Lent two-8 March 2020: Have faith in the future Message: – Jesus calls us to entrust ourselves into the care of the Holy Spirit who will carry us into the unknown future of God. Our Psalm 121 today commencing with :”I will lift up my eyes to the hills” jogs my memory of a gathering at the International Hospital Chaplains at Toronto during the early 90’s when a leader Dr Howard Clinebell stated that he spent each of his birthdays travelling to a mountain to be closer to God. Some who feel depressed or who want to feel the closeness of God through nature make a point of getting up early to view a sunrise or maybe, more conveniently watching the sun set over a range of hills as I did recently at the Bungle Bungles in the Kimberly.  People down through the ages have been inspired by the words of this Psalm, basing their lives on the same faith in the same Lord, sharing in the life and worship of the community which is the continuing Body of Christ. It raises the question, who might you and I share our faith with today? During the forty days leading to Easter, called the season of Lent, allows us to ask ourselves again, whether we have got what it takes to be the people of God and followers of Jesus. We are confronted by challenging messages from the Bible today about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. It is one thing to be warned to count the cost, but another to be told there is no way of calculating the cost. This latter is today’s message. As we hear, Abraham is one of the key figures whose footsteps we are to follow in if we take the life of faith seriously. As “Love to the World” which is a book of daily Bible readings that many of you may be familiar with,  says of the Genesis reading, there are few more revolutionary claims: “that God speaks” in the Christian faith than these simple words. The message from God to Abraham was “Get up and leave your country, your relatives and the family of your parents and move to the land that I will show you”. It’s just “Get up and make tracks and you’ll find out what it all means as it unfolds. Just trust me. He did, and so must we. May we recommit ourselves led by the wind of God’s spirit but understand that no one can tell you all that it will mean or where it will take you. It is simply a matter of putting your trust in Jesus, of entrusting your life into the hands of one who will take you who knows where, but who is utterly committed to your best interests and has proved faithful to generations of Spirit led people before us. In the John Gospel 3: 16 ,it is  arguably the most quoted verse from the Bible:- “God loved the world so much that he gave his only son so that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life.”  As ‘Love to the World” points out, this does not refer simply to more life nor after life, but to an abundant and full life in the here and now: the life that really is life. Through Jesus life, death and resurrection we are all brought out from death and into life! The daily readings in “The Friendship Book” [ used to be called the “Frances Gay Friendship Book”}, for February 23 reads: – “In a fable, a man learns of a magical stone that can turn anything into gold. He would know it by its warmth. Unfortunately, it was somewhere on a beach full of stones.  Every day for a year he picked up stones, declared them cold and threw them into the sea. Then he picked up a warm stone. His heart jumped, his mind celebrated, and he threw the stone into the sea! Habit had conditioned his body so thoroughly that heart and mind were automatically over-ruled. When our habits have that sort of power, let’s make sure they are good ones! In the discussion Jesus had with Nicodemus, there is talk of faith and especially the idea of making a new start using the metaphor, of new birth, or being born again. The change that God calls us to make is so radical that it is as though we emerge into life all over again, starting again, leaving the old behind. He compares this encounter with the unknown to the wind: -“the wind blows where it chooses”. When the wind of change offers us the chance of a new beginning, a new birth, we can either cling to the known or let go and allow ourselves to be carried off into complete unknown of a new beginning. A real test of this church congregation will be our willingness to let go of our past and allow the new wind to blow where it will and take us to a promised land through faith. God will be with us and Jesus will carry us into a wonderful future, I am confident.  One more take on this Gospel reading is from Eddie Askew, President of Leprosy International in his book “Breaking the Rules” who reported that the first recorded composer of European music was a twelfth century nun. Recorded in a manuscript, not on a CD, she described herself as a “feather on the breath of God”.  This is something, someone, utterly at God’s command. Ready for the Spirit’s direction. Sensitive, trembling at the least movement. Surrendered to his will. Carried along by his strength. Not only does the breath of God give a sense of purpose, but it gives life itself. We are told that when God made humanity, he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” [Genesis 2:7] But the image breaks down if carried too far. We’re not

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT – Homily by Geoff Serpell Today’s Gospel reading from Matthew is the “Sermon on the Mount” and where Jesus explains the new righteousness, he has ushered in. It is radical as he teaches something totally different about the Jewish laws upheld “on the surface” by the Pharisees and scribes. They espoused the commandments in an outward form, but Jesus wanted his people to identify the intent of the laws and add these values into our daily lives. For instance, a person should not only refrain from killing but see greater value in every human being as a child of God and do all that we can to help rather than hurt. Such a state of being could be called living in love. As Paul said in his letter to the Romans, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” He said also that the Lord condemns those who have kept the outward form of the law without the spirit of the law. Rev Nathan Nettleton of the South Yarra Community Baptist church Says that the fights and divisions in the church are a sign of how far we still have to go, but if we don’t run from them , God will use them to mature us and grow our ability to love.  He believes that by having some good fights in the church, things could get better, rather than push things under the carpet and undermine what God is trying to do in us. Jealousy, arguments and divisions among us is evidence we have a long way to go to attain the goal of wholeness and maturity to which Christ calls us. God wants us to become Christlike. We may be too timid, or passive to face up to some issues and seek greater understanding and depth of community and love. We cannot pretend everything in our world is nice and have one mind on everything, this is just adding to the sins of division.  Christ calls us to live in unity, to live in community with one another. Living in community with real human beings is no picnic. The closer we get to people and the more we invest in relationships, the higher the stakes and the more things will need to be sorted out. That’s often painful, just ask any married couple. Living in union with one other person is hard enough and trying to agree with a large community is where a lot of touchy issues will arise. You know the adage that you do not go to sleep until any issue with your spouse is resolved. Of course! We in our home at Highett have three units next door where each family   has come from Sri lanka, China and the other, Russia. Recently, when the side fence blew over, Jan and I had to stump up half the cost of the 150-foot-long replacement fence. The three units were only obliged to meet a one third each of the other half cost.  People from two of the units agreed but not the third. In very direct language I had to point out to him that over 20 years I had nailed, bolted and tied up loose palings and reinforced posts with concrete and bolts but it was now  30 years old and had finally died so that he was obliged to foot his fair share of the bill. He eventually did. I am told that disputes over fences is a leading cause of aggravation between neighbors. I can believe that. In our struggle in our communities, maybe these are the raw materials for God’s reconstruction of us. If you chuck half a dozen rough jagged edged rocks into a concrete mixer and let them fly around smashing into one another for long enough, you will end up with rounded smoother rocks. Our sharp edges soon get exposed living in close relationships with each other. On a broader scale, it was stated by Norman Cousins, an American political journalist, author and world peace advocate, that in the 5600 years of recorded history, there have been only 292 years of world peace. He estimates that 3.5 billion people have been slain through warfare in that span of time, about 80% of the current world population.  Norman, the Journalist once facilitated an appeasement between Russia and America during the Cuban war when nuclear weapons were being primed. He helped the two leaders forge the highly successful Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. He jokingly expressed opposition to women entering the workforce. In 1939, upon learning that the number of women in the workforce was close to the number of unemployed males, he offered this solution: “Simply fire the women, who shouldn’t be working anyway, and hire the men: Presto! No unemployment, No relief rolls and no depression.” My wife, Jan firmly believes that if every country in the world put women in charge there would be no more wars! Think about that. To conclude about Norman, he developed an antidote to pain using humour. His health problems were helped by him watching shows on TV like candid camera. The use of humour particularly for ill children in hospitals is now well recognized. Our Gospel lesson today teaches us that if we would worship the Lord, we must first make peace with our enemies. Reconciliation involves three things: contrition, confession, and satisfaction [to attempt to right the situation]. Most of us have stopped at the second part of the act of reconciliation. For spiritual harmony to be completely restored, the peace-making process must be completed.  God calls us into Christian community because it is only within such covenant relationships that we can risk the depth and vulnerability needed to learn to love one another. It is only when we commit ourselves to facing up to our differences and working through them to new places of mutual respect and unity that we will mature sufficiently to be ready

Sermon for Leighmoor UCA on Sunday 9 February 2020 By Andrea Mayes, UCA candidate Bible reading: Isaiah 58:1-9a; Matthew 5:13-20 Fasting and Justice Have you ever fasted? That is, gone without food for a particular purpose. Many people have to fast for certain types of blood tests and medical procedures. When I was in high school I was part of the 40 hour famine. Each year I would seek to raise money for people overseas living in poverty by getting people to sponsor me to go without food for 40 hours. In doing so I also learnt what it was like to feel hungry and I appreciated the food I had. Since becoming a Christian, I have fasted occasionally. Sometimes at lent I have given up something, like coffee or chocolate or TV. Sometimes I have felt moved to go without food to focus on prayer. There is a rich tradition in both the Jewish and Christian faiths of fasting. Many other religions also include fasting. A well-known example is the Muslims fasting during the month of Ramadan, where they refrain from having both food and water during daylight hours. In the reading in Isaiah 58 God is talking to the Jewish people who have returned from the exile about their practices of fasting. The community would gather together several times a year and fast to mark the Day of Atonement and the anniversary of the destruction of the temple. The fasting was a sign of mourning and humbling themselves before God. Often they would fast in very visible ways by lying down in sackcloth and ashes. Because they are not doing anything except fasting, this passage suggests that they make their labourers work even harder to make up for the work they are not doing. The reading says “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers”. In addition God is pointing out that they quarrel and fight with each other when they are fasting. Perhaps they are arguing about who is fasting properly? Or perhaps they see fasting as a duty, which leads to an edgy and irritable community. In any case, there is a gap between their intention to humble themselves before God as a community and the way they went about their fasting. They were fasting to create the impression of piety and self-righteousness but at the same time they were oppressing others and quarrelling amongst themselves. God’s response was to tell them that God wants a different fast, one that is focussed on addressing injustice and letting the oppressed go free. He tells them to share their bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into their homes. To cover the naked and to be available to their families when they are looking for them. I notice that all these action are based in relationship.  God does not tell them to give food to the hungry, but calls them to share their bread with the hungry, which means personal involvement. Jesus demonstrated this practice when he ate with people who were poor or outcast.  God does not say to build homes for the homeless, but to bring the homeless poor into your house. This is pretty challenging. There are many practical reasons why we may not want to invite the homeless in to our own house. If they move in, we will be caught up in all the problems in their lives that have contributed to their homelessness. Yet, God calls his people into deep relationships with people who are homeless and poor, to love their neighbour. God’s call to address injustice goes beyond what is normally seen as acceptable. It is personal and costly. Jesus makes a similarly hard call in his sermon on the mount when he tells the people listening to him that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”. The scribes and Pharisees were religious leaders at the time who were seen publically to be keeping the law. They would have been the ones fasting in public in sackcloth and ashes to show how committed to God they were. I think the problem Jesus had with them was they were doing the right thing, keeping the law, for the wrong reason, they wanted to look good. Instead, Jesus wants his followers to do the right thing, for the right reasons. As I was telling the kids, Jesus asks us to let our light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Not so that we will be praised for doing the good work. Last Sunday morning I was going on my usual walk and I took two bags to pick up rubbish along the way. I do this because I am concerned about the impact the rubbish has on animals when it gets into our streams and oceans. There is one particular spot where people stop their car and look out over the suburb which always has lots of rubbish lying on the ground. There is also a bin in the carpark but many people don’t use it. So as I was picking up rubbish in this spot and putting it in the bin, a car stopped and a lady asked if she could help. I encouraged her and we picked up rubbish together. She asked about the rest of my day and I told her I was going to church. As we parted she asked God to bless me for what I was doing. This made me think of today’s bible readings, “to let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven”. I am using this example because most people can pick up rubbish, it doesn’t cost money or take much time. It needs to be picked up because it the right thing to do, yet most

HOMILY; 2 FEB 2020 GOD’S FOOLISHNESS For our communion service today, I thought to take note of the American Film star, George Burns who once said that the secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending and to have the two as close together as possible! C.S. Lewis, a British Author and lay theologian [who wrote “the Chronicles of Narnia”] was once criticized for not caring for the Sermon on the Mount which included the Be-attitudes. He replied, “if ‘caring for’ here means ‘liking’ or enjoying, I suppose no one ‘cares for’ it. Who can like being knocked flat by a sledgehammer? I can hardly imagine a more deadly spiritual condition than that of a person who can read that passage with tranquil pleasure.” The Sermon could be called the Christian’s job description, being a helpful guide and a convicting challenge. The beatitudes describe the qualities Jesus desires in each of his disciples. It is only human to wish to be strong and successful, to be wise, to have qualifications, a good reputation, even a successful family and a good job. We admire for example our young tennis champions, and our Australian cricket team members. The poor, the ugly and the defeated are less appealing although it is in our culture, maybe stemming from our convict days, to have some feelings for the underdog. The promotion of power, status and wealth as good things to be encouraged, especially for people who might be disadvantaged tends to reinforce the negative view of the poor and the meek. Those who don’t make it or miss out, are not blessed. I deliberately sought the Gospel to be the New International version because it uses the word “Blessed” rather than happy. Blessed here refers to the ultimate well-being and spiritual joy of those who share in the salvation of the kingdom of God. When chance goes our way, we may be happy but not necessarily be blessed. To be blessed is a gift which God bestows on his own, a state of inward joy and peace, independent of what is or is not going on in our lives. Those Jesus described as the blessed ones is that of humility. It is the nature of God to seek and save the lost: salvation depends on knowing our own vulnerability sufficiently to be open to his reaching out to us. We need to “seek first the kingdom of God” then we might recall that all these other things may be yours and mine as well. What really counts; what is worth the great price? What is the value of the field in which the treasure is hidden or the pearl of great price?  To be poor in spirit does not mean to be lacking in spirit, rather it is to be bereft of a proud or haughty spirit. Poverty of spirit is roughly equivalent to the word humility. A humble person is one who knows not to soar in the heavens but is of the earth. That person realizes a dependency on God, the ground of all being. If his or her life is to be fruitful. The greatest example for us of someone being humble was Christ, an innocent man, dying on the cross for the sins of the world. To the world, this may seem to be a weak and foolish idea, but as Paul points out God chose not the strong but the weak and in this there is great power. We are chosen by God, even though by human standards we are not thought to be much. We celebrate that we a chosen to be representatives of God’s wisdom and righteousness in and to the world. What an honour! Eddie Askew from Leprosy Mission wrote up a paragraph or two based on our Corinthian letter. He said that things go wrong in our lives and it seems there are problems everywhere. Facing them without resentment leaves us free to deal with them rather than getting hung up with frustration. Most of our problems have you noticed are caused by people. Computers make mistakes, but they don’t have hysterics over the way another computer behaves, not the way we do.  Looking back on my life in hospital administration, it was a mostly happy and fulfilling time. But there were times of tension and disagreement. Times when I said or at least thought: -“How can God possibly work through people like these!” I am sure that others said the same about me. The amazing and encouraging fact is that He did and does.  Remember Paul’s words “My brothers [and sisters] , think what sort of people you [we] are, whom God has called…few…are people of wisdom…Yet God has chosen the weak and ..the foolish..” [1 Corinth1:25-30] God works through us. It may not seem a very bright idea for God to do things that way, but He’s chosen it! Fortunately, the Lord doesn’t wait for perfection. Look at the early disciples-Thomas with his doubts, Peter, impulsive and naïve, James and John looking for the best places in the Kingdom. I won’t mention Judas. God chooses me in my weakness, not through any virtue I possess but because He loves me. And that goes for you too. If God can put up with our faults then maybe we should make a better attempt to accept others, and to work with them as they are. Sometimes I think we demand from our friends a perfection which even the Lord doesn’t ask. Finally, it’s significant that Christ says: If I can love you enough to choose you for my work, then you can learn to love each other: Not just mutual tolerance but loving, as Christ loved you. Very finally, the Be-attitudes describe what we are to be, tell what God requires of us. For those who sadly have lost almost everything in the bushfires throughout Australia, the beatitudes are a powerful message which offers blessings to those in

Faith is Vital for Living.  Epiphany 3.   Matthew 4: 12 – 23; Luke 7: 36 – 50 Can we live without faith? The exercise of faith is vital to our overall spiritual and physical well-being.  Without faith despair is given a deeper soil in which to germinate. Without faith in others our friendships shrink. Without faith our dreams fade.  The lack of faith negatively affects our spirit, our community and our vision for living. Faith is so important to us along with hope and love.  All three work together.  Faith is so natural to us. Think how often we exercise faith in our daily transactions such as driving our car, receiving information, making new friendships and in so many of life’s everyday experiences. Faith is not just a religious thing. I mean we don’t simply exercise faith in relation to religious ideas and beliefs. Faith is distinct from belief in that faith is that ability to trust another whereas belief is about the content of that trust.  Neither is faith static. The more we exercise faith the stronger it becomes.  Faith liberates us to act and experience things.  I recall the time I went with a group of yachty friends to ride motorcycles in the northern mountains of Vietnam. Some of us went ahead and had a few days in the old part of Hanoi. That first night Mike and I decided we weren’t tired so we went out for a walk and a drink. We got to the main road we needed to cross. There was a continuous stream of motorcyclists.  Then I remembered what Brian had said to us. The traffic doesn’t stop for you. Just walk looking at the motorcyclists and they will avoid you.  I could see that they were not going to stop for us. Trusting Brian I said to Mike, ‘let’s go’.  I stepped out onto the road looking left at the riders. They travel on the right side of the road.  I got to the centre of the road looked right and kept walking. My heart rate was up. I wilfully put one foot in front of the other watching as riders made their way around me.  It seemed an eternity, but finally I stepped onto the far pavement and said to Mike, ‘we’ve made it’. I turned to look at Mike and he was neither on my right nor my left. He was still on the other side. He eventually came across. There are times in life when we have to exercise faith to free us from our fears, conventions, and old ways of thinking and embrace the new.  Faith not only liberates but also widens our horizons. We exercise faith in the daily routine of our lives taking the faculty of faith for granted. But when we come to religion we want to see it as a spiritual gift or something some have and others don’t. The fact of the matter is that we all have the faculty of faith. The notion that faith applies to religion and reason to practical living is false. I’m also saying that we need to exercise faith to enjoy its full benefits, but not to the exclusion of our other faculties. Reason therefore remains a loyal cousin to faith.  In the Bible we have many examples of faith shown by people such as Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Gideon, Ruth, Esther and many others. Our Matthew reading tells us about John the Baptist’s arrest, Jesus’ departure to Capernaum and the call of the disciples’.  Normally a preacher will focus on the arrest of John or the call of the disciples. I want to focus on faith.  Though faith is not mentioned each situation is grounded in faith.  John is arrested because he has been faithful to his calling. Jesus’ departure is an example of faith practised with reason and the disciples’ response leads to adventurous faith widening horizons. John the Baptist’s faithfulness reminds us that faith is not a matter to be superficially exercised. Faithfulness is dependability, constancy and devotion. He never diverted from his calling even though in prison he wondered if Jesus was really the Messiah. John is an example of sticking to one’s calling even against the odds. For so doing he paid the ultimate price – martyrdom.  The Lord would truly say to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’[Mt 25:21,23]      Matthew tells us about Jesus’ reasoned faith.  Matthew tells us that when Jesus heard about John the Baptist’s arrest he ‘withdrew’ to Galilee. Why? Now no one would question Jesus’ faith, so why does he leave and go to Galilee? John’s arrest took place in Judah and it was most probably the Jewish authorities who arrested him.  Jesus would have left for Galilee because it was far away from Judah, and there was no point in getting arrested along with John.  Also Galilee is a densely populated area with a greater freedom of ideas than in the conservative culture of Judah and Jerusalem.  My reflection on this passage is that Jesus ‘withdrew’ to Capernaum in Galilee to avoid any conflict in Judah and to begin his ministry in an area more likely to be responsive to his message than in Judah.  Jesus’ withdrawal is not a lack of faith but reasoned thinking about the best next step. It is one thing to be faithful, but we need to use our reason – that loyal cousin of faith. The third example of faith in this text is the first disciples’ adventurous faith in Jesus – Andrew and Peter. Their faith is exercised through the hope and belief that God would send a Messiah and that Jesus seemed to fit the bill.  Their faith was sufficient to begin the exploration that led ultimately to their wonderful ministries. Their names are written in the Church’s foundations. The more they saw of Jesus the more they trusted Jesus. Their faith led them to total commitment. Finally Andrew and Peter

Servant, Slave, Service! Epiphany 2. Isaiah 49: 1 – 7;  John 1: 29 – 42 Are God’s children also servants?  We commonly understand a servant to be someone employed to to carry out domestic chores. The term, servant, has become a demeaning term in our society. Our labour saving devices, fast food places and meals delivered to the home have all made the domestic servant obsolete.  In a time long past servants were essential to the working of the home. In fact we could not have achieved much without servants.  And some servants became valued members of the family. I recall from my childhood in South Africa that servants were very much part of the family, especially on farms. The problem today is that the concept of servant is taken to mean someone who is inferior to others and of little worth. In the ancient world of the Roman Empire servants and slaves were important. Some slaves and servants became so valued and respected that their masters adopted them as their heirs. The slave owner would set a slave free and then adopt him to be his heir under the rule of paterfamilias. As I have mentioned before some of the Roman Emperors were adopted.  E.g. Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of the Roman Empire [63BC- 14 AD] who established the Pax Romana, was adopted by his uncle Julius Caesar. Incidentally Julius Caesar already had a natural born son by Cleopatra. Neither is it strange to read about the servants of God in the Bible.  Moses, Joshua, Paul, James and Peter are specifically described as servants of God.  The people of God were also referred to as servants. Mary, the mother of Jesus, declared herself a bond slave of the Lord [Lk 1: 38]. Nehemiah spoke of the people of God as servants of the Lord [Neh 1:10] and Isaiah speaks of the people as the Servants of God [Is 48:1 – 49:3]. What is a servant?  The dictionary defines a servant as ‘one who performs duties for others, especially a person employed for duties in a household’.  Most definitions add that a personal servant will be devoted and helpful.  The root meaning of ‘servant’ has the notion of waiting on and serving another with devotion. I have selected six characteristics of a servant that I believe may help our understanding of the worthiness of servanthood.  Integrity: Servants doesn’t only have to be honest, but should have a sense of wholeness about themselves. They need to see servanthood as an important part of what they do and who they are. Servanthood has an honourable role.  Humility: Out of their sense of well-being the servant need to be willing to humble themselves in the service of others. Their work is not about themselves but about the one they serve. Loyalty: The concept of loyalty captures the sense of dependability, commitment, and trustworthiness. Listener: A servant needs to listen and empathise with the one they serve and sense their needs and understand the tasks they are to carry out.  The good listener is attentive to others. Adaptability: A servant needs to be adaptable to the situations and demands of the one they serve.  Flexibility is important in adjusting to different situations. Resilience: Resilience flows out of being flexible and leads to that quality of endurance and toughness required to serve dutifully during difficult times. So we begin to see the important role a servant plays. We note that there are periods in our history and possibly in our lives where the notion of being served or serving is critical to our well-being. We note too that to see the role of servant as merely a demeaning role is not helpful. We note that the characteristics of a servant are essential to any household or organisation’s health.  That is, we cannot really progress, develop and reach our potential without the qualities that go with servanthood. Today we don’t speak of servanthood except in leadership roles where we speak of servant-leadership. The Servant-Leader takes on the characteristics of a servant. So why am I talking about Servanthood? I imagine if I had asked you whether you saw yourself as a servant of God, or of the Church, or other Christians, you would say you don’t. I guess that would be the last concept you would use to describe your relationship with God. Most likely you would think of yourself as a child of God or a member of the Church. Yet this is what our texts are talking about – the people of God are God’s servants. In the Corinthian reading Paul describes himself as an Apostle [1Cor 1:1], which is just another name for a leading servant. In the John reading we have the call of the disciples. We are told that two of John the Baptist’s disciples decided to follow Jesus. Jesus turns to meet them and merely invites them to ‘come and see’ [Jn 1:39]. Andrew is one of them and he goes off to get his brother, Simon Peter.  Jesus’ response is gentle and pregnant with conviction – ‘come and see’. Andrew and Peter follow and stay and become witnesses and martyrs for the Gospel of Christ Jesus. They gave their lives.  They took on the qualities of servanthood: integrity, humility, loyalty, empathy, adaptability and resilience. Legend tells us Peter chose to be crucified upside down by Nero because he felt unworthy to be crucified in a similar fashion to Jesus. The Isaiah reading, which is another ‘Servant Song / Poem’ in the book of Isaiah, speaks of the ‘Servant of God’ as an individual and also as a member of the people of God. In Isaiah 52 the servant suffers for us, bears our sins and secures our healing with humility [Is 53: 4-9].  Christians unreservedly see the Isaiah prophetic poems as foreshadowing the ministry of Jesus. The early church in one of their hymns speaks of Jesus as not regarding equality with God as something to be

Theological Justice. Isaiah 42: 1 – 9; Matthew 3: 13 – 17 God’s justice more than social-justice! A man was brought before a jury of respectable educated townsfolk to be tried for a crime he had allegedly committed. As the court began the accused asked the judge how qualified the jurors were to judge him.   “Are they experienced thinkers able to determine right from wrong?” he asked. He requested the judge to ask the jurors separately to write an answer to his question: ‘what is bread?” These were the jurors’ answers: The 1st juror wrote; ‘Bread is food.’ The 2nd; ‘It is a gift from the Almighty.’ The 3rd; ‘It is a mixture of flour, yeast and water.’ The 4th; ‘It is obvious, it is baked dough.’ The 5th; ‘It depends very much how you use the word bread.’ The 6th; ‘No one really knows.’ The accused man looked the judge squarely in the face and said;  “When the wise and educated decide what bread is it may be possible for them to determine what is right and wrong.” What is justice? Definitions of justice run like this:  the quality of being fair and reasonable, the administration of the law, what is morally right and fair. As much as we might have a problem defining what bread is we might also have a problem with the concept of justice. Cicero said that the fundamentals of justice are that no one shall suffer wrong, and that the public good be served. Let it be known that the demand for justice does not come from Karl Marx, or the poor, or the rich, but from the Hebrew prophets and it is embodied in Jesus. When we ask what is justice? we may too readily think of equality of treatment and opportunity, fairness, and punishment of the unjust. The Isaiah text implies it is more and certainly suggests a distinctive administration of justice. We remember today the baptism of Jesus by John.  The lectionary includes Isaiah 42 implying it has something to say about Jesus. We can note two things that connect the Isaiah reading to Jesus and his baptism. Firstly, the Baptism of Jesus has more to do with him being anointed by the Holy Spirit than water baptism. The key point in Jesus’ baptism is the anointing of the Spirit described as a ‘dove’ descending on him accompanied by the words, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” [Mt 3:17]  The Servant in Isaiah 42 is also anointed with the Spirit. Secondly, Jesus begins his ministry, according to Luke, citing a passage on justice from Isaiah. Justice, theological justice, is strongly tied to Jesus [Lk 4:18]. Isaiah chapter 42 is most significant. Scholars spend a lot of time reflecting on who the ‘servant’ is in this visionary reflection.  Scholars also spend a lot of time discussing how this vivid piece of writing connects to other passages in the book of Isaiah. I am not interested in these reflections.  I believe, as some scholars point out, that Jesus embodied the task given to ‘the servant of God’ in chapter 42.  So let us look at the task given to the servant and the manner in which the task was to be accomplished. The passage begins with; with here is my servant, whom I have chosen [Is 42:1]. What stands out in this passage is that the servant of God is chosen and God puts God’s Spirit into the servant.  The servant of God is chosen and anointed with power. Throughout the Bible God calls people and anoints them with the Spirit. Remember in creation it is the Spirit of God that breathes life into the whole of creation. The Scriptures consistently tell that the Living God breathes life into this world. Nothing can be done without the Spirit of God empowering and breathing life into our lives.  The first lesson we learn is that God never leaves God’s servants to act alone. Every time we step out in faith and serve God in what we say and do the Spirit of God is with us. Remember in our baptism we celebrate God’s anointing of us with the Spirit.  God gives us what we need. We are never alone.  It is only in our ignorance, unfaith or arrogance that we may feel and act alone. Every time I stand at this lectern I am conscious of God’s Holy Spirit being with me and speaking through me. I see the Spirit’s anointing of our worship leaders as well. But it is much bigger than that.  Have you not noticed how ordinary people become powerful when they address the daunting task of injustice? The OT prophets and leaders all received the anointing of the Spirit. I cannot overlook the powerful prophetic people who confronted Apartheid in my birth-land; and while preparing this sermon I couldn’t help thinking of the powerful voice of Rosie Batty, the domestic violence campaigner. Whether she recognises it or not I believe the Spirit of God rested on her, for God’s Spirit breathes life into all of creation. The task of God’s servant is to bring forth justice to the nations [Is 42:1] – yes, justice to the nations!  In verse four the scope of the justice is re-enforced where the servant’s task is to establish justice in the earth.  What we easily overlook or simply fail to understand is that God’s justice doesn’t only concern God’s people; i.e. it is not parochial justice – it is worldwide justice. Psalm 82 makes it abundantly clear that the domain of God’s justice is the whole earth with its climatic statement; Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you! [Ps 82:8]  In Psalm 82 the direction and nature of God’s justice is determined. Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute [Ps 82:3].  What is patently clear is that God’s justice

The Gospel in an ever-changing World  Jeremiah 31: 7 – 14; Ephesians 1: 3 – 14; John 1: 1 (10) – 18 What does it mean to be a Christian in the 21st Century? What does it mean to be a Christian in the 21st Century? We’re in the final year of the second decade of the 21st Century. It’s fascinating to reflect on the Church in our time. When I think of my own family – I’m thinking of my wife, my parents and our children – we span three centuries. My father was born in 1895. So much has changed in this time. We’ve witnessed remarkable changes over the last 120 years or so which have revolutionised our lives. What has this meant for the Church universal? What has it meant for the churches in the Western World?  We might think that the biggest change is how small the local churches have become. Now that is only a problem if we think we should be like the churches we grew up in or raised our children in.  They were large and booming with children. We call the children of the post-WWII era the baby-boomers. That era was merely a blip in the Church’s life during the 20th Century. Now I do not intend to provide a brief lesson in social history. I merely want to point out a few things. Social change has always taken place. However in our life time the pace of change has increased exponentially. We’ve witnessed the greatest number of changes in the shortest space of time; e.g. from horse and cart to space travel. Secondly, 100 or less members is now the average size of local churches throughout the Western World. When I attended in 2007 the 8th World Methodist Conference on Evangelism in Atlanta in the USA I learnt that the average USA congregation had around 100 members. I was reminded of these facts in an email I received this week. We are a normal sized church. We are a strong church in good heart, but do we still operate with the sense that we should be bigger? Are we hanging onto structures and practices that really suit a much larger church? I believe our Synods and the Assembly need to address this question too. Thirdly, the changes in our society present and always have presented a challenge to the church to re-think how it expresses and practices the Gospel of Christ. A cursory study of the history of the Church will uncover this. The difference today is that such changes take place more rapidly than ever before. I’m not going to provide answers to these questions. Rather the questions are a constant work-in-progress. The answers lie in prayerfully considered experiments, of which some will not work.  I have raised these questions because they are relevant to us. They are always relevant.   Our texts set for today prompted me to take up this tack. The Gospel according to St John clearly indicates in its concepts and metaphors that the Church is wrestling with this issue of relevance. In fact the writings of the New Testament all reveal that the Christians of the 1st Century wrestled with such issues.  Within the first 100 years Christians were adjusting their concepts and understanding of the Gospel of Christ to their new situations.  The Gospel of John is a fine example of this. The Gospel begins with a reference to Jesus being the Logos, the Word of God. This concept was used in Greek philosophy to describe the ‘reason’ or ‘plan’ for the ordering of the universe. John uses it to describe the eternal being of Jesus the Christ. This suggests to us that the Church has moved into the Roman Greek world and beginning to use concepts of the Roman-Greco world to help explain who Christ Jesus is. The Gospel according to John is usually dated late in the 1st Century or early in the 2nd. My personal view is that it is about 95 A.D. The other three accounts of the Gospel of Christ are earlier and reflect an earlier period in the Church’s life.  John also introduces us to the understanding that Christianity is not something you are born into. That is, you are not a Christian because your parents were Christian.  He wants people to understand that the blessing of God is something each individual must affirm.  Jesus makes this point by calling people to follow him and emphasising that to do so means giving up all to become one of his disciples. John says this in his opening remarks in his Gospel account. He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.  But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.  [Jn 1: 10-13] John stresses Jesus’ own people, his family so to speak, did not accept him and that the world did not know him, but everyone who sees and accepts Jesus becomes a child of God. The logic of this is that we only become God’s children when we accept Jesus who has the power to make us God’s children. So John talks in chapter 3 about being born again, or more accurately being born from above. This concept of becoming God’s children, not by natural means but by the means of God adopting us, would not have  beend a strange concept to the Roman-Greco culture. The man of the household had the right to adopt. The Roman imperial succession was secured by adoption.  For example Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Nero were all adopted as adults and thus became emperor. John makes perfectly good sense when he states

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS 2019 What did 2019 meaningfully bring for you? This is not what Father Christmas brought you but what was something significant which you were involved with during 2019? I invite you to share this at the end of my homily, after covering the set Bible readings for today. We could have a mini Q and A between us or else if that is too public, then just in a huddle between two or three or you. We had as a Call to Worship, the first five verses of Psalm 148. This is full of praise for our creator, God. I quote: “Praise him, all his angels”! The psalm celebrates God’s nature and purposes, revealed in creation of our world, our universe and every living creature, including human life. Humankind can best fulfill God’s command by living as God created us to live. This psalm calls creation to join in praise of God. We are tasked with stewardship of creation, rather than having dominion. The reading from Isaiah 63 reminds me of the old gospel song: “count your blessings, name them one by one.” Recounting God’s gifts of creation and redemption makes us happy, healthy and thankful.  Isaiah looked back at the gracious deeds of God in the life of his people where God had been with them in all their pain and difficulties and carried them when they had no strength. Looking now at our Gospel reading from Matthew 2, the Christmas we have just celebrated marks the beginning of the earthly life of Jesus. Because Jesus was who he is, the messiah, our Saviour, it is also a new beginning for us, the human race. His flesh is our flesh, born of Mary a representative of ordinary humanity which he takes into the Holy of holies, the most holy place, with God. Through our flesh he was able to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus coming into our world is bracketed with Herod who fakes worship on one end while instituting infanticide on the other. Matthew shows the baby Jesus as the culmination of what was promised. He was the foretold Saviour of the world who had to navigate Egypt, evil and egos. Matthew also recounts that dreams also save Joseph and his family. It appears that guardian angels are working overtime in the first part of our Lord’s life. Three times a messenger from God, an angel, converses with a sleeping Joseph. The first dialogue proclaims the birth of Jesus. The second provides a way of escape, the third dream gives the all clear signal. Joseph is to leave Egypt because the security and refuge that it offers is no longer needed. The fourth dream alerts Joseph to danger lurking in Judea where Herod’s son Archelaus is the new ruler, a very bad apple from a rotten tree. So, Joseph sensed foul play and heads for Nazareth, the subject of previous prophecy.   The Bible never states that each child of God has a guardian angel. These spirits cannot or will not save us from all suffering. Maybe their function is not to shield us from danger but to cool our feet when we walk through the flames of adversity. I wonder though who of us have had a flesh and blood messenger whom God sends just at the right time, with just the right word: a word of comfort, hope or wisdom. On the other hand, who have we been sent to as guardian angels with a message form the Lord? Eventually, the Holy family established their home in Nazareth but of course it was just a temporary home, as the Lord ended his life without having a permanent address. At Christmas we turn our thoughts toward home. When we were children it was our parent’s home with escapes to our grandparent’s homes if we were lucky. Jan has two sisters so every year we meet at one or another’s home with as many of the extended family to celebrate another year of ups and downs but richly greeting each one present. Christmas time can be very difficult for believers. What grief do we as individuals or as a congregation bear currently or through the past year? How do we cope with trauma, suffering or disappointments? As we praise God, how do we hold our experiences in tension with God’s promises? What traditions have been meaningful for you? Do we recognize the presence and power of God? Is he close or distant? Do you want to now  share a magic moment which happened to you during this year or maybe changed your life for better or for worse?  We can have an open time now for a few minutes or would you prefer to confide with someone next you? Conclusion: God’s power and love are ready to be experienced, lived in, and celebrated. Prayer:  Dear God, I praise you, Lord of creation. You spoke the word, and all things came to be. Lord of life, you speak the word, and all creation lives, echoes and shouts with life. Your life. And yet Lord, pressed by my own busyness and self-created doubts, I lose my grip on you. The clouds draw in and shadow me. The mist wet blankets me in the billows of uncertainty. My doubt shouts out for reassurance and comes echoing back, empty handed. Yet still you are there. Your presence is patient and dependable, and in its magnet field I turn again to find you. True north, by which I orientate my life. And praise returns.

The Man who ‘fathered’ Jesus.   Matthew 1: 18 – 25; Luke 2: 1 – 7; A distinction can be made between the one who fathered a child and the one who did the ‘fathering’. In the first instance the man is the originator of the child and has paternity. In the second the man has provided for, protected and raised the child.  So we can speak of the Church Fathers or a scout leader having a fathering role. (This distinction is simplistic but makes the point.) Now I don’t know if you are like me, but I have tended to skip over Joseph the Carpenter, the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus.  It’s easy to do this as Christmas is about Jesus and of course Mary.  Mary and Jesus are centre stage and Joseph stands in the background. And Mary pops up every now and again in the ministry of Jesus and she is there at the Crucifixion of Jesus. Joseph isn’t mentioned and we assume he had died. Most probably that is the case. I was listening to a pod-cast on the readings for Advent given by my daughter Robyn, lecturer in NT at the UCA theological college, and her colleague Fran.  In their conversation they spoke affirmatively about Joseph. This Christmas day I want to share with you some interesting insights into Joseph.  We start with the cultural context of Jesus’ times and recognise how important it was for a mother and child to have a father. Single parenting was not something accepted in those days. A woman without the protection of a family, a father or a husband was extremely vulnerable.  Joseph was important to the well-being of Jesus.  But there is more. Well not much more.  Joseph is mentioned in passing in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus [Lk 1:27; 2: 1-7]. He is simply there doing his duty as the father.  Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus is clearly through the lens of Mary, the mother of Jesus.   In Matthew’s account  [Mt 1: 18-25] we are presented with a view of Jesus’ birth through the eyes of Joseph. We are told that Joseph was betrothed to Mary, had not had sexual relations with her, was a righteous man and sensitive; he planned to divorce Mary but changed his mind and married her. Joseph and Mary were betrothed.  Our English translations simply tell us they were engaged by which we understand they had made a commitment to each other.  However under the Jewish Law male and female could be engaged to be married simply by the decision of the parents making that arrangement in early childhood. The women coming of age had the freedom to accept that or not. Then they became betrothed. Betrothal lasted one year. This was a legal state and they were regarded as man and wife but they did not to live together. Once betrothed a couple were to marry unless death or divorce stopped the marriage. The divorce procedure largely lay in the hands of the male.  So Joseph under the law could divorce his betrothed. If Mary was pregnant and the child was not his he had every right to divorce her publicly and she could have been stoned to death on the grounds of adultery. Joseph was a righteous man. He new the Law, but righteousness in Scripture is not simply about following rules. Righteousness is also about relationships:  the relationship we have with God and the relationship we have with each other and the people in need. People who merely follow the Law may be correct in doing so, but their actions can be both hurtful and harmful to others. Joseph is a sensitive man.  By sensitive I mean that Joseph was a person who was considerate, kind-hearted, understanding and sympathetic.  He did not want to publically divorce Mary. That would have put her in a very dangerous position so he determined to divorce her quietly. Again our English translations do not do justice to Matthew’s Greek word, lathra, which means secretly. Secretly is stronger than ‘quietly’ or ‘privately’.  Joseph loved Mary and did not wish her harm. He was going to follow the Law but follow the Law with mercy, observing the essence of the Law.  That is the intent of the Law, which is founded on the two great commandments to love God and love our neighbour. Yes, Joseph planned to follow the Law. Yes, the right thing to do was to divorce her.  He was legally bound to Mary and the proper way out of this relationship was divorce, but he would divorce her with mercy. Here is a sensitive man. Here is a big man. He hasn’t retreated in pettiness, legalism and self-righteous vindictiveness, like small people do.  This man saw the bigger picture. Yes, he saw what was right for himself, but he saw that his betrothed also needed protection and care. His planned method of divorce showed the bigness of the man and the sensitive wisdom of the man. Let’s pause here for a moment. God had chosen Joseph and Mary to nurture Jesus and raise him up in the Law of God.  Anyone raised and nurtured by a father like Joseph would be fortunate. S/he would have a father who understood the legality of law and the essence of the law.  Here was a wise parent and surely his children would benefit from such a parent? Joseph is a righteous man and righteousness is not simply about doing things justly but doing justice with mercy. The prophet Micah said,  “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? “ [Micah 6:8]  Joseph understood that the essence of the Law of God is about goodness for all. He understood that God was a merciful God and a just God, but mercy was at