Freed by Vulnerable Love.   Advent 4   Isaiah 7: 10 – 16; Romans 1: 1 – 7; Matthew 1: 18 – 25 God rescues by making us stronger: that’s love. Our readings are about a miraculous birth and a baby boy who is a sign of God’s presence. The big problem here is not the miraculous birth; it is the notion that the sign of God’s presence is a baby.  Yes, a baby!  A baby is dependent and vulnerable. Babies consume time and resources. Yes, a baby gives us joy.  Yes, a baby may speak to us of hope and promise, but it is a baby.  But do we get it that a baby is a sign of God’s presence? I mean, couldn’t God come into our midst and do something spectacular? When we’re down, feeling helpless and hopeless don’t we want God to do something amazing?  We would like to be rescued.  We want God to change things. But what the prophet says is that this child is a sign of God’s presence. Don’t be ensnared by the ‘virgin birth’ thing. It’s not the problem.  The problem for us is recognising how God works in the world.  And in the first instance I am going to suggest to you that God doesn’t come and snatch us out of trouble, but comes along side us in a way that we become strong. Let’s look at our texts. The Isaiah reading contains that well-known prophecy, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel [Is 7: 14].  The Hebrew word, almah, does not mean a virgin, but a young woman who could be a virgin. The prophet Joel uses the term almah to describe a young widow who is childless [Joel 1: 8]. Matthew misquotes Isaiah 7: 14 assuming Isaiah meant a virgin.  Isaiah’s prophecy is saying to a besieged King Ahaz that the threat to the Judean kingdom will be over before the child is weaned. That is, the threat of the two kings hanging over Ahaz and the Judean kingdom will have dissipated within 4 years or so. A child in those days was usually weaned by the age of four.  The prophecy has these key components. Firstly, do not fear because these enemies of Judea will be defeated.  Secondly, God is with you.  Thirdly the sign of God’s gracious presence is a baby.  Isaiah says; the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.  The sign is a baby boy.  Here lies the puzzle.  Notice that God will not be present in some awesome overwhelming presence and action that will render us dependent upon God. Rather it suggests that things will work out and God will work with us in bringing about God’s vision for us. The rider to this is that God works with us gently and through human action.   Because of God’s approach there is vulnerability, and this vulnerability reveals God’s love for us.  The Christmas story is pregnant with this meaning. God’s self-disclosure in our history is clothed in humility and vulnerability.  There is nothing more vulnerable than a human baby. Both Luke and Matthew in their presentation of Jesus’ birth portray the vulnerability and humility of Jesus. The baby is vulnerable and needs the protection and nurture of father and mother. The baby’s surroundings are humble rather than palatial. Therefore ‘God-being-with-us,’ means that God is with the people, not merely the powerful. The scenes of shepherds and wise men tell us that this baby Jesus attracts the full spectrum of society.  Reflecting on this image of the Christ-child in a manger we are confronted with the question of what we do with God who comes not as the dominant ruler of the world, not as One whose very words leave us speechless, not as the mighty Creator who controls, but as the One who meets us with humility and vulnerability. The humility is self-evident as is the vulnerability. God allows God’s self to be rejected.  The wonderful thing in God meeting us like this is that this is the best way to set us free.  This is the best way to make us strong.  It is no surprise that we find in Scripture Jesus speaking of coming to give himself for our freedom [Mk 10:28]; taking up a towel and basin and washing his disciples feet [Jn 13: 1f]; showing compassion for the hungry crowds [Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:31-44; Lk 9:12-17; Jn 6:1-14] and facing his betrayers and executioners with compassionate integrity [Mt 26:63f].   It is no wonder then that the followers of Jesus could compose such beautiful word pictures of Jesus of Nazareth. John writes; And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. [Jn 1: 14] Paul includes the following creedal hymn in his letter to the Philippian church [2:5-8].  Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.   I have witnessed many things God has done in my life both personally and in the lives I serve. Just two incidents help me see God working in those quiet ways with us making us stronger. May I share two personal experiences? I hope they may encourage you. Last Sunday many things were running through my head when I entered our worship space. I stood at the lectern and welcomed you. I looked down at the Order of Service to see what was next. My mind was still

The Surest Mark of the Christian is Joy.   Advent 3 Isaiah 35: 1 – 10;  Luke 1: 46b – 55; Matthew 11: 2 – 11 Joy is the serious business of heaven. (C.S.Lewis) The announcement of a pregnancy usually brings great excitement and happiness. That’s goodnews. The goodnews of a birth morphs into joy.  The joy lasts longer than the happiness. Any announcement of good news engenders a measure of joy whether a planned holiday, a long dreamed of destination, or the announcement of new medical treatment that will help.  Our spirits are lifted, we gain new energy and our hopefulness is restored.  Arising from within us there is joy that lasts longer than a happy feeling. Let us see how this common experience helps us understand today’s readings. Our first reading is the prophetic-poem of Isaiah 35.  The prophet sets forth the promise of God in poetry. An expansive view is expressed of a desert flowering, danger removed, well-being restored and a return to the temple of God. The latter means that their relationship with God is restored.  Isaiah’s prophetic-poem spoke to the people’s deep longing for the security of their nation, justice and God’s blessing.  The prophet is conscious of his people’s long history of God’s guidance, protection and blessing. Their history with God goes back to the time of Abraham’s and Sarah’s call to leave home and become a family and a people for God.  God had brought them through many trials and tribulations and now they were a nation. God had rescued that nation from slavery in Egypt using Moses and Miriam. We call that me momentous historical event ‘The Exodus’.  Isaiah speaks to his people through this prophetic-poem encouraging them to trust God for their future, because the people were dispirited and lived in a time of much injustice and political uncertainty.  Here lies the first and enduring message of our readings.  It is a message that fills us with a hope that the God who has brought us to this point in our lives will be with us in the future. That hope nurtures our hope and the seeds of joy are sown.  I believe this is true for us today at Leighmoor when three key people move on:  Gillian, Joy and myself. Already I am seeing signs amongst both current and new members in the church of folk who are willing to take up the reins so to speak.  God is acting amongst us. In the second reading from Luke Mary speaks with joy and wonder of her unnerving task as the mother of the Lord’s anointed – a saviour who will bring in God’s Kingdom.  Can we begin to imagine what she felt?  A young woman engaged to be married is pregnant in a war torn land oppressed by an arrogant conqueror. She has a spiritual visitation announcing she is pregnant with God’s child.  This story is told to us in a few short sentences.  We cannot really imagine her initial fear and bewilderment. Neither can we imagine the mechanics of her pregnancy. They are irrelevant really. We cannot imagine her courage in carrying out God’s commission. We cannot imagine her thankfulness that her fiancé will stand by her. We cannot imagine her growing joy and the awesome privilege of being entrusted with mothering God’s anointed. The mothers hearing this can imagine some of her feelings. Luke gives to us a poetic account of her joy, wonderment and prodigious responsibility. Again we see that God is acting, but in a way that only a few can see. That’s right only few knew what was going on – Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Anna, those humble shepherds and those learned men from the East: a small group of disparate people. Yes in all this God was acting and only a few could see! We also see that their hope and joy was related to the political situation, which they believed God would address with a new order. Today we have twisted the Faith so that it only relates to our personal lives and not our political.  I think we make a grave mistake in so doing. Right now God might be more active in the actions of those involved in addressing our world’s most pressing needs of climate change and homeless millions than our personal lives. I suggest when you think of God’s future be aware that God’s future and blessing for us includes our political life. That is, how we organise our society and practice justice in the community.   Our Matthew reading jumps some 30 years to Jesus with John the Baptist in prison. John the Baptist’s ministry led to a number of his disciples becoming Jesus’ disciples. But what was happening to John? His ministry had been successful. At least many people came to him for baptism. The expectation of a Messiah soon to come would have excited the people with hopeful expectation. Yet we can sense the doubt rising in John when he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus whether he is the Messiah, the Christ. That would not be surprising.  John’s despair and sense of failure is understandable. Uncertain, alone and imprisoned it seems that all was lost.  Jesus sends an enigmatic reply: “Go and tell John what you hear and see:  5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.  6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”[Mt 11: 4-6]  Jesus was going about healing and teaching – yes impressive stuff but it was not bringing down the Roman rule. In fact, Jesus didn’t seem overly concerned about the Romans. John found it hard to see that Jesus was the one that he, John, had imagined. There lies the issue. We often imagine God’s future using our preconceived notions of what God’s future might look like.  But God’s future is

The Absurdity of Peace   Advent 2 Isaiah 11: 1 – 5;  Romans 13: 11 – 14; Matthew 24: 36 – 44 Peace is a by-product of love and love is a by-product of God. We lit the Peace Candle today. Peace is the theme for this 2nd Sunday in Advent. There is something absurd about the notion of true and lasting peace in this world so torn apart by violence. Our world faces many uncertainties: family violence, white collar corruption, politicians involved in ethical compromises, entrenched conservatism, fear of refugees, the share market not performing very well, wages stagnating while the top end of town continues to rake in large salaries, there’s fires, the potential dangers of global warming with increased heat and bushfires and our Pacific Island communities facing rising seas. Then we have our personal issues.  Peace, what a laugh! Where’s there peace?  Do our texts have anything to say to us?  I believe they have much to say. The prophet Isaiah provides us with a beautiful poetic view of his understanding of God’s vision of peace.  The images of the wolf lying down with the lamb, the cow and bear grazing together and the lion eating straw with the ox portray an absurd picture of peace. In painting such a word picture the prophet Isaiah points us upwards above the mayhem of the injustice and violence. Those ancients faced an uncertain world just as we so do today!  The context of Isaiah’s prophetic vision is the political manoeuvrings of Judah’s king, King Ahaz. King Ahaz had made an alliance with the Assyrian king which led to heavy taxation of the Jewish people, corruption of temple worship and widespread injustice.  Isaiah responds to the political uncertainty and social injustice with this ‘poem’: –  A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, … of counsel and might, …  of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. [Is 11:1,2] The prophetic word states that God will not raise just a new king, but a king that comes from the original source, the stump of Jesse.  Jesse was the father of the great king David.  However the new king will not come through the natural Davidic family lineage. Rather the king will come from the very source of Jesse – the stump:  a new shoot and a new branch.   This will be something entirely new.  It is not strange to read that the Gospel writers and Paul understood this new shoot to be Christ as we see in Mt 1:5; Luke 3:32; Acts 13: 22 and Romans 15: 12.  The significance of this prophetic poem on peace is that Isaiah sees God going back to the beginning – the source Jesse. Here lies our first absurdity. Instead of the Davidic line following natural birth through natural parentage we go back to the very source of the Davidic line, which in human terms is impossible.   The next absurdity is the scene of peace – the wolf lying with the lamb, ox and lion eating together, bear and cow grazing and the child playing with a poisonous snake. In this poem a child will lead and the weaned child will place his hand on the adder’s head. Let me point out some absurdities. The notion of a lion eating straw and a bear grazing in the paddock is absurd because those animals have a different anatomical system of processing food.  The absurdity is deliberate and not meant to be taken literally. It is not a scene of a futuristic ecology that will save the earth.  The point of this prophetic poem is that peace will only come as a result of returning to the very source of kingly rule.  The subliminal message is that we will only find peace when we submit to the rule of the ultimate source of life and kingship – God’s anointed.  We Christians take that to be Christ Jesus. We see Jesus as the true Messiah, the Christ, who comes from the source of all things – from the very stump of the living tree – God.  Jesus is God with us. Isaiah tells us that the Spirit of the Lord rests on the one who comes from the stump of Jesse. This anointed king will rule not by his natural senses but with righteousness.  This anointed one of God wears a belt of righteousness.  As much as a belt holds our clothing together so a belt of righteousness holds our character together.  What is righteousness?  We might automatically think of righteousness as moral and ethical correctness, but in the Bible it refers to a right relationship with God.  That is why John the Baptist called people to a baptism of repentance. That is, a turning away from the things of this world and turning to face God. That is why Paul in Romans 1:16-18 says that all who believe and trust in God will be saved and enter God’s righteousness. Righteousness has more to do with a state of being than moral correctness. This notion that peace begins with a relationship is implicit in our Romans 15 reading. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul adds some very practical things for us to attend to. Be welcoming of each other for the sake of Christ  Include those who are very different. For the Jews it was the Gentiles.  Live with hope because hope will fill you with joy and peace. This is how I see the Christian

Guard your Faith    Isaiah 2 1 – 5;  Romans 13: 11 – 14; Matthew 24: 36 – 44 The eyes are blind when the mind is elsewhere. [Latin Proverb] One morning in the early 1890s, four workers were busy harvesting corn. One man cut the corn with a scythe, another followed making bands of twisted corn stalks, the third worker had a small wooden rake gathering bundles of the cut corn, and a forth worker, a young lad, was making each bundle into a sheaf. At noon they stopped for a lunch break. They sat down and opened their lunches. The lad unwrapped his sandwiches. He looked at his food, as it lay open on his napkin. He had come to know the Lord at Chapel the night before, so he closed his eyes and thanked God for his food. When he opened his eyes his sandwiches had gone. The dog had taken them! The farmer had seen it all. Much amused he said to the lad, “It is a good thing to pray but you must also watch”.  [P Hargreaves; “Quotes & Anecdotes” p. 145] A spiritual truth which we ignore at our peril was uttered by the farmer,. “It’s a good thing to pray but you must also watch.” When the prophet Nehemiah led the people of God back to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon he recorded one of their actions. So we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. [Nehemiah 4:9]  Watchfulness and prayer go together. Why do we need to be both watchful and prayerful?  The life-giving blessing of God is a relationship?  Relationships need to be looked after. They need nurturing and they need protection. I believe that there is many a human relationship that has broken down because it was neither nurtured nor protected.  So much more our relationship with God needs nurturing and protection. The parable of the Sower tells us that the seed of God’s Word falls upon us and that sometimes the cares of the world or the pleasures of the world over come us and destroy God’s Word in us.  The parable of the Sower reminds us that the seed of God, if it is not nurtured, does not grow [Mk 4: 1 – 20].   Our relationship with God needs protection. There are many voices in our world that pull us away from God.  These current cases of corruption in our society have not come about because people took up their career paths with the intention of being corrupt. No!  Definitely not! They went down the slippery path of corruption slowly – bit by bit. It all starts slowly and that is so with our spiritual lives.  Early enthusiasm wanes until one day we say, ‘I’m tired; it will be OK to skip my devotions today. Before long we’re skipping more devotional times. We fall into that false situation of turning to God only when we are in need. It is the same with attending Sunday worship. We skip a Sunday or two then it becomes a habit. Before long Sunday worship is just another option along with sport, family and other commitments. Now I know there are a few problems and challenges in what I am saying. And I am not saying you have to come to church every Sunday. But what I am saying is that there are many distractions that take us away from a special time with God. It may seem quite reasonable to put family first, but if family comes before time with God then that is a problem. In my many years of ministry I have noted folk who put their friends, their family and their children before God.  You should remember the foundational principle of ‘first things first’.  It is a business principle. Stephen Covey wrote a notable book, ‘First things First’.  In it he told how in business one needs to get the core business principles right and the rest will follow. He used the metaphors of compass and the cardinal points.  So he spoke of one’s true north.  The point is you can’t sail across an endless ocean without knowing your bearings – where you’ve come from and where you are going to. If you don’t have those two positions clearly in your head then you will wander the sea aimlessly and get truly lost. The spiritual life is just like that. Get things right and everything else will follow. Jesus said, Seek first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well [Mt 6:33].  By the way Stephen Covey’s valuable management advice sounds the same.  It is interesting to note that Stephen Covey is a Christian. My brothers and sisters in Christ do you know how many times the Bible talks about watchfulness, guarding your faith, disciplining and taking care of our walk with God?  The nouns watchfulness or vigilance capture both the sense of expectation and the danger in the Faith. Practising our faith is relatively easy in our country and we are lulled into thinking all is well. But then we lack vibrancy in our walk with God.  I want to suggest to you that this may be a result of not being watchful and nurturing our relationship with God.  What I am focusing on today is the importance of watchfulness and vigilance to all our relationships and especially with God. Jesus was welcomed into this world by the awareness, alertness and vigilance of the women, Elizabeth, Mary and Anna. The diligence and vigilance of Zechariah, Joseph, Shepherds and Wise Men matched that of the women. Throughout the ages the great advances of the church were met and supported by faithful watchful men and women. Watchfulness is mentioned many, many times in Scripture. Proverbs 4: 23 talks about guarding our hearts. In 1 Peter 5:8 the reader is encouraged to be disciplined and alert because our

What is the Christian Life? Christianity in a Nutshell. 3. Luke 10: 25 – 37 Does to love someone mean I must like them? In this series on Christianity in a Nutshell I have said, that there are very sound reasons for believing in God. The reasons are not proofs, but they point to a longstanding intuition of humanity that says there is something greater than us and we name that something or someone God.  I have argued that to think and speak of God only as the Father, Lord and King limits our understanding of God. I urged you to expand your concept of God to include the notion that God suffers with us and for us.  This concept that God suffers with us and for us reflects more accurately the Biblical understanding and experience of God. I would say that the concepts of Lord and King are best used in our praise and worship of God, but they should not be exclusively used. In terms of our everyday understanding of God, God is the One who suffers with us and for us.  Today I will address the third element in this attempt to capture Christianity in a Nutshell. What is the essence of the Christian life? Yes, of course, it is love. That’s all it is – love your neighbour?  But is that all we need to say? Luke’s account of the parable of the Good Samaritan has much to teach us.  When Jesus asks the lawyer what is written in the Law – referring to the Books of Law – the lawyer replies; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” [Lk 10:27] This lawyer is clever. He has accurately summed up all the law in these two principle statements. He knows the Scriptures. He is clever but is he wise?  The Jewish lawyer reveals his lack of understanding by asking Jesus, “who is my neighbour?” If the lawyer needed to know who his neighbour was then he didn’t understand fully the concept of ‘love your neighbour’.  That’s the problem. Has the lawyer fallen into the trap of thinking that love is that feeling between people who know each other and like each other?  For us love is enmeshed with liking. But Jesus is not talking about this personal love. For God, loving is not about liking! When I became the CEO of the Churches’ State school chaplaincy and religious education ministry I knew I had to relate to a whole lot of people as their leader. I now had a particular responsibility for them. How was I going demonstrate this seeing that I was quite friendly with a few, got on well with a number and others not so well.  That is, there were a few with whom I had a lot in common and others with whom I had very little in common. I didn’t dislike them but we weren’t close. I reflected on how I might love them as my neighbour. I took God’s command to be very relevant. All I could do was to love them by being just and fair and making sure everyone had equal access to me. I wanted the best for all in that work environment. I resolved to be fair, just, and respectful to all.  The book of Leviticus contains many rules, commands and principles for living life. In Leviticus we find the command to love your neighbour as yourself  [Lev 19:18]. It is the only place in all of the Old Testament that this commandment is found. In Leviticus cascading down from the command to love one’s neighbour we find a number of rules about one’s relationship to others and to the land.  A few verses later God’s people are told to love the alien as yourself  [Lev 19:33]. I love this word alien. It is a small word but so strong. These people don’t belong here. They have no right to be here, BUT you will love them too.  What is clear is that God expects us to love all of creation – people, animals and all God has created.  Why?  Because God created the world! You see all the laws, rules and principles in the Bible are derived from this Great Commandment to love God and love others. The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us what loving our neighbour entails. Here are the three characteristics I have identified. Firstly, the Samaritan came near the man who was robbed and left for dead [Lk 10:33].  The Samaritan didn’t need to come near the man.  Everyone would understand that. Firstly, you don’t know if the man lying there is a decoy. Secondly, the naked man could not be identified. You see in those days people’s clothes indicated their status and culture. He could be anyone. He could be an enemy. But the Samaritan’s compassion leads him to this person in need.  The Samaritan shows Grace-full love.  Grace in the Bible means giving love to the undeserved. They have neither earned the love nor have merit that deserves it. The first thing we identify about loving our neighbour is that the love is freely given and unconditional. This is the Christian concept of love – the Jesus concept.  This is what grace means for the Christian.  Secondly, we see that the Samaritan not only took a risk in stopping, but also ended up giving his time, resources and money. Costly love is the character of loving our neighbour as ourselves. Jesus showed us how costly love can be.  Now the Christian is not asked to simply love her/his friends and associates but to love all, even those we perceive to be undeserving. Our love will cost us in one way or another, because loving is about giving not taking.  Thirdly, Christian love is Courageous love.  Christian love is not about being nice to

God’s Creatures Our Companions Genesis 2: 15 – 24 Do we supplant our God given companions with the companions we can control? In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, there are two creation stories. The second story tells us that God created a human to look after the earth.  When God saw that the human was alone and needed assistance to take care of the land God created animals to be the human’s companion and help.  But the human was still lonely so God created another human to be a companion to the first human. There is wisdom here in this quaint and ancient mythological story, which is too easily dismissed by our prejudices or shallow reading. The wisdom and truth I emphasise today is this. Humankind was given the task of caring for the land and given animals as helpful companions. The land, animals and humans are bound together in a purposeful sociability. Land, animals (all creatures) and humans are to work and live together in a purposeful community. Today we come to give thanks for and honour the wonderful companionship of the canine species. But what we will say about them is not exclusive to our canine pets. People have had special relationships with different land, water or air based species.  I was reading about the special relationship between some the British monarchs and their dogs. I wondered how much these British monarchs had formed our culture’s views on dogs. The monarchs that spring to mind are Queen Elizabeth II and her corgis and King Charles II and his preference for a small breed of spaniel which now bears his name. But have you heard of Caesar of Notts? That’s his full name – Caesar of Notts. Caesar was a small wired-haired terrier given to Edward VII when he lost his beloved dog, Jack, in 1898. Caesar won the heart of his master and ended up travelling everywhere with the king.  Caesar was assigned his own footman and would sleep at night on an armchair in the King’s bedroom.  When Edward VII died in 1910 Caesar wandered the palace looking for him and refused to eat. The queen engaged a vet who managed to persuade Caesar to eat.  As the King’s cortège passed through the crowded streets of London following the coffin was the King’s charger, Kildare, fully saddled for riding with his master’s riding boots reversed, then came Caesar accompanied by a Highland soldier followed by the aristocracy and the rest of procession. When Caesar died a tombstone was erected over his grave with the inscription written by Queen Alexandra; Our beloved Caesar who was the King’s Faithful and Constant companion until Death, and My Greatest Comforter in my loneliness and Sorrow for Four Years after. Died 18th April 1914. Dogs are special to us. I love it when our greyhound ‘grandchild’ is dropped off for us to look after. I enjoy her company and love our early morning romps on the beach.  Dogs exemplify for us the God intended sociability that is understood in the Bible’s Creation stories.  Let’s remind ourselves of five important characteristics of a dog that point us to God’s intention for the well-being of community. Faithfulness is a quintessential quality of dogs. They weld themselves to their owners with an unswerving dependability. The story of King Edward VII’s Caesar is a case in point and that would be replicated in countless stories around the world. A dog’s faithfulness reflects for us the faithfulness of God to humanity. Faithfulness is a critical element for the health of any community. Acceptance is another redeeming quality in our dogs. Dogs can teach us a lot about acceptance. They do not care what we look like and accept us in all forms of dress and mood. They wear their hearts on their sleeves with the simplicity of enduring love. They will not let you cry alone. They sense our sadness or quietness and will sit with us and will either lie against us or nuzzle us.  It seems that they inherently understand that ‘making love not war’ is the best thing. In this sense they reflect our Maker’s intent and shame our human foolishness. Playfulness … endless playfulness to which we humans give far too little attention … is another mark of a dog. I think we overlook the value of playfulness.  Having fun releases the tension within us.  I believe God made us to be playful. Why else do we have music and dance? My cousins recently returned from visiting Israel. They remarked that in the otherwise tense city of Jerusalem how often they saw Jews dancing and singing in the streets.  It might be worth our while to ponder why God made an animal that happily retrieves the same ball time after time with a wagging tail and excited eyes? Joy is a consequence of the playfulness, the acceptance and faithfulness of our pets. Our dogs meet us with such happiness. It always fills me with a little joy when visiting my daughter’s home to have the dog greet me.  They appear to be so happy to see us. Did you know that one of the chief characteristics of the first Christians was their joy?  They were noted for that. Sadly that has not always been the case for the Church.  However the songs of praise and thanksgiving give opportunity for joy to come to the surface.  And these moments of joy enable us to go and spread the joy around. Courage is another quality of the canine species. Hear the story of Nemo A534 who was an Alsatian stationed in Vietnam with the armed services. When the Vietcong snuck into a military base one night, which Nemo and his handler were guarding, Nemo confronted them head on.  His handler, Airman Thoneburg was wounded during the confrontation and Nemo took a bullet, which passed through one eye and snout. Despite this, Nemo lay across this master’s body and defended him against any

What is God like? Christianity in a Nutshell. 2. Exodus 3: 5 – 10, 13 – 15;   John 14: 5 – 11 Some ‘names’ for God are more helpful than others!  Today our focus is on who God is?  Last Sunday’s sermon on – why I believe – possibly was a little too theological and may not have been seen to be practical. I hope this sermon will restore the balance. However I do think it is important to reflect on why one believes or does not believes.    Clarifying who God is helps us in two ways: it frees us from the prisons of negativity and confusion about God; and, it frees us to utilize the power of God. I could give you endless stories of people’s confusion and negativity.  I recall reaching the bedside of a parishioner in hospital. He was very sick. I asked him if he felt at peace with God. The parishioner replied that he felt he was not good enough for God.  I was surprised. This parishioner ran the church’s library and had critiqued my worship leading from time to time and read theology. This parishioner was a stalwart in the faith, yet on his sick bed he felt uncertain about his relationship with God.  He wondered if he was ‘good enough’ for God.  The parishioner seemed to have missed the point about God’s gracious love. Somehow the notion that God’s love comes freely to us through Christ Jesus had been overlaid by the notion of ‘working for our salvation’. Surely this is an indication of some confusion about who God is and what God does. Only the other day we met a couple in Perth. We were talking about life. In the conversation they mentioned that their son had tragically died in a motorcar accident. I asked the woman if she went to church. (Now that question was set in a much longer conversation and was more sensitively asked.) Her response was spontaneous and angry, “Don’t go there!” That was the end of it. She just didn’t want to talk about it. While her husband still worshipped God she refused to go to worship. She was angry  – angry with God. Now there are good reasons to be confused about God and angry with God.  You see, if God is the all powerful Lord and King and in control of this world, then why does God not do something about the awful suffering and injustice in the world? It is confusing to sing about the almighty power of God and then witness what seems to be God’s powerlessness or disinterest. If one firmly believes that God is in control then why does God let awful things happen? Does God intend this to happen? If so, then I too am angry with such an indifferent and capricious god. In the 90s I was a chaplain and team leader to the Scripture Union Family Mission at Tidal River, Wilson’s Prom. The young leaders used predominantly three terms to describe God – Father, Lord and King. Of course, our Christian songs predominantly use such concepts to describe God. Let us ask ourselves what do these terms raise in our minds?  The first thing is that all three are male images.  So it is easy to assume that God is a male. Oh, of course, we’re going to add, but God is a spirit and we mean this spiritually.  Well, having said that, the overall impact, the subtle message is the maleness of God. This is the reason why I use the language I do and refer to the Spirit as she.  Think of the pronouns and the words that you use in your devotional life. Ponder the songs and the concepts of God we use.  These three terms not only conceptualise God as male, but also conceptualise God as powerful one. The term lord describes a person of noble rank who has authority over us. We hardly need to unpack the meaning of king.  The problem is not that we use these terms but that we tend to use them exclusively.  The result is that we have hardwired our brains to think of God being in control of everything. If that is so then God is responsible for everything. However the Bible does not use these terms exclusively. On the contrary the Bible has many names for God and not least that God is merciful, compassionate and suffers with and for us. The most powerful image for us is the Cross and we often take it for granted.  Nothing challenged Western Christianity’s faith more than the Holocaust. The Holocaust – Germany’s Nazi genocidal programme that exterminated 6 million Jews – raised enormous questions about the existence of God. Why did God let this happen? Such tragedy on such a scale does beg the question about God – who made this world. Where is God when we suffer? What is God doing?  What is God like?  These questions are important to address because we need a level of clarity in our times of great need, otherwise we slip into the prisons of confusion and anger. Three German theologians, Jürgen Moltmann, Dorothee Soelle and Johan B Metz, addressed this issue. They had to, the church had to, and we have to as well. They came up with an insight that I use often. I talk about the God who suffers with us and for us. What theologians recognise today is that God the Creator comes to us not as the dominant ruler demanding obedience, but the loving Guide calling us to walk and work with God.  Jesus reflects this truth. Jesus never lorded it over his disciples or the people. He walked beside.  He walked a few paces ahead. He gave his life for us. Jesus emptied himself of all kingly power [Phil 2:7] so that we could see the true nature of God – the God who hears our cry, gives us life and suffers

Why I believe? Psalm 27; Luke 19: 1 – 10 It is easier not to believe than to believe in God today? 110 years ago we were a big Church in a small world. Today we are a small Church in a very big world. Before WW1 the Church was right at the centre of a small world. Britain, Europe and North America were predominantly Christian and dominant in the world. For all concerned the world was Christian. Other countries were seen as mission fields. Before the Church became a small Church in a big world it was the conventional thing to be a Christian. The Church was where everything happened: births recognised, marriages performed and burials undertaken, along with all social activity. It was easier then to be Christian, or at least go along with the notion of faith in God than it is today.  Today it is entirely different. Two world wars ensured that by the second half of the 20th Century the Church was a small institution in a big world.  The 20th Century saw three major currents that changed the way we saw life.  Science gave us pragmatism and we demanded things to be proved according to scientific methodology. Democracy superseded fascism and communism and we now prize our independence and rights. Intellectualism came to the conclusion that god-is-dead.  What has this meant for us? What has it meant for me?  I will speak personally. Since my 18th year I have struggled with the Christian faith not because I don’t believe in God or found Christianity not to be meaningful, but because when I entered the wider world I encountered a society that didn’t believe in God and deliberately denigrated faith. Even within the Church doubts and questions about God and the Bible were bandied around. I have ministerial colleagues who reject core beliefs of the faith.  I live – we live – in a world that is secular, atheistic, pluralistic and materialistic. And yet much of the Church carries on as before. To be a Christian today requires commitment. Being a member of the Church is no longer a matter of convention. It is not easy to be a Christian and that is why we need to know what and why we believe.  Over the next few Sundays I want to share with you my understanding of Christianity in as fewest words possible – Christianity in a Nutshell. By the way, Shakespeare coined the phrase ‘in a nutshell’ in his play ‘Hamlet’. The overall theme is Christianity in a Nutshell. There will be four sermons – Why I believe in God? What is God like? What is the Christian life? Why is the king a servant? Why I believe in God is easy to answer in one sense. I believe because I have encountered God. This is my experience, which may be similar to yours. Are we simply foolish people looking for some spiritual crutch to help us with life?  What I have to say now I hope you will find encouraging and help your walk with God. Firstly, we must say we cannot prove that God exists according to scientific methods because those methods apply largely to material objects, not spiritual and personal beings. More importantly we cannot prove God’s existence because God is incomprehensible. God is so great, so complete, and so awesome that our minds cannot hold that knowledge.   Proof always assumes two things: firstly that we know the subject thoroughly; and secondly that proofs might be demonstrated. So what can we say? There is convincing evidence that humankind is innately orientated to something  beyond themselves (transcendence) which they strive to know. Here is the evidence for stating that humankind is naturally orientated to transcendence. By transcendence I mean we naturally look for something greater than ourselves. Transcendence refers to an existence or experience that is beyond the normal or physical level. Firstly, from the dawn of humankind’s discovery of fire and light we notice that humans believed in something bigger than themselves. The most telling evidence comes from burial sites. Archaeologists have uncovered signs that most burials demonstrate a belief in the afterlife. The stiff dead bodies have been forced into a foetal position before burial suggesting that the dead were now going into a new life. Another birth was taking place.  Supporting this interpretation is the placement of implements and money they might need in the next life, and food for the journey, so the very least we can say is that they did not see death as the end. The reverence and planning that took place indicates a reverence for something that transcends this life.  We may simplistically conclude that they believed in gods and spirits. The second piece of evidence for believing in transcendence you might find surprising. It is our questioning.  We tend to treat the questions of children as signs of an inquiring mind. However further reflection on our questions reveals something significant. All questions presume that the ‘asker’ already knows something and wants to know more.  A little child who asks, ‘why is the sky blue?’ has already noted the colour blue and distinguished blue from other colours.  Our questioning demonstrates a desire to know more. When we consider what questions do and how often we use questions we realise that questions form an essential part of the human spirit to know and expand the horizon of knowledge.  We ask questions about everything. We always want more information. In asking we presume there is a reality to be found. When an answer emerges we don’t stop there for long. Even a perfectly good answer doesn’t allow us to rest for long, because the answer received nestles in a background of related things that trigger our curiosity anew. The answer has become the basis for a new question. The human tasks of weighing, judging and defining continue to push us further out into the unknown.  I boldly declare that with out our natural enquiring

COMING OUT THE OTHER SIDE Sometimes life just seems like a dark tunnel we will never get out of.   Perhaps it is a natural disaster like the bushfires raging across New South Wales at present – bushfires that could hit Victoria again this summer.   Sometimes it is more personal – the death of a loved one or a serious health scare and we feel we are never going to come out of the dark hole.   Often it is no one’s fault but our own, but it is still just as dark and there is no one else to blame. Our reading today is from the Book of Joel which is all about a severe plague of locusts which destroys the country’s food for the next year.   Joel also takes this as an image of the disastrous things happening in other ways to the nation.   People are asking where God can be in all this, and Joel is reassuring them that God has not forgotten them, that this time will not last forever.   Sometimes all we can do is hang on and know that this time will not last forever. Joel goes further, and tells the People that not only will God give them food and wine in plenty in the future, but God actually want to bring something better out of this bad thing that has happened.  God will send his Spirit on all people, not just prophets and priests, and these are the words that came to Peter hundreds of years later to explain what was happening on the Day of Pentecost.   That is worth holding onto.   God does not cause bad things to happen to good people, but is with us throughout the bad times and wants to bring something even better to pass if we will be open to the Spirit of God. The Pharisee did not think he needed any help – he was sure he was a righteous person whom God would delight in.   But it was the tax collector who went home justified by God, because he acknowledged his life was a mess, all created by him and he threw himself on the mercy of God.   Whatever our disaster, whether we caused it ourselves or it just happened, if we open ourselves to God’s mercy and love, we will not only come out the other side of the dark tunnel, the Spirit of God can make something new for us and for our world. Robert Johnson 27 October 2019 

YEARNING FOR JUSTICE Luke 18: 1-8 Leighmoor UC Jeremiah 31: 27-34 20 Oct 2019  There is a deep yearning within each one of us. Not just the yearning to love and be loved, But I think it is connected to it. It is the yearning deep within us for our home and our family. Some of us have begun to doubt whether we actually have a home,   a family, a Father who loves us. The People of Israel were stuck in a foreign land, in Babylon, servants of the people there. Their home, Jerusalem had been destroyed, and their identity as the People of God smashed even as the Temple had been smashed. But through the prophet, they were reminded again and again, Don’t let go of that yearning  – you do have a home, you are part of my family, says God. Even though they were there for generations, for 70 years, the yearning kept reminding them of who they were  and whose they were. Even more, God says through the prophet, I am doing a new thing, making a new covenant. There won’t just be stone tablets of the Law in the Temple, for you to obey; I will write this new covenant on your hearts You will understand what is right and wrong More than that, I will be in a close relationship with you, So wherever you are, I will be there with you. The Temple might have been destroyed, but they learned God was with them in their gatherings to worship wherever they were; in their homes as they kept Shabat; in their hearts as they lived what was right . The widow in Jesus’ parable yearned for justice. She had been wronged, and she knew it was wrong. She had no man to stand up for her publicly, so she did it herself. Jesus said, if that unjust judge eventually heard her pleading  and her yearning, how much more will God listen to our yearning. It is a yearning for home, for a place where people are loved  and treated with fairness and more. We talked a few weeks ago about children and justice.    How often have you heard a child saying It’s not fair!    It is often a very simple understanding, like whether someone else has more lollies than me,  but the idea of fairness and justice is deep within us all.    But what do you do when the world clearly is not fair, not just?    Hitting and screaming may not be the best solution, but we often see adults or even countries trying this.    Others just give up, but Jeremiah and Jesus are encouraging us never to give up,  to keep yearning for justice,  to always persist in prayer.  There is a reason why we should never give up yearning for justice.   It is because God is yearning for a just world,  a world where people treat each other with justice and compassion,   a world where God’s love rules.    Our God is a God who never gives up  – never gives up on his world; never gives up on us.    The reason we need to keep yearning for justice,  to persist in prayer,  is that it gives God a chance to change us,  so that we can become part of the answer to our own prayers. Never give up yearning for justice, that yearning comes from God.   Especially when the vulnerable are being picked on, we join God  in calling for them to be treated as valuable children of God. Sometimes we wonder if God is even hearing our prayers Remembering praying for the end of Apartheid  – would it ever come? East Timor … Refugees Later this month I will have been ordained for 50 years. Back in 1969 I was yearning for people  to find a living and vibrant faith in Australia. Since then church attendances have dropped markedly Christian faith is not the assumed position of this nation, It is clearly secularism now. Should I give up?   It hasn’t really worked… I can’t get away from that yearning … I could be at home in bed, or at a friend’s Pink Ribbon breakfast; But I choose to come here; because I yearn for you to find a close and stronger  relationship with the living God. I yearn for this congregation to discover its mission and to thrive. Don’t give up on that yearning God gives you. Never give up praying,  for praying brings us into a deeper relationship with God,  and through that we are changed,  so that we become channels of his peace.