Year A Epiphany 4 30 January 2011
Micah 6: 1-8 Psalm 15 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 Matthew 5: 1-12
Everything is upside down and nothing is as it seems. In this world we talk of Karma and getting what we and others deserve – but this isn’t the Good News – the Good News turns Karma on it head.
In this world we work at talking ourselves up and promoting ourselves. We’ve come a long, long way from the message of the Beatitudes.
Matthew 5:3-8 “ 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.8 blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Each of our readings tells us how we can come close to God. The 1st reading comes to us from the prophet Micah. In this God calls the mountains to witness to the fact that Israel has turned against God even though he has done mighty works for the nation and rescued them in dramatic and miraculous ways. At this time in history it was understood that God was good and that sin needed to be atoned for with sacrifice, yet God asks for something else.
Micah 6:7-8 “7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
In our mortal minds we try to justify ourselves with our actions. We do good things and feel that we are good people. Similarly the Israelites knew the letter of the law and which sacrifices were required for what sins, so they were able to feel guilt free by their sacrifices, especially if they were wealthy and could afford generous sacrifices. While this system of sacrifice for sin made it clear that sin needed to be atoned for, the people often failed to see that what really pleased God was an attitude of the heart.
An attitude of love towards God and others was not just a New Testament idea. We find the concept of love for God and others explained as acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God.
The Merchant of Venice, when Portia speaks to Shylock in Act IV, Scene I.
“The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
...............
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God's
When mercy seasons justice.”
If you were to ask people randomly down the street if they thought they were going to heaven they’d probably say they hoped that they were good enough. If you were to probe further you’d probably find that they figured themselves to be pretty good people. If you were to ask why they thought they were pretty good they’d probably tell you that they don’t go to church but they do keep the commandments. Unfortunately people forget that the first and greatest command is to love God, and so without a personal relationship with God, people are well and truly breaking the first commandment and are not “walking humbly with God”.
The Psalm says it straight that only those who keep God’s law will live with him. Once again this reading is like a clarification of God’s requirements and a clarification of the commandments:
Psalm 15:1-5 “ 1 LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? 2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 4 who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; 5 who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent”.
When Jesus walked the earth he also clarified the commandments but put it in another way, because to keep the law would result in blessings and so He says, “blessed are those who....” For example: Matthew 5:8 “8 blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
What we commonly refer to as the Beatitudes, is an explanation of the attitude which we will have if we are not just keeping the letter of the law, but also the heart of God’s law.
The readings can come across as somewhat challenging and even frightening. When we read the Psalm and realize that we need to be blameless to live with God. We become immediately aware that “blameless” is what we are not. So, how are we meant to think about this reading which so bluntly states in black and white the demands of God?
It is absolutely and eternally true that God is perfect and to be with him we need to be perfect also. It is also made abundantly clear in the readings that to be perfect is not something we can achieve with exterior actions and things we do, but we must also be “pure in heart” and have an attitude that is perfectly in line with God also. So, who can live with God????
Just as we read in Micah about God’s requirements to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him, so too these attributes of justice and mercy are the attributes of God.
God is just and requires justice. Justice means getting what we deserve. Unfortunately, according to God’s perfection, none of us deserves to live with him because we all fall short of His perfection.
Thankfully God is also merciful. And here is where we understand St. Pauls letter to the Corinthian’s when he says: 1 Corinthians 1: 18 “ 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
It seems crazy, but because God is both just and merciful, he came to make restitution for us so that we could be united with him. Justice demanded that we be cut off from God due to sin, but God’s love and mercy meant that he paid the price himself. It did not come cheap and we should fully understand the magnitude of the gift.... without it we are truly doomed, but with this gift we have hope and eternal life.
Many can not accept the message of the Good News. This message of mercy shown to us means that we can not earn our way into heaven and for some it is simply too easy – it seems like foolishness. There is no other religion that requires nothing more than the mercy of God in order to have eternal life bestowed upon us. Remember this gift came to a community of God’s people who had been given the law of God and it was very much a system of cause and effect, of sin and sacrifice to atone for sin. Who’d have imagined that God would be the ultimate sacrifice so that anyone who simply believed could be saved?
Those who rejected the message may have rejected it on the basis of pride. They may have felt that their sacrifices were enough. They may have been ignorant of God’s requirements for a perfect attitude and thought that they were keeping the commands and so, had no need of a saviour. When we walk humbly with our God we recognise that He is great and we are oh so fallible. In other words, we recognise that we are poor in spirit and need God. When we do this we are able to accept the gift of God and we are truly blessed.
We who’ve accepted the Gospel are blessed with eternal life, a gift that none can take and a hope that will not disappoint. My step son is looking at getting a tattoo and has decided on a design. The image is of an eternity symbol and words underneath that say “forever does happen” – so true. Already he has received some philosophical discussion about how he can’t know that forever happens and it was pointed out that to know such a thing would require one to be infinite.
We have in Jesus, one who eternally existed, was crucified and rose again, as testified by many who saw him at the time –and those who’ve experienced him throughout time. But the message is foolishness to those around us. Thank God though, that the Gospel message is true, and we have the gift of the Holy Spirit to affirm the Good News, because without the gift of God’s mercy, the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have no hope
1 Corinthians 1:30 “30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
In Jesus we are made right with God, we are made holy and we are redeemed. Nothing that we have done has achieved this – we boast only in God and His love.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Reflection on readings for the 23rd January 2011
Year A Epiphany 3 23 January 2011
Isaiah 9: 1-4 Psalm 27: 1, 4-9 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18 Matthew 4: 12-23
Do you wonder what it must feel like to live in the shadow of deep darkness? Or maybe that is where you feel you are at now. The prophet Isaiah saw a people who were in need. It wasn’t just a need for food, clothing and shelter, but the need ran much deeper.
I have no doubt that there are so many people affected by the floods at present feeling like they are living in a land of darkness and for some they will feel that they will be living in the land of such deep darkness it could be described, as Matthew’s gospel quotes, as the very shadow of death.
Do you recall the song “Stormy Weather”? If you take notice of the lyrics you’ll realise that the author describes a state of living in a shadow, as if walking under a big dark cloud. I’m not sure if the experience is common to everyone, but certainly those who have struggled with depression and those who’ve experienced considerable grief will understand.
The shadow or darkness that the scriptures tell us about is like this but deeper and darker. It is the very shadow of death and it is more than an illusion. It is a reality.
The reality of living in the shadow of the death is that the full effects of a fallen world are our experience and reality. Our fallen world subject to decay due to sin is hard enough but the even more drastic consequence is that of our eternal life.
I can’t comprehend how so many would rather live in the shadow of death when they could be living in the light of God’s Good News. Most probable is that they do not comprehend the reality of the situation, and just how simply good the Gospel message is.
Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned”.
In the deep darkness and dawning light is a fantastic thing.
I’m currently at Tamworth and am earning the title of Niki the gadget queen. When there is a need for something I usually have it in my handbag. One of my obsessions is torches. I have two torches travelling with me and both have been used. It would be silly to have these lights and not use them.
Similarly it seems a pointless waste to be living in the land of deep darkness when we could be living in the light.
Matthew 4:16, 17 “16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
The message that Jesus preached was the first part of the good news: the kingdom of heaven is near. The fullness of the good news was the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus also informed the people that to be ready for this kingdom they needed to repent.
“Repent” is a word we hear in Christian circles and is associated with a feeling of regret, yet it is not an emotion, though emotions may accompany, but essentially repentance is an intellectual event. To repent means to “change your mind”… or turn around in your thinking. For example the human race thinks it has no need for God. At some point each human individual needs to rethink this situation. When we decide that we do need God it is called “Repentance”, because we’ve changed our mind. The thoughts and beliefs that we have then determine our actions and also impact on our emotions.
The scriptures tell us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, the reason being, just as I’ve said, from our thoughts our actions and emotions flow. It isn’t an easy thing though and we don’t have to feel like a failure when we struggle as we have the example of the great psalmist and we see how he strives to put aside his fears:
Psalm 27:1-2, 4-5 “ 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 4 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”
The Psalmist states truth about God rescuing him and sets it to music, but we notice that in the song he includes his personal feelings and prayer that God will keep him safe… It is like the flip side of the coin. “Yes Lord, I believe, and know the truth about how you love me… but help my unbelief.”
Psalm 40:7-9 “7 Hear my voice when I call, LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior.”
In the epistles, the letters of the New Testament, we find the apostles striving to convey the truth about Jesus Christ to a Christian audience. These people had received the Gospel, the good news, but due to their error in their thinking some of their actions were completely wrong.
The error of the Corinthian church was not so different from the church today. Some were saying they belonged to Peter, and others were saying that they followed Paul, and still others were saying they belonged to Appollis. Similarly we will find an attitude of spiritual pride in the churches today where one will say, “I belong to the such and such Church…. You should come here to OUR church, because YOUR church doesn’t have the truth and ours does.”
We might say, “I follow tradition, tried and tested and true… so I am right and you are wrong”. We might say, “I follow contemporary worship… so I am right and you are wrong!” We could even say, “We don’t follow set readings and structure…. The Spirit of Jesus isn’t confined to structure”. All these things are both true and false. Although I’ve even heard things like, “You must speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit and you are not a true Christians without it.”
St. Paul was very upset about this kind of thinking and I hate it too. It is arrogant and narrow minded.
1 Corinthians 1:13-18 “13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
What is it that we value in our churches? What qualities do we look for in our leaders? Is it abilities and reputation, or talent and artistic ability, good looks or charisma? I imagine that in our churches we would greatly value eloquence and wisdom…. Actually I would really like to have it while I’m writing these reflections…. But rather than write with poetic phrases and awesome analogies (which I really do appreciate) I’d rather write something that is powered by the Holy Spirit, enlightens the mind with truth and speaks straight to the heart.
King David was a small man, who was too young and unimpressive to be anointed, but he was the one that God chose. God is concerned about the heart and unfortunately for us this is not something that we can see on the outside, however, as I have said, from our beliefs our actions and emotions flow. Do we fully appreciate the genuine hearts in our community and are we working at having this attitude ourselves?
I have no doubt that St. Paul was capable of eloquent words, but his was striving to be simply true to the message of God and mission that he was given to preach the good news. He explained that the message seemed like foolishness. It certainly seems too good to be true. Do we understand what that message is?
The message seems foolish. We are sinners who constantly fail God and yet while we were still sinning and rejecting God he came into this world as one of us and suffered and died for us. How crazy is that??? Not only that, but the pre-requisite for receiving eternal life is not some hard initiation ceremony or a life of penitence and abstinence, but the pre-requisite is simply to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ. It is so simple and yet so many choose to live a life needlessly in the dark. So many are insulted when it is suggested that they are sinners, yet we are all sinners. It is a fact of humanity that we fail to be perfect and that is what sin means… to miss the mark of perfection.
1 Corinthians 1:18 “18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Isaiah 9: 1-4 Psalm 27: 1, 4-9 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18 Matthew 4: 12-23
Do you wonder what it must feel like to live in the shadow of deep darkness? Or maybe that is where you feel you are at now. The prophet Isaiah saw a people who were in need. It wasn’t just a need for food, clothing and shelter, but the need ran much deeper.
I have no doubt that there are so many people affected by the floods at present feeling like they are living in a land of darkness and for some they will feel that they will be living in the land of such deep darkness it could be described, as Matthew’s gospel quotes, as the very shadow of death.
Do you recall the song “Stormy Weather”? If you take notice of the lyrics you’ll realise that the author describes a state of living in a shadow, as if walking under a big dark cloud. I’m not sure if the experience is common to everyone, but certainly those who have struggled with depression and those who’ve experienced considerable grief will understand.
The shadow or darkness that the scriptures tell us about is like this but deeper and darker. It is the very shadow of death and it is more than an illusion. It is a reality.
The reality of living in the shadow of the death is that the full effects of a fallen world are our experience and reality. Our fallen world subject to decay due to sin is hard enough but the even more drastic consequence is that of our eternal life.
I can’t comprehend how so many would rather live in the shadow of death when they could be living in the light of God’s Good News. Most probable is that they do not comprehend the reality of the situation, and just how simply good the Gospel message is.
Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned”.
In the deep darkness and dawning light is a fantastic thing.
I’m currently at Tamworth and am earning the title of Niki the gadget queen. When there is a need for something I usually have it in my handbag. One of my obsessions is torches. I have two torches travelling with me and both have been used. It would be silly to have these lights and not use them.
Similarly it seems a pointless waste to be living in the land of deep darkness when we could be living in the light.
Matthew 4:16, 17 “16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
The message that Jesus preached was the first part of the good news: the kingdom of heaven is near. The fullness of the good news was the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus also informed the people that to be ready for this kingdom they needed to repent.
“Repent” is a word we hear in Christian circles and is associated with a feeling of regret, yet it is not an emotion, though emotions may accompany, but essentially repentance is an intellectual event. To repent means to “change your mind”… or turn around in your thinking. For example the human race thinks it has no need for God. At some point each human individual needs to rethink this situation. When we decide that we do need God it is called “Repentance”, because we’ve changed our mind. The thoughts and beliefs that we have then determine our actions and also impact on our emotions.
The scriptures tell us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, the reason being, just as I’ve said, from our thoughts our actions and emotions flow. It isn’t an easy thing though and we don’t have to feel like a failure when we struggle as we have the example of the great psalmist and we see how he strives to put aside his fears:
Psalm 27:1-2, 4-5 “ 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 4 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”
The Psalmist states truth about God rescuing him and sets it to music, but we notice that in the song he includes his personal feelings and prayer that God will keep him safe… It is like the flip side of the coin. “Yes Lord, I believe, and know the truth about how you love me… but help my unbelief.”
Psalm 40:7-9 “7 Hear my voice when I call, LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior.”
In the epistles, the letters of the New Testament, we find the apostles striving to convey the truth about Jesus Christ to a Christian audience. These people had received the Gospel, the good news, but due to their error in their thinking some of their actions were completely wrong.
The error of the Corinthian church was not so different from the church today. Some were saying they belonged to Peter, and others were saying that they followed Paul, and still others were saying they belonged to Appollis. Similarly we will find an attitude of spiritual pride in the churches today where one will say, “I belong to the such and such Church…. You should come here to OUR church, because YOUR church doesn’t have the truth and ours does.”
We might say, “I follow tradition, tried and tested and true… so I am right and you are wrong”. We might say, “I follow contemporary worship… so I am right and you are wrong!” We could even say, “We don’t follow set readings and structure…. The Spirit of Jesus isn’t confined to structure”. All these things are both true and false. Although I’ve even heard things like, “You must speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit and you are not a true Christians without it.”
St. Paul was very upset about this kind of thinking and I hate it too. It is arrogant and narrow minded.
1 Corinthians 1:13-18 “13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
What is it that we value in our churches? What qualities do we look for in our leaders? Is it abilities and reputation, or talent and artistic ability, good looks or charisma? I imagine that in our churches we would greatly value eloquence and wisdom…. Actually I would really like to have it while I’m writing these reflections…. But rather than write with poetic phrases and awesome analogies (which I really do appreciate) I’d rather write something that is powered by the Holy Spirit, enlightens the mind with truth and speaks straight to the heart.
King David was a small man, who was too young and unimpressive to be anointed, but he was the one that God chose. God is concerned about the heart and unfortunately for us this is not something that we can see on the outside, however, as I have said, from our beliefs our actions and emotions flow. Do we fully appreciate the genuine hearts in our community and are we working at having this attitude ourselves?
I have no doubt that St. Paul was capable of eloquent words, but his was striving to be simply true to the message of God and mission that he was given to preach the good news. He explained that the message seemed like foolishness. It certainly seems too good to be true. Do we understand what that message is?
The message seems foolish. We are sinners who constantly fail God and yet while we were still sinning and rejecting God he came into this world as one of us and suffered and died for us. How crazy is that??? Not only that, but the pre-requisite for receiving eternal life is not some hard initiation ceremony or a life of penitence and abstinence, but the pre-requisite is simply to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ. It is so simple and yet so many choose to live a life needlessly in the dark. So many are insulted when it is suggested that they are sinners, yet we are all sinners. It is a fact of humanity that we fail to be perfect and that is what sin means… to miss the mark of perfection.
1 Corinthians 1:18 “18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Monday, January 10, 2011
Reflection on readings Epiphany 2 year A 16 January 2011
Year A Epiphany 2 16 January 2011
Isaiah 49: 1-7 Psalm 40: 1-11 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 John 1: 29-42
There is a call and there is a destiny!
John 1:42 Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
The name “Simon” means “reed” but Peter, or Cephas, means rock.
Jesus was definitely showing himself to be God.... he kept changing people’s names! Way back from the time of Abraham, God was recorded as changing people’s names. Each time a name change happened there was an accompanying promise. God gave a promise with each name change and with that change he declared the destiny that he had pre-destined for that person.
Isaiah never had a name change but his name already declared his prophetic message. Isaiah means “God is my Salvation”. God had revealed to Isaiah that God knew him and named him before he was born, so I guess, in that sense God did give Isaiah a name.
Isaiah 49:1-2 “ 1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.”
Isaiah’s life was spent in bringing the message of God’s salvation, just as the meaning of his name declares, but Isaiah, like most of us felt the exhaustion of not seeing the fruits of his labour:
Isaiah 49:4 “4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
So often we may proclaim God’s message and not see any signs of acceptance. Our youth groups may not grow, our Bible studies have no regular attendees and our congregations may be small and dwindling, but we must not stop proclaiming God’s message – until He tells us to.
Many times it was declared that the prophet’s responsibility was to declare the message. If people heard the message the responsibility to respond was theirs. But if they didn’t hear the message, God held the prophets accountable for the life of those to whom they were sent. The Church is the prophet of God to the community around us.... and we are the Church... we are the body of Christ.
Isaiah also prophetically proclaims the ministry of Christ when he writes about the servant of God.
Isaiah 49: 6 ““It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
The Gentiles are the non-Jews... I guess that would certainly include most of us... and certainly the message of God has reached to the ends of the earth. But who is it that God is calling to fulfil this call, to be a light to the nations, in the year 2011?
Psalm 40: 6 “ 6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
We are called, not to do anything difficult, but simply to share what God has revealed to us. If God has opened our ears to hear His message then we have a responsibility to pass on the revelation of God.
This season is called the Epiphany. An epiphany is a revelation and a realization that Jesus is God. The wise men who worshiped the baby Jesus brought him gifts which signified this epiphany. Do you recall the words of the song? “Frankincense to offer have I, incense owns a deity neigh” - in other words, this gift declared Jesus as God. The Gold signified Jesus as King and the Myrrh declared that he would suffer and die for us – as myrrh is used for embalming.
John the Baptist declared the revelation or epiphany that he had of Jesus. John 1:29 -31 “ 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
John realized that Jesus was more than mere man and he passed on this knowledge by proclaiming that although Jesus came after him, Jesus was before him, thus proclaiming his eternal being.... Jesus has always existed.
John also proclaims that Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” In this John is revealing that Jesus will take away our sin, but also, that he would be sacrificed to enable this to happen. The “Lamb of God” was well understood by the people to whom John was speaking, as one of the regulations of their Passover festival was to have a lamb that was sacrificed to make restitution for sin. This was John’s equivalent of the wise men’s gift of myrrh with a whole lot more explanation.
John came baptizing so that Jesus might be revealed to Israel. This is an interesting statement that we seldom think about. John’s baptism was one of repentance. It seems that Israel needed to acknowledge her sin in order for Jesus to be revealed. It isn’t that Jesus wasn’t there, but that Israel could not see unless they were repentant. To be repentant means to acknowledge guilt and to humble ourselves before God. Is it the same for us and the community around us? Do we fail to hear God and see his hand because we and the community around us remain unrepentant?
John had followers who had been baptized. Therefore they were those who had acknowledged their human condition and recognised their need for a saviour. John was an amazing man because he recognised that his ministry was to point people to Jesus – and that meant he would diminish his own group of followers. Interesting thought... we can see that John was only concerned about passing on the truth of God and not about how many people were giving credence to his own ministry.
John’s followers took up the responsibility of sharing the revelation of God with others. Andrew shows the certainty of his revelation when he tells his brother about Jesus. He doesn’t tell him that he has found an inspiration speaker, a prophet or a good moral teacher; John 1:41 “41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
And the rest, as they say, is history.... but it isn’t, it is actually destiny. We, as Christians are baptized into this same destiny. We have the revelation of Jesus and a responsibility to share what we know. The problem is our feelings of inadequacy, but we need to know that we have no reason for this, as God has given us every gift that we need.
1 Corinthians 1: 4-9 “4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
St. Paul was speaking to a very difficult community who seemed to be side-tracked in their mission by an over emphasis on the more showy of the spiritual gifts. Despite this he thanks God for the gifts that God has given them and assures them that they have everything they need to walk in the call of God. More than that, he assures them that God would keep them firm and blameless to the end.
The Corinthian Church suffered from something that is common to all of us and that is ignorance. St. Paul needed to remind them that God has given them everything that they need. The same goes for us. We have everything that we need to achieve that which God has called us to.
Last week I asked what burdens you might be carrying that are stopping you from walking in the call of God. This week my question is, “What is it that you think you need to enable you to walk in the call of God?” And then I would encourage you to read that passage from Corinthians, realizing that God has given us every spiritual gift that we need to achieve that which he has called us to do.
We don’t need the world class speakers to bring revival. We don’t need to hire an international team of talented artists so that people will come to hear the message. The only sacrifice that God requires is a heart that says, “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will”.
Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit and open our eyes to your truth. Make us see as you see and give us the strength to continue in your will when we don’t.
Isaiah 49: 1-7 Psalm 40: 1-11 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 John 1: 29-42
There is a call and there is a destiny!
John 1:42 Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
The name “Simon” means “reed” but Peter, or Cephas, means rock.
Jesus was definitely showing himself to be God.... he kept changing people’s names! Way back from the time of Abraham, God was recorded as changing people’s names. Each time a name change happened there was an accompanying promise. God gave a promise with each name change and with that change he declared the destiny that he had pre-destined for that person.
Isaiah never had a name change but his name already declared his prophetic message. Isaiah means “God is my Salvation”. God had revealed to Isaiah that God knew him and named him before he was born, so I guess, in that sense God did give Isaiah a name.
Isaiah 49:1-2 “ 1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.”
Isaiah’s life was spent in bringing the message of God’s salvation, just as the meaning of his name declares, but Isaiah, like most of us felt the exhaustion of not seeing the fruits of his labour:
Isaiah 49:4 “4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
So often we may proclaim God’s message and not see any signs of acceptance. Our youth groups may not grow, our Bible studies have no regular attendees and our congregations may be small and dwindling, but we must not stop proclaiming God’s message – until He tells us to.
Many times it was declared that the prophet’s responsibility was to declare the message. If people heard the message the responsibility to respond was theirs. But if they didn’t hear the message, God held the prophets accountable for the life of those to whom they were sent. The Church is the prophet of God to the community around us.... and we are the Church... we are the body of Christ.
Isaiah also prophetically proclaims the ministry of Christ when he writes about the servant of God.
Isaiah 49: 6 ““It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
The Gentiles are the non-Jews... I guess that would certainly include most of us... and certainly the message of God has reached to the ends of the earth. But who is it that God is calling to fulfil this call, to be a light to the nations, in the year 2011?
Psalm 40: 6 “ 6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
We are called, not to do anything difficult, but simply to share what God has revealed to us. If God has opened our ears to hear His message then we have a responsibility to pass on the revelation of God.
This season is called the Epiphany. An epiphany is a revelation and a realization that Jesus is God. The wise men who worshiped the baby Jesus brought him gifts which signified this epiphany. Do you recall the words of the song? “Frankincense to offer have I, incense owns a deity neigh” - in other words, this gift declared Jesus as God. The Gold signified Jesus as King and the Myrrh declared that he would suffer and die for us – as myrrh is used for embalming.
John the Baptist declared the revelation or epiphany that he had of Jesus. John 1:29 -31 “ 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
John realized that Jesus was more than mere man and he passed on this knowledge by proclaiming that although Jesus came after him, Jesus was before him, thus proclaiming his eternal being.... Jesus has always existed.
John also proclaims that Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” In this John is revealing that Jesus will take away our sin, but also, that he would be sacrificed to enable this to happen. The “Lamb of God” was well understood by the people to whom John was speaking, as one of the regulations of their Passover festival was to have a lamb that was sacrificed to make restitution for sin. This was John’s equivalent of the wise men’s gift of myrrh with a whole lot more explanation.
John came baptizing so that Jesus might be revealed to Israel. This is an interesting statement that we seldom think about. John’s baptism was one of repentance. It seems that Israel needed to acknowledge her sin in order for Jesus to be revealed. It isn’t that Jesus wasn’t there, but that Israel could not see unless they were repentant. To be repentant means to acknowledge guilt and to humble ourselves before God. Is it the same for us and the community around us? Do we fail to hear God and see his hand because we and the community around us remain unrepentant?
John had followers who had been baptized. Therefore they were those who had acknowledged their human condition and recognised their need for a saviour. John was an amazing man because he recognised that his ministry was to point people to Jesus – and that meant he would diminish his own group of followers. Interesting thought... we can see that John was only concerned about passing on the truth of God and not about how many people were giving credence to his own ministry.
John’s followers took up the responsibility of sharing the revelation of God with others. Andrew shows the certainty of his revelation when he tells his brother about Jesus. He doesn’t tell him that he has found an inspiration speaker, a prophet or a good moral teacher; John 1:41 “41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
And the rest, as they say, is history.... but it isn’t, it is actually destiny. We, as Christians are baptized into this same destiny. We have the revelation of Jesus and a responsibility to share what we know. The problem is our feelings of inadequacy, but we need to know that we have no reason for this, as God has given us every gift that we need.
1 Corinthians 1: 4-9 “4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
St. Paul was speaking to a very difficult community who seemed to be side-tracked in their mission by an over emphasis on the more showy of the spiritual gifts. Despite this he thanks God for the gifts that God has given them and assures them that they have everything they need to walk in the call of God. More than that, he assures them that God would keep them firm and blameless to the end.
The Corinthian Church suffered from something that is common to all of us and that is ignorance. St. Paul needed to remind them that God has given them everything that they need. The same goes for us. We have everything that we need to achieve that which God has called us to.
Last week I asked what burdens you might be carrying that are stopping you from walking in the call of God. This week my question is, “What is it that you think you need to enable you to walk in the call of God?” And then I would encourage you to read that passage from Corinthians, realizing that God has given us every spiritual gift that we need to achieve that which he has called us to do.
We don’t need the world class speakers to bring revival. We don’t need to hire an international team of talented artists so that people will come to hear the message. The only sacrifice that God requires is a heart that says, “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will”.
Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit and open our eyes to your truth. Make us see as you see and give us the strength to continue in your will when we don’t.
Monday, January 3, 2011
reflecion on readings 9th January 2011 Baptism of our Lord
Year A Baptism of the Lord 9 January 2011
Isaiah 42: 1-9 Psalm 29 Acts 10: 34-43 Matthew 3: 13-17
Isaiah 42:6-7 “6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
We, as Church, can take these words from Isaiah as our call from God. We are called in righteousness by Him to be a covenant and a light, bringing the promise of God to the people in our community. It is our call to reveal the Good News of God and in so doing, open the eyes of the blind. It is our call to free the captives from the prison of darkness, despair and meaninglessness. But....... What is it that is holding us captive?
When I look around at the lives of Christian people around me, it seems that many of us are crippled in our mission and God given call. We are crippled by hurt and ignorance, and also by our actions or the judgment of our actions, whether deserved or not. Hurt is inevitable as a fact of life on planet earth, but due to that hurt we often shut ourselves away from the truth of God’s love. Truly, in the searchlight of God’s truth we might discover some of the burdens we are carrying which are keeping us captive.... things that God wants us to let go of as we discover the truth that He reveals to us.
I have had an experience of this myself recently. I was hurt by something that was said to me, but as I thought about the facts I realized the statement wasn’t actually hurtful at all, but instead it was simply the shadow of old judgements based on gossip and the way I felt judged that was making me feel so hurt. I was carrying a false sense of guilt... guilt that I knew wasn’t mine, but guilt that I believed others held me in judgement.
The truth that set me free was realizing that the guilt is not mine. God knows the truth and other opinions didn’t matter. Though they have actually been bad enough to hinder my job prospects and even my perceived ministry....
Knowing my relationship with God was secure made the difference and allowed me to let go of the burden imprisoning me. And yes this is easier said than done, and probably one of those many miracles that God does in the year2011. If he does this for me, you can know He is keen to do it for you too.
I have also been reflecting on how so many vibrant and gifted people in ministry have left ministry due to “false guilt” and other burdens that imprison us. How many of us who have the gift of God’s revelation, have been blinded and imprisoned in the darkness of hurt and lies about God’s rejection?
And then this brings to mind another issue: We all know the many stories of priests and ministers being taken to court for “inappropriate” behaviour, most commonly for sexual abuse, but I would ask you to think about the news we hear about footballers accused in the same way. Some of the footballers we would easily accept as being guilty but there have been plenty who claimed their innocence.... and many who have been victims of the injustice of a lie. Is it possible that this is the case with some of those ministers also?
I had an experience many years ago, where I rolled my car and was charged with driving without due care and attention. I was in 2nd gear, just leaving the carpark with 4 girls who had been at a youth convention. The windscreen quickly fogged and I couldn’t see. I thought I was pulling over to the side but, as I found out, there was no side but a drain. There were no signs or guide posts, just a slight raised edge. I was told by my solicitor that I had to plead guilty. It felt wrong, as I didn’t do anything without care yet had to plead that I did. From what I’ve heard in a few other cases this “pleading guilty” happens quite a bit with others who are also not guilty.
On a Church level we have been crippled by these things whether they’ve been correct judgments or not. What we are missing is the Good News of God’s grace, and also God’s perspective and wisdom.
Jesus was an unlikely candidate for ministry. He appeared to be the son of a woman of questionable character.... after all, she was found to be pregnant with him before her nuptials had been completed. I’ve no doubt that there was plenty of gossip about Jesus. Jesus did not follow any of the accepted protocol for religious behaviour. He didn’t concern himself with the ceremonial washing and constantly broke the commandment about keeping holy the Sabbath day.... or so it seemed. And that is my point. Many things are not as they seem.
Jesus was both fully God and fully human. How do we get our heads around this? As I’ve said previously, I like to parallel this with the movie Superman II. Superman gives up his power and becomes like a normal human – all for the love of Lois Lane. Jesus did the same.
In Jesus giving up his “God” power to become human, means that he was JUST like us. Just like us in every way, except that he did not sin. Even more important is what this means for us as Christians in our lives. You see, this week we read about the Baptism of Jesus. Something very important happened at his baptism:
Matthew 3: 16-17 “16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
The Spirit of God descended to Jesus. After this we see Jesus move into ministry with power.... what power? Remember I just said that, like Superman, Jesus gave up his “God” power.... So the power that Jesus had was the power of the Holy Spirit which came on him – him being a fully human man. The implication is that Jesus lived the life that we too can live. We too have the Holy Spirit. Even more we live in the fulfilment of the promise of God and Jesus intercedes for us. What I’m implying is that we should be living a life that is a lot more empowered and connected to God than the one we are living.
Acts 10: 38 “38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. “
Every now and then I get on my soap box about how we should be relying more on the power of the Holy Spirit. I’m still trying to figure this out myself, but I do really believe that we are not properly utilizing the gift that God has given.
Many times in our church and corporate prayer we insert structure and formula along with a big dash of creative razzle dazzle, such that we don’t actually need the Holy Spirit. Not that there is anything wrong with using structure, formula and creativity. These are God given gifts, but the focus of our efforts needs to be directed and informed by the Spirit of God.
Many years ago I was sent to the Catholic National Liturgical Convention in Melbourne. There were many interesting electives teaching us on different aspects of liturgy. Each day began with everyone together and some kind of prayer service and keynote speaker address.
Over the course of the week I became increasingly disillusioned. There were hymn writers telling us that there was nothing real and everything was subjective and that their songs were full of imagery that could mean absolutely anything. There were song leaders teaching us complicated choral pieces.... (ps – this is a bad thing because people should feel like they are fully participating). All in all I was very disheartened and concerned about the lack of “God” focus in it all.
The final day of the convention the prayer service was run by a drama group. They performed by proclaiming disjointed scripture quotes. None of it connected or pointing to anything - none of it revealing God’s truth and good news. There were many, many candles.... the only bit that made sense. The candles were to symbolize us and then the Pascal candle was the symbol of Christ. When the service was over and the key note speaker came on the candles were extinguished.... but the Christ candle would not go out. No matter what they did that candle stayed lit. Eventually they gave up and left it lit throughout the speaker’s address. It spoke volumes to me and reminds me of the scripture in this week’s readings:
Isaiah 42: “ 1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
Isaiah speaks prophetically about Christ. The life of Jesus was not one of a naturally charismatic leader with a squeaky clean background. Isaiah also speaks prophetically about the light of Christ in the church. After the crucifixion, resurrection and then the day of Pentecost, right through to today, the church has had many occasions of being like a bruised reed and a smoldering wick. It seems very much that way now.
Most importantly, Isaiah speaks prophetically a message of encouragement to us personally. We are bruised and battered. We feel that our light is smoldering rather than shining brightly, but God lets us know that the light of Christ in us, just like at the convention, will not snuff out.
We have been given a gift of the light of Christ and have a responsibility to proclaim it: Acts 10: 42“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
What is stopping us from fulfilling our God given call?
Sometimes it is our inability to forgive others and sometimes our inability to forgive ourselves. We really need to understand God’s grace and love to combat these attacks of Satan which are imprisoning us, and be set free. Did you read the last line of that last quote? “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins were they in the past or the future? The future of course! When we believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus we need to know that even our future sins are forgiven. Forgive yourself. We need to realize that others are also loved and forgiven when they believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus – both future and past sins. (Note forgiveness and trust are two different things!)
Whatever it is that is stopping us from our call into ministry we need to give it to God. And when I say “Our call into ministry”, I do mean all of us. We are all called to proclaim the truth that God has revealed to us. For each of us that will take a different form. Ordained by God and anointed by His Holy Spirit to be His witness, if you have that sense deep within you that you are not in the place God wants then it is time to step forward.... and God Himself will give us strength.
Psalm 29 :8-11 “8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. 11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”
Isaiah 42: 1-9 Psalm 29 Acts 10: 34-43 Matthew 3: 13-17
Isaiah 42:6-7 “6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
We, as Church, can take these words from Isaiah as our call from God. We are called in righteousness by Him to be a covenant and a light, bringing the promise of God to the people in our community. It is our call to reveal the Good News of God and in so doing, open the eyes of the blind. It is our call to free the captives from the prison of darkness, despair and meaninglessness. But....... What is it that is holding us captive?
When I look around at the lives of Christian people around me, it seems that many of us are crippled in our mission and God given call. We are crippled by hurt and ignorance, and also by our actions or the judgment of our actions, whether deserved or not. Hurt is inevitable as a fact of life on planet earth, but due to that hurt we often shut ourselves away from the truth of God’s love. Truly, in the searchlight of God’s truth we might discover some of the burdens we are carrying which are keeping us captive.... things that God wants us to let go of as we discover the truth that He reveals to us.
I have had an experience of this myself recently. I was hurt by something that was said to me, but as I thought about the facts I realized the statement wasn’t actually hurtful at all, but instead it was simply the shadow of old judgements based on gossip and the way I felt judged that was making me feel so hurt. I was carrying a false sense of guilt... guilt that I knew wasn’t mine, but guilt that I believed others held me in judgement.
The truth that set me free was realizing that the guilt is not mine. God knows the truth and other opinions didn’t matter. Though they have actually been bad enough to hinder my job prospects and even my perceived ministry....
Knowing my relationship with God was secure made the difference and allowed me to let go of the burden imprisoning me. And yes this is easier said than done, and probably one of those many miracles that God does in the year2011. If he does this for me, you can know He is keen to do it for you too.
I have also been reflecting on how so many vibrant and gifted people in ministry have left ministry due to “false guilt” and other burdens that imprison us. How many of us who have the gift of God’s revelation, have been blinded and imprisoned in the darkness of hurt and lies about God’s rejection?
And then this brings to mind another issue: We all know the many stories of priests and ministers being taken to court for “inappropriate” behaviour, most commonly for sexual abuse, but I would ask you to think about the news we hear about footballers accused in the same way. Some of the footballers we would easily accept as being guilty but there have been plenty who claimed their innocence.... and many who have been victims of the injustice of a lie. Is it possible that this is the case with some of those ministers also?
I had an experience many years ago, where I rolled my car and was charged with driving without due care and attention. I was in 2nd gear, just leaving the carpark with 4 girls who had been at a youth convention. The windscreen quickly fogged and I couldn’t see. I thought I was pulling over to the side but, as I found out, there was no side but a drain. There were no signs or guide posts, just a slight raised edge. I was told by my solicitor that I had to plead guilty. It felt wrong, as I didn’t do anything without care yet had to plead that I did. From what I’ve heard in a few other cases this “pleading guilty” happens quite a bit with others who are also not guilty.
On a Church level we have been crippled by these things whether they’ve been correct judgments or not. What we are missing is the Good News of God’s grace, and also God’s perspective and wisdom.
Jesus was an unlikely candidate for ministry. He appeared to be the son of a woman of questionable character.... after all, she was found to be pregnant with him before her nuptials had been completed. I’ve no doubt that there was plenty of gossip about Jesus. Jesus did not follow any of the accepted protocol for religious behaviour. He didn’t concern himself with the ceremonial washing and constantly broke the commandment about keeping holy the Sabbath day.... or so it seemed. And that is my point. Many things are not as they seem.
Jesus was both fully God and fully human. How do we get our heads around this? As I’ve said previously, I like to parallel this with the movie Superman II. Superman gives up his power and becomes like a normal human – all for the love of Lois Lane. Jesus did the same.
In Jesus giving up his “God” power to become human, means that he was JUST like us. Just like us in every way, except that he did not sin. Even more important is what this means for us as Christians in our lives. You see, this week we read about the Baptism of Jesus. Something very important happened at his baptism:
Matthew 3: 16-17 “16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
The Spirit of God descended to Jesus. After this we see Jesus move into ministry with power.... what power? Remember I just said that, like Superman, Jesus gave up his “God” power.... So the power that Jesus had was the power of the Holy Spirit which came on him – him being a fully human man. The implication is that Jesus lived the life that we too can live. We too have the Holy Spirit. Even more we live in the fulfilment of the promise of God and Jesus intercedes for us. What I’m implying is that we should be living a life that is a lot more empowered and connected to God than the one we are living.
Acts 10: 38 “38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. “
Every now and then I get on my soap box about how we should be relying more on the power of the Holy Spirit. I’m still trying to figure this out myself, but I do really believe that we are not properly utilizing the gift that God has given.
Many times in our church and corporate prayer we insert structure and formula along with a big dash of creative razzle dazzle, such that we don’t actually need the Holy Spirit. Not that there is anything wrong with using structure, formula and creativity. These are God given gifts, but the focus of our efforts needs to be directed and informed by the Spirit of God.
Many years ago I was sent to the Catholic National Liturgical Convention in Melbourne. There were many interesting electives teaching us on different aspects of liturgy. Each day began with everyone together and some kind of prayer service and keynote speaker address.
Over the course of the week I became increasingly disillusioned. There were hymn writers telling us that there was nothing real and everything was subjective and that their songs were full of imagery that could mean absolutely anything. There were song leaders teaching us complicated choral pieces.... (ps – this is a bad thing because people should feel like they are fully participating). All in all I was very disheartened and concerned about the lack of “God” focus in it all.
The final day of the convention the prayer service was run by a drama group. They performed by proclaiming disjointed scripture quotes. None of it connected or pointing to anything - none of it revealing God’s truth and good news. There were many, many candles.... the only bit that made sense. The candles were to symbolize us and then the Pascal candle was the symbol of Christ. When the service was over and the key note speaker came on the candles were extinguished.... but the Christ candle would not go out. No matter what they did that candle stayed lit. Eventually they gave up and left it lit throughout the speaker’s address. It spoke volumes to me and reminds me of the scripture in this week’s readings:
Isaiah 42: “ 1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
Isaiah speaks prophetically about Christ. The life of Jesus was not one of a naturally charismatic leader with a squeaky clean background. Isaiah also speaks prophetically about the light of Christ in the church. After the crucifixion, resurrection and then the day of Pentecost, right through to today, the church has had many occasions of being like a bruised reed and a smoldering wick. It seems very much that way now.
Most importantly, Isaiah speaks prophetically a message of encouragement to us personally. We are bruised and battered. We feel that our light is smoldering rather than shining brightly, but God lets us know that the light of Christ in us, just like at the convention, will not snuff out.
We have been given a gift of the light of Christ and have a responsibility to proclaim it: Acts 10: 42“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
What is stopping us from fulfilling our God given call?
Sometimes it is our inability to forgive others and sometimes our inability to forgive ourselves. We really need to understand God’s grace and love to combat these attacks of Satan which are imprisoning us, and be set free. Did you read the last line of that last quote? “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins were they in the past or the future? The future of course! When we believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus we need to know that even our future sins are forgiven. Forgive yourself. We need to realize that others are also loved and forgiven when they believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus – both future and past sins. (Note forgiveness and trust are two different things!)
Whatever it is that is stopping us from our call into ministry we need to give it to God. And when I say “Our call into ministry”, I do mean all of us. We are all called to proclaim the truth that God has revealed to us. For each of us that will take a different form. Ordained by God and anointed by His Holy Spirit to be His witness, if you have that sense deep within you that you are not in the place God wants then it is time to step forward.... and God Himself will give us strength.
Psalm 29 :8-11 “8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. 11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”