Sermons

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

Facing Life’s Challenges Joshua 3: 1 – 17;  Matthew 23: 1 – 12 Adversity is the friend that makes us strong and deepens our faith roots. The story of Joshua is worth noting.  I used it in ‘Children’s Time” last Sunday. Joshua led the people through the river Jordan into the Promised Land. At first the people were frightened by the new opportunity. They hesitated until Joshua, strengthened by God, led them into the Promised Land. The Ark of the Covenant, carried by four priests, led the way.  As the priests walked into the water the river ceased to flow. While the priests stood holding the Ark of the Covenant standing in the middle of the riverbed, the people of God walked across dry land into the Promise Land.   Now I am not going into whether it actually happened or not.  There is no evidence to either support or deny the Biblical story. However we can say with utter confidence that the people of God did not believe that they had entered into their future land in their own strength.  Their success depended upon God. They honoured God for God’s faithfulness. Now what struck me as I read this story again was verse 15.  They crossed the river when it was at its highest flow. We read, “Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest”.  When I read this I saw a powerful spiritual truth in this story. God makes a difference for the good in our most difficult times. Rivers are always more difficult to cross when they are running full. The people of God had wandered for 40 years and more in the wilderness under Moses’ leadership. They had escaped slavery and become a people. They had developed religious practices that supported their belief in God.  God had supported them in difficult times. God had rescued them. God had guided them. They were given the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments to represent respectively the presence of God and a map for life . The truth here is that our great successes are due more to faith and intuition than to calculation and planning.  As much as it is important to reflect, plan and set goals – I do that a lot – it is also important to note that these exercises often prepare us for the surprises that expand our horizons. I once studied the scientific process of acquiring knowledge. The physical chemist, Michael Polyani, researched how scientific discoveries are made. Michael Polyani noted that some of the greatest advances in our scientific understanding came as a result of play and intuition. When Polyani asked Einstein how he arrived at the theory of relativity, he replied saying that he had being playing with the idea as a boy. Einstein came to Relativity through intuition rather than the scientific process. The scientific method was used to demonstrate the truth of intuited knowledge. What I am trying to demonstrate is that our scientific discoveries have as much to do with intuition and play as any other human processes.  In fact some of the great ideas emerge in our recreation.  They come like a light bulb experience: a little revelation:  similar to spiritual growth. Polyani makes nonsense of the simplistic conclusion that scientific discoveries all happen in the strict environment of the science laboratory.  The great ones are not.  We might say that the mind that allows the divine in life to speak uncovers the truth.  What may be significant here is that we are more open to God in times of deep need or when we are quietly at play relaxing and listening.  The busy person will seldom see the new. Graeme Clark, the founder of the bionic ear, spent years of research trying to develop a hearing aid for the deaf. He faced obstacles of a lack of funds and collegial disbelief that it could be done. A break through came when he was on beachside vacation. He was playing with a shell and then noticed the grass in the sand dune.  He conceptualised using the seashell to replicate the human cochlea and the grass blades, which were flexible at the tip and gradually increasing in stiffness, to represent the electrodes. The Christian faith’s expansion had more to do with divine intervention than human planning and effort. There was Peter resting on the rooftop when he sees a vision of all kinds of unclean foods place in a sheet before him. He is told to eat. Bemused he is roused from this vision to received a call to go to a Gentile house.  This began a new direction for the Church as it moved into the Gentile world. Those Jewish apostles soon learnt that God had accepted the Gentiles just as God had accepted the Jews. [Acts 10]  This was a revolutionary understanding for a Jew. This is why our planning and goal setting needs to be preceded by deep prayer. This is why our well laid plans and calculations are always subject to review. The story of the crossing of the river Jordan into an unknown world was a challenge. It was stressful. It was threatening. The river crossing alone would be frightening.  I want to suggest that adversity is not something we should avoid when it comes, but rather something we should approach with faith and courage. I want to suggest that the challenges of life can be see as trials God gives us to help us grow and deal with life’s troubles. I am not suggesting that they should be sought, but that when they come use them to let God grow you stronger. I see the need for something like the ‘assisted dying act’ that our State Parliament is considering. I also see it as a symptom of a people, religious and secular, who want to be rescued and saved from all life threatening situations, and when the going gets too tough (who discerns that) they

“He changed his mind and went.” Philippians 2: 1 – 13; Matthew 21: 23 – 32. Living our faith is more important than right doctrine. Yet living our faith must be in accordance with what is right. This tension between right belief and right living is universal. This is the tension between conservatism and liberalism; tradition and progress; and, Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. They held that certain practices were essential such as not working on the Sabbath and being ritually clean. One finds it hard to disagree until work is so meticulously defined that it becomes counter productive. Ritual cleanliness is so defined that it is life-denying. Jesus often fell foul of these rules. He touched lepers and that made him ritually unclean. He healed on the Sabbath and that was seen as work. All a bit ridiculous we might add. Anyway we aren’t like that! Really! It is interesting what matters to people regarding worship and music in congregations. I want to emphasise what I believe both Jesus and Paul are telling us about our unity, our fellowship, our ministry and our witness in this world. I am going to take a particular incident and offer an analysis that I hope shows that our unity and strength lies not in legalism but in love. And we may see a little of the muddiness of Christ’s way. The media reported this September the action of a minister who decided not to conduct the wedding of a young couple because the bride had affirmed same-sex marriage on her Facebook page. I think it was two weeks out from the marriage date. What we have is a minister who feels so strongly about something that he refuses to go through with a ceremony. Now I agree with this minister that he has a right to marry whom he wishes. I have refused to marry one or two couples because they would not meet my criteria. My criteria for conducting a wedding are: that it is a Christian wedding; that the couple take a short course to help them understand the complexity of the relationship they are entering into and that they meet the legal requirements of the land. But this is sorted long before any wedding date is finalised. We Christian shouldn’t tolerate anything. I argued that point last Sunday. But there are essential and non-essential beliefs. This minister obviously thinks same-sex marriage is so important that he would refuse to marry a couple once he had learned this fact. There are a number of issues here. If the minister requires the groom and bride to hold to certain beliefs and values before conducting the marriage he should have made that explicit at the first interview. Now I would stand with this minister if the bride had stated on her Facebook page her disbelief in Christ Jesus. I would have called that into question. Sometimes you have to make a stand at the last minute. I recall the groom who turned up to the rehearsal smelling of alcohol. I told them both, quietly, that if he turned up the next day smelling of alcohol I would refuse to conduct the marriage as I believe that marriage should be soberly entered into. My point was both ethical and legal. He complied. The other thing, and the thing that really concerns me, is how long is this minister’s list, or anyone else’s list, of core non-negotiable beliefs and values. The point I want to make is that when we define faith in legalistic terms we risk destroying what it most valuable. Legalism has the capacity to become life-denying. I just don’t think this minister’s refusal to marry the couple achieved anything really worthwhile. Another interesting point is comment by the Australian Christian Lobby’s director, Lyle Shelton, who said “clergy should always reserve the right not to marry people if they are concerned that they may not understand the true nature of marriage”. I agree, but then I have never met a couple who fully understood the true nature of marriage. Did you when you were married? I’m not sure I did when I got married. I think we only understand what marriage is when we have travelled down the road a good few years. There’s wisdom in Scripture. There’s wisdom at the heart of Scripture. Jesus sailed very close to the wind when it came to tradition. He attended a wedding, but we don’t know if this was the groom’s first or third wife he was marrying. We just assume it was his first and only wife he would ever have, unless death intervened. Jesus evidently accepted that, in his day, a man might have more than one wife. He never spoke against it. And Jesus did not follow the ritual cleansing practices of the day. He broke with traditions that were not life-giving. Paul in his letters to the Philippians stresses the importance of love and faith rather than legalistic beliefs and rules. Listen again to Paul and hear how doctrine and morality are delicately balanced. If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. [Phil 2:1-4] Paul knew, as Jesus did, that if we have a long list of non-negotiable rules and beliefs you end up painting yourselves into a corner. Legalism leads to exclusivism. More important to Paul is the unity of God’s people. In saying this I am immediately reminded of Jesus’ prayer recorded in John 17 where he prays for the unity of the Church and that they all may be one. Our focus passage from Philippians today is

Standing Firm. Exodus 16: 2–15; Philippians 1: 27–30; Matthew 10: 1–16. Is gravity pu? The threats facing the church loomed large in the first few centuries. The Philippian Christians were not exempt from threat living in this model Roman city many miles from Rome. Roman citizens had established Philippi. When some of the citizens of Philippi accepted Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour they faced threat and danger. Threats to one’s faith have always existed. Hostility to Christians comes in two forms: direct opposition accompanied by persecution; and, the Church losing its focus and becoming like the culture of the day. When Moses, Aaron and Miriam led the slaves to freedom they soon faced a threat to their freedom. After a few weeks the freed slaves went deeper into the desert areas of the Sinai Peninsular. Their food supply was depleted. They became hungry. They began to complain to Moses. Back in Egypt, the breadbasket of the known world, there was plenty of food even for slaves. The slaves feared for their lives. They were angry. They wondered if they would survive. This was not the freedom they envisaged. They wanted to return to slavery. They faced a threat to their physical and spiritual existence. Physically they faced starvation and spiritually they might lose their freedom. It is hard for us to imagine what it is like to be under threat because of one’s faith, beliefs and values. We would hardly see ourselves under threat. Today many Christians in the Middle East, Africa and Asia face threat and death while we in the Western world have enjoyed many centuries of freedom. In fact the Church has been the cornerstone of society. During the medieval period the Church formed the centre for worship, education, hospitality, justice and medical care. Many of us grew up in a period where the Church was the centre for the community. We organised so many activities for the groups of the church and especially the youngsters. Games and sports, entertainment and education were organised and run by the Church. You came to the church’s building to worship but also for your social engagement. I want to focus the threats we face in our country and society today. I don’t want to focus on today’s persecuted Church. However we should make ourselves aware of our sisters and brothers in Christ who are being persecuted. It would be good for someone to take up a watchtower role so that we can be informed and pray accordingly. It would be good if someone in the membership took the responsibility to keep us posted as to what is happening to other Christians in the world. These are the threats to our existence as Christians that I see. Our faith is under threat and I am not speaking about the alarmist anti same-sex marriage campaign that suggests our religious freedom is at risk. I conferenced with some of these anti lobbyists and their argument that religious freedom is at risk is very shallow. It is more coloured by their rejection of same-sex marriage than anything else. I can accept their decision to vote no, but I reject the rhetoric that the religious freedom will be lost. Looking again at the information I am at a loss to know what freedoms I will loose. When they cite examples they usually come out of the USA. I am yet to be convinced. The threat to the Church in Australia comes largely from within the Church. The threat we face is our apathy, our insularity and our confusion about tolerance. The notion of tolerance that our culture espouses encourages us to be vague and imprecise about the faith. We talk about being tolerant of others. We want them to feel comfortable with us. It all sounds so right and Christian. But when tolerance leads to a lowering of our standards and a dismantling of our beliefs then tolerance is no longer tolerance. It is capitulation. Let me offer a simple illustration. You have friends come to your house. You know they are not Christian, but you are. You say grace at your table. So when they come what do you do? Do you decide to include them by not saying grace? I recall a minister who said in our ministers’ association that when they took a multicultural service they did not mention Christ Jesus. That is not tolerance. That is capitulation. We say grace always when we eat together. We say grace at our table regardless of whether our friends are Christian or not. They accept that and when we eat with them we don’t expect grace to be said. Our tolerance is respectful of the others, not capitulation of our beliefs and values for the sake of the other. Holding to our beliefs and values graciously and respectfully is integrity. Integrity is rewarded with respect – mutual respect. I came across the tragic action of a Swedish Lutheran Bishop, Eva Brunne, who called for the removal of Crosses on Church buildings so Muslims would not be offended. That is not inclusivity. That is not tolerance. That is capitulation to the prevailing secular climate that wants everything to be non-religious and religion to be practised behind closed doors. One is not tolerant because you have a notion that we are all the same. One is tolerant precisely because one has a different set of beliefs and values and allows and respects others who are different. Likewise inclusivity is the same. I include others of other beliefs and values and offer respect precisely because of our difference. And I am happy to do so, but I do not jettison my beliefs and values. Tolerance exists where there is difference not where everything is seen as the same. If tolerance silences us about our faith it is not tolerance. Apathy is another threat. Apathy is the lack of enthusiasm, interest or concern. Apathy comes from the Greek language and means ‘without feeling or suffering’.

Synod Going Forward 2 Corinthians 5: 16 – 21; Matthew 28: 16 – 20 The Synod of Victorian & Tasmania gathered this past week for five days. 300 clergy and laity of the Church gathered under the rubric Following Christ, which signals a renewed direction in which the Church desires to go. A synod is not a block of offices with administrators ensconced therein, but a body of leaders of a church gathered to discuss matters pertaining to the Church as a whole. The Synod is members of the Church gathered to reflect on where the Church has come from and where it is going. As Uniting Church people we have our own peculiarities. One such peculiarity is our consensus decision making. We work very hard to arrive at consensus rather than push through decisions based on majority votes. That means the process is slow, at times tedious, but we get to respectfully hear each other and reach an agreement. This Synod gathered under the rubric, Following Christ. Over the past few years our Church has recognised the need to review its structures and focus its response to the mission God gave to the Church through Christ Jesus. Also we gathered conscious of the issues that face our community and society about same-sex marriage and the 1st Peoples’ (the Aboriginal people) desire to be recognised within the constitution. Also the Synod gathers to worship, hear the Word preached, study the bible and reflect theologically. Our theological reflector, Dr Margaret Campbell, reminded us that our decisions need to be consistent with the Triune God we worship as God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. Our Bible studies reminded us of God’s grace and call. A number of speakers reminded us of the centrality of Christ. The document, “Introducing the Vision and Mission Principles”, published by the Synod’s Major Strategic Review underpinned our deliberations. The churches in the VicTas Synod are requested to study this document and let the principles of mission direct our conversations and action. The document’s thesis is, Following Christ, walking together as First and Second Peoples, seeking community, compassion and justice for all creation. Those leading the Synod’s conversation and theological reflections referred constantly to the theme of Following Christ. As we reflected on what it means to follow Christ as First and Second Peoples we were reminded that our Aboriginal sisters and brothers value the land differently. The 1st Peoples believe the land owns them. The 2nd Peoples believe they own land. When I was reminded of their perspective two things sprang to mind. First that the ancient followers of God had a concept that they never owned their land outright, but that it was given to them for their well-being. They divided land amongst the 12 tribes of Israel and the families within those tribes. Their task was to farm the land and provide well-being for all. So they were told they could not take everything from the land. They had to leave some for the poor, alien and widows and orphans. Secondly, it reminded me how land informs culture. The gentle green hills of Wales have formed a people with a lilt in their voices and a song in their hearts. I thought of the Dutch and their stubbornness mirrored in the mythic story of the lad who put his finger in the Dyke wall to stop the water coming in. Any people who must struggle against the sea to protect their low lying land must have strong determination. I thought of this hot arid land that has built a culture about mateship and ‘if it works don’t fix it’. We cannot follow Christ without listening to the traditional owners and new settlers. We cannot follow Christ without listening to the marginalised and the empowered. And we listen to be reconciled to each other. Following Christ is the key to understanding the mission of God. Central to our faith is Christ Jesus. We were reminded in our Corinthian reading that Jesus came to reconcile us to God and gives us a ministry of reconciliation. The most important thing we do is to be reconciled to God and others, and to be reconcilers Following Christ means we are to embrace the diversity of this God created world. The Uniting Church takes seriously the diverse and multi-cultural county we live in. Therefore the Uniting Church embraces diversity. I am reminded that the first Christian churches were very diverse stretching across an empire of peoples brought together by military strength and economic success of Rome, but they had differences that led to conflict at times. That diversity was only sustained by a unity in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ was central to all things and so differences had to be experienced through the lens of Christ Jesus. We broke into small groups for 90 minutes to discuss the relationship of Aboriginal peoples and the peoples who have arrived in the past 200 years. The issue at stake is how a dominant people who conquered the Aboriginal peoples of this land might signal this in our Nation’s Constitution and our political practice. Opinions differed as to what precisely should be done and the task remains an important work in progress. Following Christ means walking with others with compassion and justice. An easily reached consensus was achieved around a resolution calling our Federal & State Governments to establish “Medically Supervised Injecting Centres” to save lives of addicts who inadvertently overdose. It was noted that the national annual overdose death rate was higher than the road toll. Over 500 overdose deaths occurred in Victoria in 2016. It is a matter of compassion and concern for those who follow Christ to care for these people. Following Christ also means we must look at our Synod’s structures. Long discussions took place over resolutions designed to streamline our key committees of the Synod. These decisions will also increase and sharpen the level of accountability in the Church. For example the Synod Standing Committee