A good steward Proper 20 Pentecost 15 21st Sept 2025

 2025  09  21    Proper 20   Pentecost 15

Jeremiah 8.18-9.1     Psalm 79.1-9     1 Timothy 2.1-10    Luke 16.1-13

 

A few years ago a movie came out called “Shazam”.  It was about a family of foster kids and one in particular who was chosen to inherit a dying wizard’s magical powers to fight the previously imprisoned and now released demons.  Those demons were the seven deadly sins: Lust, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed and Envy.  In our Gospel reading today, we are told that you can not serve both God and Mammon.  Serving Mammon is the sin of Greed.

 

While it makes a great story to have these sins personified as demons, and clearly defined, in everyday experience, the influence of those “demons” are sneaky and entice us to a path of destruction that looks like a path paved with gold.   The Israelites of Jeremiah’s time didn’t see their acts as leading to destruction.  Then, it was too late.

 

The opening from our reading from Jeremiah is this; “My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick.”  Jeremiah looked at his beloved nation.  They had strayed from following God.  Many were in exile, and he refers to them as the “daughter of my people”…   He refers to her, like a grandfather.  Now as a grandmother myself, there are some things that I understand.  As a grandparent, all that love and worry and care that you had for your own children is just as present with your grandchildren, but the difference is that you have a lot less say and control over the circumstances.  When you can see things going wrong, it is heartbreaking, and this is where Jeremiah is at.  He has seen the actions of the nations and knew the long-term consequences, but he was powerless to change them… the overseers were not listening.

 

I wonder if there are times that you might look at our own nation and feel, ““My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick.”  Those who govern have a tough job, to oversee and make hard decisions, and even unpopular ones, but ones that will prosper the nation.  Responsible stewards, must make decisions for the good of the nation rather than decisions based on keeping their own seats, and keeping themselves in a job with well lined pockets….

 

We, like Jeremiah, may mostly feel powerless to step in an save the nation when we see things going the wrong way.  Both in the case of grandchildren and our nation, we can’t change the events or manipulate the outcome, because each one of us has God given free will, and we need to respect that free will.  However, like Jeremiah, there is always something we can do.  What is God calling us to do?  Jeremiah was called to speak.  He did this with love and because of love.  And we too, can, and must sow into the future, by our God directed actions.

 

In our Psalm the situation is the same.  The Psalmist is grieved because of the situation of the nation, and the psalmist turns to God and implores his intervention.  A good reminder for us in times that we feel that despair and feel that sense that the situations are beyond our control.  A sign in the Mercy Seville centre says; “Don’t think that just a few good people can’t change the world, for indeed that is all who ever have.”  A good thing to remember as we navigate dark times.

 

Saint Paul, in his letter to Timothy, tells us that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for everyone.  Prayer gives God permission to act.  Prayer helps us know which action to take, and through it we become people of faith and hope and people who witness miracles.  Special mention is made of praying for kings and those in positions of power.   We can, and are meant to pray for our Government, but what should be the focus of our prayer?

 

God wants all to come to knowledge of him and salvation through Christ.  From Timothy;  “…God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth…” Our prayers for our leaders are this; that they will come to accept that salvation that is offered to them in Christ.  Our leaders have a tough job.  They are overseers who are called and chosen to be responsible over much.  They are called to be people of integrity and good stewards over all of which they are in charge.

 

Jesus tells the story of an overseer, a manager, who has been accused of squandering his master’s wealth and not being a responsible steward.  He is told that he will lose his job, but he needs to show his accounting to his master.  So, the man sets out to make things right.  Commentaries suggest that in cutting the bills for the debtors, the debtors believe the manager is acting on the master’s behalf and therefore the master’s honour is raised in their eyes.  The master is aware of this and praises the actions of the manager.  The manager is also seen as a loyal and honourable servant by the debtors.  Yes, he was being manipulative, but he was using wealth to sow into his future.  He won approval by using wealth to help both his master and the debtors – and himself.   It was a win, win, win situation. 

 

The sentence that seems most out of place in our Gospel is this; “make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.”   To put this in context; tax collectors were seen as unsavoury characters because their job was about ‘dishonest wealth’  - in a religious context, to have this almost obsession was perceived as sinful.  Having great wealth was NOT sinful, as Abraham and many others were incredibly wealthy, but to have a business where the only concern was money – was seen as… hmmm … well, working for the demon of Greed (Mammon). (Also, the tax collectors were somewhat seen as traitors working for the Romans). 

 

When Jesus says “Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth”, The outcome is so that we will be welcomed into eternal homes– in other words, invest that wealth in eternity.  What do you think is the way we can use money to impact, such that we are welcomed into eternal homes?

 

We are to use our wealth to sow into the Kingdom.   In other words, we need to wisely deal with wealth to enable us to feed the poor.  God’s concern is for the needy.  But also, we know that God’s concern, even more so, is for the salvation of all.  Therefore, we need to be sowing into programs that are evangelistic – such as Religious Instruction in schools and outreach programs and events like the Gospel Garden Party, The Light Party.  Care initiatives such as the Op Shop and Coffee ministry and other activities where we connect with people.  When we sow into promoting faith, we grow the kingdom.  When we feed the poor, we are being the children of God.  

 

Today we are challenged to think about our own personal sowing into the kingdom of God.  In the Bible the principle is to give God a tithe… that is to give a tenth of our income to God.   What we give is between us and God, but we owe our eternal life to God…. Our whole life.  What is that worth?  And what part should we sow into the concerns of God – into his kingdom?

 

Is our world suffering from a lack of understanding about who God is and his ways?  In everything that God has done, His desire is for people to be saved; to come into relationship with him.  The question is; how can we bring the good news of God’s love and salvation to the people around us?  How can we be wise stewards of the wealth (not just financial, but in knowledge), that God has given us.  We are that servant called to give account.  God is the Master. 

 

In the movie, Shazam, the foster kid, Billy, discovered that he needed to share his power with his foster brothers and sisters.  He overcame the seven deadly sins, not on his own, but through the shared responsibility.  We too, need each other.  We need to work together to invest in the Kingdom… financially, but also in all ways.  What exact way God wants us to invest is something we need to pray about.  What is our part in this?  And what is MY part in this?

 

We CAN make a difference, and we are called to make a difference.  We are ALL called to be faithful managers of the Gospel.  None of us are called to watch others do something… we are all called to some action.  All that we are– our skills, talents, knowledge etc and all that we have is ultimately God’s, but he has made us the managers or stewards of all that we are and have.  Are we faithful, responsible and being good managers?  God loves and blesses us.  With his blessings we can do immeasurably more than we can imagine.

 

 

He came for the Sinner.... that means most that He came for me. 14th Sept 2025 Proper 19 year C

 2025   09  14   Proper 19 C

Jeremiah 4.11-12, 22-28    Psalm 14   1 Timothy 1.1-2, 12-19a Luke 15.1-10

Sometimes the scriptures we read are baffling.  Today we have this warning about a hot wind that comes to destroy; a wind of judgment.  Then we have our Gospel reading that speaks of God’s mercy.   That stark difference will always seem baffling unless we ask God to send His Holy Spirit to show us what he is wanting to say to us today, through the stories and experiences of the chosen people of long ago.

 

There is a word that jumped out at me in the reading from Jeremiah.  In primary school settings that word would have children coming up to tell the teacher, “So and So said the S word”.   Children often think that the word “Stupid” is a bad word… well it sure isn’t nice – especially if it is being said about you!

 

“"For my people are foolish; they do not know me; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good."  I looked on the earth, and it was complete chaos, and to the heavens, and they had no light.”

 

Is this a description of long ago?  Or is it a description of our world today?  God, who created each human being, who delighted over each one as they were formed in their mother’s womb, and rejoiced at their birth – and ours… looks at what these children have done with their free will.  There are wars…. There is corruption.  There is manipulation.  there is an abuse of power.  There is a grabbing to take ownership. To have stuff… jealousy and factions.   Has the world ever been so polarized over issues?  God says, “I looked on the earth, and it was complete chaos…”  WHERE IS THERE HOPE?

 

In our readings, though painting a grim picture, we do find there is hope.  Psalm 14 verses 5 & 6 tells us; “….. God is with the company of the righteous.  You would confound the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.” 

 

There is good news; God is with the righteous!  But who are they?  The Bible tells us that none is righteous, and we see in our readings that God looked at His people – HIS HOLY PEOPLE, and found chaos.  Ouch… here is a warning for us!

 

Our Psalm tells us that God looked at humanity and found that all had gone astray and none do good.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  The New Testament book of Romans 3:10- reiterates this as it says, ““None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”  This verse is part of the prelude to the famous passage about faith and it goes on to explain that we can only be righteous through our faith and connection to Jesus.  Then, we have the righteousness of Jesus – it is never self-righteousness.  Righteousness is about being “right” in the eyes of God – and none of us, in our own efforts can be blameless and right in his eyes….

 

…But God knew this and made a way for us.  When we rely on God and trust in the sacrifice of Jesus to unite us to God, we become people of faith and we become those considered by God to be righteous. 

And now we can breathe a little easy – because this is us.   This is the good news.  It isn’t our good deeds or who we are or what family we are born into that make us “Righteous” or “right” before God, but we become righteous through only the sacrifice of Jesus and our faith in God.

 

There is always a warning to take to heart.  Even the chosen people of God, who experienced miracles of extreme proportions, still became “stupid children”.  They took for granted that they belonged to God, and they relied on the sacrifices they made instead of having faith in God and walking in relationship with him.   But how can we continue to have faith in God and ensure we don’t make this same mistake as those ancient chosen people?

 

In our reading from St. Paul to Timothy, we find that St. Paul was once one of those “Stupid Children”.   He explains it this way, “….. though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.”  Now, St. Paul was a zealous, God-fearing Jew, but he was a persecutor of the church because he didn’t understand the heart of God.

 

God dramatically revealed himself to St. Paul, and suddenly Paul could see the truth – suddenly he understood the heart of God.  Jesus was the key…. When Paul persecuted the Christians, God showed Paul, that he was actually persecuting Jesus.  There is a connection.  St. Paul understood that Christ was united to the Christian.   This event taught him what he would later teach others about the body of Christ. …  We are the body of Christ, because the Holy Spirit of Jesus dwells in us.

 

Jesus was born to bring sinners back to God.  Jesus is the Lamb of God.  Jesus was born to be the ultimate sacrifice such that no other sacrifice would ever need to be made.  BUT we do need to constantly remember and constantly rely on that sacrifice, remembering that we are righteous in God, only because of Jesus. 

 

Saint Paul tells us; “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”

 

God’s amazing love is a message the world needs to know.  We need to proclaim it and make it known to those “Out There”.  But, it is a vital message for us here.  It isn’t just people “out there” who “get it wrong” – or who are sinners…. But we too, as long as we are clothed in human flesh, just as easily can get it wrong or go astray, and we need to constantly remember that Jesus came to save sinners.  Jesus didn’t leave 99 sheep of his flock to look for a sheep who didn’t already belong to him.  He was looking for his own sheep who had gone astray.  We are never too far gone, or too far away from His love.  Such is the mercy of God.  May we always remember that we are so loved, he will always look for us and ever call us back – we will never be too far from his love.  There is one sacrifice for sin and that sacrifice covers all sin, past, present and future.

I think this is best illustrated by this song, written when I thought that God would reject me, but as I said to God, “you must hate me”, I was instead, immediately flooded by an incredible sense of His unconditional love…..

YOU CAME FOR ME –    By Niki Power copyright 2002

So deep within my heart

There's a burning desire

To be the girl you want me to be

So pure and so good,

Oh, if I only could...

I'm so grateful that you love the girl you see.

 

And I thank you that you came to heal the hurting

For the sick, possessed, and show eternity

But I thank you most that you came for the sinner

And that means most that you came for me.

 

I've run away from truth

And the knowledge within me

To follow what my foolish heart would care.

I've struggled inside

That can not be denied

I'm so grateful that I know you were always there..

 

And I thank you that you came to heal the hurting

For the sick, possessed, and show eternity

But I thank you most that you came for the sinner

And that means most that you came :|| for me.

 

Chosen and called to set free Proper 16 Pentecost 11 year C 24th August 2025

 2025  08  24  Proper 16 year C     Pentecost 11

Jeremiah 1:4-10      Psalm 71.1-6        Hebrews 12.18-29       Luke 13.10-17

When does God start to love us?  When does God first call us?  These are probably things that we don’t really think about, but today we find the answer in God’s message to Jeremiah.  Before God formed us in the womb, God knew us and called us.

 

Jeremiah had a revelation via the word of the Lord.  This revelation is like the loving arms of a father, embracing his son and lifting him on to a pedestal.  Jeremiah needed this confirmation of his call because his role would be a tough one of great importance.  He would foretell of the captivity of the kingdom of Judah, and he spoke of a divine restoration coming from the line of David.  Perhaps we too, need a revelation and confirmation that God has called us.

 

There’s a hymn that tells us a little about the revelation of God through the message of Jeremiah; “God of Jeremiah, Grieving with an aching heart, For an empire, Unbelieving as it falls apart.  When Your thunder goes unheard - We will tend the prophet's word, And in season, out of season - We will sing Your song.”  There are a lot of words in this song that probably need stopping and thinking about. While there was a strong message from Jeremiah, in it we sense the love of God and the grief of God.

 

Did the people listen to Jeremiah?  Some did, but extra Biblical traditions tell us that Jeremiah was eventually stoned to death for his prophecies.  In season and out of season, will we tend the prophet’s words and sing the song of God’s message?  It was out of season for Jeremiah.  He was not appreciated for his words, yet he was God’s chosen prophet, who accurately passed on the message of God and his prophecies about going into exile came to pass.   God did not allow Jeremiah to be put to shame, however, in that moment Jeremiah was ridiculed and shamed in the eyes of men…. and then God had the last word and proved him right….  But Jeremiah was gone….  His word and message live on. 

God strengthened Jeremiah for the task by giving Jeremiah a sure vision of his calling…  An understanding of God’s perspective and Jeremiah knew and knew that he knew that God was with him.

 

Do we know that God has called us?  Each one of us, God chose before he formed us in the womb.  We may be called to different roles, but for certain, God has chosen us.  He particularly formed and called each of us individually and calls us together as a church.  We need to ask God to show us, just as he showed Jeremiah, that we have each been so particularly created for his own purpose.

 

What is it that we are called to?  Jesus knew his calling and he told the people; when he read from the prophet Isaiah; ““The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”.  It is because Jesus knew this that he had no questions about healing on the Sabbath.  He was releasing the oppressed.  (working to save life was above other laws).

 

The main reason people give for not submitting to God, is that God allows bad things to happen.  We seem to have no answer, and yet the answer is simple.  God longs for us all to be healed.  He created us to be well, but we are no longer in the Garden of Eden…. That is the reason.  Mankind chose to go their own way, and God respects our free will….  God told Adam in the Garden of Eden, if you eat of the fruit, you will die.  We spend so much time debating what this or that is really about in the word of God that we sometime complicate what is really simple.  Our world is fallen because mankind are fallen.  But God completely loves us still, and has made a clear path back.

 

Notice the compassion of Jesus compared to the Pharisees?  The Pharisees accept pain and disease as a fact of life.  They have little sympathy for the woman.  Jesus shows that he understands the extent of her suffering when he says,  ”ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" 

 

In our story, the lady didn’t ask for healing.  Jesus saw her, had compassion and declared out loud, that she was healed.  The lady had been bound by Satan for 18 years.  Sometimes we dismiss the part that Satan has to play in our suffering, but Jesus has no trouble in clarifying that it is not God’s will that this lady is suffering.  We as mankind, unwittingly gave allegiance to Satan when we turned from God.  Sin entered the world and so did suffering.  Now, we accept suffering as a given and often as part of our identity.  Perhaps we too need God’s vision and God perspective on this and perhaps this is why Jesus calls out to her that she is healed.  She couldn’t possibly imagine herself well.   Her state had become part of her identity, who she was, but Jesus came to set the oppressed free.  He reminds them this woman is a daughter of Abraham – a daughter of the promise.

 

There is a Spiritual world and there are spiritual laws that are part of that world.  We turned from God.  We may well be saying to ourselves, “that is not fair, it wasn’t me in the garden of Eden.”  But have any of us not sinned?  In many ways that seem so insignificant, we all make the same mistake; we choose selfishness and think that we know better than God.  After all…. What is a piece of fruit from just one tree?????

 

Our reading from Hebrews explains that God gave the law at Mount Sinai.  We are told that this law brought death.  God was revealed on Mount Sinai and we note that in His awesomeness none could stand.   Mount Sinai was to reveal the perfect nature of God and make it clear how “fallen and human ” we are and how “perfect and God” God is.  The Law on Mt. Sinai revealed just what was needed to live a life that really was good and acceptable to God, and how no human could - not a single person could ever keep the law -  except Jesus.  And yet God loved us so much that he also continued to make ways so that we could connect with him and in some way come to know him.

 

Hebrews tells us; “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,

and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

 

Those ”righteous made perfect” will be you and me one day.  Somehow, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus has enabled us to enter into the promises of God and God now counts Jesus’ righteousness as ours.  The sacrificial system of the Old Covenant was like a parable for what Jesus would accomplish.  The best way to make this clear is to read or watch The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  The young boy, Edward, unwittingly gives allegiance to the witch and there is then a price to pay….  Aslan, the Lion pays that price …. A life for a life.  However, in Jesus, ALL of our lives are bought back.  We are baptised into Jesus….  We unite to him… In communion we show that we accept his sacrifice… we partake in it by taking the bread, which he said was his body given for us.  We accept his life in the wine, which is the blood shed for the forgiveness of sin.  In doing this we unite with Christ.  God the father accepts us as his chosen and perfect son.

 

God also sees us as healed and set free.  Yet we live in, what some have said as “Saturday”,  The in between time….the Good News is now and yet not yet.  God has saved us, and does heal us, and we live in the time of promise, but the full fulfilment is yet to come.  Not everyone is turned back to God, and we are still living in this fallen world.  We are waiting for the time when even creation will be redeemed (as scripture tells us in in Romans 8:22 “that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”).   The fullness of this promise will be when Jesus comes back again and reigns over the earth.

 

In the meantime, lets pray for God to show us our true identity and his call on our lives.  One thing that I’m very sure of is this; Our vision of our selves and our lives in the Kingdom of God is way smaller than the reality and I believe we need to ask God for a divine glimpse.  1 Corinthians 2:9 tells us “No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no one’s heart has imagined all the things that God has prepared for those who love him.”

 

It is a glorious adventure that we are on together.  But remember that one thing we do know is that we are the body of Christ and Christ proclaimed the Good News to the poor, set the oppressed free, etc…. Where Christ is, there we must be too…  praying for healing, declaring the word of God in and out of season, but also being involved in practical ways of setting people free…  We loved, called and blessed so that we might also be a blessing and bring knowledge of God to our world.

Faith in God, our treasure in the Kingdom of God 10th August 2025 Proper 14C Pentecost 9C

2025   08  10    Proper 14 C   Pentecost 9 Ce

Isaiah 1.1. 10-20     Psalm 50.1-8, 23-24    Hebrews 11.1-3, 8-16     Luke 12.32-40

 

Following on from our story last week about the rich man who built bigger barns and put his faith in his wealth instead of God, is our exhortation this week to make the Kingdom of Heaven our focus and treasure, and to always be prepared.  Jesus explains it this way; “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet,..”  On the surface being always prepared feels exhausting.  Possibly, this is because I have visions of “being prepared” meaning, meal preparation and cleaning etc… as if preparing for an event.  But this preparation that Jesus is talking about is different.  It is, firstly and foremostly, about preparing our hearts such that our hearts can’t be led astray – so that we don’t let the thief can break into our hearts and blind us from the Kingdom of God

 

At a conference that I attended on prayer ministry, it was impressed on us, the importance of praying God’s protection over all aspects of our lives.  The reason being, as soon as we begin to step out into God’s call, things come along to distract us.  These things are usually important things that need out attention, and we think that we will get back to what God has called us to do after we’ve dealt with these things.  We can’t neglect those things, but before the distraction happens, be aware and praying for protection.  The scheme of the enemy is to get us to a point where we neglect God… and then reject God.  Throughout all times, we need to be bringing our cares to God and keeping a Kingdom of God perspective.  Not only will this help us keep God’s call front of mind, but it will help us to see God’s miraculous provision at work in our circumstances, and we will understand, through the experience, God’s all-encompassing love for us.

 

Isaiah lived around 740-700 BC.  At this time Judean life was prosperous.  Isaiah paints a picture of the religious duties being carried out by the people.  They were doing all that was prescribed and offering sacrifices to God.  They were partaking in the rituals.  On the surface this was a nation committed to God.  Their actions showed that they belonged to God, but their hearts were not in it.  This is another way that the enemy works…  there is a sense of assurance because of our actions in the form of rituals, traditions or even good works, but God has always said that we are justified by faith…. In other words, it is our hearts towards God, that matters.

 

Have you seen movies showing the religious commitment of the Mafia?  This is what comes to mind for me when I read Isaiah’s words about the people performing their sacrifices but God knows their deeds and says; “When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.”  These words were to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and as he begins, he addresses them as the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Do you remember those places?  They were so depraved and immoral that God destroyed them, and this is how Isaiah gets their attention.  Can you imagine it?  He wasn’t pulling any punches but striking hard!

 

Those in the Mafia believe in God, pray to God, but make God into an image that suits them.  Much like the ancient world’s false Gods to whom you’d gain your reward by some action.  These are people, so confident in their own power and control that, they think they can control God.  Can a group of people, so hypocritical in their faith, ever come to God?  The point of Isaiah’s message was to get their attention and cause the people to change their ways.  In fact, a harsh message is always God’s mercy.  God saw that the Jews were hurting each other and themselves in the path they were on.   It is easy to explain these goings on using the analogy of the Mafia, but what does it say to us?  Are there areas where we feel confident and comfortable in all that we do, believing ourselves to be good, but have we missed the heart of God’s message?

 

Isaiah urges the people, “learn to do good; seek justice; rescue the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow.  …..”  Isaiah says this, not to the Mafia, but to a group of people who were going through the motions of their faith, doing their religious duty.  It has come to light that there are “Professional Protestors”.  Those who spur others on and get on board each and every cause.   I’m not sure that this is what God means about caring for the poor etc…  So we are challenged to examine ourselves with God’s searchlight.  What is our action achieving?  And are we acting because of God’s calling, or do we have another motive? Might we be falling into the same hypocrisy as those to whom Isaiah was speaking?   

 

There are some somewhat invisible people volunteering to get up at 5:30am on a cold winter’s morning to help Orange Sky feed people, and there are those in danger of losing their jobs to speak the truth about babies born alive and left to die.  Now, we can add to the list Christian doctor, who has been found guilty of professional misconduct, but not for harming patients, but for posting Christian views on social media, costing him his medical licence.  These people  have nothing to gain and lots to lose, but they act because of the spirit of God moving in them.

 

Our Street Chaplains aim to be good Samaritans, but they are asked in training at times, to examine their motives.  Doing good is always good, but we examine our motives, because it just might be that we’ve made actions into our own kind of ritualistic way of feeling good about ourselves, while neglecting the real impactful actions that God really requires of us.  Sometimes our Good Works can lead to self-righteousness, meaning, we forget that it is only through our faith in God that we are saved.

 

For us, as the people of God, there is a call to show our faith by our actions, but there is a fine line.  We don’t do Good Works because we want to prove how good we are.  We do Good Works because of God giving us his own heart.  We go where God leads, because his Spirit is in us and we know his heart for those matters, and so we go where he calls us.  God is first and foremost and our actions flow from him.  otherwise, we are also forming empty rituals, that serve to make us feel like we are good, (pat on the back and a clap, clap, clap), but are not actually doing what God requires of us.  Our faith informs all our actions.  Faith is being SURE of what we hope for, and it is CERTAIN of things we can not see.  To paraphrase many verses in the Bible, it is our faith that saves us, not our works.  Those people to whom Isaiah prophesied were counting on their works to save them.  Good people who do good works, might make the mistake of thinking that they will get into heaven by their good works.  The Bible also says that without faith it is impossible to please God.   Faith in God!  It is because Abraham believed God that God credited it to him as righteousness.

 

In the Kingdom of God, it is GOD FIRST, and love and relationships with each other next.  In the Kingdom of God there is mercy, love and life.  God gave us free will because he wants us to freely choose to love him.   We choose His kingdom, by choosing a relationship with God, through Jesus, or we freely choose not to.  We wouldn’t go to live in a stranger’s house, but we have the key to our own home or our family home, where our loved ones also live, so too we can only live in God’s Kingdom through relationship with him.  The choice is ours, but we can’t get into this kingdom without that relationship, and the key is faith.  The price that Jesus paid by his life, death and resurrection is beyond what any of us could ever achieve.  Faith in God, acceptance of Jesus is the only condition of our salvation.

 

Faith…. What is it?  I have faith that a chair will hold my weight.  My faith is part of the reason I sit in the chair, but if the chair is worthy of that faith, it will hold me.   God is more than able to hold us.  We look at those great people of faith, who trusted in the Kingdom of God, and we see that they experienced the faithfulness of God in their lives and reached a point where they knew their faith was SURE of things hoped for and CERTAIN of things unseen.  Faith might be a leap to begin with, but only because we are just beginning our understanding of God.  He is faithful.  He is reliable.  He is good.  His Kingdom will have no end.   His kingdom is full of people who care for the widows and the orphans, and the subjects of his kingdom seek justice.  That is why we must too – not because by doing that we earn a place in heaven…. We can never earn that place by our deeds, but we do these good works because this is who we are; we are a royal people, royal children of God with a duty to the Kingdom of God, who carry out these works because we have the heart of God, and the Kingdom of God taking root and baring fruit in our lives.  Our treasure is our Salvation and the Kingdom of God.  It is not just tomorrow, but it starts now, just as soon as we say, “Yes”, to God and walk in the reality of His Kingdom come.  We are prepared by continuing to walk in this way. .. Loving God first.

A new eternal life - but the choice is yours. 3rd August 2025 Proper 13 year C

2025  08  03   Proper 13 Year C  Pentecost 8 

Hosea 11:1-11     Psalm 107:1-9, 43     Colossians 3:1-11     Luke 12:13-21

 

At an in-service for Religious Instruction teachers, I was running a session on Images of God in the Old and New Testament.   All went well until an elderly lady gushed that God is love and is gentle and kind.  That riled up a man who said that God is a mighty and powerful God, who is just and makes judgements.  This really upset the lady who was keen to re-state her position about God’s love. 

 

Generally, people think that the revelation of God in the Old Testament was one of a wrathful God of judgement, and in the New Testament we find the love and compassion of God, yet we are told that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.  So, what is God really like?

 

The Old Testament Prophet, such as Hosea, proclaimed God’s word and warned the people that they were going astray.  In all these God still expresses His love for his people.  This does not mean that it doesn’t matter what we do.  God has an impossibly high standard, but his call is to goodness, love and compassion.  Both the lady who understood God’s love, and the man who understood God’s judgement, were both correct.

 

God is completely good.  The law of God reveals a high standard of perfection because this is who God is…. Good, perfect and completely loving!  God is also a God of justice.  Justice and mercy might seem like two opposite attributes, but peace is made between the two in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  In Jesus, God shows both his justice, and his great love for us.  That same intense and immense love was always there, God so loves his people, yet his people refuse him.

 

Those Israelites were still being unfaithful to God.  Our reading begins;

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.     Hosea’s hearers would have immediately recognised what he was saying was a messianic prophecy.  Isreal was in slavery in Egypt and was delivered by the most amazing series of events, including the parting of the Red Sea.  Jesus also spent some of his young life in Egypt to escape from the King who sort to kill him as a babe.  It is this line from Hosea that is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew, when Mary, Joseph and Jesus returned to the land of Israel.

 

Hosea tells us; “The more I called them, the more they went from me;...”  This nation belonged to God.  They had God’s law, and they knew that they were called to love God, with all heart, mind, soul and strength, but they broke God’s law – constantly, and mostly, they did this unwittingly.   

 

How are we at keeping that first commandment?  Even back in the Garden of Eden, mankind was given just one rule, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Note that at that time they could eat from every other tree.  Coincidentally, that included the tree of life.  Satan in the form of the serpent put doubt in their minds about the rule and indicated that mankind could be like God if they ate from that fruit.  Therefore, he planted a desire in them to be God, to be powerful and rebellious.  Satan also planted doubts about God’s love and care for them.   Mankind lived in paradise, with everything they could possibly want or desire, and they had the tree of life, meaning that they could live forever, but somehow this was no longer enough.  

 

To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, means to be completely trusting God.  The Israelites started sacrificing to the Baals and offering incense to idols because they didn’t trust God to provide for all their needs.  The first and great commandment was broken, over and over, and the Israelites are not the only ones who broke God’s law…. we still break it.  In fact, I suspect we don’t really even understand how to keep it.

 

A man built bigger barns so that he could eat, drink and be merry, but he didn’t get to enjoy any of it.  He spent his time working at getting more.  We don’t do that, do we?  We don’t skip church because we are too busy with our life and getting ahead with it all, do we?  We all make God and our church family a priority… after all, we are here! 

 

Our Gospel reading warns us; “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."  And this is explained by the story of a man who experiences great prosperity.   This was because two brothers were disputing their inheritance -  A thing that you don’t earn – but inherit– and therefore don’t deserve.  In the story that Jesus told, the land of a rich man produced an abundant crop.  It was the land that produced that harvest.  God that sends the rain.  No doubt man had a part in it, but our reading clearly states that it was the land that produced that crop.  The man was blessed with prosperity from his harvest, and from God, but what is the man’s response?

 

It is important that we understand that many of the father’s of our faith were abundantly blessed with prosperity.  Abraham, Job, King David and King Solomon are just a few who experienced God’s divine blessings which made them materialistically rich. Our letter to the Colossians tells us; “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).  On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.”

 

Greed is idolatry.  It is that desire to have more and be more and it is the sin that crouches at the door.  It is idolatry because in greed we desire more - , more power, influence and security in our delusion that we are in control and have no need for God - just as in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve desired to be more.  The creation wanting to be their own God!  But here is the incredibly crazy thing…. God still absolutely loves us.   

 

The only way to explain it is like a parent and a beloved child.   The child is limited in understanding and disobeys the parent.  The parent loves unconditionally, but the child doesn’t show love in return, but like the daughter of a friend of mine, leaves that parent and goes to live with another and lives as in enmity with the birth parent who loves her.

 

What is a parent to do?  Well God said… “I know, I’ll show them my love by sending my Son to show them.  This is a love that will die to give them eternal life.”  (Last week I spoke about how the Spiritual realm has laws. The spiritual price for sin is death…. And God respects our free will…)

There is a spiritual price for our disobedience to God and Jesus paid that price with his life.  We now, through our baptism and free will, choose to belong to God identify with Christ.  We are considered to be clothed in Christ – meaning that we identify with Christ.  The spiritual purity and spiritual law-keeping of Christ, becomes our own.   Now that we have this new life in Christ, we are urged to make our earthly life match our spiritual life.  Our pure spiritual life does not slander or speak abusively etc.. and so we aim to clothe ourselves with the attributes of God who created us, as we grow in knowledge of him and His ways. 

 

The reason that a baptism traditionally has the candidate dressed in white is to symbolize being clothed in Christ.  We become a new creation, and we no longer think of ourselves as Greek, or Jew or Maltese or Australian or English or anything else.  Our truest identity is only in Christ.  The old self is gone – it is buried with Christ.  But the life we live now is because of the risen life of Christ.  He is in us and we in him.  By His Holy Spirit and with the permission of our free will, Christ lives his life through us.  This is how we can say, “We are the body of Christ”.

 

From the point of our baptism forward we can choose to live either of two ways.  We can strive to “be good” and get our physical self to match the spiritual reality of our life in Christ, or we can allow the life of Christ to live through us by the Holy Spirit.  To do this is an act of our free will.  Spoiler alert; choice number one will only see you frustrated because only Christ can live the Christian life.  Take choice number two where we rest because we simply allow Christ to live through us and to create us into the person, he designed us to be.