On the 8th Day of Christmas...

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Eight Maids a-Milking
The Eight Maid a-milking are to signify the eight Beatitudes. Why 8 Maid a-milking I’m not sure, but seeing as milk is the basis for cheese it might have something to do with Cheese makers. …. 
For all fans of Monty Python, yes, I’m referring to the famous Sermon on the Mount which is misinterpreted, in the film “Life of Brian” as “Blessed are the Cheese makers”. A lady in the movie calls out “What's so special about the cheesemakers? “ And the reply is: “Well, obviously it's not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products”.

The highly amusing skit is a cleverly bridled comment about the way scripture is sometimes interpreted or mis-heard and then interpreted as if an authority on the subject, which makes it all quite funny, until we realize the finger is pointed at us… and then it is hilarious, but sobering at the same time.

Without the gift of the Holy Spirit we can easily fall prey to whatever the latest popular thought might be. In our Eighth article of faith we confess our belief in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who has spoken by the Prophets;

For many years people have been taught to trust authority figures without question, but the younger generations are being taught to think critically. In other words they are taught to think things through and decide whether what they are being told is true or not.
Unfortunately, young people are taught to question certain things and accept other things under the guise of it being ‘critical thinking,’ but many times it is simply following a new crowd and not actually thinking individually. Sadly, children realize quite early that they can be ostracized for thinking differently to their peers.

Yesterday we mentioned that the law of God is now, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, written in our hearts and on our minds. Jeremiah 31:34 tells us that, “No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."”

It isn’t that we don’t teach each other, but that each of us has direct access to God and to the knowledge that is in him – from the least to the greatest. We learn from each other if we are willing to respect God’s Holy Spirit in each other and experience the Holy Spirit’s gifts in our own lives.

We discussed the seven fold Spirit of God yesterday, but throughout the New Testament many gifts and fruit are spoken of that the Holy Spirit brings. The church has tried to organise these, calling some fruit and some miraculous gifts etc.. Most important is the message to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”

What this passage is telling us is that any gift that we have is not to be kept for ourselves. The purpose of the gift is for each other, for the good of the church as a whole. So, while I say that each of us has direct access to God, this is true, but we need each other and the gifts that each of us has in order to discern the will of God.

Most often I hear people talk about the Sermon on the Mount as a sermon about an up-side down way of living. That is, instead of conquering the earth with selfish ambition, we should be meek and peaceful. Of course, that is looking at the passage quite superficially.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! What do you think this means?
God does not want us to be sad and sombre, so if you were thinking that we need to have some kind of a suppressed inner spirit, guess again.
Blessed are the poor in spirit because these people are the ones who acknowledge their need. They recognise that they are lacking and need God. This is why theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who were too proud to hear what Jesus would say could not come to faith in him, but those who recognised that they were spiritually lacking and in need of a saviour are those who inherit the kingdom of heaven.

The crowd that Jesus was speaking to consisted of many religious, and they refused to see their spiritual poverty, so they could not accept the gift of Jesus. They were those who thought they could be saved by the efforts and religious activity.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. How many of you have experienced those Christians who are ALWAYS positive… and positively a pain in the neck? They seem to think that they must be happy all the time or else they are not real Christians, and then when they see that you are not happy they heap judgement and treat you with condescension.
When Joe died I was given a little church book about grieving that said that as Christians we do not mourn to the extent that others do. This made me pretty angry because while it had an element of correctness, that we do have hope, we hurt just as much. Even Jesus mourned when his friend Lazarus died - and yet he knew that he was going to raise him from the dead almost immediately.
Those with Jesus, who accepted, loved and followed him, would mourn his death. But they would be comforted. There is a real need for us to be genuine in our relationship with God. The Psalms and in Hebrews we are exhorted to not harden our hearts. Hard hearts are impervious, but soft hearts let God in.
Those who mourn, regardless of whether it is personal loss, or the state of society or any other thing, or especially our poor spiritual condition, are those who are honest about how they feel and this is important to be in honest relationship with God.

Blessed are the meek, ( gentle) for they will inherit the earth. First reaction to this is, “you’ve got to be kidding!” This makes sense only when we look at Jesus, who as Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Like a lamb, gentle and meek, Jesus was led to the cross and was crucified. He rose from the dead and his inheritance is the earth which those who follow him will inherit with him. We are heirs of the kingdom of God and we pray his kingdom will come, on earth as it is in heaven.
But just what is this ‘meekness’?
“Meek” is the translated word for the Greek term ‘praus’. The meaning of this is strength brought under control. It was a term to describe a wild horse tamed to the bridle. Therefore, being meek describes one who has channelled his strengths into the service of God.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Righteousness only comes from God. When we have faith it is counted as righteousness. Righteousness begins with seeking God and if we seek God, we will find him. There is no righteousness apart from him.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. The Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”… this requires mercy. We are shown mercy by God… great mercy and so we should be merciful with others. Blessed are those who are merciful because they, once again, have soft hearts that are free from bitterness and in those soft hearts is openness to God.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Don’t kid yourself – there is none pure in heart bar Jesus, BUT…. The sacrifice of Jesus and the completed Torah in Christ means that we can be counted as God’s own children. More than this – when God looks at us we are “clothed” in Christ and so we are clean. Do you remember Jesus words to his disciples when he tells them, John 15:3 “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Ahhh! Here are the Cheese makers! I believe this is our call to bring people into a relationship with God. Just as the Angels proclaimed, “Peace to all on Earth”, because the sacrifice of Jesus would bring peace between mankind and God, so to we actively bring people to this condition of peace with God.
Now, the Church should be called the children of God, because ultimately our role as Church is to proclaim the message that Christ has restored our relationship with God, ie.-Reconciled us to God through this sacrifice on the cross. The word Angel means God’s messenger and we are to be like those Angels and proclaim the message to all.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This means being persecuted because of your faith and your right relationship with God. They crucified Jesus, and his followers should understand that a life following Christ will not be without challenges, hardships and outright persecutions.

We talk about the role of the Holy Spirit and the many faceted gifts, but we read that we are ‘sanctified ‘ by the Holy Spirit. This means that we are made spiritually clean and holy and set apart. ‘Blessed’ means to be made holy/ consecrated. To live the Beatitudes required the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
On this eighth day of Christmas we reflect on the Beatitudes and pray for God’s Holy Spirit to actualize them in our lives.

On the Seventh day of Christmas...

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven swans a-swimming
The seven swans a-swimming remind us of the seven gifts, or seven fold gift, of the Holy Spirit.

This concept comes from a couple of passages of scripture:
In the book of Revelation the seven spirits of God, or otherwise translated, seven fold spirit of God is mentioned in four different places.
In an effort to discern the passages, three possible explanations arose; the seven spirits of God are symbolic of the Holy Spirit, with the number ‘seven’ being the number pertaining to God, or the seven spirits of God refer to seven angelic beings, or else it is a reference to Isaiah 11:2 “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—“ This passage is a prophecy about the Messiah.

The last explanation is from where the traditional church has developed the understanding of the seven gifts of the spirit. In some traditions they’ve interpreted these gifts to be: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord. ‘Piety’ appears to be in place of the “spirit of the Lord”, as we read that from the scriptural reference these gifts are:
1. The spirit of the Lord resting on him
2. The spirit of Wisdom
3. The spirit of Understanding
4. The spirit of Counsel
5. The spirit of might
6. The Spirit of Knowledge
7. The Spirit of the fear of the Lord
Though spoken of as individual gifts, the Spirit is one and the gifts tell us of the nature of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit of the Lord resting on him”, signifies the presence of God. This was with Jesus when he walked this earth, but when he gave us His Spirit it means that the presence of God is with us too.
The Spirit of the fear of the Lord is not about fear and trembling, though it could be if we were to come face to face with God and understand the fullness of His being. The Hebrew word “Yirah” which is mostly translated as fear is also about awe and reverence, amazement, mystery and wonder. It is the kind of feeling you might get if you were to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

I believe the references in Revelation are about the Holy Spirit, and the number seven is to signify that this is God. The number 7 also signifies the completeness and rest that the Spirit brings.
Also from the book of revelation we hear about the number of the beast, and at that point people tend to skip to find out what the number is and forget that God tells us clearly what the number means because it is a man’s number. We were created on the sixth day and the number that signifies humankind is six, but the number that signifies God is SEVEN.

Now, it is the seventh day of Christmas and I suspect that there may be a link between the seventh day of creation and the seven fold spirit of God. On the seventh day God rested from his work.

Genesis 2:1-3 “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

The seventh day became holy because God blessed it and made it so. Throughout the Bible the number 7, came to represent completion and perfection and rest. An interesting point is that God rested on this day because it was completed. He didn’t begin again after resting, and he didn’t rest because he needed to rest. This holy rest became a commandment later on in the story of the Israelite nation and a bone of contention, with the Pharisees when Jesus walked the earth. But I believe that this Sabbath is actually a declaration of the revelation to come in the New Covenant.

Jesus is famously quoted for saying that the Sabbath was created for mankind and not mankind for the Sabbath. The Pharisees were so particularly zealous in trying to keep the law that they dissected to an incredible degree it to understand just what actions they needed to do to keep it. Some may have had the motive that they wanted to do as little as possible to meet the requirements, but I’m sure many more were zealously striving to understand the fullness of the instruction.

We humans are often like that. We want a recipe to follow so that we can feel reassured that we are getting it right. God gave them a recipe in the Torah, but as Jesus made very clear in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, no human can fully follow the “recipe”. The recipe became rule upon rule and heart intentions, love and freedom were not understood by those keepers of the law. When we rely upon the keeping of the law, we can become deluded into thinking we keep it and we become judgmental about those who obviously fall short.

For example, the movies we’ve seen that portray the Italian Mafia. They can be brutal murderers and crooks and yet devout Catholics. Why? Because they still haven’t realized the message of Christianity… they think that there is a “recipe”. They confess, they receive absolution… etc. And so the mistake of the Pharisees is repeated – and they are not the only ones to get it wrong.

The book of Hebrews has some interesting things to say about the Sabbath rest that is blessed by God:
Hebrews 4:9 -11“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”

This is not talking about Saturday worship of God, or Saturday refraining from outward works of labour, but about the refraining from labouring to attain God’s acceptance.

I once met a lady, and she was like many others who’d I met, who was active in the church and involved in so many activities. She hoped that God would accept her. She knew her sin and she worked and gave and worked and gave, praying that God would accept her.

Jesus has brought us that acceptance, so if we are now trying to earn acceptance we are not living by faith and not entering the blessed rest that God has provided. In Jesus we are unconditionally accepted. When this message dawned on that particularly lady there were tears streaming down her face.

But how does this tie in with the Holy Spirit?

From Jeremiah 33:31 ““The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
God has declared that in this new Covenant he will write his law on our hearts, and he will personally teach us. How does he accomplish this? He accomplishes it by that seven fold Holy Spirit. Firstly it is a spiritual reality, which then begins a lifelong process. Hebrews 10:14 “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy”.

The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus when he was baptized and it was just as Isaiah prophesied. The gift of that Spirit is, as we earlier discovered, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of Knowledge, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.

John the Baptist told the people about the Holy Spirit in Mark 1:7-8 “And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. ”I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

The Bible lists many other effects of the Holy Spirit, sometimes referred to as fruit and also there are other specific gifts. But this seven fold Spirit is what we receive, and it sanctifies us… Jesus has made us spiritually perfect and the presence of God rests on us - the Torah is being accomplished in us, by this gift.

The Sabbath was meant to be a time of being with God in prayer – that is, it is a day of being dedicated to God and in God’s presence. It was a prototype of the Good News and New Covenant where we acknowledge that we can not please God with our efforts and actions, and we cannot attain perfection, therefore we need to cease our religious activity and rest. Although resting, we now have every day as a Sabbath as we are constantly in this “rest” ordained by God and constantly in union with him through the gift of his Holy Spirit.

We believe that there is a time when Jesus will come again, but this time will be to judge the living and the dead.
Hebrews 10:37-39 “For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”
Just as we are saved by faith, we continue our Christian life by living in faith.
Do you want the recipe of how to be found worthy of God, so that you can strive and work to make that grade? You can have it, but if you think you can achieve it you are only deluding yourself!!! The only way to the father is through Jesus, the way the truth and the life. Every day is the Sabbath in the New Covenant. We are constantly dedicated to God and always have God’s presence with us by his Holy Spirit. And so we can rest always … and rejoice, because this is amazing Good News.
I recently saw the movie, Big Hero 6. At one point in this a number of science geeks are told by the youngest, “You need an up-grade”. He takes their strengths and refines them so that they use their gifts to become super-heroes. We do have abilities to do all kinds of good works that God has already prepared for us, but we need an up-grade. The Holy Spirit seven fold gifts is the power source and the new program, like the program disc that makes an old operating system from the last century, brand new and way better.

On the 6th Day of Christmas....

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six geese a-laying.

So… On the subject of birds laying eggs… Did you hear about the chicken who could only lay eggs in winter? She was no Spring Chicken!
Perhaps today we will solve the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? The sixth geese a-laying is a representation of the 6 days of creation.

It is the 6th day of Christmas, reading the account of the creation from Genesis 1 may be a very apt thing for humans, created on the 6th day, to do. This reading is often read at the Easter vigil service. The most memorable service of this type took place in Cairns where the church was in darkness and the service began outside. We each carried lit candles into the dark church. The reading from Genesis began:
Genesis 1:1-5 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.”

When these words were read a single light came on that lit up a particular stained glass window, whose artwork portrayed this part of the creation story. The sense of drama gave an exciting hint of the magnitude of a story that we often read with a politely stifled yawn.

When looking at the creation story there are always those who want to discuss the theories of fact, fiction and all places in between. I would much rather see this story dramatized and come to life then I would dissect it for its authenticity.

We know that the first five books of the Bible are attributed to the authorship of Moses, and we assume that the story of creation was an oral tradition prior to its being written. We should also remember that Moses was one who spoke, face to face with God.

“In the beginning” – This is the meaning of “Genesis”, it means “beginnings”. We know from Psalm 19:1-4 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. “
Along with the Psalmist, we believe that creation is proof of an intelligent creator. How it happened and how long it took doesn’t really worry me, but if God is God, omnipotent and all powerful, what took him so long? He could have created everything in a single moment. If we are going to be people of faith at all we need to acknowledge honestly what we don’t know or understand, but have enough faith to acknowledge that what is written is sacred and needs to be taken to heart.

God created the heavens and the earth. In that one sentence something about the nature of God is also revealed. The word for God in Hebrew is “Elohim”. It is a plural, yet the verbs and pronouns used around it are singular, which indicate that God is one. David Guzik explains it, from this website: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide_Gen/Gen_1.cfm and quotes: “Rabbi Simeon ben Joachi, commenting on the word Elohim: "Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim; there are three degrees, and each degree by itself alone, and yet notwithstanding they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided from each other." Clarke adds: "He must be strangely prejudiced indeed who cannot see that the doctrine of a Trinity, and of a Trinity in unity, is expressed in the above words."”

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” It is so hard to imagine that the earth as formless and empty. The word for this in the original language is, Tohu. Some have translated it as chaos or disorganized. The understanding is that the earth was not, in any way, organized or able to sustain order. Most importantly though are the words that follow, “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” This is where we first meet that part of God which is the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew word is “Ruach Elohim” meaning “great wind”. The word “hover” is also used in Deuteronomy 32:10-11 to describe a mother eagle hovering over her nest, caring, protecting, nourishing and strengthening.

“And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.” This is where we find the pre-existence of the Son of God, otherwise known as, “The Word”, when God spoke. Jesus is the visible expression of God. In this instance he was the audible expression, but as we know from John 1, the word was there in the beginning and through him all things were created. It is most fitting that he is revealed and the word which revealed him was, “let there be light”, as it is light that makes things clear and understood.
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.”
God declares this light to be good. Please note that even though light was created the sun and moon were not the source.
I’ll briefly list the following days of creation:
• The sky was created on the second day. The declaration of “it was good” is absent on the second day.
• On the third day the dry ground and sea were separated… this is declared good. And then vegetation was brought forth. Once again this is proclaimed as being good.
• Finally on the fourth day God makes the sun, moon and stars. The purpose for these lights is to serve as signs to mark sacred times and days and years.
• On the fifth day living creatures are created in the water and birds that fly. These are declared good and then also they are blessed with the words, “be fruitful and increase in number”. I suspect that this means the answer to the question, “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” must then be the chicken!!! 
• On the sixth day other living creatures were created and God declared it to be good.
Genesis 1:26- “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Both man and woman are created in the image of God, in that, like God, we have a mind, will, intellect, emotions, and moral capacity. This sets us apart from all others of creation. Other parts of Scripture tell us that God is spirit. Humans have this spiritual capacity, but we are mostly unaware of it. We, like God are triune beings. We have a body – our physicality, our Soul, which encompasses our emotions, our mind and personality, and we have a spirit.

When the fall happened our spirit is what died. This is why Jesus said we must be born again… born of spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but spirit gives birth to spirit – meaning that we needed to be born of God.

Each person since Adam has been born with their spirit dead – or I like to think of it like a seed is dead when it is out of the soil… Jesus is the exception.

Jesus was spiritually alive and death could not hold him. Something that most people forget is that Jesus rose from the dead and is alive still. People saw him, touched him and even ate with him. Our sixth article of faith tells us that Jesus ascended into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father.

Do we believe in the resurrection?
I have actually heard some theologians explain away miracles as possibly natural occurrences. But it all comes down to this; we have faith or we do not. Either we believe or we do not. We are Christian or we are not.
I don’t know all the how’s’and why’s, but I do know Jesus lives.

Our faith needs a starting point – a Genesis. Let there be light! A light that illuminates us to God’s truth…. All we need is faith the size of a mustard seed… Just as the Holy Spirit hovered over the deep to bring life and light, may the Holy Spirit enlighten us.

Youtube link for the song indescribable : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF9aY49oQTs

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

On the Fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five gold rings.
Today we look at God’s message that was proclaimed from the first five books of the bible – that is, those first five books of the Old Testament known as the Pentateuch.
These books’ authorship is attributed to Moses and is also known as the Torah – a word which is usually translated as “Law” or “teaching”.
According to the website: http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Torah.html#.VJ_VrsAk , Torah is both a name and a general concept. While we think of law as a definitive and a boundary that should not be broken, the word, “Torah” as a concept actually reflects” the way things are”.

I like the idea that our five gold rings might represent the Pentateuch because of the traditional association of gold rings with vow making and keeping. It seems like a nice idea to remember and have fidelity to the essence of our faith which, in written form, begins at Genesis.

The five books of the Pentateuch are; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Both Genesis and Exodus are fairly readable and from the accounts of creation we then follow the Journey of Jesus’ ancestry from Adam and Eve through to the 12 tribes who Moses led out of Egypt. After that point the reading gets more difficult with many detailed descriptions about how the Ark of the Covenant was to be built, along with the Tent of meeting etc, the design for the priestly garments and the sacred utensils. And then there are rules…. Lots and lots of rules… and hidden in between those, are some amazing stories that are not so often read.
As an overview we see that God created the world and set it up in a particular way, but his creation freely chose to disobey and do things their own way. From this point we see the natural consequences of sin and sometimes human nature at its worse. Through it all, it seems that God seeks for someone who is willing to have a relationship with him, and as he finds them we follow their stories and God’s promise to bless.

Right back from the Book of Genesis there are stories which record the lives of God’s people and God’s promises. These promises take two forms, ones that are conditional on our actions (obedience to God’s law), and promises that are unconditional.

It seems that we always want to be able to earn our way into heaven and over and over again, in the Bible, we see those who tried and failed. The Israelites and us also, continuously have times where we acknowledge that we’ve done the wrong thing, and determine to change our actions, but we can never attain the perfect standard.
The first promise of a redeemer appears as an unconditional promise, therefore not dependent on our actions, but on the mercy and love of God. It is found in Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Ultimately the offspring, of the woman is referring to Jesus. Enmity in the original language implies bloodshed, signifying the sacrifice of Jesus, yet the bruising of the heel implies that the wound will not be permanent. The words were spoken to the serpent who, in the narrative, is the embodiment of Satan, over whom Jesus would have ultimate victory.

These two forms of covenants, conditional and unconditional , show up in the lives of those we follow through the Bible, most notably Abraham, who was both obedient to God but also the recipient of the unconditional Covenant. His story is where we most notably notice that he took God at His word – he believed God- and it was credited as righteousness. And so we know him as the father of those recipients of God’s Covenant who enter by faith- By believing God. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Abraham tried to achieve God’s promise by his own efforts, and missed the mark, but when God blessed him with a son by his barren and old wife, Sarah, he knew that nothing was impossible for God. Seeing as God had said he would bless Abraham with a multitude of nations through Isaac, after Abraham being asked to give Isaac to God as a sacrifice, Abraham figured that God would raise the dead. The whole story is very much a prophetic declaration of the promise of the Messiah who would rise from the dead.

Our fifth article of faith states that God the Son rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures. There are many scriptures that point to the resurrection and it is so obvious- in retrospect. For example, Psalm 16:10 “you will not leave me in the grave. You will not let your faithful one rot away.” Jonah was in the belly of the whale 3 days… is a sign of the death and resurrection of Christ.

The Pentateuch is mostly known as the book of the Law and we tend to think of God’s law in terms of a conditional Covenant. It seems to be human nature and it is truly the natural order of things. Ie. You work hard and you achieve, you break the law and you pay the penalty. But the understanding of the Torah, as a teaching about how things are, means that the whole of those five books are the “Torah”… the way things are… implying that the promises of God, are also the way things are. The struggles and the failures, which are so embarrassingly honestly recorded, are also the way things are – not just for them, but also for us. And now the Torah takes on an almost prophetic element as it is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.

Honestly, the thing that always frightens us, when we talk about the Pentateuch, is that we know that those laws condemn us. Even the very best of us can’t perfectly keep them. But there is good news… as I remember someone saying, “The only person that could ever live the Christian life was Jesus Christ”. We just can’t do it, and we really do need to rejoice that the Torah also contains the unconditional promise of God to send us a saviour.
Jesus came and he embodied the Torah… he is the Torah… and now it is fulfilled. The law has been kept and completed, and as he exclaimed from the cross, “It is finished”. This is found in the Gospel of John 19:30, the Greek word translated “it is finished” is tetelestai, an accounting term that means “paid in full.”

It is said that the purpose of the Torah was to make Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This is also God’s purpose for us. As Christians we are the new Children of Abraham and heirs of the promise through faith in Jesus Christ.

Today also marks the feast of St. Thomas Becket who rose to be archbishop of Canterbury. Although previously enjoying close relations with King Henry II, when Thomas joined the ranks of the clergy his priorities changed and he clashed with the King over matters. Four knights attacked him in the church during prayers, though it took a number of blows to kill him. After the third blow he stated, “‘for the name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.' “

Would we be so willing to protect the name of Jesus and the church?
If we do not study the scriptures, if we do not go to church, if we do not financially support our churches then we in turn do not support theological institutions and the official learning institutions that promote, guard and protect the Gospel.

On this day I would like us to reflect on our fidelity to the word of God and His Church. God’s Promise to us is an unconditional Covenant. Through the sacrifice of Jesus we are offered an uninhibited relationship with God and St. Paul declares this conviction “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38,39). But will we let this Gospel be perverted? Will we let the Gospel be perverted by the cults that claim we can attain perfection by our efforts and good works? Will we let the Gospel be perverted by religious traditions and activities that are meant to help us understand God but instead become empty idols that placate our sense of needing to feel that we’ve earned our place in God’s “good books”.
I pray that we will dedicate ourselves to enabling the Gospel, and protecting the message of the pure Good News that Christ died for the remission of our sins, and that he rose from the dead and is living still – not because of any goodness in us, but because of the goodness of him and His great love.

On the 4th Day of Christmas...

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four calling birds.
Can you guess what the four calling birds might symbolize?
The four calling birds are to signify the four Gospels and their writers, the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The first three books are called the Synoptic Gospels, as they look to be the same.
The first book in the New Testament is the book of Matthew. It is believed that the author is Matthew, who is also named as Levi in the other Gospels and, this being true, he came to faith in Jesus after being a tax collector and was one of the apostles.
Each of the Gospels have different “angles”, due to their own personal experience with Jesus, just as if different people were writing about a football game, each would write according to their own interests and prior understandings. Also we each write differently depending on our intended audience and the Gospel writers were no different.
Matthew seems to be concerned about the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures and his intended audience is primarily the Jewish people, though written in Greek, and so possibly Greek speaking Jews. It includes a kingly line of the genealogy of Christ going back to Abraham.

The Gospel of Mark was originally thought to be written by a companion of Peter, and the second Gospel to be written, which is why it is placed after the Gospel of Matthew. Mark’s Gospel is now believed to be the first written Gospel and it is the most straightforward and succinct telling of the events of Jesus life. It is now believed that Mark’s Gospel was used as a source for both the Gospel of Luke and also Matthew as many of the stories match exactly, but this is not a full gone conclusion.
Mark uses Aramaic words in his story telling and he also explains some of the Jewish traditions. There is also no mention of the Samaritans. This would indicate that he has a broad audience in mind as he strives to make his Gospel factual and inclusive.

The Gospel of Luke is most courteous in not leaving us guessing about his audience, as it is written with a prologue that tells us clearly:
Luke 1:1-4 “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

From this prologue we know its intended audience is a new convert, Theophilus and we also know that others had already written, yet Luke thought it necessary to draw up an account so that Theophilus could be certain about the things that he had been taught. This tells me that this account is going to be researched and reliable.

I wrote briefly about the Gospel of John previously, but I’ll add that John was that close apostle of Jesus, self-described as the apostle that Jesus loved. He was the son of Zebedee and along with his brother James, called the “Sons of Thunder”, probably a nick-name due to the pair’s personalities. Being part of Jesus’ close inner circle, he was privileged to witness some events that others were not, such as the transfiguration.
The Gospel of John is believed to be written for new believers and he gives more than just an account of the events. He tells the events that are prophetic in nature, signifying the kingdom of God and the clearly emphasizing the depth of Christ’s nature, purpose and ministry.
It is the Gospel of John that emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to God, teaching and comforting.

All of the Gospels tell of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
His message was that the Kingdom of God was near and that all should repent and turn to God. The word repent means, to change your mind, and therefore this call was one to realize the purpose and heart of God as revealed through Jesus. The first step of faith is, instead of following our own way, is to change our mind, and decide that in our own efforts we could not meet the perfect standard of God.
The Gospel of Matthew makes it clear that we cannot attain Godliness when he reports Jesus saying, Matt 5:22 “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
At this time, there were many who felt justified by keeping the commandments and thought that this would be acceptable as God’s perfect standard. But Jesus makes it clear that the perfection of God is deeper than any of us can reach and also that at the heart is where we needed to be dealing with things. Our outer lives can look incredibly righteous, but our hearts are seen and judged by God.
Who then can be saved?
John’s Gospel makes it very clear from the beginning of his Gospel, that those who believe in his Name, he gives the power to be children of God. Then just a little later in John’s Gospel is the famous verse John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Two very simple points of our Gospel – the Good News of our Christian faith:
1 – We cannot meet the perfect standard of being good enough for God in our own efforts.
2 – God gave us his Son, who is his own being, so that by believing in him we can have eternal life.
Why is this good news? Because it is inclusive for all, the only condition being that of believing.
Throughout the Gospels there are constant interactions with people who wanted to condemn others. Each time, instead of condemnation, Jesus healed, forgave and set them free. This is the heart of God! It is about acknowledging the truth of our condition and believing in Jesus who brings peace between us and God.
We state in our creed our fourth article of faith: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
This is the fact about Jesus Christ; he was crucified for us. The death of Christ was underserved as he who knew no sin, became sin for us. He took the sin of the world and made that sacrifice so that there can be no enmity between us and God…. Peace to all on Earth…

That Peace to all on Earth which the Angels proclaimed over the birth of Christ was because of the ministry of Jesus, bringing us into an un-inhibited relationship with God.
Peace among those inhabitants on Earth is rare. Even just a little while after Jesus was born, just after that statement of Peace was made, there was major upheaval. King Herod realized that the Magi were not coming back to tell him where this new king was born and so he killed all the babies in the area. Jesus escaped this first attempt on his life because an Angel had warned Joseph, and so they made their escape to Egypt.

This day, the 28th of December marks the feast of the Holy Innocents, those who were killed by Herod.
This day, the 28th of December in 2015 we still have holy innocents being killed. It is far away from us and so we are not so confronted, but there are Christian men, woman and children being murdered. They live knowing that their faith in Christ puts them in physical danger…. Yet their faith persists.

Peace with God, but no peace with those who do not know God’s peace. Today as we reflect on the Good News of the Gospel and on God’s amazing love, lets pray for those holy people who are in those danger zones and lets be inspired to live our lives more boldly in the honour of those who’ve given the ultimate sacrifice for our faith, and in honour of Jesus who has brought us this peace with God though his life, death and resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me “

Link to song, Coventry Carol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltVWs4jDYsw song about the Holy Innocents.

On the 3rd Day of Xmas.... LOVE!

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three French Hens…

Apparently French Hens were expensive and their symbolism was potentially for three different things; the gifts offered by the three wise men, or the virtues; faith, hope and charity or the three persons of the trinity.
The feast day for the 3rd day of Christmas is that of Saint John who is said to be the apostle of Charity. So this fits nicely with our song symbol of faith, hope and charity.

We find these three virtues on charms. You may have seen them, they are symbolized by the cross for faith, hope is the anchor and charity is a heart. Charity is often translated as love.
The reason for faith being symbolized by the cross is the reason that many people wear a cross. The cross is central to our message about the Good News of Jesus Christ and it portrays faith in a God who gave himself sacrificially for us. This key concept sets Christians apart from any other religion.

The reason for an Anchor to symbolize hope is this verse from Hebrews 6:19, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. …...”
In the context of the passage we find that this is not the kind of hope where we might say, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” No, this hope is being certain of things to come such, “I hope to see the sun rise tomorrow.” The only condition for this would be me getting out of bed, but the sun rising is a certainty.

Love or charity is symbolized by a heart for reasons that are very obvious. The Greek word that has been translated either as Charity or Love is the word Agape. This kind of love is the love of God. It is a kind of love that is full of grace (undeserved favour) and it is therefore charitable and sacrificial.

These three virtues together are spoken of in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “"Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love".

Let’s put these into context and look the prior 12 verses:
1Corinthians 13 – “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

You might remember yesterday on day two, that I wrote about our religious activities and that what we do or don’t do is not enough. Here we see clearly that all kinds of religious and good deeds are potentially just as empty as a clanging cymbal; a lot of drama, but without substance. But let me add; these activities, if done because of the love of God moving us on, are exactly what we are called to.

It is Saint John, the saint of Charity/ love, who gives us the most theological account of the Gospel. While the other synoptic Gospels tell the story and give us glimpses of the bigger picture revealing the person of Jesus it is John who really defines the nature of Jesus. And it begins right away with the first words;
John 1:1-10 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”

Let’s just check this against our 3rd article of faith from our creed:
Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:
It is from the Gospel of John that it is declared that the “Word” was there in the beginning. So we know that Jesus was there with God at the beginning of creation. He was known then as “the Word of God” and when God spoke, that was him.
It is from the Gospel of John that we know that Jesus is more than just a man who somehow became the son of God because John tells us that the Word WAS God and that the word became flesh. John tells us that the life of Jesus is the light of all mankind and that he is the true light that would give light to everyone.
To deny the deity of Jesus is to completely ignore the Gospels and the fact that this is why the Pharisees crucified Jesus, but you would also have to completely ignore or disregard the Gospel of John.

Do we understand what the message of the Gospel is? Do we know why it is Good News?
God himself became flesh so that he could bring us into an unconditional relationship with himself. It is a love relationship and love and care is central to this Gospel.
If ever you hear something preached that doesn’t sound like Good News you can be sure it is either heresy or only part of the text taken out of context… leaving you with a con.
Without love and understanding that God is love, one will most certainly misinterpret the Gospel. It matters not how intelligent you are, or theologically correct about every jot and tittle of the Bible, without love you’ve missed the message.

On the 2nd day of Christmas....

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
It is the 26th of December and the day after our Christmas festivities. Some will be at boxing day sales and others avoiding them and heading out to the beach (here in Australia), or movies or some other place of repose.
In times gone by this day was another Holy day; the feast of Saint Stephen.
“Good king Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen...” Do you know the song? It is a Christmas carol that has nothing about jingle bells and Santa, or even the holy nativity, but it tells the story of a Good Christian King who noticed a poor man and he wanted to give a fine and hearty feast for the poor man.
On the travels the king’s servant became too cold to go on and the Good King tells him to walk in his footsteps where the heat radiated and kept him warm. The song concludes that "Therefore, Christian men, be sure- Wealth or rank possessing-Ye who now will bless the poor - Shall yourselves find blessing”

In my little part of the world today I have heard from people who were alone on Christmas day. They were not homeless people. There is a “drop in” centre here for the homeless over the Christmas period. These people, of whom I speak, are those who I would describe as the Christmas orphans. It isn’t that they don’t have family, but just that on Christmas day when everyone is with family, for one reason or another, these people are on their own and it hurts.
Where is true Christianity in this? If true Christianity is alive and thriving, every Christmas orphan would have a place of love and belonging on Christmas day, because they’d be adopted into the homes of Church family and friends.

I find it interesting that a song about Christian care, compassion and hospitality is written about an event that took place also on the day of Saint Stephen. Perhaps the composer had this same realization on this same day, that there was a need to encourage all Christians to take Christs message of care, compassion and love seriously. And how does this tie into the feast of Saint Stephen?

Saint Stephen was that young man among the believers, who was first to step out and take the message of the Good News seriously. We find his story in the book of Acts:

Acts 6:8-15 “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”

What we gather from this is that Stephen was traveling and where ever he travelled he was being a witness to the message of the Gospel. The first description of Stephen shows us that he was primarily known for being full of grace. We find that he also performed signs and wonders among the people, which I’m guessing means that he prayed for people, and with people, and things happened. He had a message about the Good News of Jesus Christ, but his words were not empty. He was a genuine person who firstly cared for people- Full of grace. What does it mean – Grace? Grace means undeserved favour. How would a person be, if they were described as being full of Grace?

The lyrics of the song Good King Wenceslas, has a part where the king tells the servant to walk in his footsteps to keep warm. It is sung as a literal story, but it makes a lot of sense if we look at it figuratively as walking in the footsteps of Christ.
““Mark my footsteps, my good page - Tread thou in them boldly - Thou shalt find the winter's rage - Freeze thy blood less coldly." In his master's steps he trod - Where the snow lay dinted - Heat was in the very sod - Which the Saint had printed”

Saint Stephen was taken before the Sanhedrin and put on trial for his faith. If we were on trial for being Christian would there be enough evidence to convict us? Believing in God does not make you a Christian, because even Satan believes in God.

On the Second day of Christmas my true love gave to me; two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
We have talked about the partridge already, which is the gift of Christ that we celebrate on Christmas day, but in the two turtle doves we also have the two testaments… the Old Testament and the New Testament. These are gifts and these gifts are what St. Stephen used to give testimony. He explained the message of God from the Old Testament and explained them and the Good News through the revelation of Jesus.
Truly, when it comes to these two testaments, the New is in the Old contained and the Old is in the New explained. You can have the New Testament and read it and get it wrong. You can be faithful to the Old Testament and completely miss the point. And you can have both and still miss the reality. But don’t ever think that they contradict or portray a different God, as I’ve heard others suggest, because they do not. But we must read it thoroughly to realize.

Saint Stephan was explaining the Old Testament to Old Testament experts but explaining it in the revelation that comes from Jesus. They took offence.
Acts 7: 51-60 ““You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.”

Stephan accuses the Sanhedrin of always resisting the Holy Spirit, killing the prophets and killing the Messiah. He was, in short, accusing them of being God’s own enemies! This is incredibly shocking because these people considered themselves to be the faithful people of God. Paul, then known as Saul, was among these.

How many of us who are in the church, believing ourselves to be the faithful people of God, are actually the enemy of God? We would do well to think about this and ask God to shine His search light in our hearts and reveal His vision.

What we believe, as Christians, is that Jesus was there at the beginning of time. When God created the world and he spoke life into our world, Jesus was there. He was not known as Jesus, but as the Word of the Lord. This is why John begins his Gospel with the explanation about the Word becoming flesh. This understanding about Jesus, this revelation, is what the early church was proclaiming. But it seemed like blasphemy to those who only understood religion in terms of a list of dos and don’ts.

Is our comfort in the things we do? Do we placate ourselves with thinking that we are good Christians because we are kind and good and believe in God? It’s not enough.
Is our comfort in the things we don’t do? Do we not commit murder and fraud and so consider ourselves to be good enough to be a good Christian?

The Gospel is both a challenge and a comfort. It is a challenge because everything you might have ever thought about how to be acceptable to God is simply rubbish if you think that it depends on anything you do or don’t do.

The Gospel is a comfort because if you have come to the realization that you simply are not good enough in your human efforts to attain God’s standard, you are offered the free gift of Jesus Sacrifice. This is the ONLY way to the father.

St. Stephan did not fear his death. He had a vision of God and he knew that he was walking in the footsteps of his God. In those footsteps he received the warmth needed to bear life’s cruel and bitter cold.

Our challenge for the second day of Christmas is to know that the message of the Gospel was there at the book of Genesis. We acknowledge that we can’t obtain heaven by our religious observances alone, but in response to acknowledging the gift of Jesus we, if we are fair dinkum, walk in our saviour’s footsteps, in love and mercy and sacrifice.
Our saviour knew the scriptures. We need to know them too- both Old and New testaments. In both these, when read with the personal submission to our saviour, who is author and perfector of our faith, we will discover the love and mercy of God and the call to proclaim the Good News and in doing so, sometimes even use words.

On the first day of Christmas...

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…. A Partridge in a pear tree!
There is some debate about the Christmas song, The Twelve days of Christmas, as to whether it is simply a fun and nonsensical song or a Carol that has secret meaning, sung by those who lived in areas where Christianity was not accepted.
If the latter is the true, then it is said that my true love is a reference to God, and on that first day of Christmas his gift is the word made flesh – Jesus Christ. The portrayal of Jesus is like that of a partridge which will appear injured to protect its offspring.
Whether or not we accept this meaning in the song, the song itself tells us of a tradition from an earlier church time where there were twelve days of celebrating the “Christ’s Mass” and the first day being the 25th of December - a celebration of the word made flesh… the incarnation. An amazing and mind-blowing miracle!

I think it would be great to be able to spend 12 days concentrating on what it was that happened to our world each day looking at some aspect of God’s interaction with us.

If we’ve been to church the last few weeks we come to this first day of Christmas already aware of and following the journey of Mary and Joseph. They both had their interaction with God’s Angel a little earlier in the story and both needed to respond positively in order for things to be.

In our own way, we need to come to this same point with Mary and Joseph in order to experience our own first day of Christmas. First we need to have dealt with those same issues. Mary’s story was the more difficult. She had to say yes to God’s will in her life, even though it would mean rumours and rejection and the possibility of being stoned as an adulterer. She trusted God’s plan was not for that to eventuate, but still nothing could proceed without her will being in line with God’s. Are we willing to be counted as a Christian though it may mean the scoffing of peers?

God gave us free will, and he won’t override that gift, but he asks us to make him the Lord of our lives. He asks us to freely say, “Yes” to him, admitting that we need His guidance. God cannot be “born” in us unless we give him the permission to do so.

Joseph had to trust God’s working in Mary. Joseph had to acknowledge that God had chosen to work through this person to whom he was engaged. Joseph had to say, “yes” to God also, though his role would be different. Joseph’s role is very interesting if we relate it back to our own experience. His was a support role in a world where it was generally accepted that Mary’s role was to support him… I’m sure that in instances of true love that the support is always mutual and we note glimpses of this in the relationship of Abraham and Sarah, but this is one record where it certainly focuses on the upside down nature of leadership that Jesus promoted. Are we willing to serve and support our fellow Christians who are also called by God for His purpose?

What really happened that Christmas night? What do people really think?

There has always been a tension between the God aspect and the humanity of Christ. Was he really just human and then became someone who really answered God’s call? Or was he always God and never really experienced the ugly side of humanity?

Human minds find it hard to settle this issue and even Jesus human family struggled, as we read in Mark 3:21, “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."”
I love imaginative, fantastical movies. I find that we can learn so much about so many things when we use our imagination to create safe places to explain and explore some very difficult topics.
One of the best examples that I know of, to explain Jesus being fully human and fully God, is found in the movie, Superman 2. In this movie the love between Lois Lane and Superman is acknowledged and so Superman gives up his power for love of her.
Almost immediately there is some conflict and superman is hurt. His love for Lois is greater though and he accepts that he will now feel pain and all those fragilities common to humans. As the show goes on it becomes apparent that superman has to sacrifice his own personal desire for a comfortable life with Lois and go back to being Superman - for her good, and the good of all humanity. So he takes back his power once again, but with great heart ache. Those who he saves would never really know the full extent of his sacrifice.

In the song, The twelve days of Christmas, the twelve drummers drumming refers to the 12 articles of faith listed in the apostles creed. These beliefs served to formalise the Christian faith and safeguard against heresy.
It begins with “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible:”
We easily acknowledge the humanity of Jesus. He is a person of history… recorded in sources that are not Christian… he really existed. But the reason we have a faith called Christianity is because we believe that he is more than just human.
Some people do believe that he was a great man who did wonderful things and was inspired by God, but not God, but did you know that this is simply not logical?
Jesus was finally crucified because of blasphemy. That is, he declared himself to be God. If he was a good man and only a man, why would he declare this about himself? People who do these kinds of things are usually evil or crazy. We have already established that Jesus did many good things so evil doesn’t fit the bill.

Crazy? Well, we know that his family thought so at one point in time. But then we look at what happened later… those closest to him, including some of his family, were prepared to suffer and be put to death for what they considered to be the truth. If he was crazy or if they still thought him to be crazy this simply would not happen.
How many years later… approximately 2014, we are still celebrating that God came to live as one of us… Emmanuel – it means , “God with us”. It is the name given by one of the Angels, saying that Jesus would be called this…. He is God with us.

And yet…. God is one. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty. Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible….
If we believe in one God how is it that Jesus prays to his father. I actually only have a very simplistic answer. God is God and is beyond our understanding. For a short, powerful and amazing time in history, somehow God was clearly seen as different identities.
Once again I turn to imagination to explain. There was an advertisement for chocolate where a golden clad goddess couldn’t make up her mind which chocolate to choose so she separated into three identical forms of herself… each one choosing a different flavour.

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of a baby… we call him Jesus, but who is Jesus for you?

Our society is currently experiencing some anxiety over the numbers of Muslims which seem to be taking over our world like a spreading dark storm cloud. If we truly proclaimed the truth of the Gospel, I believe there would be so many more Christians, because Christianity is such good news….. What other religion acknowledges that we cannot obtain the standard of perfection and so their God comes down to be the sacrifice for them? NONE… Only Christianity!
The reality is that we don’t really know or proclaim the fabulous Good News that we have in Jesus Christ. Our faith is diminishing because we have taken it for granted for so long and so people have become ignorant of the amazing message of hope and truth that this holds for all.

We can wish for Joy and peace and love eternally this Christmas, but love and joy and peace are there already…. What we need is our eyes opened to see.

To truly celebrate Christmas we need to become part of the Christmas story… Say, “yes” to God’s will in our lives and stand up for our faith, supporting, guarding and protecting it like Joseph and proclaiming the Good News like the Angels did.

A LIFE UNCOMMON reflection for Sunday 16th November 2014

Year A Proper 28 16 November 2014
Judges 4: 1-7 Psalm 123 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11 Matthew 25: 14-30
A LIFE UNCOMMON
Have you seen the tinsel? Already the stores are getting ready for Christmas, and although the church calendar has not yet reached the season of Advent, there is a definite sense of something about to happen in our readings this weekend.

Our Gospel reading is the parable of the talents. A man goes off on a journey and leaves certain amounts of money in the hands of his servants. A first servant turns five bags of gold into ten. The second servant turn two bags of Gold into four, but a third servant just hides the money away for safe keeping.

1) A message for ministers and those in charge of church communities or groups:
Who are the people that make up your church community? These people are our bags of Gold. Do you have a large or small congregation? It doesn’t matter. These people have the ability to double, but it is up to you to encourage them, to deal with them in a way that they desire to ask their friends and family to join them.
Many churches try to encourage their member to ask friends and family to come to church…. WRONG! This way you may get some extra people for a while but if you want to make a real difference then you need to inspire your congregation in such a way that they spontaneously ask others to join them. I hear you laughing, and I know that I’m not in your shoes, but I really believe that this is what Jesus is challenging in this Gospel reading.
Do you have a small aging congregation? You can keep them safe. You can nurture them and make them comfortable. You can shield them from the evils of the outside world and feel that you are doing a good job at pastoring, but this is the equivalent of the servant who kept the one bag of gold hidden safely away and safely returned it to it’s master…. What did the master say to this servant?
Matthew 25:26- ““His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

It is a seemingly harsh reward for keeping the money safe. But Jesus is not talking about Gold. He is talking about people and our great commission to go and make disciple of all people.

2) A message for those who are ministers and members of the church or Christians in the secular workplace.
The people around you are your bags of gold that have been entrusted to you. You may or may not have charge over them, but you certainly do have influence. All of us are called to be as Christ to others and that old phrase, “What Would Jesus Do?”, has to be foremost in our minds, or even better, we can simply pray that Christ live through us.

What did Jesus do when he encountered people? Somehow people were spontaneously changed by the encounter. And Jesus said these things and greater we will do. Hmmm… haven’t seen much of it lately.

If the people around us are our “bags of gold” then they are our “talents”. Do we think, “how can I encourage the people around me so that they become more”?
Each person has gifts, skills and abilities, but it often needs to be empowered. YOU have the power to set those gifts free and double them…. Quadruple them…. YES YOU!!

I have played basketball all my life and have often played with a new player. Most of the team will NOT throw them the ball and the inexperienced player will pretty soon become disheartened and give up. There was something that I realized in this game of basketball…. The opposition often neglects the neglected player also…. So I would throw them the ball. An amazing thing happened – can you guess? MOST of those new players that I played with were there because they were actually quite sporty in other areas and with just a bit of encouragement and confidence these players became every bit as good as the rest of the team and team spirit was encouraged by the inclusivity and valuing of every person. There is a whole lot that we can learn from this.

Who are the people around you that God wants you to empower?

3) A Message for each of us personally
Each of us has gifts and abilities that God has given us. How interesting that what was a sum of money in the Bible called a “talent”, is the same word we use to describe our gifts.
I remember a poster that said, “What you are is God’s gift to you. What you become is your gift to God.” It has stayed with me.
Certainly, I notice all the time how practice and working away at something increases our talents.

On a personal level, this week’s readings speak about being left for a time. Jesus is the master and has left talents in the hands of his servants. We are the servants and just as there was no explicit directive to the servants in the story, about what to do with the money, same goes for us with the abilities that God has given us, but the ending of the story makes it clear that we are certainly to do something.

Recently someone’s facebook status had a quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi; “Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

There are needs all around us. We start there. But sometimes there are things that are possible. They may not seem necessary, but they are good things to do that promote the kingdom of God. I do think that if people stand together doing the necessities of church life and going on to do what is possible that they will one day look back and see that the impossible was achieved and those five talents became ten or even more. BUT we need to be prepared to step out and live a life uncommon.

We live in a generation that is SELF promoting and this whole encouragement of other people’s gifts is certainly counter-cultural.
Our New Testament reading also confirms this message:
1 Thessalonians 1:9-11 “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Our first reading is another amazing story of something that seemed counter-cultural;
Judges 4-4-7 “ Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “TheLORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

Did you notice that? It was a woman who was leading Israel. It was a woman who was a prophet and was leading Israel. God works through those that you might not expect and gives extraordinary gifts to people that you might “culturally” discount.

At this time in the church calendar we are called to read the signs of the time; Jesus came, died, rose, ascended to the father and WILL come again. In the meantime it is very much like that master who went on a journey… we are the servants in that interim time and we have been given talents on many levels, in our church and those around us and personally. It calls to mind the song that Jewel put out a number of years ago called, “A Life Uncommon”…. “ and lend your voices only to sounds of freedom. No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from. Fill your lives with love and bravery and we shall lead – a life uncommon!”

The Good News & the limits - Reflection for 12th October 2014

Year A Proper 23 12 October 2014
Exodus 32: 1-14 Psalm 106: 1-6, 19-23 Philippians 4: 1-9 Matthew 22: 1-14

In our readings this week we find that Saint Paul exhorts the Philippians to focus on the positive;
Philippians 4:4-8 “Always be joyful because you belong to the Lord. I will say it again. Be joyful. Let everyone know how gentle you are. The Lord is coming soon.
Don’t worry about anything. Instead, tell God about everything. Ask and pray. Give thanks to him. Then God’s peace will watch over your hearts and your minds because you belong to Christ Jesus. God’s peace can never be completely understood.
Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.”

I call it the Pollyanna principal. You might recall the book where the Heroine sees the good in everything, calling it the GLAD GAME. It would appear that Saint Paul promotes this unquenchable optimism and indeed he does, but it is not an irrational optimism it is actually an exhortation to hope and to see things through the eyes of faith.

In fact… the Bible tells us that anything that is not of faith is sin. So… when we doubt and we fail to trust in God it is actually sin. This may seem harsh, but I think it is worth noting because we all need to realize that we all fall short… we all sin… and now let’s get over it, because it is for this reason that Jesus came. There is not to be any judgment – Paul did not judge, but instead he encouraged and motivated the people such that their focus was moved from their circumstances to the promises and wonderful things of God.

THIS is what we are to do also. We are not to judge and we are not to give others the impression that they lack faith when things are bleak, but instead, we are to be messengers of a greater hope… we are to be the people that intercede for those who are hurting. My reason for claiming this comes from other Bible passages, including the story of Job and his friends and our reading from the Old Testament for this week from Exodus.

Our Old Testament reading takes us to the place where the Israelites were in the desert and Moses was up the mountain receiving the commandments from God. From the perspective of the people, they had been led out of Egypt by a miraculous hand that saw the Red sea parted.

Now to our way of thinking this would be a sure sign of the sovereignty and power of our God, and an event that would solidify the faith of the Israelites, but this was a people who were used to the magicians of Egypt and the supernatural happenings of demonic forces. They knew that they were a chosen race and belonged to a different God from that of the Egyptians, but in the minds of those people, was an understanding that was clouded by the influences around them.

Back in the 80’s was a computer term; GI-GO, Garbage in – Garbage out. I was talking today with someone who expressed that we need to read the Koran and other books to better be able to proclaim our Christianity. It is a common thought that we can’t properly argue without authoritative knowledge of these things, but we are in danger here, of becoming like those ancient Israelites who assimilated the pagan beliefs of those surrounding them, such that they actually were better acquainted with the pagan beliefs than that of their own beliefs.

To qualify my opinion here, let me add the parallel of a basketball game. I used to be a much better defensive player and not so good at offense. Defense is not the way to win a game and I always seemed to lose. Becoming skilled in offense is a much better tactic. How well do you understand the Christian faith? How intimately acquainted are you with all the writings of the Bible? As Saint Paul told the Philippians, we need to focus our minds on these things that we know are good.

I think I’ve mentioned in other reflections that those who are skilled in identifying counterfeit notes do not study counterfeits. They study the authentic notes so much that any slight alteration in a counterfeit is immediately obvious.

These ancient Israelites were easily led astray without any conscience that they were sinning because they were not students of the real thing. As we read further, we see that God expresses to Moses that these people should be destroyed. Moses, however, reminds God that these are His chosen people.
It is an interesting passage that reads as though Moses was able to change God’s mind. I suspect the truth of the matter is that God wanted Moses to become more acutely aware of the sacredness of HIS people, because it would be Moses’ job to lead them and teach them, and he was going to need this understanding in order to have immeasurable patience with them.

This Old Testament situation is echoed in our New Testament reading and sets the scene for us today.

Our New Testament reading tells the parable of the wedding feast. A man prepares a wedding feast for his son and sends out the invitations, but those invited refuse. In fact some of them even beat and mistreat the servants who are the bearers of the invitation. So the father sends the servants out to the streets to invite anyone and everyone – good and bad alike.
The feast is happily underway when the father notices someone not wearing wedding clothes and he then has this person thrown out. And the parable concludes with the announcement the many are invited but few are chosen.

What does all this mean?

Some of the parable is immediately obvious. The wedding feast speaks of the celebration of the coming of Jesus. The servants are those who invite others into a relationship with Jesus. Those invited guests are those who already have some kind of relationship with God who we’d expect to be an integral part of the festivities. In Jesus time, this would have been referring to the Jews- the chosen people of God. In our current time we can interpret this further as the traditional orthodox Christian Churches and take it as a warning.
In the time of Jesus, the Jewish church had been waiting for the coming Messiah. He appeared, and although many acknowledged and accepted him, the hierarchy of the Church rejected him. At this time in the history of God’s interaction with humanity, an invitation was sent out to Jews and, most significantly, to non-Jews…. to me and to you!

We are all invited to celebrate and be part of this story. The invitation is for Christian, for Jew, for Muslim, for Buddhist, for good and for bad. There are no limits on who is invited. Our part in the story for today is to understand that God has invited ALL. We need to understand this and reach out to others with the invitation because we are the servants who are sent to the streets to bring in guests for the celebration.

Now there is still a part of the story to discover. It is that of the person who was thrown out because he was not wearing wedding clothes.

It is thought that there was a tradition that those invited to a royal wedding would be given an appropriate robe to wear. Regardless of the tradition, this invited person is not appropriately dressed.

In 2009 when I married Joe, we had a wedding that was open to all. Most of those that came were well known to us. Some were only acquaintances, but all wore appropriate clothes. Initially we intended that we might have a reception outside in the garden at Holy Trinity, which is much more open to the public and likely to have party crashers. I’m guessing if this had happened we’d be able to spot them quickly because they’d be dressed differently.

The difference between a guest and a party crasher, in that circumstance would be immediately obvious through dress, and that difference in dress would indicate a deeper difference, that being the lack of personal relationship to the wedding couple.

All people are invited into the celebration of God, but what this is really inviting us to is a relationship with the Son, Jesus.
In other places in the Bible it speaks of us being “clothed in Christ”. We can only be worthy of a union with God through the sacrifice of Jesus and therefore it is our relationship with Christ that makes us “clean”. We can go to church, we can be a good ethical person, we can be someone who sacrifices for others, but if we are not “clothed in Christ” then we can have no union with God.

I do, absolutely and with all my heart, believe that if all the world’s religions and philosophies were laid out clearly, and properly comprehended, we’d all choose Christianity. It really is Good News (Gospel). But the biggest hindrance, other than ignorance of the extreme goodness of this way, is the humility to accept that there is something or someone greater, and then to admit that we are not as good as we’d like to think, and therefore admit that we need a savior.

We need to willingly admit our need, and therefore enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be “Clothed in Christ”…. Many are invited, but few are chosen – why? It isn’t God’s will that any should be left out, but it is the consequence of our free will that determines our fate. All has been done… The atonement and sacrifice made, wedding robes given by God himself– But will you wear it?

An Unshakable resilience. Reflection for 21st of September 2014

Year A Proper 20 21 September 2014
Exodus 16: 2-15 Psalm 105: 1-6, 37-45 Philippians 1: 21-30 Matthew 20: 1-16

Shakespeare, in my opinion, was an amazing philosopher. He wrote through his characters some amazing statements that convey a truth quoted and noted down through the ages. There is one such quote that comes to mind in the light of this week’s scripture readings. In the character of Hamlet in act 3, scene 1, we discover the question, “To be, or not to be: that is the question:”
Hamlet has discovered the family skeletons in the closet and they are playing havoc with his mind and emotions. He ponders suicide, and while he begins with this question about living or dying, he has the insightfulness and forethought to recognize that to die may not be the end of his troubles, and so he ponders, “To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause:”

I’d like to suggest that in this week’s readings we look at attitudes and resources for resilience in the face of troubles. This is something that Hamlet needed and something we all need.

Most of us have constants in our lives and these constants give us a sense of security. It may be family or work, hobbies or interests and any combination, but these form our understanding of morality, justice, goodness and what life actually is about, what is important and why. These things shape our understanding of what is “normal”, real and true. When these constants are shown to us to be faulty, or they stop being in our lives, we are left feeling lost, to say the least.

In our readings for this week we find the Israelites in this condition. They’ve left the slavery and oppression of Egypt and now they want to go back there. How could this be?
Exodus 16:3-5 “The Israelites said to them, “We wish the LORD had put us to death in Egypt. There we sat around pots of meat. We ate all of the food we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert. You must want this entire community to die of hunger.”

They were not happy in Egypt… but Egypt was home. They had lived there long enough that it was all that they knew and novelty of living in the desert and relying on God had worn off. They didn’t have their “normal”, and they didn’t know what to make of things and they wanted “home”. In many ways Egypt had crept into their souls, and their understanding about life was based on that reality. Their understanding about reality, truth goodness was grounded in Egypt and the idea of a new home was hard to take in. But God gives them another miracle and gives them bread from heaven;
Exodus 16:4-5 “Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people must go out each day. Have them gather enough bread for that day. Here is how I will put them to the test. I will see if they will follow my directions.
“On the sixth day they must prepare what they bring in. On that day they must gather twice as much as on the other days.”

We too often live with or grow up with things that are not healthy, but these are “home” and as adults who can think and ration, we can find it difficult to accept the truth about many things because often the truth is not comfortable. The most important question that we all need to answer is, do we want the truth?

In our Gospel we find another truth that people may find hard to accept. It is a parable about the kingdom of heaven. In summary, there are many workers in a vineyard and some worked all day, others were hired at various times through the day, some only working a short time and yet all of them were paid the same amount. It seems unfair, but the owner justifies himself saying that it is his prerogative to be generous to all.

Why are you a believer? Why are you a Christian? Or if you are not…. What purpose do you think you or other people might become Christian?

I would suggest that if you are a Christian because it gives you a sense of being something special and better than others or if you are a Christian because you will get a reward in heaven, or if you are a Christian who goes the extra mile because it means you will be a leader in God’s kingdom of heaven, then you don’t know God at all.

The Israelites had a sense of being the chosen race. They belonged to God and he had proven himself by fighting for them, but they didn’t understand His ways at all. This same people but many generations later are who Jesus was talking to and they also didn’t really know God. When I say this, I mean that they knew about God… they knew things he’d done and had the theory about him, but it was much like learning about a person of celebrity status or an historical figure. Often we can have an educated understanding about a person and be somewhat on the money, but we can also get it oh so very wrong unless we know the person personally. If we don’t know that person personally, the next best would be to listen to people who do…. But have you noticed that people can have very differing opinions about the same person?

This maybe one of those moments of discomfort…. Do we really know God, or have we a comfortable image that someone has painted hanging on the wall of our soul?

Now, this seems to be the opposite of where I started. I started by saying that this week’s readings are about resilience in the face of trials and so far all I’ve done is chip away at many possible comforts. The message that God gave to the Israelites about their comfort was to provide them with food. He also gave them meat and had provided them with water. He comes through. None of the workers in the vineyard of our Gospel reading went without… all were rewarded. Why were they upset? I’d suggest that it was due to an assumption about how things were meant to be according to their understanding of how things work.

In our reading from St. Paul we find the exact opposite of Hamlet.
Philippians 1:21-25 “For me, life finds all of its meaning in Christ. Death also has its benefits. Suppose I go on living in my body. Then I will be able to carry on my work. It will bear a lot of fruit. But what should I choose? I don’t know. I can’t decide between the two. I long to leave this world and be with Christ. That is better by far. But it is more important for you that I stay alive. I’m sure of that. So I know I will remain with you. And I will continue with all of you to help you grow and be joyful in what you have been taught.”

Saint Paul has had an experience of God that showed him who God is. He understood the concept of the Trinity and more from just that experience. He KNEW God and he knew his humanity, his love and his divinity. Having this relationship with God gave Paul resilience for life that saw him press on through persecution, floggings and jail. For the one who has experienced God in this way there is no need to find his sense of reality and truth… Saint Paul found it and it was truly like a very hard and uncomfortable slap, but once he’d accepted it, it became the unshakeable rock upon which his whole life took shape.

Philippians 1:27 “No matter what happens, live in a way that brings honour to the good news about Christ. Then I will know that you stand firm with one purpose. I may come and see you or only hear about you. But I will know that you work together as one person. And I will know that you work to spread the teachings of the good news.
So don’t be afraid in any way of those who oppose you. That will show them that they will be destroyed and that you will be saved. That’s what God will do.
Here is what he has given you to do for Christ. You must not only believe in him. You must also suffer for him.
You are going through the same struggle you saw me go through. As you have heard, I am still struggling.”

Saint Paul doesn’t escape suffering or hardship and neither will we, but will we face it with the resilience of Saint Paul or the deliberations of Hamlet? It all depends on our personal relationship with Christ which he desires for all of us. He wants us to know him personally. Will we accept him as he is, thorns, nail wounds and all or will you be content with that painted image hanging in the corner of your soul?