Reflection 19 September 2010

Year C Proper 20 19 September 2010
Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1 Psalm 79: 1-9 1 Timothy 2: 1-7 Luke 16: 1-13


From St. Paul’s letter to 1Timothy 2:4 we understand that God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.



The most common reasons that I hear for people not being Christian are that; science has disproved God, there are too many hypocrites in church, and God allows bad things to happen. The first reason is erroneous – science can prove many things, but regardless of what science does prove, it cannot disprove God.



The "hypocrite" reason that people state for not aligning themselves with Christianity is, in my opinion, a cop out. Let he who has never been a hypocrite throw the first stone! A hypocrite is actually an old term for an actor. However, in general, people see Christians as acting “good” but really being bad. As I said, this reason is invalid as there are many more people outside the church, who claim to be “good” people – but are not. Those in the church are the ones who acknowledge their failing, and therefore their need for a saviour.... the very fact that we are Christians shows our acknowledgment of failure, common to the human condition.



The final reason, "that God allows bad things to happen", is a more basic and important subject that we need to deal with. This reason isn’t really one that debates whether or not God is real, but more importantly begs the question, “does God care?”



Many of us within the Church need to carefully ponder this question, as it haunts us when life deals us a damaging blow. Does God really care? Does it matter to him that we are hurting? The answer, we know, is that God does care, but why is it then that he doesn’t intervene when there are terrible things that happen?



Jeremiah cries out to God with these words found in Jeremiah 8: 18 – 19a “O my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. Listen to the cry of my people....”



Both the reading from Jeremiah and the Psalm are laments. Our modern Church seems to spend so much time saying “praise God”, that there is little or no room, for those who have suffered sorrow, to legitimately cry out to God, “why, O Lord? .... When will you rescue me?...” and generally just cry before God.



Is it possible that the lack of understanding about mourning, grieving, lamenting and repenting has crippled the church, leaving people feeling cut off as they grieve alone in silence?



As a Church we should be lamenting the lack of growth in our churches, the death of so many in ministries, without the rising up of others to take their place, and the decisions of our country when laws are passed that completely oppose the law of God. Surely as church we should be able to lament with each other the personal losses of our parish family, the emotional wounds that seem to be so prevalent within the Church and the soiled reputation of the Church by the sins of its representatives.



There are so many things that we should, as church, lament together. And when I say “Church” I am meaning the national and global church – as we know that when one part of the body is suffering all should feel it.... realistically this should mean that if one denomination is suffering some kind of loss – for example, diminished growth, then even those who are not momentarily experiencing the same, should still be lamenting with the rest of the body.



Psalm 79:8-9 “Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. Help us, O God our Saviour, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake.”



St. Paul tells us that we need to prayer for the leaders of our country, as he tells us that it IS God’s will that all come to be saved and have a knowledge of the truth. In order for this to happen we can be assisted by the government of our country. It is true that where there is persecution that the Gospel often grows, but certainly even the Bible tells us that when the Gospel enjoyed a time of peace the believers were strengthened. It isn’t just a time of peace that we need, but we should pray for conditions that enable sound teachings about Christ.



At present we have a system where the government assists with funding for Christian Chaplains in state schools. I’ve been to a few state schools where their assembly includes a school prayer and I’ve witnessed the quality of volunteer religious education, and it is truly exceptional. This is something we can give thanks for, but beware, there are many who fight against this and they wait for opportunity to tear it away. Please pray for our representatives that all would see them as shinning lights bringing the gift of life.



God does want all to be saved! His care is for you and me, but he gives us free will. God does enter our lives, but he does so, on our invitation. Our prayers are the invitation for God to act. He may not intervene in the way we’d like, but we are like the children who do not understand and cannot comprehend the ways of the wise parent. We need to cry and cry to God so that we, when reassured of His love, can be comforted by Him. When God does intervene we can be assured that it will be for the ultimate good.



So far I’ve talked about all the readings except the Gospel. The Gospel reading is one that I find difficult. It is the story of the shrewd manager who is about to be fired for mis-handling his master’s affairs. The manager, when he realizes that he is in big trouble, then goes to the manager’s debtors and greatly reduces their debts, thus making a big impression on the debtors – in a good way. The parable goes on to say that the children of God are not as shrewd as the people of this world, but that we should use what we have to make friends with eternal rewards. The somewhat random punch line is that you cannot serve both God and money. You must choose who you will serve.



Not long ago we talked about counting the cost of following Jesus and now we are again confronted with the cost and the choice. Perhaps we are like the manager - we have been given a responsibility in the kingdom of God (every Christian has!), but have we been trustworthy with that responsibility?



If your personal reflection prompts you to think that you have not been responsible with God’s commission, you may find that your “master” might be unhappy with you..... what can you do to rectify the situation? Use what you can to make good the situation.... only you can know if you are serving God or serving the god of this world.



The god of this world will tell you that the kids sport is more important than going to church – and that your job is more important than a commitment to involvement in the things of God. The god of football is he who must be obeyed in this country – all ministers know not to put on a meeting that might clash with a game. And that is ridiculous!



I often feel that there is not much that I can do to affect God’s kingdom and perhaps you feel that way too, but we have to do whatever we can to use the gifts God has given us to proclaim his kingdom. Why? Because God really does want all to be saved and the truth is that He loves us so much that Jesus died for our sin so that nothing should separate us from the love of God. Even if we feel we’ve let God down in the past– don’t let that be a stumbling block to using your gifts in the future, as the sacrifice for that sin has already been made and the debt is paid.