing and insightful:  no one has ever seen or heard of a God like you, who does such deeds for those who put their hope in him. You welcome those who find joy in doing what is right, those who remember how you want them to live. [Is 64:4ff]  What the prophet rightly observes is that God will act in conjunction with our faith and obedience.  God welcomes those who find joy in doing what is right.  God will not answer our needs without our cooperation for that merely turns God into a false insurance against trouble – usually the trouble we have caused. God gives us freedom and dignity by working with us rather than working for us. This is the spiritual lesson we must learn: God calls us into a partnership. God will bring about redemption and renewal, healing and restoration in our lives in conjunction with our faith.  I’m reminded of those five young maidens who ran out of oil for their lamps and found themselves shut out of the wedding feast. They had failed to do their bit. They were the type of person who expects God to do things for them when they’re in trouble, rather that working with God through the trouble. Our suffering can lead us to the question: ‘Where is God?’  That cry is often being uttered. Elie Wiesel writes about the absence of God in her book, Night.  Wiesel describes the agony of the experience of God’s absence.  A child hangs from the gallows set up by the SS. Someone is heard to ask, ‘Where is God?’  ‘Where is He?’ The child struggles between life and death for more than half an hour, and the same person asks again, ‘Where is God now?’   Wiesel writes:  And I heard a voice within me answer him: ‘Where is He? Here He is … He is hanging here on this gallows. [Wiesel pp.61-62] The true prophet does not offer slick answers. The true prophet lets the contradictions of life exist. The true prophet challenges facile explanations of faith and invites us to trust and cooperate with God. The second lesson is that hope and faith help us see God breaking into our lives in new ways that astound us. How excited those first disciples of Jesus must have been when they witnessed miracles and saw the crowds grow large? How dumfounded must those first disciples been when they witnessed the cruel death of their Lord at the hands of the authorities in collusion with Rome? How bemused they must have been when they witnessed the Resurrection? How amazed those first disciples must have been to witness the church emerge around the Roman Empire?  How incredible it would have been when later generations heard of the Emperor’s acknowledgement of Christ Jesus as Lord and in time the rise to power of the Church? But living through any one of these times in history required faith and hope followed by obedience to Christ Jesus. Here is a picture of a changed life set free.   In 79 AD, the city of Pompeii in southern Italy was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Less well known is another town, Herculaneum, which was also destroyed. This town was a popular first century resort until that day Mount Vesuvius exploded and buried it under sixty-five feet of solidified mud and lava. Excavations of Herculaneum have revealed a wealthy town and like all towns had smaller blocks of tenement houses for the workers. In one of the smaller houses in a back room was found a cross that appears to have been hidden.  There are three nail prints that suggest the cross was covered.  We also know that there were persecutions in Italy. It is probable that the people of this home held a house church here in this ordinary house.  It tells us a

Our Choices Unite or Disunite Us. 1 Thessalonians 5: 1 – 11;  Matthew 25: 31 – 46 If ‘decision’ was a theme of last week’s readings, this week’s readings speak of the crisis – the moment of the ultimate judgement.  A crisis demands decisions and the impending crisis requires preparation.  At least the thoughtful and the wise prepare for the crisis moment. Both our readings this Sunday speak of a time of judgement: a time when we will be called to account.  Paul writes to the Christians in Thessalonica and talks to them about the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is traditionally understood as a time of judgement. Paul warns that it will suddenly appear ‘like a thief in the night.  Jesus too, speaks of the Day of the Lord when all the nations will be gathered.  Many things are written about the Day of Judgement.  I wish to make two points about the Day of Judgement.  Firstly, we cannot assume other than that there will be a time when we are assessed before God. To think that we can merrily live our lives as we wish and not be judged is to fool ourselves. To think we are held accountable for our lives is silly. And let us not conflate judgement with condemnation. The judgement, the assessment and the taking account, is nothing more than that. It is the conclusion of the assessment that is concerning. Secondly, I want to say that in another sense our lives are continuously being assessed. Every turning point in the journey of life, every event that requires response is a moment of crisis – it requires judgement.  Every time we make our decisions, whether big or small, we are assessed in one way or another. Even those decisions in the darkness of our personal space emerge in the light of our normal living in one way or another.  And that is the point of both readings. They both point to the fact that the way we live our lives is the most telling evidence of our faith and values.  This is a truth regardless of whether you believe in God or not. The way we live out our lives witnesses to what we ultimately value. It is so obvious. Observe another and you get a sense of their beliefs and values. It is quite clear that for some their family or children are the most important – actually for some family and children are more important than God. For others it is their personal enjoyments. For others it is concern for others. For others it is justice. And so it goes.  Our life-style, life choices and commitments all proclaim to others what ultimately we value and believe. Paul knew that God is just and therefore will judge us. Paul knew that God is holy and holiness will always cast light on the world revealing the dark shadows of our lives and uncovering the darkness in our lives. Paul wanted the Thessalonian Christians to be prepared.  For him that preparation is firstly awareness that the Christian is a child of light and must walk in that light. Secondly the Christian should not be surprised that there will be a judgement day. In fact the Christian should be expecting to be accountable. And thirdly, what seems critical to Paul is that Christians live supporting, encouraging and building each other up in the faith. “Encourage one another and build each other up”, he writes. [1 Thess 5:11] Paul knew the Jesus tradition recorded in Matthew’s account of the Gospel. Jesus warned his followers to expect his return but gave no date. They were to live expectantly of his return when justice would be done and this world brought to its fulfilment. It would be a time of crisis.  It would be a time of decision. That is a key point of the parable of the ten young women waiting with their lamps to escort the bridegroom to the wedding ceremony. Five we are told were prepared and five were not.  Their preparation and lack of it tells us something of their character and care for others. The five who asked the others for oil were unprepared. The door was not shut on them; they shut the door on themselves by carelessly not preparing for God’s future. We shut doors by our lack of care, by our lack of faith and our paucity of hope. For Christ Jesus, the deciding factor in determining who were faithful followers would be their love.  Love is the key to understanding the Christian Faith and the Jewish Faith. It is the hallmark of the Bible.  The way you show your love for God is in the way you love your neighbour. As the Epistle of John says, if you don’t love your neighbour then you don’t love God.  The sheep and goats are separated. That is the crisis of the Day of Judgment. We get so caught up in who the sheep and goats are. The point of the story is not the separation of sheep and goats suggesting that one animal type is better than another. The point is that these animals are metaphors for two types of human reaction to other humans.  One type of human is imbued with compassion. The other type is saturated with self-love.  Our destiny is shaped by our decisions. What we value determines what we become. The choices we make are vital to our well-being. We understand what loving our neighbour means. But we don’t talk much, if at all, about ‘building up each other’. This is a powerful theme of Paul’s. He sees that our survival rests on the strength of the Church community. It is together that we will survive the persecution. It is together that we will grow strong and prosper as a church. Christians need to encourage the growth of others. This is more than providing for Sunday School or attending Bible Studies. It is

Decisions Determine Destiny. Joshua 24: 1 – 3, 14 – 25;  Matthew 25: 1 – 13 We make decisions daily – some good, some ordinary and some bad. If we did an audit we would possibly find that the majority of our decisions have been good. By good I mean a decision that has led to your’s and your family’s, friends’ and community’s well-being. Decisions are part of life and some are vital to our well-being and to that of our loved ones’, their peace of mind and prosperity. We also know that we have to live with the consequences of our decisions. John C Maxwell said,  “Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.” Every time we ensure we are going to be on time for an appointment is a formation of whom we are becoming. Our choices shape us.  To put it another way it is one thing to want to do something, but you have to do it to do what you want to do.  Of course there are Alices in this world like the Alice in “Alice in Wonderland” who asked the Cat, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’  ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat. ‘I don’t much care where’ – said Alice – ‘so long as I get SOMEWHERE,’ Alice added as an explanation. ‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long enough.”    Our choices are the hinges of our destiny. Humans intuitively know this. Joshua certainly did. When Joshua led the descendants of those people whom Moses led out of slavery, he knew that they needed to decide what they believed and whom they would follow.  Their world was filled with many gods that people followed. We’re not so different.  We do not call the things we value and adhere to ‘gods’ but their grip on our lives, their power to absorb our time and their control over our decisions make them to be like the ‘gods’.  Joshua wanted the people to have a clear direction. He didn’t want them to be ‘Alices’ wandering aimlessly or even foolishly like the maidens who took no spare oil for their lamps.  This story we read today of Joshua summoning the people offers us a six-step model for decision-making.  The first step that Joshua took was to present the issue they faced.  He summoned the leaders and the people who had come from Egypt under Moses and Miriam’s leadership. He gathered them together and presented the issue that they faced.  The issue for them was which god they would follow. The first step in any decision making process is to be clear about what the issue is. For them it was the values and belief that would direct their lives – their destiny. That question, ‘what values and beliefs direct our lives?’ is eternal and universal. It is the question upon which our life hinges. The second step in decision-making is to have information. Joshua provides a brief but comprehensive summary of God’s action.  God had called Abraham and Sarah to leave their homeland and follow. They came to know this ‘voice’ as God, the Lord of life.  Joshua tells the people how God had guided and helped Abraham and Sarah and blessed them. He relays the history of God’s rescuing, guiding and blessedness through the family line of Abraham and Sarah through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph through to Moses and the Exodus.  The third step in decision-making is considering the alternatives. Implicit in Joshua’s comments is the comparison of God’s rescuing and caring action with the selfish interest and limited horizon of local gods.  These gods demanded much but gave little or nothing back. Our decisions should always weigh the benefits and disadvantages of the choice before us. Today our choice about faith in God is heavily influenced by a view that religion is a private affair, a widespread disbelief in God and a skewed view of the value of Christianity. I suspect most people see little value in Christianity. This is due to an ignorance of what Christianity has done for us. It is Christianity that has given the western world its hospitals, education, social-network and democratic systems and values. It is Christianity that was in the vanguard of the abolishment of slavery.  Take for example our democratic system. The notion of justice, freedom and equality comes right out of the Bible. Those minds that formed the documents that underpin the democratic system in the English speaking world argued that God gives us freedom, wants justice and treats us as equals. The 17th Century writer John Locke is a major exponent for the theological underpinnings of our democratic system. The fourth step in decision-making is deciding.  We must decide one way or another. To not decide is a decision in itself. Indecision leads nowhere. Indecision will let life blow you this way and that, resulting in a sense of meaninglessness and at worst a despair that nothing matters. Such indecision sometimes results in endless activity. When Joshua indicated that he had chosen to follow God the people responded affirmatively. The people responded that they would not forsake the Lord to serve other gods.[Jos 3:16] The fifth step in decision-making is evaluation.  It takes place following the people saying ‘yes’ to Joshua’s leadership and example.  Joshua asks them to evaluate their decision. He asks them to consider their choice and what it means.  There are consequences to every decision. There are consequences to following God. So we have this exchange between Joshua and the people of challenge and affirmation.  We should not presume that this evaluation merely took place in a few seconds. It may have been days or months as the people weighed the information and responded with their allegiance to God. We too, must take time to evaluate our following of God.  Joshua’s call is not