{"id":2840,"date":"2019-02-17T13:29:20","date_gmt":"2019-02-17T02:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=2840"},"modified":"2019-02-17T13:29:20","modified_gmt":"2019-02-17T02:29:20","slug":"culture-clash-17-02-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=2840","title":{"rendered":"Culture Clash 17-02-2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOMILY; 17 FEB 19 LEIGHMOOR UC<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCULTURE CLASH\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There is a fundamental culture clash between those who put their trust in God and those who pursue, fame wealth and fortune!\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What differentiates between those of us who profess a belief in Christianity and those who don\u2019t?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We mostly all have the same sort of jobs with the same pay. We live in similar sorts of houses with the same sort of mortgages. WE all drive similar looking cars and send our kids to the same sort of schools while we go to the same sort of holidays as each other. We have similar spending habits too, buying the various consumer goods as each other.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Our Bible references speak of there being two significantly different ways of living, a way that is blessed, but at odds with the world around us and a way that goes with the majority but leads to ruin.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Down through the ages, I guess that Jesus\u2019 words about \u2018blessed are you who are poor\u2019 and \u2018woe to you who are rich\u2019 has been causing his followers to look for loopholes ever since he spoke them.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We have Luke\u2019s words in front of us today but the better known Matthew\u2019s Gospel version has some softening of the blow of these words. Matthew says :\u2019Blessed are the poor in spirit\u2019 and \u2018Blessed are you who hunger for righteousness\u2019.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It is still hard to explain how one can be poor in spirit while focussing a lot of time and energy on trying to be at least as well off as those around us. We may not feel wealthy and there is a huge industry that keeps suggesting that we are not there yet.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Friendship Book 2014, for January 2 has this to say of relevance to us. \u201cIf you have never been in war, imprisoned or suffered from starvation, then you are better off than five hundred million other people. If you can read, then you are better off than the two billion who are unable to do so. If you can attend a church without fear of harassment, or worse, then you are better off than three billion people in the world.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, then you are richer than three-quarters of your fellow human beings. If you have money in the bank or your wallet or purse, then you are among the top eight per cent of the world\u2019s wealthy\u201d When it comes to counting your blessings, there is no \u2018but\u2019 about it, we in Australia are mostly rich.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rev Nathan Nettleton from the Baptist church, South Melbourne says that If we take the words of Jesus simply at face value then he is saying \u201cit is spiritually good to be in the bottom half of the spectrum and spiritually disastrous to be in the top half\u201d. What do we make of this when the likes of me and suppose many of you too are in the top half of the top half of the top half?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If we are comfortable in the top half of the top half why do so many of us often feel anxious about keeping our heads above water and act like we are struggling to make ends meet?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My impression is that most congregations today in the long standing denominations are in situations more like Luke\u2019s world who had wealth, were full, and laughing, and were in good social standing according to the standards of the old age. Only a few contemporary Christians and congregations are hated. A bomb or two were recently thrown in to a worshipping church service in the Philippines. It does happen.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Those pursuing wealth and comfort have put their faith in something other than what Jesus calls us to put our faith in. We are also told \u2018We cannot serve two masters\u201d.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There is just so much greed and dishonesty out in the business jungle, worldwide. When the Iraq Gulf war erupted it was a British newspaper asked: \u201cWhere to invest our money if it\u2019s war in the Gulf?\u201d [Which war was among the oil wells].<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When the 9\/11 terrorist attacks occurred , the USA leaders implored New Yorkers to shop, shop, shop so to power up their economy. We in Victoria have noted the report received from the Royal Commission into banking practises. Why did the Bank shares then increase? It seems that the expected penalties will be light on.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The accumulation of possessions is an insidious addiction making it impossible for us to embrace things that are the way to salvation.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus invited the rich and poor to follow him. His message is one of reconciliation of all to all but he is also being very realistic about the fact that some have the inside running and some don\u2019t. \u201dBlessed are you.. Woe to you..\u201d.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At Leighmoor we have some challenging times ahead. Our Minister and his wife are retiring at year end. At present levels of giving we will run through the cash reserves too quickly if we want a full time replacement. If we don\u2019t adequately maintain our buildings they will end up not being usable. WE are short of sufficient volunteers to carry all the tasks of running the Parish.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There is much need of services in our community where Leighmoor may be able to host, like some floor space when the Men\u2019s shed make their move. What as individuals are we able to offer to allow our welcoming friendly Parish have an increased outreach to our community?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I cannot answer that but let me finally give you an example:-\u201cThere was a mailman, John Hand, who drove his mail truck through some hills in California some 80 kilometres each day. The route was plain, all brown and virtually no colour. One day he began to throw out wild flower seeds out his window as he drove. Today you\u2019ll find beautiful patches of flowers throughout blossoming in many colours.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We all travel different roads, have different skills, be it with our families, at work, wherever. Can we be a catalyst for change? Can we sow the seeds of love, joy, righteousness and all the fruits of the Holy Spirit? As we sow them throughout our daily lives, those dull, dry landscapes will begin to blossom into something beautiful and we will be remembered as the ones who sowed those seeds.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Quite finally, this is called \u201cReflections\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At the close of life<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The question is<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Not how much you have got<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But how much you have given<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Not how much you have won<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But how much you have done<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Not how much you have saved<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But how much you have sacrificed<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Not how much you were honoured<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But how much you have Loved and served.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOMILY; 17 FEB 19 LEIGHMOOR UC \u201cCULTURE CLASH\u201d There is a fundamental culture clash between those who put their trust in God and those who pursue, fame wealth and fortune!\u00a0 What differentiates between those of us who profess a belief in Christianity and those who don\u2019t? We mostly all have the same sort of jobs with the same pay. We live in similar sorts of houses with the same sort of mortgages. WE all drive similar looking cars and send our kids to the same sort of schools while we go to the same sort of holidays as each other. We have similar spending habits too, buying the various consumer goods as each other. Our Bible references speak of there being two significantly different ways of living, a way that is blessed, but at odds with the world around us and a way that goes with the majority but leads to ruin. Down through the ages, I guess that Jesus\u2019 words about \u2018blessed are you who are poor\u2019 and \u2018woe to you who are rich\u2019 has been causing his followers to look for loopholes ever since he spoke them. We have Luke\u2019s words in front of us today but the better known Matthew\u2019s Gospel version has some softening of the blow of these words. Matthew says :\u2019Blessed are the poor in spirit\u2019 and \u2018Blessed are you who hunger for righteousness\u2019. It is still hard to explain how one can be poor in spirit while focussing a lot of time and energy on trying to be at least as well off as those around us. We may not feel wealthy and there is a huge industry that keeps suggesting that we are not there yet. The Friendship Book 2014, for January 2 has this to say of relevance to us. \u201cIf you have never been in war, imprisoned or suffered from starvation, then you are better off than five hundred million other people. If you can read, then you are better off than the two billion who are unable to do so. If you can attend a church without fear of harassment, or worse, then you are better off than three billion people in the world. If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, then you are richer than three-quarters of your fellow human beings. If you have money in the bank or your wallet or purse, then you are among the top eight per cent of the world\u2019s wealthy\u201d When it comes to counting your blessings, there is no \u2018but\u2019 about it, we in Australia are mostly rich. Rev Nathan Nettleton from the Baptist church, South Melbourne says that If we take the words of Jesus simply at face value then he is saying \u201cit is spiritually good to be in the bottom half of the spectrum and spiritually disastrous to be in the top half\u201d. What do we make of this when the likes of me and suppose many of you too are in the top half of the top half of the top half? If we are comfortable in the top half of the top half why do so many of us often feel anxious about keeping our heads above water and act like we are struggling to make ends meet?\u00a0 My impression is that most congregations today in the long standing denominations are in situations more like Luke\u2019s world who had wealth, were full, and laughing, and were in good social standing according to the standards of the old age. Only a few contemporary Christians and congregations are hated. A bomb or two were recently thrown in to a worshipping church service in the Philippines. It does happen. Those pursuing wealth and comfort have put their faith in something other than what Jesus calls us to put our faith in. We are also told \u2018We cannot serve two masters\u201d. There is just so much greed and dishonesty out in the business jungle, worldwide. When the Iraq Gulf war erupted it was a British newspaper asked: \u201cWhere to invest our money if it\u2019s war in the Gulf?\u201d [Which war was among the oil wells]. When the 9\/11 terrorist attacks occurred , the USA leaders implored New Yorkers to shop, shop, shop so to power up their economy. We in Victoria have noted the report received from the Royal Commission into banking practises. Why did the Bank shares then increase? It seems that the expected penalties will be light on. The accumulation of possessions is an insidious addiction making it impossible for us to embrace things that are the way to salvation. Jesus invited the rich and poor to follow him. His message is one of reconciliation of all to all but he is also being very realistic about the fact that some have the inside running and some don\u2019t. \u201dBlessed are you.. Woe to you..\u201d. At Leighmoor we have some challenging times ahead. Our Minister and his wife are retiring at year end. At present levels of giving we will run through the cash reserves too quickly if we want a full time replacement. If we don\u2019t adequately maintain our buildings they will end up not being usable. WE are short of sufficient volunteers to carry all the tasks of running the Parish. There is much need of services in our community where Leighmoor may be able to host, like some floor space when the Men\u2019s shed make their move. What as individuals are we able to offer to allow our welcoming friendly Parish have an increased outreach to our community? I cannot answer that but let me finally give you an example:-\u201cThere was a mailman, John Hand, who drove his mail truck through some hills in California some 80 kilometres each day. The route was plain, all brown and virtually no colour. One day he began to throw out wild flower seeds out his window as he drove. Today you\u2019ll find beautiful patches<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"HOMILY; 17 FEB 19 LEIGHMOOR UC \u201cCULTURE CLASH\u201d There is a fundamental culture clash between those who put their trust in God and those who pursue, fame wealth and fortune!\u00a0 What differentiates between those of us who profess a belief in Christianity and those who don\u2019t? We mostly all have the same sort of jobs…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2841,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840\/revisions\/2841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}